Duke, Please Stop Because it Hurts

As her condition was finally improved to some extent, Marchioness Nibeia turned up at the Duchy to visit her ailing self.

“Welcome, Marchioness Nibeia. Wasn’t it rather cold to come here?”

As she was still outside, Molitia immediately wrapped her cold hands with both of her own. Marchioness Nibeia smiled when those soft fingertips of hers had touched upon herself.

“I’m fine, I was in a carriage anyway. I heard that you had gotten very sick. Are you okay now?”

“I’ve already recovered a lot. I heard that I’m even allowed to move a little by now.”

“But please be careful, just in case. It’s all because of the strong wind these days. My little son had also caught a cold and suffered once before.”

“Well, is the Young Master feeling alright now?”

Marchioness Nibeia laughed loudly at the worried tone of her voice.

“Of course. Just within a few days, he was already off like a spoiled brat.”

She was the one who had raised her own family as well as the children themselves. Every so often, she even knew how to laugh as loud as a man. Nibeia’s cheerfulness was rather refreshing as it made the crowd attain this light-hearted feeling.

Molitia smiled after Nibeia. She was a woman who had gone through a whole lot of ups and downs in her life, but she appeared pristine—without a shadow cast on her face. Her confident demeanor in everything eventually made Molitia wish to follow her footsteps.

“More than that, I have heard something.”

“What kind of story would that be?”

“I heard that Duke Linerio wanted to take a leave of absence all because he was worried about his own wife? That man—who had never even rested before.”

Molitia’s cheeks inadvertently crimsoned at that moment. What was presumed to be just a little thing that happened merely between the two of them, was spread into a rumor throughout the whole Empire.

Her usual face began to collapse at once. Or rather, her face was burning up with embarrassment.

“He just wanted to use it because he hadn’t been using any of his vacation days before.”

“No way. Even when they told him to return right away, he still endured for days all because he was worried sick about his wife. There’s a whole lot of gossip about that.”

It wasn’t just that at all. The rumor that was disclosed from her mouth was completely beyond belief.

When people had witnessed that brusque Duke Linerio was visiting a women’s boutique, their sentiments immediately rippled and eventually turned out to be a sort of image to the people.

Similar sightings were also seen when he had visited a flower shop with the look of a cold gust of wind drifting along.

The more she listened to Nibeia’s story, the more luscious she had become. Eventually, Nibeia gave a hearty laugh when she began fanning herself with her own hand.

“Oh, how you have become such a red-faced lady. We shouldn’t be making fun of someone who’s still sick, so let me just stop here.”

She wanted to say that it was a rather vain story, but Molitia just couldn’t do it. It was all due to the fact that whenever she heard of it, it would bring her to the time when he had presented it to her as a gift.

“I’ve decided to stop joking around, so let us cease to talk about this and say again what was exactly supposed to be said. Young Lady Clemence is already back in action.”

“Arjan?”

“I seriously thought that she had become quiet for a while, but as soon as she heard how Duchess Linerio had gotten sick, she started socializing again right after. Of course, it can be said that the timing might have coincided by accident, but… when I look back at the previous number of encounters with your sister, I can see that she always kept thinking of such clever ways.”

Marchioness Nibeia’s face creased into a frown gently. It was quite surprising to see this from her, who always concealed her own facial expressions.

“Moreover, for this time, since she acted like she was really looking forward to it, that immediately made me, myself—who wasn’t even the organizer—frown upon it.”

Nibeia was usually gentle with children and women as a whole. Her hostile evaluation right now meant that Arjan’s recent behavior was simply appalling.

“I think it might be because she likes going from place to place. She’s much more outgoing of a person, compared to me.”

“I thought so as well until I got to know you—especially not now.”

Molitia’s face immediately loosened to that playful wink of hers.

“Plus recently, she has already been increasing her position as the fiancée of the Marquis and no longer just as a Young Lady of the County. Nevertheless, no matter how confirmed it has been, it is still a tad too early to take any action.”

“Is that still the case now?”

“Every time she attends, she would definitely bring along a portrait of Marquis Werner. There’s also a rumor going around that said how he’s really into Young Lady Clemence.”

“I see.”

Molitia’s lips briefly straightened themselves. It wasn’t worse than what she had thought.

“But still, I’m very glad to see you’re doing well.”