Edgar closed his eyes to think. His eyelashes fluttered like starlight. Looking at his beauty made Rubica forget her anger sometimes.

Beauty was indeed the best.

“Do as you want.”

So, you made all this fuss only to let me do as I want? Rubica could barely restrain her agitation.

“I like talking to you as I do now.”

“Then do so. But, do not call me ‘my lord’ ever again no matter how angry you get.”

Edgar then held her hand tightly. His manly hand was strong, and Rubica had to tell her heart not to leap up again. Edgar looked at the servants, still holding her hand.

“How my wife talks to me, it is between her and me. I will not tolerate if any of you speaks of it again.”

The servants had to be very angry about the fuss he was making for something so small. Rubica recalled Ann begging her to make him come down to the dining hall to eat.

This was why Edgar couldn’t even get near the hall, much less eat there.

‘I’m sorry, Ann.’

Rubica apologetically looked at Ann. But to her surprise, Ann looked so happy to see her and Edgar.

Rubica looked at the other servants. Although they clearly looked a little confused and irritated, they were not offended.

Yes, she would also make that expression from time to time before. It was…

‘The expression of watching a couple fighting!’

More accurately, it was the face of someone saying, ‘of course, you will end it soon’ when watching a couple that was holding each other tightly after they had been quarreling.

“Carl, your wage will be cut for three months.”

Rubica was surprised to hear Edgar say that to the still kneeling Carl. She grabbed his arm as he let go of her hand and was about to sit down.

“Edgar, but Carl just… made a mistake. We all make mistakes sometimes.”

Edgar hesitated for a moment at that.

“Then I take back what I said.”

Rubica relaxed a little and sat down again. In the meantime, the food had gone cold.

“Your Grace, what do you want me to do?

The roasted bunting had been very delicious. Rubica was sad that she only got to have one bite because of Edgar. She felt sorry for making them do things twice again, but she spoke in a tiny voice.

“Could you heat it again?”

“I will tell the kitchen.”

The servant smiled as if there was no need to even ask for it. He picked up the dish, but Edgar stopped him.

“No, just bring new ones.”

“Yes, Your Grace.”

Another servant removed Edgar’s dish as if he had been waiting for it. It looked like being served also required experience. Rubica hadn’t even thought of having them cook it again.

In fact, the food had gone cold not because of the servant’s fault. It had been all because of their fight. She had felt somewhat sorry at asking them to heat it up again.

‘… but I don’t think it was a good idea to tell them to bring new dishes.’

The roasted buntings they just had hadn’t been simple dishes. She had been able to enjoy the scent of wine and marinated lemon when she took a bite. Cooking again was going to take some time. Of course, Edgar wasn’t a man who would tolerate it if they didn’t cook it properly to speed up.

Some boring time passed.

Edgar realized his decision hadn’t been that good only later and couldn’t bring himself to look at Rubica. It was just too awkward. He crossed his legs and stared at the splendid flowers in a vase in the middle of that table.

“But Edgar.”

Rubica broke the silence and spoke first. Edgar stopped the corner of his lips from curling up and looked at her. However, even if she was looking at him with a smile, that smile was somewhat cold.

“Why did you talk about roses?”

“Oh.”

“And what was that about ‘to make the deal with Lord Sesar happen’?”

The sharp question made even Edgar break in a cold sweat. He wondered how he should explain that. Then Carl spoke, without hesitation this time.

“Your Grace, it is all my fault.”

“You told him.”

“Yes…”

“Take back what you said about cutting his wage for three months.”

Rubica looked firm, and Edgar had to nod without even saying a decent excuse.

“It will never happen again.”

“Your Grace, it was me. I told it to him in the wrong way, and…”

Ann realized how it had all happened and turned pale. Rubica didn’t try to hide her sigh. She didn’t hate Ann’s attention and gossip, but she hadn’t known this would cause such consequences.

“Just be careful from now on.”

“Yes, Your Grace.”

After that fuss, an even more awkward time came. Silence filled the room as they ate roasted buntings and sea bass dishes that came out one after the after. In the end, Rubica couldn’t stand it anymore and talked first.

“I was going to tell you this earlier, but… Edgar.”

“Do you mean Lord Sesar’s roses improvement?”

“Yes, I saw his sketches. They were pretty roses. To be honest, what he said was so difficult that I couldn’t understand most of it, but he has been studying for a long time and he loves flowers. I don’t think he spoke of an entirely impossible experiment. I want to decorate the garden with the flowers he will make. As it wouldn’t cost that much, I am going to invest in him. Would it be okay?”

Of course, it was okay. No, more than that, she had no reason to ask for his approval. It was her right as the duchess to decide how to use the budget that had been given to her. Edgar could advise her about it, but he had no power to undo her decisions.

But instead of explaining that to her, Edgar just smiled. Rubica immediately got tense. She seemed to be preparing for whatever bomb he was about to throw at her. Strangely, he liked that.

“Will you let me kiss you if I say it is okay?”

“What?”

However, Rubica’s shocked shriek was covered by Steven’s loud voice who came into the hall at that moment.

“To celebrate the first day of your marriage!”

Steven had been deeply moved by what Rubica had told him and had done his best to make a cake. The two-layer cake was decorated with fruits preserved in honey and fresh spring flowers. There was even a 1 made of sugar on top of it. When the servants quickly removed the sea bass dishes, the cook laughed heartily and put the strawberry sorbet in front of Edgar and Rubica himself.

“What is this about?”

“Oh, I prepared it because Her Grace said she wanted to celebrate the first day of your marriage.”

Steven was rather surprised to hear Edgar’s cold question and explained, and Rubica could only blush hard.

All she had wanted was a cake small enough to fill one plate and a small cup of ice cream.

“Oh, so you prepared this huge cake to celebrate your first day with me.’

“… yes.”

Edgar’s lips curled up while Rubica barely nodded. She had convinced Steven way too well because of her greed to have a tasty cake, and now she was paying for it.

Of course, the cake looked more than beautiful. Steven had put in his entire passion about cakes in it. He stayed standing there with a smile instead of going back to the kitchen even after he put the cake on the table.

He was going to explain he had made it with eggs freshly laid by chickens today and high-quality sugar he got a week ago and milk that had been just milked if the duke wanted it.

No, he wanted him to request an explanation. That cake was the masterpiece of his lifetime. However, no matter how long he waited, he didn’t ask that question.

Moreover, Rubica was even looking down with a red face. Steven thought he had chosen the wrong timing to come in and whispered to a servant next to him.

“What were they talking abou…”

“We have been talking about kissing.”

Edgar replied to that question instead with a devil-like smile on his lips.

“Oh!”

Steven realized he had disturbed the couple’s romantic talk. They were close enough to celebrate the first day of their marriage. He was drunk on his perfect cake that he missed the uncomfortable expression Rubica showed the moment Edgar spoke the word ‘kiss’.

Even if he had seen it, he would have just thought she was being shy.

“Nothing is better than a kiss as a celebration’s finale.”

“You think so too?”

Rubica immediately looked up at hearing Edgar say so with laughter.

She glared at him, but he didn’t feel sorry. Rather, he enjoyed it. Rubica had no choice but to look at Ann to silently ask her to stop him.

‘Hup!’

However, Ann’s eyes were shining with excitement as she looked at Rubica. They said she wanted her to kiss him. Even the servants and maids behind her reddened their faces and smiled.

“What do you think?”

Edgar got up from his chair and came to Rubica. She could feel cold sweat running down her back. He cupped and lifted her chin with his long, white fingers. Rubica felt like he had been born just to tease her.

“I think it would be appropriate for your dedication to prepare a cake to celebrate the first day of our marriage.”