“Soon people will rush to Claymore and ask to buy Taylor Roses.”

“Gabriel, that pot of roses is probably worth enough to make a wedding dress when you get married.”

Gabriel looked down at the pot of roses near her feet. The small pot with a few flowers was going to be that expensive? It just felt too unrealistic. She had just been happy to be given it, and it turned out it was part of such a complicated and well-calculated plan.

‘Duchess Claymore is about to become a celebrity in society.’

Gabriel was sure Rubica would become greater than her mother. People were going to be eager to find out everything about her, including what she wore and what she ate.

“Gabriel.”

Tatiana woke her up from her thoughts. The countess had fallen asleep since she was tired after hours of talking.

“You are going to write about her, right?”

Gabriel nodded hard. Her next article was going to be about the tea meeting and Duchess Claymore.

“Our source’s maid snuck out to question the chef. And don’t worry about the housekeeper, I’ve worked on her myself.”

“Shh, Titiana. My mother might hear us.”

“It’s alright. She’s fast asleep.”

Titiana poked the countess. She was sleeping soundly and didn’t even budge. The two girls had to try hard to not laugh.

The Little Bird’s News, which the countess hated so much, was a magazine Titiana, the girl she had picked as his son’s wife, was making in secret. Moreover, Gabriel was working on the sharpest column of the magazine.

***

“I am glad that the meeting was successful.”

Carl the butler smiled brightly, which he rarely did. It had been the tea meeting he had always been dreaming of. Even though the tables had been almost fully filled with cakes and guests looked for water and juice after taking a sip of tea, it had been a nice meeting.

A famous poet even came to recite a poem, and then they shared their opinions about it… even the tea meetings held in the East Empire couldn’t have been as perfect as this.

“I am glad as well. Some even asked where they could buy tea.”

“Yes, maybe tea meetings will become famous in this kingdom.”

Carl said hopefully. Of course, Rubica had quite different hopes. Several people had asked about Khanna and her shop while complimenting Rubica’s dress. Some even said it was too pretty to be worn only at tea meetings. It had been so successful that Rubica couldn’t believe she had been so nervous about it.

“Carl, Edgar must have finished working by now, right?”

Before she could finish saying that, a pair of huge hands grabbed her by the waist and lifted her high. It was Edgar, of course. He spun her around as if she had been the lightest thing in the world.

“Ah!”

She yelled, but she was also laughing. The ribbons on her chest fluttered in the wind, and Edgar had to do his best to not be enchanted by the beautiful ribbons and stare at her chest.

“Did you like my gift?”

Rubica recalled Lord Russel’s passionate recital and blushed. It had been a poem that so eagerly pleaded for love.

“Did it really have to be that poem?”

“But it was meaningful because of that poem.”

“Edgar!”

“You must have not liked Lord Russel’s recital. Well, I didn’t like the way he looked at you. I must find him right away and make him pay for that.”

“Edgar!”

How could he say such a thing with a straight face? Now that he started once, he was going to stop at nothing. He naughtily smiled.

“I guess you didn’t like that it was a poem written for someone else. Should I have him write a new poem only for you?”

“Please, stop teasing me.”

He probably had said that to tease her as he narrowed his eyes and laughed. His laughter made her heart beat fast. The laughter that was neither too low nor too high. The sound gave her a strange longing feeling. But that thought couldn’t last long as Edgar started to kiss her forehead again and again.

“What, what are you doing?”

“You’re so pretty.”

He said as he kissed her lightly lose hair. That made Rubica shudder as he looked like he would eat her alive at any moment.

“Hmm, hmm.”

Carl couldn’t look anymore and cleared his throat. That woke Rubica up. What had been they doing in the middle of the garden even if it was dark?

She could feel the servants looking at them and murmuring as they cleared the tables.

“Huh.”

Edgar reluctantly let her go. He seemed to be in quite a pleasant mood and kept asking about what happened during the tea meeting on their way inside. But then, Rubica started to think that it was a little strange.

‘… it sounds like he was watching us.’

Or he couldn’t have known about which guest was wearing what and who enjoyed which dessert like that. Maybe he actually wanted to come to the meeting. Rubica looked at him, but she didn’t know what to think.

‘Should I have asked him to come?’

Even though Edgar easily said what he wanted to say as a man of power, he was not always honest.

She had something to ask him today. She wanted to make him lower his guard by making the mood for it before she got there.

“Edgar, why don’t we host a tea meeting together next time?”

She thought he would smile happily and say yes. However, it only made him lose his pleasant mood.

“No, you know that I’m busy.”

You are that busy, but you were by the window and watching the whole time?

Rubica really wanted to say that, but she didn’t. It looked like she couldn’t make him feel generous with that.

“Okay then. Oh, and that threader you made, it has become really popular these days. I heard it’s being exported now. You made it as a pastime, but it became so popular. You are truly great.”

Edgar narrowed his eyes as he could see she was making it all up. She seriously needed to realize that she was a terrible liar. Nevertheless, it did make him feel good, even if it was a lie.

“Well, I am great.”

Rubica could only barely resist the urge to point out his arrogant attitude, but she kept her smile.

“So I was thinking… can’t you tell me what you are going to invent from now on?”

“What?”

She knew that she was making a crazy demand.

“I am interested in what you do since you can make such great things.”

“Rubica.”

He called her name calmly.

“What I usually make are not things that you would be interested in, not at all.”

“No, no. I am interested in your work, a lot.”

“But I once heard an idiot at the lab tried to demonstrate a new weapon in front of you and you almost fainted in shock.”

He knew about that?

Rubica blinked. Edgar even crossed his arms while coldly asking, “Why do you want to know about my work when you are so afraid of it?”

Actually, he didn’t like his family business that much. He remembered his first invention and what happened when he experimented with that for the first time.

‘Edgar, do not forget. Our wealth has been made over the blood of numerous people.’

His weapons were used to threaten monsters and dragons’ underlings, but they were sometimes used to hurt people. Edgar didn’t want Rubica to know that.

She was a grown-up, and she understood what he did… but he didn’t want her to see the true face of his darkness. He feared it might make her despise him.

“But… but…”

Rubica bit her lips. She was desperately working with her brain that didn’t work well to save him, but he wasn’t cooperating. She blamed him for that.

“I want to know what you do.”

“There’s no need for you to know what I do. You have many other things to do, so I don’t want you to try to find out about it and get hurt.”

She couldn’t defeat him with logic. However, she couldn’t give up now. She had no choice but to just insist.

“But you know about everything I do. Like who sends letters to me, why I was surprised at the lab, and how I assigned my budget, you know all that…”

Now it really felt unfair. Her lips trembled, and that wasn’t an act. Edgar tried hard to not swear and spoke as coldly and calmly as he could.

“You are my wife. I have a duty to know where you are and what you do.”

“But… with that logic, you are my husband! I also have a duty to know where my husband is and what he does!”

“Rubica.”

“You’re not about to say something like, ‘It’s too difficult for women, so you don’t have to know about it’, right?”

“Don’t think of me as one of those idiots who say such things!”

Edgar angrily hit the armrest of his chair. It surprised Rubica a little, but she didn’t cease to glare at him.