Chapter 7
Chapter 7
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 7
Chapter Title: Responsibility and Duty (2)
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The letter began with these words:
『My dearest daughter Tiria, your father writes to you once more.』
It opened with everyday greetings, inquired after her well-being, shared recent news, and then subtly tacked on its true purpose.
Was it just the way nobles wrote? It was plastered with ornate rhetoric and metaphors, circling around what could have been said plainly in one go, yet its intent was crystal clear.
Elric read the letter over and over, his eyes wide open.
Was his knack for reading between the lines a blessing or a curse?
‘This is….’
『Ten years is more than enough. Come back and join us. If you wish, I can arrange a new match for you. Stop waiting for someone who may never return. Take what is yours and come home. You’ve suffered long enough.』
The letter was telling her to claim the inheritance that had fallen to her and return.
His hand dropped to his side.
His gaze remained fixed on the page.
‘Right… why didn’t I think of that?’
Her father had liquidated all those vast assets and transferred them into his own name.
There was nothing set aside for her.
Wouldn’t anyone feel wronged by that?
Any ordinary person would covet their inheritance.
Elric pictured Tiria’s face.
She was a woman of few words, strikingly beautiful.
Poise radiated from her, instinctively cowering those around her.
That was the kind of woman she was….
‘…She must have suffered greatly.’
She was a woman who had endured long years alone.
Of course. Hadn’t she spent nine years under that stern father without even a husband?
Honestly, even he couldn’t blame her for taking the inheritance.
In Elric’s mind, it was rightfully hers.
If he assumed she was lingering for the inheritance, the answer came easily.
His thoughts cleared.
But then,
‘Why….’
Why did his chest feel so clogged, like it was filled with dark storm clouds?
Was it the peaceful time in Weibin that was the problem? Or was it the childish heart that didn’t want to taint their sweet and bitter first love?
Some evasive thoughts began to surface.
And what fueled those thoughts was still her inexplicable behavior.
‘…If it was for the inheritance, why did she work so hard?’
Elric recalled how diligently she inspected the wheat fields every day.
He remembered how she always joined him for breakfast, and how these letters arrived every late night.
In truth, if she’d wanted the inheritance, she could have taken it a year ago.
It didn’t seem like she was just watching for his return— she hadn’t slacked off during that year, either.
Something pricked uncomfortably at a corner of his heart, so Elric stood from his seat.
He scanned the study, where sunlight poured in through the window.
Unlike his father’s time, nothing had changed, so he had a rough idea of where everything was.
Elric opened a drawer somewhere in the bookshelf.
‘There it is, as expected.’
It was stacked full of letters.
Upon inspection, they were all from the Weibin family.
He pulled them out one by one and read them.
They had all started arriving a year ago, and every one demanded the inheritance that was rightfully hers.
Had she never replied even once? Some even pleaded for a response.
Elric let out a hollow chuckle.
The answers they provided made him ashamed of ever doubting her.
‘She was protecting it all this time.’
She had guarded an inheritance whose owner might never return, with no guarantees.
The fact that even Aldio didn’t know meant she had kept it strictly secret. Aldio wouldn’t have mentioned something the master hadn’t permitted.
Elric glanced out the window, thinking of how she had fought this lonely battle alone for the past year.
‘Why go to such lengths?’
The wheat fields stretched out below. Amid the workers, there was Tiria.
He spotted her in her straw hat.
Elric wanted to know why.
Moreover, he was the type who couldn’t easily hold back his curiosity.
Leaving the study, Elric said,
“Aldio.”
“Yes.”
“Fetch the Lady for me.”
He chose the direct approach.
*
Tiria checked her appearance in the mirror, adjusting herself.
She was in the best mood she’d been in lately.
…No, truthfully, her mood had been decent lately.
It was because Elric—who she’d thought would ignore her completely, treating her like she didn’t exist— was at least acknowledging her now.
Not only that, but he even flashed occasional smiles, contrived as they clearly were.
Even if they were fake, wasn’t it joyful to know they were directed at her?
She could call herself foolish all she wanted, but what could she do when her heart stubbornly orbited him?
And today, he had requested to see her first.
It was a first.
She couldn’t help but get her hopes up.
‘Is this good enough?’
She’d rushed over from the fields, so she wasn’t fully satisfied.
Even after changing clothes, she worried she still smelled of earth, and her hair felt unkempt.
Maybe she should tidy a bit more… But she didn’t have time.
“Lady, are you ready?”
Aldio called from outside the door.
Tiria swallowed her regrets and replied.
“Yes, let’s go.”
What could it be about?
Fanciful guesses flitted through her mind.
What if it was an invitation to dinner together, or some personal matter requiring a talk? Thoughts like that wouldn’t fade.
She arrived at the first-floor parlor, having prepared responses for every possible topic.
And his business, once again, was far from what she’d hoped.
“I saw these letters. First off, I’m sorry. For opening them without permission.”
Her heart plummeted.
She couldn’t pretend not to know.
They were letters from her family that had tormented her relentlessly over the past year.
Why were they here? Elric answered her unspoken question.
“Aldio had them mixed in with the correspondence he was moving.”
How convenient.
Anxiety washed over her.
What if he misunderstood her intentions?
What if he saw her as a shameless woman scheming for the inheritance?
All sorts of dark imaginings swirled in her head, but thankfully, that wasn’t it.
“…I looked further. I more or less figured out that you ignored these letters for the past year.”
She couldn’t rejoice.
Even in the relief of no misunderstanding, his words gutted her.
‘Lady….’
To him, she was still just the Lady.
“I only called you because I wanted to ask. Why protect my inheritance—something you couldn’t be sure I’d ever return for? You could have taken it.”
To him, she was an outsider.
An outsider distant enough that her protecting the inheritance struck him as puzzling.
Her eyes stung for no reason.
Her heart, which had been grateful just for the absence of his initial coldness, had grown greedy somewhere along the way, now wounded afresh by something like this.
“Can you tell me? Why haven’t you returned to Weibin?”
He asked the most obvious thing.
His indifferent curiosity ruthlessly carved at her heart.
His face was calm.
Should she be glad there was no anger or contempt?
‘No.’
If he’d shown that, she could have reminded herself of her hated position and found some peace.
His face, stirring false hopes, was utterly cruel.
So she spoke.
Almost petulantly.
Tiria put on her best defiant front.
“Portman.”
“Hm…?”
“I am Tiria Portman.”
Not the Lady of Weibin. The lady of the Portman house.
Your wife.
She couldn’t voice the rest.
She feared his contempt, feared becoming less than a stranger.
Better to remain an outsider, in her cowardly heart.
Fortunately, his expression didn’t twist.
Her voice came out steady, too.
The etiquette drilled into her through harsh childhood discipline masked her sorrow.
For the first time, those grueling punishments felt like a blessing.
He asked, looking flustered.
“Is that all?”
“Do you need another reason?”
Ah, she’d managed to say that properly, too.
But how long could she keep this up?
Under the desk, her hands clenched in her lap until they went numb.
Stay much longer, and she’d make a pathetic spectacle.
“May I go now? I have work left.”
“Th-that….”
Elric’s lips parted, then he slowly nodded.
Tiria rose from her seat.
She feigned composure.
Straightening her back, she placed her right hand over her chest and gave a brief bow.
“Then I’ll take my leave.”
She lifted her head and hurried out of the parlor, mindful of her pace.
Walking the corridor alone, she steadied her breathing.
Her insides stung sharply, but thankfully, it was familiar.
By tomorrow, she’d be able to look at him as usual.