Under My Protection

"Your Grace?"

Whether it was Cecilia's violet gaze fixed so steadily on him that flustered him, Victor found himself taking an involuntary step back.

"My lady. You said you bought the medicinal herbs with money you brought from your own family?"

"Yes. That's correct."

"Why did you spend personal funds on the Grand Duke's household affairs? If you need something, say so and take it. Business of the Grand Duchy should be paid for with the Grand Duchy's money."

"This was purely my own greed. And at the same time, a calculated move as your fiancée—to win the hearts of the estate's servants."

"What do you mean by that?"

Cecilia met the red eyes studying her and spoke.

"When those in power seek information on a political rival, the first people they try to turn are those who serve that rival. In other words—the servants of Walterheim Estate. To prevent that, I needed to win their loyalty with my own hands."

Victor listened in a daze, certain the "those in power" she meant were the Imperial Family. He lifted the salve from the desk.

"So this ointment you made yourself was meant to buy their hearts."

"Yes. Exactly."

"Then I understand even less."

"Your Grace?"

"You came north. You entered my fence. That makes you one of mine."

"…"

"And officially, you are my fiancée. You are someone who need not hesitate to spend the Northern Grand Duchy's money on northern affairs. From now on, when you mean to do something like this, tell me first. Do not try to handle it with only your own strength, my lady."

Cecilia thought: a thoroughly contractual relationship—and yet he still meant to protect anyone who stepped into his domain. Contradictory, and somehow warmer than the cold arrangements of the Imperial Court.

So he draws a hard line between public and private… and yet goes soft in places like this?

Victor, for his part, was thinking of a future in which Cecilia, needing money somewhere beyond his sight and having none, slipped and fell into the Magical ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Tome.

Please just spend the Grand Duchy's money so that never happens!!!

"Understood? From now on, when you mean to undertake something, come to me or to Butler Jester first and give us notice so we can support you."

"Yes, Your Grace."

"Then I'll be goi—"

"One moment."

"What is i—"

In that instant Victor doubted his own eyes at the warmth and unfamiliar texture on his hand.

"Your hands look rather damaged…"

"Ah."

Cecilia had smoothed the moisturizing cream she had made onto his hands.

"It works well. Please."

"…Thank you."

The moment Victor left the workshop, Ran flushed scarlet and hurried over to Cecilia.

"Kyaaah!!! My lady! What was that just now?!"

"Hm? What?"

"What do you mean, what?! You just casually made skin contact with His Grace!"

"Hm? I just put moisturizer on his hands. What's the fuss?"

"Eeeeh… between a man and a woman, that kind of thing…"

"Ah-ah. It isn't like that."

From the start, theirs was a thoroughly contractual bond. There was no such feeling between that cold Grand Duke of the North and herself.

Only—

His hands are so badly ruined… he must be fighting terribly hard battles…

"…What was that. What was that."

Was that flirting? Or pure innocence? He was still analyzing that morning's contact with Cecilia in the office when—

Knock knock.

"Young master."

At Jester's voice beyond the door I immediately straightened my posture.

"Come in."

Jester entered the office and began staring fixedly at my desk.

"What."

"That is…"

"Moisturizing cream the lady made. Surprisingly effective."

"Ooh. The lady, you say? Ah, I had heard she was skilled in magic and pharmacology, but to this extent…"

"So what is it you wanted?"

"Hahaha. The matter of the servants who treated Lady Cecilia with hostility—the ones you asked me about before."

"Are there any?"

Jester shrugged and shook his head.

"They've already fallen head over heels for the lady."

"Huh?"

I set out after Jester through the estate. When we came upon a maid on break, Jester approached her.

"Butler? Wha— Your Grace as well?!"

"At ease. You're resting; no need to ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠leap up just because you saw us."

"Thank you…"

"By the way—that."

When I pointed at the little jar in the maid's hands, she smiled.

"Ah, this is the moisturizing cream the lady gave us. She distributed it to all the maids in the estate!"

She made enough for everyone and handed it out in a single day?

Was Cecilia some goddess of manufacturing?

"Working ruins your hands, but when I put on the cream the lady gave me, it doesn't even hurt—it feels so much better! At first the maids were terribly worried because she was a lady from the capital, but for someone like her to become the mistress of Walterheim Estate now…!"

"Ah."

"Heh. Shall we go on?"

"…"

Leaving the maid behind, we arrived at the kitchen, deep in meal preparations. Hans stood at its heart, harrying the cooks as he worked.

"Hans."

"Ah—Butler, and Your Grace as well? What brings you here?"

"Hahaha. Sorry to interrupt when you're so busy."

"Not at all. One of the things that had been weighing on me was solved by the lady, so my mind is easier."

"Solved? What do you mean?"

Jester drew a ledger from his breast and held it out to me.

"…You know I'm bad with ledgers."

"Have a look, please."

"Look at what—wait."

The various merchant houses neatly recorded in the ledger were not the ones that had been supplying the Grand Duchy until now.

"This is…"

"The lady came to me and asked whether there was a house that could supply fresh vegetables."

Come to think of it, at lunch she did look as if something about the food was bothering her.

"Lately many houses have been keeping quiet about trade ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠with the North under Imperial pressure. One word from the lady connected us to the Merchants' Guild."

"Sob… All this time I was killing myself picking through vegetables that only trickled in like rain in a drought—and now I can put quality produce on Your Grace's and the lady's table!"

What the hell. That was terrifying. Moving the Merchants' Guild with a single word—just who was Cecilia?

Even in the novel, her influence in high society was enormous. Even with her tie to the Crown Prince cut, the people who once bound themselves to her are still connected to her.

"An opportunity to bet on the North, I suppose."

"Heh heh."

Back in the office, I scrubbed my face dry with both hands and looked at Jester.

"Stealing the hearts of the maids and the kitchen staff in a single day…"

"Haha. Isn't she remarkable? When she came to me and said she wanted to try changing the North's supply routes, you should have seen the look in her eyes, Your Grace."

"Ugh."

"One of Your Grace's worries has lessened, has it not?"

I would like that to be true.

"Somehow I still feel uneasy… about something."

"Honestly, for the lady to have been stuck beside that piece of trash—what a waste!"

"Right? Lucky the Crown Prince made a mistake. Now someone like her has come to the North."

"I heard from Ran unnie she's even making medicine for the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠knights."

"Good heavens… just how capable is the lady?"

"Ahem!!!"

At the sound of Leni's throat-clearing behind them, the maids cut their gossip short and scattered to their posts. Watching them go, Leni's face twisted.

Damn it. I was told she wasn't an ordinary girl, but I didn't expect this much.

Once inside her room, Leni scanned her surroundings, confirmed she was alone, and drew out the crystal orb she had hidden deep in the desk, setting it on the surface.

"Periodic report. Lady Cecilia is currently residing at Walterheim Estate. We expected she would be isolated, but the estate's maids and cooks have already fallen completely for her. Isolation appears difficult."

Crackle.

Noise washed over the crystal orb, and a moment later characters began to surface.

"As for that, rest easy. Butler Jester, who must oversee the ledgers, is swamped with the work His Grace brought in, so it will be easily handled. And—"

Leni looked at the powder in the glass vial and smiled thinly.

"As for the lady, leave her to me. I already have a method in mind."

"Haa."

"You've worked hard, Lady Cecilia."

"You've worked hard too, Ran."

The way Ran had so naturally begun calling her Lady Cecilia held a strangely soothing magic of its own.

"Up we go! Shall I set it here?"

Back from the workshop, Cecilia looked over the wound salves in her room and smiled with quiet satisfaction.

"How is it? What did the knight who tried it first say?"

"Luche unnie used it and said it works better than anything you can buy. Lady Cecilia, you weren't actually a doctor in the capital before you came here, were you?"

"Heh. No. When I was little, His Highness the Crown Prince praised my medicine, and after that—ah."

Cecilia shook her head. Ran tilted her head at the sight, then excused herself to prepare tea and slipped out of the room.

"Still, I'm glad I could be of help."

If she could make her usefulness known in the North like this, Victor would surely give his all to keep their contract as well.

"A relationship of nothing but that… am I the same as I used to be?"

Knock knock.

"My lady, are you within?"

At the voice of Maid Chief Leni beyond the knock, Cecilia's eyes turned sharp.

…What? Why is the maid chief here all of a sudden.

"Yes. Come in."

The door opened and Leni entered with a kindly smile.

"What brings you, Maid Chief?"

"I was worried the northern cold might be taking a toll on you, my lady, so I prepared some tea. Would you care for some?"

"Oh my. How kind. May I have a cup?"

Glug.

Tea poured into the prepared cup. Cecilia lifted it and began to take in the fragrance.

Hm?

"Is something the matter?"

"No. The scent is lovely."

…This scent.

Medicine was not made from healing herbs alone. To counter poison with poison, Cecilia had come to possess a knowledge of toxic plants deeper than almost anyone's.

This fragrance drifting out so faintly… it's a toxic herb that, taken in quantity, induces depression.

Why would Maid Chief Leni be giving her this?

Even for checking the future mistress of the house, this crosses the line. No—this toxic herb is hard to obtain in the North to begin with…

"My lady?"

…Could this woman have some connection to the Imperial Family? For now I should drink it and then detoxi—

"I'm baaack!!!"

Bang!!!

In the split second Leni's gaze flicked toward Ran, who came bursting roughly through the door, Cecilia let the teacup slip naturally from her fingers to the floor.

"Oh dear."

"Ah…"

"I dropped the cup. I'm sorry, Leni."

"Not at all, my lady. I'll pour you another—"

Seeing Leni lift the teapot to pour, Ran tilted her head and asked,

"But Maid Chief. The tea's gone cold."

"What does that matter?"

"Well… you always tell us that if the tea cools, we must prepare a fresh pot…"

"Oh my. Is that so? Then there's nothing for it. I'll have Leni's tea another time—shall we drink the tea Ran prepared for now?"

Ran's eyes sparkled as she began setting out the tea. At the sight, Leni clicked her tongue and left Cecilia's room.

"Well done, Ran."

"Huh? Did I do something?"