If You Wish For A Married Couple’s Duties - Chapter 93

The carnival, which marked the end of spring, has ended successfully.

After the festival, the people of Esbaden castle returned back to their typical daily lives.

The same held true for the Esbaden castle’s ducal couple.

“A guest?”

Dooha frowned at the head maid’s words.

“Is it Daniel?”

No, it probably isn’t Daniel. If that was the case, the head maid would have mentioned it in advance.

‘Why did he have that sort of expression?’

Dooha recalled the night of the fireworks with him.

That night, Daniel jokingly told her that he’d stay with her forever.

However, those eyes seemed more sincere than ever.

Even Dooha, who could always read Daniel’s mind, felt rather confused then.

There was no way to know which was his sincere heart.

“Madam, what’s wrong?”

“Oh, it’s nothing.”

Dooha shook her head to shake away those idle thoughts.

“So who is looking for me?”

A guest that came when cleaning up the carnival is keeping everyone busy.

It must be either something that’s clearly nothing much, or an urgent situation.

“Well, it’s a man called Nihir.”

Dooha’s face hardened cold at the news of an uninvited guest’s visit.

* * *

Dooha frowned at the appearance of the person she spotted the moment she entered the drawing room.

Her first brother, Nihir, was half-lying on the sofa and shaking a leg.

Two Bashal warriors stood behind the sofa, appearing to be members of his entourage.

It seems like they were Nihir’s newly selected warriors, from how they didn’t look familiar.

“It’s been a while, Sister.”

At the same time, Nihir greeted her in the familiar Bashal language.

He scanned his sister, who was wearing imperial-styled clothes, and couldn’t help but laugh.

“I don’t recognise you at all when you’re wearing this. You’ve truly become a member of the Empire now, haven’t you?”

“Sit properly, Nihir.”

“Are you going to nag before saying hello? Your manners haven’t changed in the slightest, have they?”

“We don’t have a close enough relationship to say hello, do we?”

Dooha sat across from him with a frown.

“Why are you here?”

“Why am I here?”

Nihir shrugged and picked up the refreshments served by the maids with his bare hands.

“My only younger sister has gotten married, and yet there’s no news of her, so there’s no way I wouldn’t be worried.”

“If you’ve said that to be funny, you succeeded. That’s the funniest thing that I’ve heard recently.”

Didn’t he say that a woman that’s married is no longer a family member?

Dooha glared at her brother.

“Tell me what you’ve come for.”

“You’re cold-hearted. That temper of yours is still the same.”

Nihir clicked his tongue at his sister.

Then, he turned the arrow towards Layla, who was standing behind Dooha.

“It’s been a while, Layla.”

“…I greet you, Lord Nihir.”

“I allowed you to go along because you said you’re familiar with the Empire, but why is my sister’s temper the same as when she’s in Bashal? At this rate, it would be a relief if those Imperial guys don’t hold her responsible. What the hell were you doing?”

At a loss, Layla kept her gaze on the floor at Nihir’s rebuke.

When she was in Bashal, Layla was persistently bullied by the Nihir’s faction just because she served Dooha.

She wasn’t afraid of an Imperial prince, but the only thing she was afraid of was Nihir.

Dooha sensed the fear of her handmaiden and her expression hardened.

“If there’s something you want to say, speak to me, Nihir. Stop picking a fight for nothing.”

“What do you mean, picking a fight? I was just casually asking.”

“In that case, you can ask me.”

Nihir was briefly startled by the pair of bright golden eyes that stared at him like she was about to devour him.

“Ahem, about my business here.”

Nihir munched on the refreshments and continued.

“Not long ago, Father has officially delegated the position of chieftain to me.”

“…What?”

In Bashal, normally, the successor would only be able to formally succeed this position in the event of the chieftain’s death.

As Dooha’s face turned pale, he waved his hand to reassure her.

“Don’t worry, he’s not dead.”

“Then why?”

“As you’re aware, Father is old and his health has deteriorated, so he just stepped down early.”

Was he feeling quite unwell? Dooha’s expression turned vague.

Although they don’t have a close father-daughter relationship now, she couldn’t help but feel worried.

At one time, he was the person she respected more than anyone else in the world.

“…And so?”

“What?”

“So that’s all that happened? Are you asking me to congratulate you since you’ve become the chieftain?”

“Hah.”

Nihir laughed bitterly at his sister’s reaction, which was calm to the point of being cold.

He’d expected it, but he didn’t think that she would be this unresponsive.

She wanted to be the chieftain so badly, so he thought that she would be jealous.

To think that her expression just changed quickly into a nonchalant look.

Honestly, she’s been an unlucky lass since way back when.

“No. I wouldn’t have bothered to come all this way just to gain your congratulatory words.”

“Then, what’s the real reason for your visit?”

“Well…”

Nihir ignored his sister staring at him and began to look away.

“I didn’t eat anything on my way here, so I’m hungry.”

He tossed the snack back onto the plate.

“It seems like there’s no tradition to serve guests a meal in this outstanding Empire, is there?”

Dooha’s hand balled into tight fists at Nihir’s brazen actions.

‘He isn’t willing to speak for free.’

To be honest, she wasn’t curious about his purpose for coming here.

She was just worried about whether his so-called business was important enough to affect the relationship between Bashal and the Empire.

If they were in Bashal, she would have immediately punched him, but this was Esbaden castle.

Even Dooha wouldn’t want to gain a reputation of being a duchess that beat up her brother.

‘…Let’s deal with him suitably.’

To her, she only had to figure out the real purpose of Nihir’s visit here.

It’s fortunate that the duke was away for the knight’s training.

She didn’t want to show her husband her male blood-relative, who she’d find disgraceful no matter wherever he went.

“Follow me, I’ll take you to the dining hall.”

Dooha rose from her seat with a chilly expression.

She was determined to drive him out of the castle before Leonhart returns.

* * *

“I don’t know about others, but the taste of the Empire’s cooking isn’t that bad.”

Nihir sliced the steak before him excitedly.

Dooha frowned as she watched his actions. It’s because there’s something strange that has been bothering her since a while ago.

‘Since when has Nihir learnt imperial-styled table manners?’

Her brother was ignorant towards the empire’s culture and etiquette.

He didn’t learn it partly because he was averse towards the Empire, and another reason was because he couldn’t be bothered to learn it.

Such a Nihir, who wasn’t even taught, was holding the fork and knife in a rather plausible manner.

“You’re rather familiar with table manners.”

The expressionless Dooha, who sat across from him, opened her mouth.

“When did you learn it?”

“…What.”

Nihir shrugged while holding a fork and a knife.

“I learned a little before coming here. Shouldn’t you uphold your dignity, when you’re nothing but a duchess in name?”

Dooha snorted internally.

He spoke proudly, like it was for the sake of his only sister.

It caused goosebumps to rise.

“I’m so thankful that I’m tearing up.”

“Tsk, I’d never find you likeable due to your sarcastic way of answering.”

“Who wants you to find me likeable?”

“You don’t want to lose a single word, no matter what.”

Nihir seemed to be sarcastic, but his expression eased immediately.

“Never mind. What’s the point of fighting amongst brothers and sisters when we’re adults? And now that we both have everything that we want, there’s no reason for us to fight.”

“You have everything you want?”

“Yes.”

Nihir chewed on a big chunk of meat as he replied casually.

“I’ve become the chieftain, and you’ve become the Empire’s duchess. Haven’t we both achieved everything that we wanted?”

“…Don’t speak nonsense.”

Dooha’s voice lowered, turning sharp and sanguineous.

“You may have achieved what you wanted, but I didn’t come to the Empire willingly.”

She has fully embraced the duke, Esbaden castle and the Empire now. But it wasn’t like that from the very beginning.

While it was her choice to go to the empire, it wasn’t entirely on her own accord.

She was capable enough, but she wasn’t chosen as the chieftain, and there wasn’t any permissible position although she wanted to work for the tribe.

In the end, she had no choice but to choose the marriage alliance.

Turning her back on Bashal, which was once her everything.

“You ought to thank me, Nihir.”

Dooha looked at her older brother, who was chosen by the tribe’s elders because he was a man.

She didn’t know about anyone else, but Nihir always had to thank her.

Even though he’d bullied Dooha since they were young, he was forgiven because he was a brother, and he was still recognised as chief despite lacking ability and possessing poor character.

“You were able to become a chief because I came here.”

However, Nihir, who normally would’ve burst into anger out of his inferiority complex, did not respond for some reason.

He suddenly threw down the tableware he was holding, and folded his arms quietly.

“Yes, well spoken.”

“What?”

“You’re right. It’s all thanks to you that we have an alliance with the Empire.”

Confusion filled Dooha’s eyes at Nihir’s answer.

“As such, I’m going to take this opportunity to repay my only sister.”

Nihir nodded his head and tapped his finger on the table.

“You asked me earlier what I was here for.”

His dark eyes, which looked nothing like Dooha, shone with malice.

“I came to ask the Duke of Esbaden to divorce you, Sister.”

* * *