I’m In Trouble Because My Husband Is So Cute - Chapter 21

At the words she had never expected at all, Iellie asked the question again unknowingly.

The Duke then nodded his head lightly.

“Of course. Now it’s time for you to see the room, too.”

‘Oh my god, what the hell is this? What wind is blowing?’

Iellie widened her eyes.

“Anyway, Zachary cares about you, and I…”

The Duke, who had clouded the end of his words, narrowed his brow. He looks like he has somehow made a slip of the tongue.

“…It’s nothing.”

“Yes? Yes…”

When the Duke showed such a reaction, she also felt embarrassed. An awkward silence descended for a moment.

Rolling her eyes, she suddenly glanced at the Duke’s desk.

‘Uh, that…?’

There was a vial of medicine.

Pills made of round herbs were piled up one after another in a glass bottle. The amount left in the vial was about half full. If that’s the case, it means that the missing drugs have already been consumed by the Duke…

‘Is he not feeling well?’

Looking back, he always had a tired face.

Then, the Duke raised his hand and removed the vial. Putting the medicine bottle in his drawer, it seemed that he noticed that Iellie was looking at the medicine bottle.

“Duke, are you feeling unwell?”

“…No, it’s not like that.”

The Duke, who had a slightly perplexed face, shook his head.

However, in a suspicious mood, Iellie stared at him intently. Because of that, the Duke then clapped his hand in a dry motion and pointed towards his door.

“That’s it. You can retreat.”

“Yes, I understand.”

After quietly closing the door, she came out and glanced back. What did he mean by what he said now? ‘Anyway, Zachary cares about you, and I…’

…Does it mean that the Duke will recognize her as a family?

Thinking so, she blushed without realizing.

‘I thought the Duke wasn’t interested in me at all.’

Excited, Iellie smiled broadly. It was far better for the Duke to have a little favor with her than to be utterly indifferent to her.

“…But, what was that vial?”

As she returned to her own room with her light footsteps, she suddenly tilted her head.

Where did the Duke feel unwell? But well, he said it was fine. In no time, Iellie brushed off the thoughts.

***

The nerve war between Iellie and Countess Laurent was now at its climax.

To be precise, it was more like the Countess trying to win over Iellie somehow. Though she smashed it all.

“Countess Laurent, you said you would teach me.”

She smiled gracefully. Her voice was sweet, but the thorns hidden in it were quite sharp. “What if I don’t even know the number of spare daggers paid to the Knights?”

In fact, Iellie was in a state of anger inside. No, she said she would teach, but she hasn’t gotten any help?

The Knights was a group that was raised with considerable effort even by the Duchy family, and their material support was also treated with great importance.

In particular, Zachary, the Heir Apparent, also works with the Knights.

“The same goes for the new leather armor we’re fitting. The quantity is absurdly low for what we asked for.”

For a moment, the Countess gave a stern expression. Even so, the face she has been making since morning was like that because the problem Iellie was pointing out was not one that the Countess can refute.

Eventually, The Countess answered.

“Do you really need to care so much about the Knights? Knights…”

“…Countess Laurent. What did you say?”

Iellie glared at Countess Laurent with a ferocious gaze. What is she talking about now?

“This is the North, and the Duchy is the most powerful line of deterrence that directly subdues barbarians and beasts.”

“I know that! I just…!”

“To say the least, I think the budget allocated by the Countess is rather unreasonable.”

“….”

Countess Laurent dyed her face a new red as if her self-esteem had been damaged. Nonetheless, Iellie was going to go over all of the things that made her uncomfortable this time. She opened her mouth in a muffled tone.

“Besides, you’ve budgeted to replace the decorative tiles in the dining room.”

“Yes, I saw this while passing by, and I thought it was pretty old-fashioned, so I did.”

“Madam. That’s not old-fashioned, it’s antique.”

The surprised Iellie spit her words. It was the dining room that the Duke’s family always used, and she just came and went like that?

The colorful tiles were overlaid with the years and became something in an elegant color. This was close to an effort to somehow interfere with the livelihood of the Duchy.

She spoke her words coldly.

“Countess, you don’t have to show me your poor eyes.”

“How could you say that…!”

“Let’s say you have an eye that doesn’t distinguish between the antique and the old. But…”

Iellie turned to the Countess, whose expression was hardened blue. She then asks, squinting her eyes. “Do you really need to change the Duke’s decorative tiles at this point?”

“It’s for the dignity of the Duchy!”

“Well. Hessenweitz is a noble family with a long history comparable to that of the imperial family.”

She replied softly.

What the hell are you trying to say? Anxiety crept into the countess’ eyes.

“I don’t think that the dignity of such a family will be damaged by the decorative tiles in the dining room.”

“The Duchy must use the best of things!”

“Yes, but I’m not sure where that decorative tile looks bad.”

‘Why should I be arguing like this about decorative tiles…?’

With that thought, Iellie furrowed his eyebrows.

“Were the tiles broken or is it cracked?”

“It’s not like that, but it’s still a very old thing—!”

“All of them symbolized the longstanding of the Duke’s Duchy.”

She cut her words with a knife, and gathered her lips together. The pale green eyes glanced at the Countess.

“More than that, I’m a little disappointed with the Countess.”

“….”

Here, she had to be careful with her words. The Countess chose to take a step back rather than add her words.

Observing from the side, Iellie was basically calm and rational. Besides, she found out her opponent’s shortcomings easily. If the other person made a mistake, they’re basically done for.

“You don’t know the importance of the Duchy and the Knights more than a southern hillbilly.”

“Lady Hessenweitz!”

“The Countess seems to be unaware of her position as the maternal grandmother of the duke and a noble in the north.”

Iellie smiled softly. The Northern wall that blocks the numerous beasts and barbarians—Duchy of Hessenweitz.

A strong military force is needed for the Duchy to perform the role of a barrier. Northern Knights were reputed to be the most powerful knights in the Empire. And, among the knights is her husband.

‘Zachary…’

Iellie bit her lips gently.

At that moment, the Countess, who did not want to be pushed by her words, cried out in a fit.

“Uh, isn’t there the Heir Apparent, anyway!”

“…I beg your pardon?”

For a moment, Iellie’s eyes became as cold as the freshly fallen snow. But, the Countess didn’t stop talking. “Can’t it be solved with the power of winter that the Heir Apparent has?!”

“Are you saying that now…?”

It was then that the Countess realized that she had made a mistake, and the Countess bit her mouth.

Iellie straightened her back and stared at her.

The light green gaze, as soft as a bud, was now filled with the light of contempt.

“When the Heir Apparent was still a young boy…”

She opened her mouth in a subdued voice.

When she first met him, she remembered the little boy who endured unreasonable violence with an expressionless face. A small face that was tired of being unable to kill emotions. Blue eyes that reflexively set a vigilant look because they had been fed up for a long time.

A young boy who was sold off for being a monster…

“I haven’t forgotten that the people of the North called the Heir Apparent a ‘monster’.”

At that time, the boy was forced into a dangerous position as if it were taken for granted.

Knights with no scars, but her husband was staggering in blood. Now, he maintains an amicable relationship with the knights, and Zachary seems to have forgiven them for that time.

To be honest, Iellie did not forget that time.

“He was a monster then, and now you say, ‘It’s all right because he has the power of winter’?”

No one helped Zachary at that time.

They thought it was okay for the little monster to endure such a wound. Because of the magic of winter, of course, they thought that Zachary could be forced into the most dangerous place.

“That’s a very selfish statement.”

She scoffed. It was an obvious ridicule.

At that moment, the Countess had truly found out that she had touched Iellie’s wrath.

“That’s not what I meant…!”

“Then, what did you mean?”

She looked at the Countess with a cool expression.

The Countess chewed her lips. The little girl standing in front of her is a pale girl who has not yet matured. Although why was she getting so frustrated?

She then tried to come up with some excuse, but she couldn’t.

‘What should I say at times like this?’

She shouldn’t have brought up the story of the Heir Apparent. Since there was a time when he was harassed for being a ‘monster’, Iellie would be offended no matter how she said it.

She doesn’t know what to say.

At the time when the Countess was anxious for a long time, the sound of footsteps echoed.

Then, a light voice was heard.

“Len.”

“Za, Zachary?”

For a moment, Iellie’s voice was disturbed. Raising her round eyes like a startled bunny, she looked back and doubted her eyes.

Zachary was standing obliquely on the spot.

Beneath his pure white silver hair, the deep blue eyes filled with playfulness gazed at her. He wrinkled the back of her nose and smiled.

“Surprised?”

“What, the subjugation period isn’t over yet?”

Iellie muttered blankly. It was a whole month-long subjugation. However, now it has only been three weeks since he went out. Can he come back already?

Meanwhile, Zachary took a step, and said, “I miss you, so I must be able to endure it.”

“The subjugation?”

“All done.”

‘…Already?’ Iellie blinked her eyebrows.

He reached out his hands and touched her cheek. A satisfied smile spread inside the blue eyes. This feeling… She doesn’t know how much he missed her.

With a bewildered look, she asks again.

“But, what about the other knights? Are you here alone?”

“That….”

Zachary rolled his eyes. After a while, his face became awkward.

He opened his mouth, averting her eyes.

“They’ll come after me from behind.”

“What?”

“I came alone. Maybe they’ll arrive by tomorrow?”

“….”

Iellie lost her words.

So, now, alone, he returned to the Duke’s castle first? Well, if it’s only a day apart, can they just come together? Although it was aching, she asked a more urgent question.

“Did you visit the Duke?”

“No, I came from here as soon as I got back.”

“Oh my God, you should have found the Duke first!”

Enraged, she stared at him once again. Come to think of it, Zachary’s look is not clean. He seems to have changed his clothes to clean ones, though there was a slight hint of tiredness on his face.

Still, Zachary let out a small laugh. Unlike Iellie in her bewilderment, he was still relaxed.

“Father, what, isn’t he someone I can always see?”

“Isn’t that the same for me?”

“It’s not like that.”

Zachary shook his head in a determined manner. He then patted her shoulder and said.