Just Ordinary Relations
“If it’s about our relationship—”
“Ah! I—I didn’t mean anything by it. It’s simply that it’s been so long since I’ve seen the two of you together…”
After the divorce was finalized, Duke Bertis had neither remarried nor given the slightest indication that he was entertaining any proposals.
Had no one been after him?
Hardly. Though he had been married once, the duke had no children, and he remained strikingly young and handsome. Even returning to the marriage market, Duke Bertis was still the most desirable groom in the entire kingdom.
Young ladies who had long been waiting for precisely this opportunity—and other nobles as well—scrambled for any chance to exchange even a single word with him.
Yet he never grew close to anyone. There was not so much as a whisper of scandal.
Riena, the former duchess who had parted ways with him, had likewise vanished from society long ago, disappearing without a trace. As a result, no one knew where she was or what she was doing; most simply assumed she had gone off on an extended journey.
Once divorced from Bertis, she had, after all, reverted to the status of a fallen noble.
And yet, after roughly a year, the two of them had walked into the atelier together.
Rosaline was perceptive enough to guess that their relationship had recovered to some degree. Still, one’s own assumptions and reality could diverge. That was why she had dared to ask—
“We’re just on ordinary terms.”
The only answer she received was an inscrutable one.
“…”
Ordinary terms?
Rosaline rolled her eyes thoughtfully, trying to parse the meaning. She wanted to ask what he meant, but she could not presume to question the duke’s words.
“I’d like you to prepare that blue mermaid dress we saw earlier.”
The blue mermaid dress.
It was the gown Riena had particularly liked. Herman, who had been carefully noting which clothes and accessories caught her eye, mentioned several more items besides.
“My wife seemed fond of it.”
He deliberately toyed with his left hand. Rosaline’s gaze dropped naturally—and her eyes went wide as saucers.
A diamond ring glittered on his ring finger.
“Understood. Then… wait—what?”
H-hold on.
“And when the new catalogue comes out, send it to the manor as well.”
What did I just see…?
“We really don’t need this many.”
Riena let out a long sigh as she surveyed the mountain of boxes piled in front of the shop.
She knew perfectly well that an expense of this scale was less than the dirt under Bertis’s fingernails, but watching money pour out right before her eyes still made the back of her neck tighten.
What she truly could not understand, though…
…was why he was so bewilderingly enthusiastic about buying her clothes.
…Come to think of it, he’d been like this before, too.
A man who scrutinized every budget with ruthless precision would, when it came to anything involving her, spend money as freely as water flowing downhill.
Even among the clothes she already owned, there were more than a few she had never properly worn. Trends in high society might change quickly, but this still felt excessive.
A few dresses for public events she could understand.
But house dresses and nightgowns are only ever worn inside the manor…
He had used this opportunity to replace every last one of those as well.
On that point, Herman had something to say.
“I’ve heard that society wives are quite sensitive to fashion.”
“…That’s true, but people don’t usually go this far.”
Nobles were expected to maintain a certain level of dignity. Riena understood that much. Maintaining dignity and buying far more new things than necessary, however, were entirely different matters.
And it wasn’t only clothes—they had purchased a host of small accessories as well, hadn’t they?
“Still.”
Herman began carefully.
“It’s been so long… I wanted to do this for you.”
He already knew she was not the sort of person whose favor could be bought with money. The reason he had arranged this outing at all was to secure even a little more time together—and because he wanted to do at least one more thing for her with his own hands.
He knew how hard she had worked all this time. He wanted to give her something more, even if it was only this.
“…Is that not allowed?”
His voice was cautious, as though he dreaded the slightest chance of upsetting her.
And so—
“Th-that’s not it, but…”
—any protest she might have made vanished without a trace.
“I’ve already asked them to send the new catalogue, so we should receive it soon.”
Before she could get another word in, the incorrigible opportunist drove the stake home.
“While we’re at it, I was thinking we might have new wedding rings made.”
“Rings?”
Herman nodded.
Riena instinctively lowered her gaze. On the ring finger of the left hand resting atop his solid thigh sat a cleanly designed band of gold and diamonds.
It was the very ring they had commissioned when they first married.
“…”
The moment she saw it sitting there so boldly, a strange feeling washed over her. Unlike him, she was not wearing a ring.
Not that she had thrown hers away—it was simply back at the house where she had been living.
“There’s no need to have new ones made.”
“What—”
“I still have it.”
Riena clenched her empty hand once, then opened it again.
“The wedding ring.”
“…”
“I—I wasn’t keeping it for any particular reason. I just… left it at the house, that’s all.”
Truthfully, she had never intended to sell it in the first place.
Had she sold it, she would have secured her retirement funds long ago and then some. The ring he had commissioned for her back then was finished with such exquisite gems and craftsmanship that it felt far too precious to set aside after a mere contract period.
He had supposedly mobilized every master artisan in the capital. The diamond itself had been brought from a distant island—the finest grade available—so its present value was almost impossible to calculate.
How could anyone simply discard something made with that much care?
“Ahem.”
She pushed aside the faintly embarrassing thought and looked at him—
“…?”
—only to catch the man turning toward the window and smoothing down the corner of his mouth.
“Wh-why are you smiling?”
At her words, his broad shoulders gave a startled twitch. As though she had struck a nerve, his eyes flickered violently.
“I’m glad… I wasn’t the only one who kept it.”
A peculiar thrill seemed to rise in him at the knowledge that he alone had not been the one clinging to a remnant of their former marriage.
Feeling oddly flustered, Riena stole a sidelong glance at the ring on his finger.
Earlier she must have been too tense from her first outing in so long to notice it properly.
“When did you start wearing it?”
“From the moment you agreed to the marriage.”
Before that, he could not have worn it even if he had wanted to.
The position of head of House Bertis drew attention whether he sought it or not, and society’s eyes always raked over every detail of him. If word got out that he was still wearing the ring he had shared with his former wife—
I wouldn’t mind if they talked about me.
—but the gossip would inevitably reach Riena, who was living her own life. From now on, though, that was no longer a concern.
“From now on, you should wear yours too.”
“Actually… there’s something I wanted to ask you about that.”
Herman closed his mouth and waited for her to speak.
“I’d like to stop by my house for a bit.”
“Your house?”
“Yes. The ring is there, and…”
There was nothing major to pack or bring. She had been planning to leave soon anyway. She had already disposed of and organized most of her belongings, so she only wanted to collect a few small things.
Hearing her out, Herman nodded without protest.
“You’re free to go, of course, but it would be wiser to take some knights with you, just in case.”
The merchant guildmaster was still on the run. There was always the chance he might come looking for her—or that people connected to him were watching. For her safety, traveling with knights seemed far better than going alone.
Riena bobbed her head in agreement.
“Then would it be all right if I went tomorrow?”
“Whenever you like.”
It made no difference when she went.
From now on, her home would be Bertis Manor anyway.
Herman lightly toyed with his wedding ring and let the corner of his mouth lift.
“I’ll go pay my respects to His Majesty.”
Now that they had decided to reunite, there was no shortage of matters that needed handling.
I’ll leave the moment the sun rises.
Ordinarily, an audience at the palace would have been nothing but a nuisance—yet somehow, right now, he could not wait for tomorrow to arrive.