Reclaiming the Seal
...Just what is she thinking?
Lady Peasant stared fixedly at Riena, who looked thoroughly self-assured.
She could at least deduce that the woman had come for the Bertis seal... yet she had no idea whatsoever how Riena planned to take it, or what scheme she might be hatching.
Worse, instead of getting straight to the point, Riena was casually inquiring after her health and subtly testing the waters. How have you been lately? Have you taken up any new hobbies? The questions were all so trivial that there was nothing to seize upon for intent.
As time dragged on and Lady Peasant found herself less and less able to read the other woman's mind, she finally broke the silence herself.
"Isn't this enough?"
"Pardon?"
Riena looked at her with faintly startled eyes.
Even that gaze struck Lady Peasant as affected, and she frowned.
"You didn't come all this way just to catch up on old times."
"..."
"I have no desire to waste any more of my time on you."
Simply enduring this ridiculous wordplay until now had been more than enough. Especially when a gift for the Duchess was due to arrive any moment. With this woman refusing to leave, irritation was inevitable.
And what a gift it was—an artwork purchased by siphoning off the family's internal assets. Should it catch this woman's eye, it could become quite the headache.
"If you've come for the seal, it seems a bit early yet."
No longer inclined to drag things out, Lady Peasant at last revealed her true thoughts.
Riena mulled over the words, then quietly asked back,
"Too early?"
"Exactly as I said. You've experienced it yourself, so you know—this place can change in the blink of an eye. A whole year, then? Need I say more?"
Lady Peasant continued in a gentle tone, as though she were a concerned elder of the house who truly worried for her.
"You've been away for a full year. The household affairs must feel quite unfamiliar by now. Why not take your time, settle in a little, and then take it on?"
She paused briefly before adding with pointed meaning,
"You'll have to show your face in society again as well. There must be no end of things that need your immediate attention."
All of it was merely an excuse. In truth, it meant she was not to dream of the Bertis seal for the time being.
Riena found it absurd, yet she did not contradict her at once. After a short pause to clear the air around them, she drew in a breath of the mild afternoon air and stated her position.
"As you say, my lady, I've come today to reclaim the seal."
Yes, that's more like it.
Lady Peasant lifted her chin as she watched the woman finally bare her intentions.
"Anyone listening would think I'd stolen it from you."
"You may not have stolen it, but you do have to return it, don't you?"
Riena drew a firm line.
"You now bear the name of House Peasant."
"..."
"And I have regained the name of Bertis."
"...You insolent little—"
Lady Peasant's brow twisted as clear fury surfaced. She had expected the girl to know her place and withdraw, yet here she was boldly throwing back that she was a married-out woman who should keep her mouth shut.
"Don't delude yourself. Even if I bear the Peasant name, I am still the late Duke's sister and Herman's aunt."
"But that is merely an additional status. In society these days, aren't you addressed as the Marchioness of Peasant?"
Having corrected both house and title, Riena let her lips curve into a smile.
"Moreover, the current head of Bertis is him. And I am his wife—the mistress of the house. You, my lady, are a noblewoman who bears another family's name."
"You haven't even held a proper ceremony, and you call yourself the mistress—!"
"We may not have held a ceremony, but His Majesty the King has issued the marriage permit."
One stamped clearly with the royal seal, no less.
"From that moment, it is fair to say I became a member of Bertis once more. His Majesty himself blessed our remarriage."
...Damn her.
To drag the King into it right to my face.
Lady Peasant silently chewed over a string of curses. Spoken that way, she could no longer casually deny it. To deny a marriage the King himself had recognized was no different from defying his decision.
Seeing that the woman dared not refute her lightly, Riena spoke with even greater conviction.
"So you ought to hand over the seal promptly. Then His Majesty will also consider the Bertis marriage properly concluded."
"You..."
"Or perhaps you might prefer to convey directly to His Majesty that you intend to raise an objection to this remarriage?"
Just as the woman herself had claimed.
"You are, after all, a senior elder of Bertis."
Belatedly realizing her mistake, Lady Peasant clamped her mouth shut. In the end, she had been caught in the very answer she had offered in rebuttal!
"So then."
Riena gazed cheerfully at the woman who had been struck dumb and asked,
"Where is the seal?"
Yet even after all that, Lady Peasant still refused to surrender the seal she held. More precisely, she stalled by asking for time.
She would hand it over once she had finished wrapping up the work currently under her charge, she claimed.
Obviously she meant to hurry and cover up whatever misdeeds she had committed in the meantime.
Of course Riena refused firmly. Wanting to hide her corruption was Lady Peasant's own affair; there was no reason for Riena to indulge it.
She declared she would not leave this place until the seal was handed over. If the woman truly wished to drag her out, she could send a formal letter of objection to the palace regarding this decision.
At those words, even Lady Peasant could hold out no longer.
She tucked her tail faster than I expected.
Riena had thought she would dig in until the end.
While the lady went to fetch the seal, Riena rose from her seat and slowly surveyed the artworks displayed in the drawing room.
So she really has started taking an interest in art lately...
Paintings and expensive sculptures were arranged here and there. If this room alone was this lavish, the rest of the house was surely worse...
"Hm?"
Passing by the window, Riena paused. Outside, small figures were moving busily.
She narrowed her eyes.
Several people were clustered around a large freight wagon. After a fleeting moment, an enormous object was unloaded from the carriage.
A painting?
It was wrapped, yet the shape alone made clear it was a large canvas.
She wondered if they had bought yet another artwork—but the wrapping for paintings meant to decorate a mansion was usually plain. Since it would soon be unwrapped and hung, little care was given to the paper itself.
There was one exception: when it was a gift.
If it was meant for someone else, the wrapping had to show care. In such cases, not only fine paper but ribbons embroidered with luxurious thread were added to express as much sincerity as possible.
And the painting before her eyes was wrapped precisely that way—a gift prepared with lavish care for some distinguished personage.
Something of that size must have cost a fortune.
Who was it for?
If the famously particular Lady Peasant was sending a gift of that caliber, the recipient could be no ordinary person. Yet it did not seem destined for the palace either.
"Duchess Bertis."
"...!"
At the unfamiliar voice, Riena spun around.
Beyond the door that had opened unnoticed stood Lady Peasant's aide. Holding a small box, he walked slowly inside.
"The seal you requested."
"And the lady?"
"A matter arose and she has stepped away for a moment. She also asked me to convey her apologies for being unable to see you off."
"No, it's fine."
Apologies, my foot.
Lady Peasant would never have sent such considerate words. From the beginning, this had been the only purpose.
There was no longer any need to remain here.
The moment she accepted the box and began to move, she spoke.
"Ah, just one more thing I'd like to ask."
"Please do."
Slowing her steps, Riena gestured with her eyes toward the window.
"That item that just arrived—does the lady intend to present it as a gift?"