The Mansion Across the Street

...Wait a moment.

Wait. What?

What did Rihard just say?

Before I could collect myself, another gaze came down on me, cold as frost.

"It's been a while, Bella. Five, six years, wasn't it?"

Ten years, four months, and eleven days.

"No."

"Oh?"

Rihard seemed to calculate the date for a moment, then shrugged with a so-what expression.

"I was waiting in case anything a lowborn knight's hand had touched might rot, and I'd have to take responsibility for it..."

His gaze swept over me slowly. Like a merchant appraising goods for defects.

"You look fine, so I suppose I'm no longer a commoner."

"Richt, don't tell me you actually thought I'd marry a commoner without a single title?"

Ah. I understood. Really, I didn't need to hear another word.

The cold gaze, the twisted mouth, the frigid expression—they were enough.

Rihard Winston. My lover from ten years ago, the ex I'd cruelly cast aside...

"I'm perfectly fine, as you can see, my lord. Ah. You said you received a countship. You probably know already, but I inherited the Dukedom of Belois a few days ago. Now that we're both heads of our own houses, I'd appreciate it if we kept proper distance going forward."

"...Of course, Duchess Belois."

He was resenting me. Deeply, intensely.

And then three days passed.

It was Noah who hounded me out of bed after I'd pushed aside every outside engagement and shut myself in. More precisely, it was the news Noah brought.

"That's impossible."

"There's nothing actually preventing it. You knew that mansion had been on the market for ages. Though nobody expected a buyer to step forward. Nobody's ever been gouged quite like that."

"If you'd known in advance, you should've bought it yourself, even at a premium!"

Noah didn't dignify my unreasonable outburst with a response. I didn't demand one from him either. Instead, I crossed the corridor at speed and glided down to the first-floor hall.

"Oh, for heaven's sake! Is breaking something the only thing that'll satisfy you this time?"

Noah, hot on my heels, shouted irritably, but my mind was entirely consumed by the scene before me.

Nobles established in the capital considered selling the family mansion dishonorable. So listings almost never appeared, and even when they did, closing a deal was nearly impossible. Why? Because the prices were astronomical.

The mansion across from the Duchy of Belois had sat empty for years. An already expensive property listed at several times its market value. Everyone had sneered at it—great location or not, who'd buy that?

And yet it had sold. And to—

"Well. I suppose the rumors about the Hero of the North returning in a golden carriage weren't just hot air."

To my goddamn ex-lover.

"Oh. Your Grace, isn't that Rihard over there?"

I reflexively whipped my head toward where Noah was pointing. The old butler was directing servants this way and that.

"...Hey."

"You're this obvious, so why doesn't Rihard notice? Now that you're next-door neighbors, why don't you rekindle the friendship?"

Unbelievable. Really.

I gritted my teeth and went back inside the mansion. Every nerve was still trained on the bustling move-in across the street. Noah trailed after me, rattling off his nagging.

"It's not too late even now. Dump the worthless Damon and find yourself a decent relationship."

"If you're going to talk nonsense, shut up. Where are Claire and Gerard?"

"Now you're curious about the family elders?"

Having said that, Noah explained straight away.

"The day of the funeral, Claire dragged Gerard back to the territory. Your mother asked me to tell you to keep yourself together."

"...To you?"

"She seemed quite satisfied that her only son didn't covet Your Grace's position and quietly stepped back. Ah. I've already said I'd be visiting the territory, so no one will suspect anything when I go."

I nodded. Apparently, while I'd been holed up in my room, things we'd discussed in advance had been moving forward without me.

"I should thank Count Winston. Moving in across the street and coming to see your face before he leaves."

"Anyone overhearing would think I'd been in hiding."

"Weren't you?"

I shot a glare at Noah's insufferable retort. I dragged him along with me to his room.

"Why not take this opportunity to move your base to the territory entirely?"

"There's a lot I need to take care of to handle the ledger business in Belois territory."

"Even moving house would be less chaotic than this."

Who was he to say anything about me shutting myself in my room for a few days? Noticing my look, Noah grumbled as he hastily tossed things into a corner.

"It's all because of you, Your Grace."

"How is your pigsty of a room my fault?"

"Do you have any idea how busy I was while you were digging yourself into the ground over your ex showing up?"

"..."

I had nothing.

Taking advantage of the opening, Noah apparently decided to finish packing, and started throwing clothes into a large rucksack.

"Why on earth did you say such regrettable things? I've always loved you! It was all a misunderstanding! I love you! The obstacle's gone now, so let's try again! Why can't you say it? Say it!"

Even while packing, I regarded Noah with a look of disgust as he continued his tirade.

"Who said I regretted anything?"

"You've been losing sleep for days and you're still insisting you haven't?"

"Did you dismiss what the physician said too?"

"My hearing is perfectly fine, Your Grace."

"Then you should know that my insomnia has nothing to do with Rihard."

"I know you quite well too, Your Grace."

She wasn't the type to stay bedridden for days over mere fatigue. Knowing full well people were gossiping, there had to be a reason she'd taken to her bed. Wasn't it simply that she didn't want to see Princess Sasha, who'd made a dazzling debut in high society, and Count Winston, billed as her perfect match?

Having rattled all this off without pausing for breath, Noah tightened his bag straps and delivered his final blow.

"Honestly, I didn't want to go this far."

"Then don't."

"Hiding in your room doesn't solve anything, so pull yourself together and get up. That man is off collecting countships and riding high as the 'Hero of the North' or whatever, and if you keep moping around like this, people are going to compare you!"

He'd clearly been dying to say that.

"Be honest with me. You're worried about the family, not me, aren't you?"

"Me? You're mistaken!"

Right. Right. Nothing Noah said was wrong. She couldn't hide forever. But it was also true that she needed time to sort out her thoughts. At least a few more days.

"That's why I said I'd go to the territory."

"What kind of rumors do you think will spread if you rush off to the territory right after inheriting the dukedom?"

It was customary for central nobles to remain in the capital for a while after receiving their title, consolidating their position. Just as Noah said, rushing off to one's territory usually meant one of two things. Either something that needed to be hastily concealed, or trouble in the territory. Either way, it meant risking rumors in high society.

When I groaned in protest, Noah gestured with his chin as if to say see? and continued his nagging.

"Stop trying to hide and get your mind in order first. As for the embezzled crown funds ledger the Grand Duke siphoned off, I'll track it down one way or another, so don't worry about that."

"Whew. Fine. Fine, so stop. The moment you leave, I'll start preparing for my first dinner party. Happy?"

"At long last, after your extended bout of wallowing, you're rising from the sorrow of encountering your ex. As your servant, cousin, and longtime friend, I'm delighted."

Noah placed a hand lightly on his chest with an exaggerated gesture. He despised nobility, yet his etiquette was flawless.

"And as for the dinner party, there's no need to prepare one."

"Why?"

"Because a far better stage has already been prepared for the new Duchess of Belois to make her debut in high society."

A man I'd known all my life yet could never fully read grinned and held something out to me.

...An unnecessarily ornate envelope.

"What's this."

"You can see the seal, can't you?"

I could, all right.

Two crossed swords bound together by dozens of ribbons. Up to that point, it was an ordinary imperial seal. Except every single ribbon was inverted.

Ribbons turned to hide each family's seal symbolized a member of the royal family who had not yet earned the nobility's recognition. A seal primarily used by the crown prince—for over a decade, the only person in the empire who could use it had been Damon.

"Don't tell me."

"You already suspected. Officially, it's a banquet celebrating your cousin's return from the dead, but..."

Celebrate, my ass.

It was obviously a scheme to summon every noble under one roof and verify their loyalty. Seeing my expression, Noah shrugged.

"Well, that's the kind of gathering it is."

"His chronic disease has flared up again."

That goddamn paranoia.

"It was bound to happen sooner or later."

In other words, the madman who'd always paranoidly believed the Emperor wouldn't pass him the throne had finally exploded upon the appearance of a legitimate heir with succession rights.

"In any case, there's no better stage for your first step as head of the house. And wrap things up with His Highness before the banquet."

"Ah. Right. That too."

Breaking things off with Damon. I really, really didn't want to do it.

Whether my reluctance showed on my face, Noah spoke again.

"You were planning to end it the moment the succession was finalized anyway. Don't tell me you're having second thoughts?"

"Are you kidding? I just find it tedious. Knowing Damon's temperament, if he gets dumped, fine—but if he hears the other person is breaking up with him first, he'll throw every tantrum he's got."

I broke the wax seal on the envelope, checked the contents, and briefly doubted my own eyes. But the words on the single card were short and unambiguous—impossible to misread. A low groan escaped my lips.

"Damon's... coming to escort me. On the day itself."

When things went wrong, they apparently went thoroughly wrong.

"...That philanderer is escorting you? He hasn't escorted you once in the past ten years, and now suddenly this?"

"...I don't think I can afford to stay in bed."

A bad feeling flickered past. A very, very ominous premonition was beginning to take shape.

"You leave for the territory immediately. I need to go to the palace."

"Don't get tangled up in anything unnecessary—declare the breakup the moment you arrive and get out of there!"

Noah's shout reached me from behind, but I had no presence of mind to respond.

What on earth had happened during the three days I'd been lying in bed?