“Were you very tired?”

“……”

Dawson, with sunken eyes, affirmed with his expression. No, slightly twisting his mouth and twitching, it seemed like he was cursing with his face…!

“You… must have had a really hard time…”

“Although my hardship is not a very important matter, to be honest, yes. It was hard.”

“You’ve worked hard, Dawson.”

“Memorizing rules and work procedures and taking time to learn them is enough. The hard part was something else. As expected, the scale was tremendous.”

Dawson shook his head slightly and clicked his tongue.

“The scale of the household?”

“Rather than that, as I mentioned earlier, the vassals of the grand ducal house and their families, their relationships and subtle opinions. The backgrounds and rumors that must be known…”

“Rumors? Do you have to know even those?”

“Yes. The person in charge of me personally educated me. Things like which family is close to being enemies with whom, or which family is connected by marriage but has a subtle relationship due to some conflict in the upper generation. What is taboo to each head of the family…”

Dawson sighed and continued, saying he would compile it into a report later.

“It was difficult to grasp and learn those relationships. Unlike the Viscount Wiche family, where businesses are separate from the family, the relationship between the grand ducal house and its vassals is inseparable. It was like a single organism.”

“Well… The grand ducal house is practically an independent kingdom.”

“Yes. That’s right. Moreover…”

“Moreover?”

“The servants here were not reluctant to treat me, who was called as Your Grace’s closest aide, as an outsider, but how should I put it…?”

Dawson slightly frowned and rolled his eyes toward the ceiling.

“They were much stricter and more cynical than I expected. They speak in a way that seems like the local dialect, mostly in short, clipped sentences.”

“Or it could be because the grand ducal house’s roots are also military.”

“Yes. I thought of that too.”

Dawson shrugged his shoulders while organizing the invitation cards.

“So, Your Grace, please brace yourself as well. Not giving outsiders time to adapt seems to be their characteristic too.”

“Ugh…”

Seeing the title ‘Young Master’ that had been used for over 10 years suddenly change to ‘Your Grace’ the Grand Duchess, Valentin let out another strange sigh-like groan, wondering how strict the training must have been.

*

Valentin, who had been struggling with the Grand Duchess’s duties since morning, was able to finish today’s tasks only when it was almost evening. After finishing work, he immediately stretched on the desk and relaxed his stiff body.

‘Fortunately, my physical condition has been good these days.’

Perhaps because he had received Reynard’s pheromones sufficiently throughout the night, he didn’t feel uncomfortable with food even at lunchtime. Valentin raised his eyes while rubbing his slightly swollen belly.

The large office prepared exclusively for the new Grand Duchess exuded a dignified and noble atmosphere. Dark brown wooden walls and bookshelves, a fireplace made of red bricks, and an elegant chandelier. The old-fashioned beauty added by the passage of time was felt.

‘Come to think of it, I haven’t had a chance to properly look around every corner.’

Only then did Valentin carefully look around the office that someone had likely decorated for him. Looking at the luxurious patterns harmoniously blending the curtains and carpets, he could tell that they had put some thought into decorating it. Then, a large glass bottle occupying an entire section of the bookshelf caught his eye.

As if enchanted, he got up from his chair and approached it.

“It’s a ship in a bottle.”

Inside the large glass bottle was a very intricately made sailing ship. The mast was erected at the correct angle as if made by a master craftsman, with white sails attached. It was so detailed that it looked like it would flutter in the wind at any moment.

Looking at the small galleon ship, Valentin recalled the actual warships he had seen not long ago.

‘It looked exactly like this.’

A few days ago, Valentin began a new life in Dales, a territory as vast as a single kingdom.

The day after arriving here, Reynard took Valentin and first showed him the port of West Friston, the largest city in Dales. It was as if he was introducing the things of this land to Valentin. Their city that crossed the ocean and actively exchanged with the outside world.

Although Valentin had experienced quite a few coastal port cities, including the small city in Blanche where he went for his honeymoon, he had never seen a place like this before.

A land where the vitality of a trading port and the orderly discipline of a naval port coexisted exquisitely.

Upon reaching the naval port separated from the city, Valentin gaped while viewing the long terrain where huge sailing ships were lined up, the nearby naval headquarters, and the Imperial Naval Academy from a short distance.

It was the largest, most artificial, and organized sight that Valentin Wiche had never seen while living. Ships and soldiers lined up with not even an inch of error… The vast sea visible behind them. Even the roads and buildings leading into the city were precisely angled.

It was a moment of understanding him and this family.

[What they grew up seeing is completely different.]

Perhaps the people living in this area would be the same. A fierce power and knife-like refined order above all else. Pride and uniqueness in the land and bloodline. Valentin was gradually understanding his husband and this land.

“Since most of the vassal families are involved in the military regardless of their territory or title…”

Valentin muttered while looking at the map that looked like a painting, filling one wall of the office. Even the roots of the grand ducal house and its vassals were based on military status. Strong and rough sailors…

Knock knock.

A somehow familiar knocking sound woke up the luxurious office.

“Valentin.”

“Reynard. I was just thinking about you.”

Valentin smiled brightly at his husband, who barged in again like a rhino despite the knocking.

“That’s the most joyful thing I’ve heard today.”

The one whose name was called immediately walked over and kissed Valentin’s forehead.

“What were you doing?”

“I just finished writing the invitations for next week’s tea party.”

As he spoke, Valentin’s beautiful face became more and more rotten. It was the automatic change of someone exhausted from forcibly finishing an unpleasant task.

“Oh dear. Take it easy. No one will say anything to you even if you don’t do that.”

At that moment, Valentin barely held back a strange sound and curse that was about to come out with “Waaaaaah.” He was not alone now. He was a father with a very small baby in his belly. It was not enough to only speak kindly. No matter what kind of crazy tantrum he threw inside his heart, he had to protect his mouth.

“What do you mean no one will say anything…?”

Hearing Valentin grumbling, Reynard frowned and said,

“Why? Did someone order you? There shouldn’t be anyone who would do that?”

In this land, there was only one person higher in status than Reynard. It was none other than Valentin’s father-in-law, the owner of the land and the admiral of the navy, Grand Duke Howard Dennox. He was not someone who would order such a thing to Valentin, who was married to his son and pregnant. No, should I say he had little interest in whatever Valentin did…? Valentin recalled the face of his father-in-law, who was like a tranquil immortal in the mountains. However…

The time had come again to teach someone who knew nothing. Valentin opened his mouth with a sigh.

“Reynard. Once a person rises to a certain position, there are duties that must be performed in accordance with that position. Just like how you were born as the heir to the grand ducal house and had no choice but to become a soldier and carry out missions at sea.”

He had grown up in an environment where his mother was virtually absent. It was natural in a way that Reynard did not know well what duties there were for the position of a wife and companion leading a family.

Valentin recalled the story about family that he had brought up when dating him before marriage.

[Valentin. Do you know about my mother or family?]

[No…]

Now, after time had passed, Reynard was bringing up his family history and past with a face that seemed indifferent to everything. However, Valentin, who was listening, stiffened and paid attention to that story.

He was tense just by listening because the story that could be sensitive was brought up so nonchalantly.

[My mother was not by my side since I was able to properly distinguish friend from foe.]

No, you could have just said how old you were when she passed away. Talking about “friend-foe identification” as if distinguishing enemies from allies… He was really a soldier to the bone.

Reynard’s words simply explaining his life were like this.

After the Grand Duchess passed away, the Grand Duke did not remarry. He only lived with his son, the Grand Duke’s heir, that is, Reynard, as a family of two, maintaining the bloodline and fulfilling his duties. Engaging in minimal social activities as a soldier. He rarely set foot in Eldon, using the excuse of going into battle in uniform and ruling the territorial waters.

Valentin had nodded slightly while listening to that story.

In particular, Grand Duke Dennox was famous for never leaving the Grand Duchy. Their wedding was his first visit to the capital in several years.

‘Not only the absence of a mother, but he grew up with virtually no interaction with high society…’

Even if he theoretically knew about the duties of a companion or a wife of an aristocratic family with a title, he had never experienced it firsthand or seen it directly. Whether it was in the social circles of Dales or Eldon.

Looking at the face tilting his head and looking at Valentin now, it was clear that he did not know the details of the education Valentin had received from the Duchess of Haddington and the booklet he had received from Commander Shane Wilgrave.

“Sigh…”

A sigh came out involuntarily.

“Really. If you don’t want to do it, you don’t have to. We’ve been living well without such things until now, so why bother?”

He comforted Valentin, mentioning the position of mistress that had been vacant for decades.

“Yes…”

What’s the point of saying it…? Valentin failed to make his husband understand.

He had no intention of mentioning the duties of the Grand Duchess or Grand Duke’s wife that he was not well aware of, bringing up his past. He couldn’t argue, asking why he knew nothing about the role of a grand ducal wife or a companion of an aristocratic family, digging into his lacking past, as if it was his choice not to have a mother.