104 Please have a good dream
***[Catherine, Duchess]***
Today is Anne’s day off.
A week ago, all of a sudden, really suddenly, a letter came from Anne’s fiancé asking for a meeting.
As usual, I would request a meeting with Anne’s family and set a schedule.
After that, I got a call from Anne’s home, and we finally met.
Not all fiancées are like that, because Anne is Catherine’s maid.
Because we had to adjust to Katrin’s schedule as well, the date was usually scheduled with a gap of about a month.
But this time, the duke was contacted directly.
Probably because Catherine came out as a duchess at the New Year’s banquet.
Even though the banquet was suspended, it was like announcing to the social world that Catherine would take on official duties as a duchess from now on.
Catherine straightened her back and looked at Anne.
‘Even if it hurts… I have to do it right.’
This date is going out with the permission of the duchy.
Catherine herself was responsible for Anne.
“Anne, let’s have moderate dating like unmarried men and women. Never think of using aphrodisiacs, and always have a moderate and clean relationship like a woman from an aristocratic family! Never do anything vulgar like flirting.”
“…”
Anne’s expression seems to be holding rotten food in her mouth.
But no, it can’t be helped. As the duchess, I am in charge of the precious unmarried woman of your family.
Catherine mumbled, hummed, cleared her throat.
“You’re the one who’s in trouble if there’s a baby by mistake, or a scandal spreads about two people acting strangely, or anything like that happens.”
“… ma’am.”
Anne looked at Catherine with a look telling her not to lie.
“Yes! Yes! I have no face with Anne’s parents. So, Anne, never do anything about having a baby. Not to mention rumors about it.”
“Where did Lady Catherine, who we stayed up all night talking about aphrodisiac, go?”
“… I’ll be right back when Anne gets back from this date.”
Anne covered her eyes with the back of her hand and pretended to cry.
“Your wife only knows you! Do you know my age? I’m going to grow old and become a curvy grandmother. As a virgin!”
“Even the chief. He’s only a few years older than me.”
“A woman’s youth is fleeting, madam.”
Anne’s mouth protruded larger than a fist.
But I can’t help it.
No matter how engaged, if an unmarried man and woman have contact beyond escort, if anyone sees it, bad rumors will circulate.
If there are strange rumors about Anne, Catherine’s reputation will fall, and even Oscar will be embarrassed.
Anne let out a small sigh.
“I know, ma’am. Besides, he knows better. I haven’t touched a finger since I entered the duchy.”
“A kiss?”
“I haven’t had one since.”
Anne sighed again.
“That person is not a grass-eating herbivore, I think he just became grass.”
“…”
Why are men in this world so courageous?
Catherine sighed too.
“Anne, when we come back this time, let’s really come up with a countermeasure. In a way that is not noticed by others.”
“is it so.”
Anne continued to sigh, but it still seemed good to go see her fiancé.
By the time he left the mansion, he had a very happy face.
Of course, right before leaving, I was called by the counselor’s wives and listened to a lot of warnings.
When Anne goes to meet her fiancé, she misses Oscar so much for some reason.
“…”
Whoa, whoa, Catherine took a deep breath.
First of all, let’s put iron armor on our hearts.
After seeing men covered in blood at a New Year’s banquet, she has a terrifying dream.
It was a dream in which Oscar-sama was walking toward a certain woman.
It may seem like a woman you know or someone you don’t know, but that’s not what’s important.
If you walk towards the woman, there is a cliff at the end.
It looked like the face of a monster with a wide open mouth.
Like sharp teeth, countless thorny vines hung from the cliffs, and an execution table lay at the bottom of the infinite depths.
The log on which the neck was placed had several ax marks and was stained with blood.
Numerous human heads are rolling around.
The body was nowhere to be seen, and the only thing there was a head.
It seems that there are hundreds or thousands of the heads of the children I saw at the New Year’s banquet.
If you fall off that cliff, an ax that’s standing there flashing in the air will come down and cut off your head.
But Oscar-sama didn’t know that, and continued to walk, looking only at the woman.
can’t go, please don’t go, no
As if Katrin couldn’t hear him no matter how much she cried and called out to him, he was looking straight at the woman.
With a face contorted as if he loved her in a way, and in a way as if he hated her, sometimes twisting his body as if he didn’t want to go, Oscar still continued to walk toward her.
‘No, I think I’ll cry again.’
It’s just a dream, but when I think of that scene, it’s so painful, sad, and angry like crazy.
Catherine took a deep breath to calm herself, and thought the woman was like someone she had seen before.
Renee, the daughter of a baron who was kicked out of society after being rude to Oscar.
When I thought of that woman, for some reason, my heart felt tighter.
The face of the woman I saw in the dream is not clear, but I have a feeling it must be Renee.
My stomach turned like I was about to vomit.
At that time, the butler came and asked if he could prepare snacks for Mr. Oscar.
‘thank god.’
When I see Oscar-sama’s face, I feel relieved for some reason.
You don’t have to stay in such a state of anxiety.
A dream is just a dream, and he could feel that the real Oscar was laughing by his side.
I hurriedly headed to the office and suddenly looked up, and for some reason the butler was smiling at her.
He wondered if maybe he knew he had scary dreams, but well, that’s not going to happen.
In any family, the head of a house is a newcomer and a master of all things, but he has no ability to find out the dreams of others.
‘Really, I also have very stupid thoughts.’
Everyone was hard at work when we arrived at the office with a cart full of snacks.
The fort seems even busier.
When I wake up in the morning, Oscar is already gone, so the chance to see his face has decreased.
We couldn’t see each other’s faces in a bright place for several days, so we were able to see each other’s faces closely for the first time in a long time.
‘Ah, be upset.’
Dark spots appeared under Oscar-sama’s eyes.
Snack time ended as I continued to stare at Oscar drinking tea.
After that, a fun time ensued.
I had to read the ledger for the basic salary of the servants in the mansion, the additional money that went out by season, and the fabric.
It is a process of studying how dukes decide on the wages and treatment of their employees, which is obvious, but it is really not fun.
only my eyes hurt
You can’t learn these things all at once, so I look into them little by little whenever I have a chance.
‘It would have been a little fun if Anne had been there.’
It’s not like she can see the ledger.
Excluding the duke and his wife, only limited people, like the butler, had the right to see such ledgers.
Still, if Anne had been there, it would have been fun to chat while looking at the ledger, avoid the eyes of the head butler or the counselor’s wife, and send finger signals.
‘Anne should come at night.’
Until then, should I be alone like this?
Somehow I lost my strength.
‘But it’s because I’m meeting my fiancé after a long time.’
So don’t be depressed.
I’m happy for Anne… I was muttering to myself, but the door burst open.
“Isn’t it?”
what? It was not yet time for Anne to come running through the door.
It seemed that he could not wait for the servant to open the door himself and opened it himself.
Anne’s face was full of tears.
The long-awaited, beautifully-made-up face is completely covered with dirty water.
“What’s up, Anne! What’s wrong?”
Did something happen to your fiancé?
Did your fiancé really run away from you?
I am so flustered that I can’t speak.
Anne came running, waving her round skirt, and hugged Catherine tightly.
“miss!”
The name also went back to the old one.
“To make Anne cry! I can’t forgive her.”
I was so angry that my eyebrows went up to the top of my head.
I know that myself.
“You can’t forgive me, what kind of nonsense are you talking about!”
Anne cried out and laughed hahahaha.
“That person became an official of the duchy.”
“uh?”
“It’s the management of the duchy.”
“Really?”
“Yes. I rode the carriage with you just now. He is in this mansion. He is an official of the ducal family.”
Anne’s fiancé is from the marquis’ vassal family.
Although the scale was small, it was a wealthy family in its own way as it had a fairly profitable estate.
But Anne’s fiancée is the second son.
Since all the property and title of the house passed to the eldest son, he had to find a way to live on his own, whether he became a butler or an official.
For the sake of the family, the head of the family decides on marriage, but in the end, the income after marriage depends on how good one gets.
Otherwise, they had no choice but to live in poverty, relying on the small amount of money supported by both families.
Anne’s fiancée also worked hard for a long time, building a career here and there to get a good job.
“It’s good, Anne!”
“Now we can finally get married.”
Since Anne was still young, there was no talk of formal marriage until the job was stable.
Anne, who was 17 this year, had to wait three or four years if she made a mistake.
“But now that the job has been decided. Plus, I’m the Duchess’ lady-in-waiting. They said that now that I’m officially married, it’s better to be by the lady’s side. I-I’m going to be a married woman now, lady.”
“congratulations!”
“I’m so glad, ma’am.”
“I’m happy too! Anne’s fiancée, you’re really talented. I heard that being a duke official is really difficult.”
“What are you talking about? Of course, it was possible because I am the Duchess’s lady-in-waiting. Of course, I’m certain that my fiancé is a man of ability, my lady. That’s a lot.”
Anne’s thin breasts protruded forward.
Anne proudly sticks out her chest.
“Because everything in this world is personal connections. If it wasn’t for me, that person wouldn’t have been able to become an official of the duke’s family. It’s all thanks to me being the Duchess’s lady-in-waiting.”
“Anyway, Anne, great!”
As Katrin hugged Anne tightly, Anne put strength into her arms as well.
“Then when are you getting married?”
“Maybe… next year?”
“Isn’t it too late?”
“…”
Anne let out a small sigh.
He released the arm that was holding him and dropped his shoulder weakly.
“They say they’ll be extremely busy from now on because they’ve been managed by the duchy. At least, next year has been brought forward as early as possible. Well, it’s not something I’ve decided on.”
“…”
I felt a little sorry for some reason.
Catherine lightly hugged Anne’s shoulders.
“Cheer up, Anne.”
“… It’s okay. I was prepared for three or four years until marriage.”
It was hard after that.
I wanted to say thanks to Oscar as soon as possible, but I already had a snack time, and I couldn’t send a message that I wanted to meet you, even though I knew how busy he was.
I had no choice but to stomp my feet and wait for night to come.
***[Heroine Oscar]***
I knew that Anne was going out today, so I overdid it a bit and set up a snack time.
I thought that Katrin would be alone and lonely and insecure.
Perhaps the same was true of the butler, the snacks were ready before I could even speak.
Probably because the butler knew that Catherine was having nightmares.
Thanks to that, the time to finish the work was also delayed.
When I entered the room with heavy feet late at night, Katrin was sleeping with a bunch of pillows on her back.
It is unclear whether he is lying down or sitting with his body half-bent.
‘Were you waiting for me?’
A little bit of saliva flowed from his mouth.
I couldn’t help but laugh.
Taking care not to wake her up, I picked her up and put her down on the bed, when Katrin suddenly opened her eyes.
It’s a surprise.
But it doesn’t look like it’s completely broken.
After blinking a few times, he muttered in an unclear tone.
“… Mr. Oscar?”
“I’m sorry, Catherine. Did you wake up? Why aren’t you sleeping comfortably…”
“Oscar!”
Carried in his arms, Katrin smiled broadly and raised her arms.
hug my neck tightly
Catherine, I’m going to strangle you.
It seems to have gained a lot of power.
Katrin happily said, holding my neck tightly.
“Thank you. Anne’s fiancé was hired as an official… Anne was very happy.”
Katrin holds me tight by the neck and won’t let go.
I lay down holding Katrin, who was clinging to me like a koala.
“He was very talented. I didn’t just hire him through personal connections.”
Among the sons of nobles, there are many who neglect to develop their abilities by relying only on personal connections.
But Anne’s fiancé was a very sincere person in that respect.
I was building my career by choosing a job to properly set a goal and develop the skills that fit it.
If it wasn’t for Anne’s fiancée, of course he wouldn’t have become an official of the duchy, but he was hired based on his ability.
It wasn’t just because of connections.
Katrin still hugged me and smiled like a child in my ear.
and say it again
“thank you.”
“…nothing, ma’am.”
“…”
And I thought it was strange because I didn’t say anything, but before I knew it, she was asleep hugging my neck.
Really, still a child.
After wiping Katrin’s mouth, I lightly put my lips on her forehead.
‘Please have a nice dream.’
Late that night, probably around dawn, I awoke.
It was because I had a nightmare of a large serpent strangling me.
When I opened my eyes, Katrin was half on top of me, holding me tight.
They hold me tight with their limbs.
‘If I do this wrong, I’ll choke to death in my sleep, Catherine.’
I think so and smile.
Thankfully, I didn’t have a nightmare today.
Catherine was breathing peacefully, occasionally laughing in her sleep.