Slightly drooping eyebrows, eyes and skin as clear as crystal, lips full and glassy, and a man who looked frail and gentle…
Wow, what a divine and handsome face. I’d used his most handsome appearance from the Kalinos family as the base, but the result was something else entirely. Of course, a photo isn’t complete without a little retouching.
I grinned slyly as I looked at Riwes and the puppy, both nestled quietly and obediently in his arms.
“T-the puppy’s eyes look kind of weird…” Just then, the perceptive portrait painter looked at me, trembling.
I met the puppy’s glassy black eyes. For some reason, those eyes were shining with an almost sinister light… Well, of course. That wasn’t a real puppy. It was Coocoo.
Whether it was because Duke Kalinos possessed an unusually strong aura of darkness or because of the intensity born from his excessive passion for research, whenever one got close to him, most ordinary dogs tucked their tails and ran away. That was why, in the end, the only option had been Coocoo the dragon.
“Coo. (T-This great dragon has to become a mutt…?)”
“If things go well, I’ll let you drop the invisibility. For a day.”
“Coo…? (Huh…?)”
“And I’ll let you set fires in some remote mountain range.”
“Woof. Woof woof (I’m a dog! I’m a puppy!)”
I smiled wickedly and savored the sight of the portrait being painted. Handsome man, puppy, and a child all together. It was a development I was extremely pleased with.
* * *
Duke Kalinos stood crookedly in front of the mirror, leaning to one side. Until now, he had never once given serious thought to his own appearance or that of others.
“Please draw him as gentle as possible.”
“Ah, here, raise the corners of his mouth a bit more.”
“No, this looks like a wanted poster.”
But when he remembered Giselle, who kept nitpicking nonstop as if something was always bothering her… For the first time, he felt a sudden anxiety about his looks. Something he had never once been dissatisfied with before.
Is it that I don’t appeal to Giselle?
His appearance was close to the golden ratio. And yet, the stray hairs sticking up like weeds atop his head were starting to bother him. Especially his narrow, long eyes that slanted upward like a fox’s, they felt excessively masculine. As he carefully dissected his own face in the mirror, it was only natural that he summoned the aide beside him, Peterson.
“Peter. Do ladies usually prefer gentle-looking men?”
“My name is Peterson, Your Grace. I-I think so? They tend to prefer someone gentle over someone frightening.”
“Gentle… What does it mean to be gentle?”
For some reason, his face didn’t seem like something that could be described as gentle, even out of politeness. Or is it? I suppose I’m fairly good-natured. If you strip away prejudice…
With a cool gaze, he looked at the portrait depicting himself. Then he issued an order to his aide. “Prepare a briefing on how I might achieve this sort of gentle appearance. Organize the table of contents neatly, and lay out a day-by-day plan. Total length under 300,00 characters, and have it ready by tomorrow.”
What a tyrant, demanding the impossible! But seeing Vientin’s serious expression, Peterson lost all will to protest. “I-Instead of becoming gentle… H-How about appealing with physical charms?”
Vientin’s eyebrows rose, intrigued. “…Gentle physical charms?”
Why on earth would you combine those two together?!
“Prepare it right away. Limit it to 500,000 characters, and report by tomorrow.”
I’m screwed…
* * *
Just as I’d predicted, Hennessy’s story about ‘Wot, the little giant who toppled the fortress of the sacred noble house Reshaniel,’ spread like wildfire throughout the empire. I closed the book with a sly grin.
Duke Kalinos was rendered so gently idealized that it was hard to even recognize who he was. A tiny child by his side. Even Coocoo turned into a puppy. Thanks to this incredible cover, the book was selling like hotcakes. Some people did grumble, ‘How could they use a cover that has nothing to do with the story?’ but it was easy enough to ignore them.
The strange thing is, I haven’t really seen Duke Kalinos much since that day… He seemed oddly intent on avoiding my gaze. And judging by how he kept saying things like “I’m not ready yet,’ it felt like something was going on…
The idea that he might be keeping a secret from me left me feeling strangely disappointed. But we weren’t a real married couple. Of course, there are secrets between us, right?
I brushed off the disappointment that settled in my heart like dust and forced a smile, trying to think positively. Besides, I still had one last card to play! Letting the empress know that the illness Wot healed is similar to the one she’s suffering from!
Unfortunately, ever since the empress collapsed recently, she’d been completely shut away from the world. Even influential socialites like Cordelia, or ladies close to her like Shabel, were unable to meet her. But if I can just get into the imperial palace, it feels like there might be a way.
As I lay in wait, constantly watching for a legal opportunity to enter the imperial palace, a new mission was handed down to me.
* * *
It was the next morning. The close blood relatives of Garno decided they could no longer overlook the unreasonable situation being perpetrated by Duchess Giselle Kalinos. All she did was sleep, eat, play, and take walks, utterly inefficient activities!
“She’s incompetent and does nothing but idle away her days. What should we do with the duchess? We may need to issue a warning.”
“Hmm, but can we really go warn her on our own without even informing Lord Garno?”
“Lord Garno doesn’t like that woman much anyway, does he? Let’s crush her spirit first. Have her start with the simplest internal duties.”
After grumbling to their hearts’ content, they stormed into Giselle’s room without so much as an appointment. What they found was Giselle sprawled on the sofa, legs crossed, mouth hanging open without a shred of elegance, drooling as she slept.
“She’s got no ability, yet all she does is sleep?”
“Honestly, even now she’s dozing off again with no skill to speak of.. H-Hiik.”
She was covering her eyes with a book as if the light were too bright…
“A spicy romance novel, <That Night With the Two Hot Dukes>…?!”
“…T-That vu-vulgar, uncultured book…”
As she listened to their voices, Giselle, still half-asleep, thought in a daze. Why is everyone here so clueless? Wasn’t it obvious just by looking at her aura? That Giselle was just a little, just a little… weird?
With eyes sparkling brightly, she looked at one of the Kalinos family members and retorted, “What did you just say, Old Man?”
Seeing Giselle coldly rebuke him with just the whites of her eyes showing, one of the family members jumped in surprise. “If you were awake, you should’ve said something…!”
“You were talking shit about me, weren’t you?”
Her blunt accusation made them all look uncomfortable. But none of them denied it. Instead, they sat down right next to Giselle, as if staking their claim.
“My name is Vireira. I assist with the family’s internal finances and accounting.”
“My name is Marco. I handle diplomacy between our family and others.”
“So, Madam, what exactly do you do for our family?”
Giselle stroked her chin. Of course, she was doing plenty of things, but that wasn’t the point… “You said you handle diplomacy between families?”
“That’s right.”
“Then with the imperial palace as well?”
Marco lifted his chin and replied shamelessly. “Yes, that’s right.”
At that moment, a delightful idea struck her. One that would let her knock down Marco’s arrogance and heal the empress at the same time.
“This won’t do! Giselle is way too upset from how everyone keeps picking on Giselle!”
Soon enough, Giselle pulled a glass out of her pocket. She could hear the people nearby muttering, “W-Why does she have a glass in her pocket…?” but she couldn’t care less.
“Giselle needs a drink! Giselle is going to the imperial palace!”
“W-What…?!”
“You told me to work, didn’t you? As the duchess, Giselle is going to the imperial palace to at least pay her respects!”
“Who goes to the imperial palace after drinking?!”
“Me!”
“…Good grief. You can’t just go to the imperial palace because you feel like it! There are proper procedures! First, you need to arrange an entry pass…”
“Ah, is that so? Then hand over an imperial palace pass to Giselle right now. If Giselle goes together with the family’s diplomatic representative, the imperial palace is basically a free pass. Giselle knows that too!”
“T-That’s ridiculous…”
“Ah, Giselle, is going, to the imperial palace, no~♡ Giselle is~ off~ to~ work~♡” Giselle sprang to her feet.
Just as expected, they began chasing after her with bewildered expressions.
“Wait! S-Stop right there!”
Giselle ran ahead of them at full speed, just like the Pied Piper!
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