The Search for the Duchess’s Husband Chapter 86

The corners of Freesia’s eyes flushed.

 

“I don’t want you two to get any closer to Frau Edenberg.”

 

Her voice was pleading.

 

A hush fell over the vast drawing room.

 

Marigold was the first to speak in the silence.

 

“That is not advisable, Princess.”

 

“……!”

 

“I like Artia, and I don’t want to hide it because of your feelings.”

 

Dahlia, sitting beside her, nodded. “I feel the same way.”

 

She didn’t want to take sides, she wanted to be with Artia and Freesia, both of them.

 

But Freesia felt like she had been abandoned in favor of Artia.

 

A single tear fell from the corner of her emerald eyes.

 

“I thought we were friends, but we weren’t…”

 

After uttering the unfortunate words, Freesia turned away.

 

‘Follow me and tell me. That I’ve made a mistake, that you care about me.’

 

But despite her pleas, Marigold and Dahlia didn’t move. Steadfastly.

 

 

 

After Frizia left, Marigold sighed.

 

“I thought she’d be angry, but she looked more hurt than I expected.”

 

“Well, at least go after her now and apologize.”

 

Marigold shook her head.

 

“If I was, I wouldn’t have brought it up in the first place. I like the princess, but liking her and liking Tia are two different things, and Freesia should know that.”

 

Dahlia made an annoyed face.

 

“You’re like a flirt, bragging about loving two women at once.”

 

 

Marigold didn’t bother to argue with her friend.

 

It was true that she had a temper that required her to keep all the beautiful women she liked on the sidelines.

 

 

* * *

 

 

When Freesia arrived in the Empire five years ago to marry Count Elysium, she knew no one.

 

She attended her first social gathering nervously until a woman approached her.

 

It was Marigold.

 

Unlike the other ladies, who were wary of the foreigner, Marigold’s eyes lit up and she took a great liking to her.

 

“Oh, my God, how beautiful you are! You’re just like the princess I imagined when I was a little girl!”

 

It was an awkward compliment, but she could tell that she meant it. Freesia smiled shyly.

 

Marigold saw this and let out a loud exclamation of admiration, “Oh my gosh, you look even prettier when you smile!”

 

After that, Marigold became one of Freesia’s closest friends. Along with her friend Dahlia.

 

‘It was formal with the other ladies,’ she thought, ‘but not with these two. They really liked each other.’

 

That made it all the more painful.

 

A dark room with no lights. She buried her face in her pillow and sobbed, wondering how much time had passed.

 

Suddenly she heard the door open.

 

It was Count Elysium.

 

“The maids were worried, they said you came back with a tearful face and wouldn’t come out of your room…”

 

He walked over to Freesia and put his arm around her delicate shoulders.

 

 

“You shouldn’t show your servants that kind of behavior, Freesia.”

 

“……!”

 

Her sobs stopped at that moment.

 

Count Elysium stroked her stiffened shoulder and spoke.

 

“I told you, you’re supposed to look like a flawless princess at all times.”

 

Count Elysium’s tone could not have been more gentle and polite, but his silver-gray eyes were as fierce as a beast upon its prey.

 

Freesia blanched, barely able to speak.

 

“This is wrong. You’ve upset me so much that I’m going to stop…”

 

“What happened, is it because of Mrs. Golgus and Mrs. Gregg?”

 

‘How could that…!’

 

Freesia’s eyes widened. Count Elysium chuckled.

 

“I know. It’s my dear wife’s business…”

 

“…….”

 

“You say you’ve been hanging out with Mrs. Edenberg lately?”

 

It didn’t matter who they were hanging out with. But…

 

“It was said that was the reason you were estranged from them.”

 

One was an empty-headed woman who had nothing but money, and the other was a high-minded, pompous woman.

 

They were pathetic in Count Elysium’s eyes, but they had great influence in social circles.

 

“If you fall out with them, they’ll think less of you, and that will make it harder for you to be Ethereal of the Year, and that’s a problem.”

 

Count Elysium nuzzled Freesia’s thin, white neck and whispered.

 

“Because my wife deserves the best.”

 

Before she knew it, the tears at the corners of Freesia’s eyes had dried. The only emotion on her beautiful face was absolute fear.

 

She was so frightened she could barely speak.

 

But if she didn’t speak, she would be punished again.

 

Desperately, Freesia gathered her strength and opened her mouth.

 

“No, I’ll try.”

 

Count Elysium looked at her, then kissed her.

 

“I look forward to it.”

 

“…….”

 

After Count Elysium left the room, Freesia lay sprawled on the floor. Her whole body was shaking like a lamb that had just been caught by a wolf and barely survived.

 

She mumbled.

 

“Well, yes. Now is not the time to sob like a child.”

 

She had to be an Ethereal somehow.

 

Just like her husband wanted her to be.

 

 

* * *

 

 

In the bookstore, Artia picked out books with a hot snort.

 

“There are a lot of interesting looking novels.”

 

She hadn’t been to the bookstore in a long time, and while reading Redlip’s latest book in the library, she remembered her previous books and started reading them again.

 

“Oh, the second part of The Knight Who Loved Teddy Bears is out!”

 

Artia grabbed the book with a twinkle in her eye, and a wrinkled hand wandered by her side.

 

“Oops…”

 

The woman groaned at the loss of the book. The middle-aged woman wore a round floral hat and a brightly patterned dress.

 

“You’re so cute.”

 

It took Artia a beat to recognize the woman, who was dressed in a bright fashion that was unusual for someone of her age.

 

The woman looked longingly at the book in her hand.

 

“Did you happen to pick up this book?”

 

“Yes. The owner said there was only one book left on the shelf, but I’m late.”

 

The woman smiled weakly, her face dripping with regret.

 

Artia looked back and forth between the book and the woman, then held the book out to her.

 

“Take it.”

 

The woman looked surprised.

 

“May I?”

 

Book One ended with a dignified knight confessing his love for a teddy bear to his unrequited princess. Artia was eager to see what would happen in book two.

 

But it wasn’t hard enough to pretend she hadn’t seen the woman with the pitiful look in her eyes.

 

“I can wait,” she said, “someone who loves the work more should read it first.”

 

Artia smiled with the camaraderie of a comrade with a shared hobby.

 

“How kind of you…”

 

The woman, clutching the books like treasures, looked at Artia with eyes that could not have been more impressed.

 

 

 

Artia’s eyes widened as she walked out of the bookstore with a pile of books. There was the woman in the flowered hat from earlier.

 

A gentleman approached her as she stood in front of the bookstore. He was a young man, very well groomed.

 

As he approached, the woman smiled a girlish smile and casually put her arms around him.

 

Artia recognized their relationship immediately.

 

“Mother and son.”

 

Despite their different moods, their faces looked exactly alike.

 

Just before the woman climbed into the carriage, she made eye contact with Artia. “The knight who likes teddy bears,” she said, waving. “Thank you, my lady.”

 

Artia returned the woman’s sweet greeting with a bright smile.

 

It was a short but pleasant encounter.

 

And that day, the relationship took a turn she never expected.