#Chapter 6. Husband’s Brother

“…… May I ask the reason you think so?”

“Haha. Now the duke must also take charge of one main pillar. There are quite a few people who follow the duke too. The achievements he made in war aren’t just one or two. Actually, there was no need for the duke to go to suppress the rebellion……”

As Charles continued speaking and Ariel’s smile gradually changed to a bitter smile, he stopped talking.

“I misspoke.”

“Not at all. Because he stepped forward, you had to join as well, Sir Charles.”

“Not at all. I naturally had to follow. The duchess will also become very busy.”

“It’s a disloyal statement, but that puts my mind more at ease.”

Ariel nodded slightly.

If Sir Charles spoke like this, it seemed the disappointments of the past wouldn’t repeat.

Now he wouldn’t go to war, and if so, he would be completely away from the danger of life and death.

If they faced each other often, the relationship between Lucy and him would improve, so surely only happy days would be full for our family.

“Haha. Who could say anything about that feeling?”

At Charles’s laughter, Ariel also smiled brightly this time, truly from her heart.

“Lady Ariel.”

It was then.

Bruno, Damian’s half-brother, called her.

“Ah, it’s been a long time.”

“Wow…… Lady Ariel, you’re truly beautiful whenever I see you.”

Ariel didn’t get flustered by Bruno’s embarrassing praise and wore a smile befitting a duchess.

Ariel was also always amazed by her conversations with Bruno.

She wondered if half-brothers could have such different thoughts.

While it was understandable that their hair color and appearance were different, they would have grown up receiving the same education in the same Zenova family…… It was surprising that even their personalities could be so different.

From the way they dealt with people to the speech patterns that guided conversations, the two could be said to stand at complete opposite ends.

If Damian was someone without a single disturbance in principles and discipline, Bruno was free-spirited and…… well, if she had to define him, he was a cheerful person.

“I was having a conversation with my brother. Sir Charles, it’s really been a long time. …… Both of you, please come this way. We can’t have a conversation leaving out the protagonist of the award ceremony, can we?”

At Bruno’s gesture with a good-natured smile, Ariel and Charles both nodded.

“Everyone, this is the peerless beauty of this era, Lady Ariel. Haha. Since my brother has been at war for a long period, it’s difficult to see Lady Ariel’s face even once. Oh right, I visited once before, but I heard you had gone out with Lucy. You seem to go out with Lucy often.”

Bruno, who smiled brightly, suddenly grabbed Ariel’s hand.

When the startled Ariel was flustered, Damian, who had been watching from the side, pulled Bruno’s hand away.

“You.”

Damian tilted his head while looking at Bruno.

It was a sentence with too much omitted, so Ariel didn’t know what her husband was saying either.

She just felt the atmosphere seemed a bit fierce, so she quietly grabbed Damian’s hand.

“Damian?”

Damian, who glanced at Ariel looking up at him, frowned.

“Haha. It seems my brother’s nerves are sharp since it hasn’t been long since he returned from war.”

“…… That’s right. Since he’s been away for a long period, he seems to have forgotten Bruno’s friendly manner. But I was also startled when you suddenly grabbed my hand.”

Ariel, who put a gentle smile on her lips, softly pointed out Bruno while closing her eyes prettily.

“Hahaha. I see. That could be the case. If you hadn’t said that, Lady Ariel, I would have almost misunderstood too. …… Brother, really. I’ll be careful next time.”

When Bruno laughed with his characteristic hearty laughter, the men nearby also laughed along.

“That can happen. Bruno is so friendly.”

“He’s too good-natured. Hahaha.”

The only ones not laughing were Damian and Sir Charles, who stood restlessly beside them.

“Oh right, Damian.”

Ariel called Damian while looking up at him.

The group here were all Bruno’s people.

In other words, there were many men who hadn’t participated in war.

Both as a duke and as a knight who participated in war, Damian’s superiority was far too high.

Therefore, they wouldn’t take Damian’s side.

Taking sides meant they would have to lower themselves.

Even though her husband, who spent his life attending military academy and then participating in wars, had learned to handle social circles and human relationships as a duke, he wasn’t as skilled as Bruno, who had spent his entire life manipulating people in such places.

It seemed better to send him away before Bruno subtly put down the taciturn Damian again.

There was no need for Damian to listen along with a group that wouldn’t help even if he stayed long.

“Lucy is strolling through the garden with Her Majesty the Empress. Just in case, I think it would be good for you to bring her back at an appropriate time.”

When Ariel spoke to Damian, one man who heard that story chuckled.

“The duke will personally go to fetch the young lady? For the duke to personally move for such a trivial matter, this is something. I think there might be a problem with the duke’s dignity, wouldn’t it be better for the duchess to go?”

At that face full of mockery, Ariel smiled sweetly.

She knew. What the man before her was saying.

And her husband Damian would normally not respond to bothersome matters.

But Ariel knew her husband would take Ariel’s side in the current matter.

The more they sent mockery toward Ariel’s words, the more so.

“I’m quite fond of my daughter. Then, Ariel. I’ll go and come back.”

Damian, who kissed the back of Ariel’s hand, turned around. Sir Charles also bowed and followed behind Damian.

“Then, I’ll also go first.”

“Take care. Both of you.”

Her expectation was accurate.

As long as Ariel was Duchess Zenova, Damian would never put Ariel down in front of people.

Because that would be something that wouldn’t harm Zenova’s prestige.

Even if he said a word after returning home, it was like saying there was no such thing as Damian not taking Ariel’s side outside.

Because the prestige of Duchess Zenova was higher than such men’s petty competitiveness and mockery.

Ariel nodded slightly to Bruno’s remaining group as a greeting.

It wouldn’t be ladylike for Ariel to stay alone with a group without her husband.

They, who received Ariel’s greeting with bitter smiles, bowed their heads.

Like Jessica, Bruno also had short thoughts.

Moreover, he had a personality that was easily swayed by his surroundings…… He shouldn’t be influenced.

Ariel swallowed a worried sigh inwardly and turned around.

Ariel, who turned her steps, pressed her lips tightly while thinking of the man who had just spoken to her about the duke’s prestige.

…… Did that man believe he could damage Damian’s honor with just such a thing?

If he truly believed that, the man was mistaken.

For Damian, who had carried the sense of mission and responsibility as a duke his entire life, going to fetch his daughter was literally just a bothersome task, not something that would damage his honor.

Damian, who didn’t spare even his life for the empire, was naturally someone who embodied Duke Zenova itself.

…… It was also the reason why she couldn’t easily speak to Damian as a wife.

Ariel smiled bitterly.

She couldn’t ask her husband, who prioritized the empire and the ducal house over herself, to do something for the family.

The path Damian walked wasn’t such trivial matters as they said.

Ariel, who blinked several times, composed her expression again.

It was sad, but now wasn’t the time to waste emotions on such things.

“House Vierga, Garizzi, …… and lastly, was it West?”

Ariel, who recalled the three houses that had been standing beside Bruno, counted on her fingers.

They were all houses walking the path of decline, so even if Damian made enemies of them, they weren’t very threatening houses.

As Charles said, now that the great war was over, Damian would also advance into politics and finance.

To do so, Ariel had to capably support him in the invisible power struggles.

It was time to grasp the social circles again as a duchess, which she had neglected for a while.

How could there be only one or two nobles who hid blades in their words like Bruno’s group?

If he completely stepped into politics and finance, bigger arrows would come toward Damian.

…… What was concerning now was public sentiment.

The people’s sentiment was greatly inclined toward Damian. That was like a double-edged sword.

Along with praise came the gaze wondering if he might become a blade pointing toward the emperor.

The only thing that could easily come to the lips of nobles who wanted to put Damian down was just that one thing.

So she had to firmly establish the fact that the blade was completely sheathed in the emperor’s scabbard.

“Hello. Duchess.”

Just then, Marchioness Orsini greeted Ariel.

“Hello, Marchioness.”

Ariel, who faced the marchioness, closed her eyes prettily.

The fact that Her Majesty the Empress liked Lucy would become a small stepping stone.

She didn’t want to involve Lucy in such matters and tie her future to this imperial palace where she could neither laugh nor cry, but seeing Lucy naturally holding the empress’s hand, it seemed she needed to move appropriately.

And in that regard, Marchioness Orsini, who manipulated social circles, was someone who could be very helpful.

“For Duke Zenova to suppress another rebellion and achieve merit. It’s truly remarkable.”

The marchioness, who started with praise, slightly lowered her fan.

“…… Actually, wives don’t attend award ceremonies, but when I heard that the duchess was coming today, I also spoke to the marquis.”

The marchioness subtly sparkled her eyes toward Ariel.

It seemed to be the right time, when they both wanted each other.