"Madam, are you inside?"
There was a knock on the door followed by Oliviel's voice.
"Come in."
I put down the teacup I was holding after permitting her to come in. Oliviel greeted me first by the door before she approached me.
"What is it?”
Oliviel's visit wasn't a rare occurrence. She was the head maid and the one who helped me the most.
However, for the first time, she had an unknown letter in her hand and I was wondering what is it about.
"Madam, you have a letter from the Palace."
Oliviel said as she handed me the letter. I opened the letter and checked the contents inside.
As Oliviel said, it was indeed a letter from the Palace, rather it was an invitation for a ball to be held at the Palace to celebrate the Emperor's birthday. It even says here that our presence is greatly appreciated.
The recipient of the invitation was the Earl of Theodore. Then perhaps this invitation has reached not only me but also Richard.
"Will Richard go to the ball?"
I asked Oliviel just in case. Oliviel nodded and said yes.
"Yes, the Master will probably attend."
"Is that so?"
I'm surprised. He was so busy every day, holing up in his office. I was wondering why he had time to go to the ball now.
"……Will you not attend, Madam?"
Oliviel carefully asked seeing that my reaction was strange.
I glanced at the invitation with brows knitted and soon shrugged.
"Well, I don't think there are any people I'd like to meet even if I go."
If I attend the ball, I will surely meet Father and Cecilia there.
We didn't separate in a nice way when I left home, nevertheless, I don't want to see them.
But what if they run into me instead?
Will they greet me? What about me? Should I greet them back? Or should I pretend that I didn't notice them?
I thought long and hard but only negative thoughts came to mind.
The ball was a place full of people who might not wish to be acquainted with me.
If I went, I'd be glad if I didn't get to be the laughing stock, but do I really need to go there?
"But Madam, it's your first ball since you got married. Why not take it into consideration?”
Oliviel's voice held concern. It's not that I didn't understand Oliviel's worries, either.
It's just that Richard and I were an incredibly controversial couple. People around would wonder if there's something wrong with us. Even if we were politically married, it was common to hold a wedding.
Besides, don't couples participate in official events together? It was obvious we would become the subject of gossip once we attend. We don't know what kind of rumor comes out from the mouths of those busybodies.
If this was entirely my problem, I wouldn't have paid attention to those who talked behind my back, but this time, not only me were involved but also Richard.
If I don't go to the ball, Richard will even be more subjected to criticism and ridicule.
Oliviel might have wanted me to attend in the light of such circumstances.
"It's better that I should go, right?"
It isn't fair to be ridiculed just because I won't be attending due to personal issues.
If I just endured for that day, we'll still be gossiped about but at least, not so much.
"Yes, I think that would be great. I'm sorry if I was being presumptuous."
"No, I was just thinking that I would go as well. Don't worry too much."
"Then I will request a designer to make the dress for you right away. Do you have a preferred designer, Madam?"
"None. Do you have any recommendations?”
"Yes, I do. Viscountess Lumie is a renowned designer and she also designs the Master's outfit. What do you think, Madam? Shall I contact her?" Excited, Oliviel asked as she smiled.
"Yes, thank you."
I returned the smile. Oliviel was finally at ease.
"By the way, is Richard in his office today?"
Now it has become a daily routine to visit Richard's office and enjoy some refreshments.
Contrary to what I thought that I would be banned after a visit or two, Richard hasn't put any restrictions on my visits to his office.
I visited Richard every time because it was much better to spend time chatting with him than to enjoy tea alone.
As always, I asked Oliviel if Richard's in his office today, but the answer Oliviel gave me was unexpected.
"No, he won't be in the office today."
"Eh?"
It was unbelievable why a man who preferred to be stuck in his office working day and night would leave his post.
"Today, Master headed to the training grounds on the east side of the manor."
"Training grounds? Is he going to train? With a sword?” I was even more surprised as I asked.
"Of course, you might not know this Madam but he's stronger than most knights."
"Really...?"
Today seems to be the day where I can see the different side of Richard.
I couldn't imagine him using a sword because the only image stuck in my head was him glued to his desk all day. Well, now that Oliviel mentioned it, there was a setting in the novel that he was good at dealing with swords. It's been mentioned a few times in the past, too.
Looking at it, I could sense that he was sporting a well-defined body underneath those clothes. He was a bit tanned too. It would make sense to think that it was all due to sword training.
Well, back in my previous world after my novel was published, some of my readers suffered from second male lead syndrome due to Richard's charm.
In particular, some readers mentioned that Richard was hot when he was focusing on sword training.
Now, I'm excited to see him train.
"I'll go to the training grounds right now."
"Yes, I shall prepare."
Soon after, Oliviel and I along with my other maids headed for the training grounds.
There were a lot of people shouting as we got near the site. Soon we finally arrived at the training grounds.
Many people have gathered practicing swords.
"Wow!"
I haven't paid much attention to these Knights since living in the Duke's residence, therefore for the first time, I saw people moving so intensely and quite fired up.
There was also an ongoing battle of swords, and some were practicing by themselves with a dummy.
Richard was the former.
"HA!"
Richard shouted as he pushed his opponent away after they clashed swords. He followed it up with an overwhelming strike with his wooden sword. The sudden attack caused the opponent to dropped his.
Richard didn't miss a second and turned the sword's trajectory and thrust it unto the knight's throat just by a hairsbreadth.
"……I lost."
As soon as the knight admitted defeat, Richard grinned and retrieved the wooden sword on the ground, and handed it to his opponent.
"Good job, Lorentz."
"No, Your Lordship. I learned a lot today." Sir Lorentz said as he bowed politely at Richard.
I applaud at the amazing sight.
Naturally, the eyes of the two men were instantly set on me.
"Diana?"
Richard arched a brow out of surprise.
"Both of you were terrific."
What I saw was part of a duel, but I, unfamiliar with swordsmanship, could see how excellent Richard and the knight were.
I spoke out of genuine admiration, but Richard became wary of me.
"What are you doing here?" Richard spoke in a menacing voice.
I pouted momentarily before saying,
"I heard you were here. Am I not allowed to come?"
"You're interfering on the knights' practice."
"Did you say I'm in the way?"
"Yes. You're a distraction."
Richard squinted his eyes in contempt at the so-called distraction. I was so vexed that I glared back at him.
"Do any of the people here think I'm a distraction?"
I asked the knights surrounding us while still glaring at Richard.
Of course, no one would dare openly admit since I'm the Earl's wife.
I raised a chin at Richard after confirming their silence.
"It seems there's no one who thinks of me that way."
"They won't talk but it's already quite obvious."
"I can't even come to Theodore's training grounds even though I'm here for an official visit?"
"Is there really any need to come all the way here just to inspect?"
Richard was quite unwilling for my visit here.
It was probably because he didn't consider me his real wife.
Of course, it could be because I'm really interfering with the Knights' training.
But I beg to differ.
You just don't want to show the Knights' training to your wife.
There was a separate reason why I was making this assumption.
It was because I remember the scenes where he took Eileen here and showed her how many times he handled the sword and how proud he was of his Knights.
In the original story, Richard brought Eileen to this place several times, and yet when it comes to Diana, he would say no.
It might be because I'm not Eileen. I'm not the main character of this world, Eileen Heinz.
"Just go back for today."
"……I get it. I'm just interrupting, right?”
"Yes."
I looked at Richard, who spoke in a resolved voice.
My pitiful self reflected in his eyes.
"So it seems I'm just interrupting you. I'll better head back now. I've come to a place where I shouldn't."
Because Richard hasn't stopped me from visiting his office these past few days, I've been forgetting the fact that he's a man who's indifferent to me, Diana.
I was overlooking that reality.
I know that our relationship was only formed based on a deal and for a moment, I must have misunderstood it for something.
"Let's go." I ordered my maids, including Oliviel to head back.
I turned around and began to leave the site slowly.
With every step I took, I felt a myriad of emotions clawing inside me.
Yeah, let's not get hung up on these useless things.
He wasn't my man anyway.
In the first place, Richard...….
"Madam!"
At the same time as my thoughts were cut off, my vision became dark.
And Oliviel's voice as she was calling me drifted in a distance.
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