My Dear Husband, Let's Keep It Business-Like! ~Countess Anastasia, Raised in The Downtown, Won't Give Up Her Way~ - Episode 18

In the past, I lived with my parents in a commoner’s district, specifically in an area known as the lower town, without even knowing my true hair color.

Of course, compared to the wealthy, it was a modest life, but I think it was a sufficiently blessed environment where I never had to worry about food, clothing, or shelter, and I was allowed to study as much as I wanted.

And by the time I became aware of things, I had already noticed that I was a bit different from those around me.

To be precise, it’s more like “my parents” rather than “me.”

My father was pretty bad, but my mother was quite out of touch with reality.

My mother is somewhat naive, or rather, she’s like a sheltered young lady.

That said, my mother was a rare presence who, without being ostracized or persecuted in the downtown area, could somehow blend in and be loved by those around her.

A natural charmer is probably someone like a mother.

So honestly, I was really surprised when my father revealed my origins to me.

That was when I was about to graduate from junior high school and was thinking about my future path.

Whether to advance to higher education, find a job in the town where I was living at the time, or perhaps look for a partner and get married…

To my troubled self, my father told me, “You will surely come to know someday,” and informed me that he was from a ducal family.

It was within the realm of possibility that those two were actually of noble descent, but I never imagined that a duke’s family would come into play; they were a much bigger deal than I expected. What surprised me even more was that the duke’s lineage came from my father.

I was under the impression that my high-ranking noble mother and my father, who didn’t hold such a high status, had eloped.

When I first heard the truth,

“Huh! That way!??”

I ended up shouting.

For some reason, only my mother and I can clearly see and converse with the spirits.

I thought, “Well, if my mother is a high-ranking noble lady, maybe that’s just how things are.”

There are few commoners with magical power, but almost everyone among the nobility possesses it.

It is said that the higher the rank of the nobility, the greater their magical power.

I thought that my mother could see and talk to spirits because of her high magical power, and that my father saw spirits as mere lights because he lacked enough magical power.

Since commoners have no opportunity to measure their magical power, they couldn’t even realize that it was a mistake.

I remember my mother, who was embroidering stitch by stitch, singing songs with the spirits and infusing each stitch with blessings.

The scene was so mystical that I would have believed it if someone said, “Actually, my mother was a princess from somewhere!”

Such a mother was the daughter of a lower-ranking noble, while my father was the son of a duke.

The world is full of things we don’t understand.

“When the people from the Fairfanville Duke’s family came looking for me, they forcibly took the pendant from me, despite my resistance, and smashed the magic stone.”

“Huh!?”

“Just taking off the pendant won’t immediately restore the hair and eye color. If you had just waited for 2-3 days, it would have been fine. But because you thought it was a waste of time, you just went and broke it. If you destroy the original magic stone, the magic power will immediately cease, and everything will return to normal in no time.”

“Is that how it is? Even so, that’s quite rough.”

“My father and mother both went missing… well, people around say they died. Anyway, I guess they thought they could do whatever they wanted with a little girl. I’ve never been treated with any kindness from the beginning to the end.”

I can’t help but laugh at myself in a self-deprecating way.

“I… talked too much.”

I’m sorry, I might seem like a creepy wife full of questions, but I mean no harm to the count’s family, so please bear with me. I’ll handle my work perfectly!

To my surprise, I ended up talking about myself more than I intended, so I tried to change the subject a bit awkwardly, but my husband was quietly lost in thought.

I don’t talk much about myself to others.

My upbringing was so unusual, and thinking about my missing parents, I don’t know who to trust.

There have been people who have tried to lend me a hand in the past, but I couldn’t take it. I don’t think my husband or the people of the count’s family are bad, but unfortunately, I still can’t trust them.

“No, it seems that I was the one who wasn’t trying to know anything about you.”

I was a bit taken aback by my husband speaking in such a solemn manner.

“I also think I said something inappropriate on our wedding night. I should have apologized sooner, but it was hard to bring it up… I’m sorry.”

I was bowed down to the ground.

A high-ranking noble is bowing to a former commoner…!?

“Um… I was a bit surprised.”

“What do you mean?”

“I never would have imagined that a noble would bow their head like that…”

“Even nobles apologize properly if they think they’ve done something wrong, you know?”

“I see… I just couldn’t imagine the nobles I know ever apologizing…”

“Uh, uh…”

I heard from Sebastian before coming to the salon that it seems the master used the mechanism in the room next to the reception room to spy on us.

In other words, I witnessed Christina, who was praised as the belle of society and believed to be gentle and delicate, making such a lewd face and heard her uttering insults.

I can imagine how you feel.

“Master”

“Hmm? What’s up?”

“Could you please keep me in your territory for a while?”

“Why all of a sudden? Could it be that something bad happened to you in the royal capital!?”

“No, I hardly ever go outside the mansion, and everyone here treats me well.”

It’s about Christina.

I can’t believe Christina would back down after that. As long as I’m here, she will definitely come barging in again.

Continuing to decline invitations to tea parties from other families would eventually become difficult, and I myself had been wanting to visit the count’s territory. In a way, I think this is the perfect timing.

“If I’m here, Christina will definitely come again.”

Moreover, I think Christina is targeting your husband.

“My life!? Why!?”

“Well, not life… more like, you know, trying to seduce and make them fall in love with me or something like that.”

“Why now… it was them who forced the engagement with me onto you, right? I’m already a married person, you know?”

“That’s exactly it. Christina loves to take my things.”

The husband was left speechless, looking as if he couldn’t understand.

In the midst of aristocratic society, I am impressed by how they were able to cultivate such a pure person.

“Dear husband, I am not being driven out to the estate, you know? I originally wanted to visit the earldom.”

When I said that with a smile, my husband stared at me intently for a moment before reluctantly nodding.

“…I see, understood. Indeed, the marquisate is a nice place. I’ll contact Marcus, so you should take your time and spend a leisurely visit.”

“Thank you very much! Master.”

“Ah, you must be tired today. Go back to your room and take a good rest.”

Encouraged by my husband, I was about to leave the room after expressing my gratitude, but then I remembered something I had forgotten to say and quickly turned around.

“Earlier, you said that my husband didn’t try to know anything about me… But you actually remembered my name, didn’t you?”

“What?”

“I always thought you didn’t remember my name because you always called me things like ‘you’ or ‘hey.’ But just now, you called me by my name for the first time, right?”

“Anastasia,” huh?

“…………”

“I was a bit happy. You protected me. Thank you very much.”

Good night.

Saying that, Anastasia left the room, unaware that Eugene’s ears had turned bright red.