My Dear Husband, Let's Keep It Business-Like! ~Countess Anastasia, Raised in The Downtown, Won't Give Up Her Way~ - Episode 26

After various preparations were made, it was three days later that I was able to discreetly go out into the city.

I wanted to leave right away the next day, but Marcus couldn’t adjust his work schedule.

By the way, the two highly professional individuals, Marcus and Dahlia, apologized for showing such private matters to your wife.

From our perspective, it felt like “We got to see something great!” but we properly accepted the apology.

The two of them don’t show any signs of change even while working, but please forgive me for sneaking glances at them.

Please, a sequel!

“Come on, madam, please have a seat here. Today, I’m going to put my skills to the test and make you the cutest town girl ever!”

“Marie, I appreciate the sentiment, but I’d prefer to blend in rather than stand out as cute.”

“Hmm, now that you mention it, that’s true. Madam already possesses a beauty that is truly breathtaking! If we make her look even cuter, all sorts of people will flock to her, and it might ruin our precious time alone.”

Marie has a bit of a tendency to be a doting parent… no, in this case, a doting servant?

The town girl look that Marie had perfectly put together was simple and cute.

The reflection of myself in the mirror, with brown hair and a mischievous town girl appearance, feels like the image of another future self that I never walked towards, and it is deeply moving.

Hehe, this appearance brings back memories.

Just a little over two years ago, I was living just like this. Even now, I feel more attached to this.

After all, the first time I faced my blonde-haired, green-eyed self was when my precious pendant was forcibly taken and smashed, so it became an extremely unpleasant memory.

No matter how much it is my true nature, it’s only natural that it doesn’t leave a very good impression.

When I look at my reflection in the mirror, dressed as a town girl, I vaguely remember that time.

“Stop it! Give it back! That’s an important protective amulet pendant!!”

The knights of the duke’s private knight order who pushed me away when I tried to grab the pendant back, and crushed the magic stone right in front of me.

I still can’t forget each and every one of their faces (…or rather, I will never forget them! Just you wait!).

I was desperately crawling on the floor, trying to gather the fragments of the magic stone in the hope of somehow restoring it, when my hair fell over my face.

I’ve never seen hair like that, golden hair.

I felt a sudden rumble in my throat.

Feeling a fear as if I had turned into some unknown entity, I hurriedly peered into the mirror—

I saw myself with golden hair and emerald eyes.

I still don’t know how to express the feelings I had back then.

The knights who had been grinning and looking at me suddenly changed their expressions as soon as they saw the color of my changed hair.

“Go-golden… hair…”

“Hey, hey! What are we going to do?”

“Whatever we do, we need to contact the Duke right away!”

Even though they barged in just because I’m a member of the ducal family, did they not expect this turn of events?

Am I an idiot? Being a knight in the duke’s private knight order.

Watching the knights retreating in a flurry, only a sense of helplessness remains in my heart.

After that, it was complete chaos.

Having my magic stone shattered, I couldn’t even return to my original form.

At that time, I was staying in the dormitory of the higher education institution, so the dormitory was in complete chaos.

My guardian, “Uncle,” rushed over immediately, so the situation was somehow resolved, but I was taken back to Uncle’s house without even having a chance to say goodbye to my friends.

In the end, I was taken in by the duke’s family as I was, so I couldn’t even say goodbye to my friends from school.

I wonder if everyone is doing well.

By the way, “Uncle” is someone who had been helping our family in various ways even before our parents passed away. My father trusted him very much.

He is the president of a large trading company that operates across countries, and apparently, he had been saying, “If anything happens to us, please take care of Ana.”

“A formal envoy from the duke’s family has arrived. We can no longer deceive them, but we can help you escape. If you wish, we can entrust you to a trusted acquaintance in the neighboring country.”

What should we do?

My uncle said that and confirmed my intentions.

If I had been allowed to escape to the neighboring country back then, I wouldn’t have had to spend my days as a countess like this.

But my feelings were already decided.

“Thank you very much, Uncle. But I… I’m going to the Fairfanville Duke’s residence.”

I just couldn’t believe that my parents were dead.

The process by which my parents disappeared was so unnatural, and… there’s another reason I haven’t told anyone.

I felt a great force behind the fact that my parents were killed so efficiently.

The ducal family… the aristocratic society… might be involved in something.

This was the chance to confirm it.

Also, there are other reasons.

My father has always been worried that the ducal family, and by extension the people of the duchy, have suffered because of him.

Because of my elopement, the ducal family was mired in scandal, and their influence in noble society has weakened.

In the ducal family, I caused a lot of trouble to my beloved older brother, who was the only one who truly cared for me.

It seems that the father and his older brother were about 20 years apart in age, and he was almost like a father figure to him.

Since he is my father’s older brother, he is my uncle.

As for me, no matter how much scandal the elopement caused, I think it’s a sign of the duke family’s weakness if it affects the management of the territory. However, it seems my father didn’t think so.

Indeed, if it has affected the lives of the subjects, it pains my heart…

I gaze out the window towards the direction of the duchy.

The lands of the Earl of Hamilton and the Duke of Fairfanville are adjacent to each other. Beyond that mountain visible in the distance lies the Fairfanville Duchy.

If I were to become a member of the Fairfanville ducal family, I thought I would fulfill my duties for the subjects in place of my father.

I never thought the duke’s family, including the servants, could be so corrupt, but even so, the villagers are not to blame.

By the time I was taken in by the ducal family, the succession had already taken place, and my uncle, the former duke, was not at the ducal residence in the royal capital.

The current Duke of Fairfanville is my uncle’s son, so although there is a significant age difference, he is technically my cousin.

This duke, who has now become my adoptive father, deeply hates my father, and it seems that this is not solely due to the elopement.

From what my father said, I thought he was originally mistreated in the ducal family, but it seems my unpleasant guess was correct.

To be persecuted for two generations, what a cruel twist of fate.

I don’t know why my father was treated poorly in the duke’s family.

In the duke’s household, they didn’t teach me anything important, and since it would be troublesome if they became suspicious of me probing into things, I didn’t ask anything either.

However, when I pieced together the bits of information I occasionally overheard, it seemed that my uncle, who had retired from his position, was somewhere in the duchy.

He was the older brother I admired so much.

Even after Dad left the ducal family, there is a strong possibility that he was secretly in contact only with Uncle.

If that’s the case, they might know something about my parents’ disappearance as well.

Since I married into the count’s family, I want to protect the people of the count’s territory.

I want to repay the people of the duchy that my father has always cared about in any way I can.

I want to know the truth behind why Dad and Mom disappeared.

Staring at myself in the mirror, I resolve with a renewed heart.

“Come on, Marie! Let’s head out to the town!”