Refusing Your Ex-Husband's Obsession: A Guide - Side Story 12
Side Story 12
Translator: Yonnee
—
Before Irene could ponder further, a knock sounded.
“Come in.”
As soon as Ciel gave permission, the chief butler and the chief handmaid entered. The elderly pair tried to catch their breath, but their panting was evident.
“My apologies… Huff.”
“Your Highness the Grand, Duke. Your Highness the, huff, Grand Duchess…”
Ciel and Irene realized the most significant drawback of the mansion.
It was too vast and high, which could pose a problem. They couldn’t ask the butler and the housekeeper to go down, fetch some tea, and go back up again.
“Could you prepare tea and refreshments in the dining room?”
“Yes, of course.”
“We’ll discuss more downstairs.”
“Yes, Milord.”
After the two left, Irene commented,
“It’s too high for the servants to travel comfortably, isn’t it?”
“It seems so…”
“How old are the chief butler and the chief handmaid?”
“…They’re over fifty, I believe.”
“Then we shouldn’t call them up here anymore.”
“We still need to learn more about this mansion.”
“That’s true.”
Irene took out the spatial bag, filled with jewels collected from monsters.
“If these jewels are really mana stones… could we build an elevator that moves between floors like a portal?”
* * *
The next day, Ciel went to the palace with the jewels harvested from monsters.
After returning from his honeymoon, Ciel’s face was radiant—much to Jace’s chagrin.
“What brings you to the palace, Grand Duke?”
“Did you know, Your Highness?”
Jace felt his blood pressure rise at Ciel’s ‘Do you know about this’. So, he replied gruffly,
“How would I know what’s inside your mind?”
“Just as Your Highness said, I have become a Grand Duke.”
“Yes, yes. I am well aware that you’ve become a Grand Duke.”
“Is a Grand Duke different from a Duke?”
“What are you trying to say?”
After sipping water filled with ice, Ciel leisurely lifted his teacup. The tea, slightly cooled from its hot steam, was just the right temperature to drink.
“It means, Your Highness, that until you become the Emperor, you cannot address me informally. Please treat me with due respect.”
“Hah!”
Jace felt as if the bread he had for breakfast was stuck in his throat. To think he had to speak formally to this cheeky punk!
Although the title of Grand Duke had been vacant for a long time, Ciel was correct.
This only aggravated Jace further.
“Very well, Your Ducal Highness.”
“Haha. My apologies, Your Imperial Highness.”
“Really, unbelievable.”
“What did you say?”
“Respectfully, Grand Duke, I said it’s unbelievable.”
“Ah, I see.”
Jace gulped down the rest of his tea and called for the steward.
“Bring some iced tea.”
“Sir? It’s quite chilly out.”
“My insides are boiling with rage, so it doesn’t matter!”
“…Yes, Your Highness.”
“Winter does make one crave something cool, Your Highness.”
“Nothing looks colder than the Grand Duke’s face, I suppose.”
“Please, say it’s refreshing rather than cold. By the way, Your Highness, when do you plan to marry? Shouldn’t you start looking soon?”
“…When the time comes, I suppose.”
“Lately, waking up in the morning has been so blissful and joyful for me. I never knew sharing the same bed and waking up together could be this delightful.”
“…Well, that’s nice. Very nice.”
Boiling with irritation, Jace downed the iced tea brought by the steward as soon as it arrived. Ciel, crunching on ice in his mouth, placed a pouch on the table.
“…Hmm, this looks like the spatial pouch I gave to Irene.”
“…Do not casually mention my wife’s name, Your Highness. She is now the Grand Duchess.”
“……”
Jace nodded silently with a blurred focus, feeling slighted, petty, and annoyed. He bluntly asked.
“But why do you have this?”
“I brought it because I have something to ask. Take a look inside.”
Ciel opened the pouch and took out a gemstone presumed to be a mana stone.
“Have you ever seen such a gemstone before?”
“…Where on earth did you get this?”
“Is there a record of it in the imperial palace?”
“…Just wait a moment.”
Quickly rising, Jace left to find records himself, as the archives accessible only to the imperial family were not places he could send a steward.
He walked briskly, carefully recalling the gemstone he had just seen.
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