Rather Than The Son, I’ll Take The Father

Chapter 46

I gave Aedis a gentle smile.

“We’ll do more when you feel motivated to improve your reputation. You’ve been the patriarch of the Kalakiss family for decades, will something big happen all of a sudden? As long as we get going on it at some point, it’ll all be okay.”

I proposed an optimistic plan and gave Aedis a wink.

It felt awkward for some reason though, maybe because of the mood?

I looked at Aedis, who seemed as if he’d eaten something bad, and changed the subject.

“By the way, I’m curious, how did you become the Grand Duke? I know that the predecessor didn’t have any heirs, but still, wasn’t there strong backlash from the vassals?

Externally, Aedis was known as part of a distant lineage of the Kallakis family, one that they had hidden. But in the North, not a single person believed that.

The Kallakis family was unusual and rare, and their genealogy was very short.

The number of children born in the last 500 years to their family could be counted on one hand.

Luna, the mistress in [Esmeralda’s Crescent Moon], said that it was a miracle that the family line was even maintained until now.

The purest legitimate line had disappeared completely now that the previous Grand Duke had died.

Aedis responded shakily, “I can pull out the bones and organs of my opponent without moving.”

“Oh…”

They must have all agreed unanimously.

“Thanks to that, I was able to easily adopt Gilbert and Regen.”

In the novel, the adoption process of the two brothers was not covered in detail.

I thought it was because there wasn’t anything to talk about since it was solved in a flash.

Rather than opposing it, the vassals probably held an adoption party instead.

Aedis curled his lip grimly as if he had remembered something heavy.

“…Hey husband, tell me you haven’t pulled out any bones or organs lately…”

“Not recently.”

Well, that’s a good thing.

Most of the employees have worked here for about 10 years.

Many of them entered when the two brothers were adopted eight years ago.

There were most likely far fewer employees when Aedis was alone in the castle.

I put down my mug and laughed.

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“That’s great then. If you just continue hanging out with me like this, it’ll be effective in improving your image.”

Sarah was proof of that.

There was no need to try anything special yet.

If we just continue the way we’ve been doing things lately, other employees are bound to notice little by little.

***

After dinner, a young maid came in along with the butler to come clean.

When she stepped inside the door, her courage completely disappeared.

She quickly bowed her head before me and her eyes made contact with mine.

“I…I brought the bedding….”

The maid was so tense, she couldn’t even get to the bed or put down the bedding.

She was so frightened that she just stood there, frozen in place, squirming with her gaze pointed at the floor.

She seemed to think that Aedis might eat her if she came any closer.

If she stayed like that all night it would be troublesome, so I opened my mouth.

“The bed’s over there.”

The maid raised her head, slightly confused, and looked in the direction I was pointing.

“Th-thank you…Hiick!”

For some strange reason, when her eyes met mine, the maid turned blue.

Still, she managed to stay professional and did not drop the basket of clean bedding she was holding.

And the butler, who’d said that he’d devoted his life to the Kallakis family, had started shaking since he entered the door.

But Aedis…wasn’t interested in either of them.

Once Aedis began wiping my eye makeup off with a wet cloth, the maid began to move.

She walked around like a broken wind-up toy, finally going ahead and laying the blankets down on the bed.

She seemed to be having trouble breathing, but she didn’t miss cleaning anything, even tidying up the bed and filling the kettle with water.

When Aedis was away from the bedroom, the maids would glance around for him, always on the lookout just in case he was coming.

No one else would come to clean if I wasn’t in the bedroom.

When Aedis was alone in the room, only the butler would go in.

Still, the room remained pretty neat, I hadn’t even noticed how hastily it was usually cleaned.

While I was watching her, the maid never tried to look at us.

The butler started his evening report the evening after he had coughed several times, but his eyes shook the whole time.

“…Then we will take our leave.”

As the butler and the maid stepped out, I just stayed silent and shrugged.

“I felt like I was caught doing something that shouldn’t be done.”

My husband, who seemingly hadn’t paid any attention to the butler or maid, said quietly.

“Close your mouth.”

Is it your turn to kiss me this time?

I gently pressed my lips together.

Aedis even wiped off my half-faded lipstick.

He did it so skillfully too.

“Why did you suddenly want to remove my makeup?”

It didn’t matter to me because all I had to do was stay still but, looking back, the butler and the young maid acted as if they were in a nightmare.

Aedis replied as he cleaned up the fabric stained with light makeup marks.

“I’m learning how to do it just in case. If I hang out with my wife, isn’t it likely that people will try to avoid seeing me again? And in the process start avoiding you?”

That is a realistic possibility, but even if that were to happen, I’m capable of removing my makeup by myself.

It’s not like my makeup was so thick it was a disguise.

Does Aedis see me as a child who can’t do anything without him?

Considering his age, it’s possible.

But I mean I’m already nineteen years old, and my birthday is coming up soon too.

Plus, if I added my age from my previous life to my age now, I would be old enough to call Gilbert my nephew.

“If that happens, my wife will be very heartbroken and sad, so that’s why I need to learn how to comfort you.”

He was so considerate.

For a moment there, it almost felt like we’d married because we loved each other.

“….”

Aedis’s thoughtfulness didn’t just start yesterday or today, he’s always been like that.

But Aedis’s kindness, consideration, and feelings were only towards me.

I was hogging his attention without even realizing it.

-I want to take care of my people

But how did I become one of “his people” so easily?

Because I proposed?

Because he agreed?

Was it just because of that?

I was curious about what Aedis was thinking.

I didn’t know anything about his past.

-Maevia, I don’t think the Grand Duke is a good person. No matter how private the North is, how could there have never been any rumors leaked?

My mother said that to me that not long after I told her I wanted to marry Aedis.

In the capital, Grand Duke Kallakis was thought of as an old man about 100 years old.

So my mother sent an informant here, but she just ended up upset and unsatisfied with the amount of information they were able to get about Aedis Kallakis.

-But he probably isn’t a very ruthless person, a fear-only rule wouldn’t be so thorough. Moreover, the vassals who were loyal to the predecessor Grand Duke Kallakis never left the North, they died in support of the current Grand Duke and now their descendants have taken their place in doing the same. Only one of them seems to have been killed by the Grand Duke.

My mother spoke rather harshly so I kept probing, so she told me everything, the information coming out as if spilling water.

– Yes it seems to be true, but anyway, that’s not your business. What you should be concerned about is the fact that the Grand Duke has lived so long, and yet his past is so clean. Even after he became the Grand Duke, he only made a slight stir! There still aren’t any traces of him before he became the Grand Duke, he’s perfectly clean. That’s why no one knows whether he was a killer or a hero in the past.

At that time, my mother was rather concerned because Aedis’s past was too clean.

He lived very quietly compared to how we had…

He has neither pride nor ambition.

In [Esmeralda’s Crescent Moon], it was said that the position of the Grand Duke was forcibly handed down to him by the predecessor.

An undesired seat of Grand Duke.

An undesired adoption.

So what about our marriage?

“Eve?”

The voice calling for me brought me back out of my thoughts.

“Ah?”

Aedis laughed as I answered and nodded.

“You have to sleep.”

He lifted his defined body and went to bed.

As I laid down, Aedis leaned against the head of the bed.

If I completely laid down and looked up, all I would see is his bright, dazzling face that never made me stop exclaiming in admiration.

“Aedis, can I ask you something?”

“Do you really need to ask permission?”

I was a little nervous for some reason.

I took a light breath and asked, “What part of me did you like that you wanted to marry me?”

“Didn’t my wife personally choose me? I was also interested in my wife.”