My Sister Took My Fiance And I Was Married To An Ugly Prince

11 - Being Called 'Ma'am'

[ POV - Third Person / Duke Seravalle ]

"Until now, my lady has provided for me, but she has already left this place."

The Duke of Seravalle grew increasingly pale. He had no idea that his daughter was paying the wages of the servants.

"I'm sure they'll lend you as much as you want if you tell them I'm from the royal family."

"Very well, sir."

The Duke was relieved when the butler backed down.

--I'm sure that the common people will be happy to pay as much as they can, no matter how much they have to pay.

While thinking of this, the duke was slowly remembering a distant day.

The previous Duke of Seravalle, the man who was his father, was a playboy. In order to make up for the huge debts he had created, his son had been forced to marry Lucrezia's mother, the daughter of a wealthy man.

He knew that the Duke of Seravalle had been able to do without any troublesome money calculations thanks to his father and because Lucrezia was doing well after his father's death.

But he didn't know that Lucrezia was responsible for hiring the servants.

--Where did she find that kind of money?

Duke Seravalle couldn't stop feeling disgusted.

--What a creepy girl.

After all, the blood of an unknown commoner should never have entered the ducal family.

He truly disliked his ex-wife's bloodline. When he was ordered to marry her, he felt nauseous.

Why should he, a member of the royal family, marry a girl who had been a banker only two generations ago? Blue blood is real after three generations. In his opinion, his wife was no better than a commoner, even though she was the daughter of a marquis.

But it was also true that her dowry had helped the Dukes of Seravalle to recover. I was grateful for that, but when she died of childbirth fever, I remember thinking that it was a punishment worthy of her, a punishment from heaven. It was unbelievable arrogance for a commoner to try to mix with the royal blood.

He thought it was unbecoming for Lucrezia to even call herself the daughter of the Dukes of Seravalle, so he abandoned the newborn baby in the mountains.

It is customary in this country not to raise a child by oneself, but to give it to a nanny as soon as it is born. A percentage of the children left out without nannies die. That's how difficult it is for infants to grow up safely.

The Duke of Seravalle thought he had gotten rid of the problem, but eight years later, just as he was about to report to his late wife's marquis family that the child was dead, it happened.

Lucrezia came back to him.

She looked just like her mother, but with the same silver hair and gold eyes as the Duke of Seravalle, anyone would think that she was related to him.

--Why? I'm sure I left her in the mountains that time. No one could have seen me. There was no way they could have known that I was related to them...

And so the Duke of Seravalle was forced to raise his creepy daughter.

"How long will you keep bothering me? Just go away...!"

He clutched his head and muttered to himself.

***

[ POV - Third Person / Lucrezia ]

After withdrawing the cash from the bank, Lucrezia immediately decided to buy some clothes. 

No matter how much master [ Ramilio ] likes it, it's still a shame to wear nothing but the same old clothes.

"I wonder what kind of clothes the master likes."

When Lucrezia asked while the tailor was instructing her on the design of the dress, the old butler gave her a nice smile.

"No matter how you dress, he will be pleased as long as you wear something that makes him smile."

"Well, I'm glad. But I am not very particular about my clothes, and if I were to make them according to my taste, they might be too plain."

Lucrezia was wondering how Ramilio would see it.

--I wonder if he doesn't like plain women? If I wear what you like, would you be willing to get engaged?

"I'm a little reluctant to do so, as it goes against the teachings of poverty, but I think I can dress up if it suits the master's taste."

"That's a very cute idea. Please tell your husband directly what you just said. I'm sure he'll be more delighted than any clothes."

"I don't think so."

Lucrezia was embarrassed and wondered if she could ask such a bold question.

"I'm sure the master is relaxing in his office at the moment. You are welcome to visit him."

At the butler's suggestion, Lucrezia led the tailor downstairs.

Ramilio was sitting at his desk in his office, absent-mindedly looking at something. He must be taking a break, because there is a tea set on the table next to him.

"Sir..."

When Lucrezia called out to Ramilio, he turned his voice around.

"What--oh, me?"

"You are going to marry me, so I'm pretty sure you're my husband..."

"Oh, you're going to call me mister?"

I'm not sure if this is such a surprise, but Ramilio put down the document in his hand with a somewhat jerky movement.

"I was wondering if you could tell me what my husband likes to wear."

"My favorite? I don't have a preference!"

Ramilio looked very upset.

"I think the clothes you're wearing are pretty good, they're clean and they bring out the best in the material... I don't know if I'd call it material. Well, I think you look good in anything."

"Well, I'm glad. I also like this kind of simple things. I'm glad to hear that we share the same taste."

"Oh... that's right. Hahaha..."

"The dress should be as muted as possible, with no ruffles or lace, and as little bulge in the large skirt as possible..."

Lucrezia had just begun to give instructions to the tailor when someone knocked on the door.

The visitor was a young man who was standing beside Ramilio. The visitor was a young man who had been standing beside Ramilio, probably on a close errand.

"Excuse me, ma'am. I just wanted to leave a message."

Lucrezia's cheeks tinted when he called her 'ma'am.'

"What can I do for you?"

"I've been thinking about your husband's preferences for a while now, and I thought I might be able to give you a few pointers."

"Oh, so you two are close?"

The aide nodded, "Yes."

"We've known each other since we were children, so I know everything about him."

Lucrezia leaned forward a little.

***