Why are you obsessed with your fake wife? - Chapter 23-2

“My lord! My lord!”

A loud knock on the door made Glenn correct his posture.

The voice coming from outside the door belonged to Gordon, his butler. Glenn couldn’t hear him wrong because he had been on his side since he was young.

“What in the world is going on?”

That Gordon, who had always kept his dignity, was in such a state of panic.

There must have been a massive accident.

God, Glenn clenched his teeth and replied that he could come in.

Soon afterwards Gordon, an all red-faced, came into the room almost stumbling forward.

He went on without taking a breath.

“M-My lord.. Did you hear the news?”

“What news?”

“Have you heard yet, cough.. S-Something big happened!”

“….”

Gordon was saying there was a situation left that was going to get worse than the situation they were in here? Glenn said, sweeping down his face in dismal fashion.

“Sigh, just say it. I, at least, should hear it first.”

“Now we’re saved!”

“…what?”

Did he hear it wrong?

Glenn lifted his hand from his face and looked at his butler.

He wasn’t sure whether the expression his butler, Gordon, had was he was about to cry or laugh.

Looking at his face, he couldn’t guess whether he was trying to deliver good news or bad news.

Glenn asked once again.

“What did you just say?”

“Now we’re saved! We just got a jackpot!”

“And what do you mean by something big?”

“Yes, that too.”

Gordon answered with a face mixed with emotions.

“We’re in trouble, and now we are safe!”

“….?”

Glenn, who didn’t understand, grimaced.

* * *

A few days ago.

“Hum, hum.”

On a warm sunny afternoon, the wind outside was strong, but it was warm inside the indoor garden.

Nadia was humming and walking around the greenhouse.

She had a watering can in her hand.

“Eat a lot and grow a lot.”

Water was sprinkled over the garden.

At first glance, it was just a turquoise sprout sticking out its head on the muddy fields.

It was actually a thorny herb that she had obtained from all over the continent after she gathered merchants.

Some of the bought seeds were stored in a low-temperature dry environment, and some were being cultivated in this field.

Nadia’s expression at the little sprout was as graceful as the goddess of motherhood.

“Hum, hum, hum..”

“…..”

“…..”

The two maids looked at Nadia weirdly.

It was Aidyn and Lisa, Nadia’s personal maids.

The two girls spoke to each other with their eyes.

‘Hurry up. You said you’d do it.’

‘Come to think of it, you’re closer to Madam than I am! You will do better than me..’

‘Now you’re saying you can’t do it? But I won the bet yesterday!’

The scuffle continued for a long time through their eyes and facial expressions.

It was Lisa who finally stepped up first.

“I have something to tell you, Madam.”

“What is it? Tell me.”

“Well, that’s…”

Lisa, who began the talk, hesitated for a long time before bringing up what she wanted to say.

Her temple was covered with thick sweat as she started talking.

“I’ve been wondering if I should tell you this for a while, but I thought it’d be better if you knew. It’s just that there’s a slight misunderstanding among the servants…”

“That I am running an inutile business just because I don’t want to spend my dowry for Winterfell?”

“H-how did you know?”

“I have ears too. How can I not know?”

Nadia replied with a shrug.

“Of course, we know your true feelings, but not others. If you keep going like this, people will misunderstand you even more. By then, you may not be able to change their perception. And… and….”

“And?”

“And didn’t you want to get along with His Highness? You said you loved him.”

“Well.”

Actually, that was a lie.

Nadia didn’t love him.

But there was no way she could tell them the truth.

Nadia just smiled awkwardly.

“I’m just going to let it go. I knew such rumors were going to spread. No– I’d rather say that I intended it to be that way.”

“What? But, uh.. why?”

Were there even people who deliberately wanted to be criticized by others?

Lisa looked up at Nadia with a startled look.

Nadia’s face was calm without any emotion.

“If I go around complaining that I’m serious about business, will everyone believe me? I will be criticized for having thick skin.”

“Well, but…”

“Everything is proven by results. Just wait and see. I will make so much money that I can even pay off your debts.”

Lisa couldn’t force herself to argue anymore. She held back her opinion with a sullen face.

“Madam!”

But then, as soon as Lisa returned to her place, the door of the greenhouse burst open.

It was Fabian, Nadia’s escort who opened the door.

His striding hand held an envelope.

Nadia looked back and greeted him.

“Oh, you’re here? What is this about?”

“I was told to deliver this letter to you.”

This morning, a messenger from Nadia’s father arrived from the capital.

She left the task of receiving the letter to Fabian because she thought he would only get suspicious if she met the messenger in person.

“Did the messenger say anything else?”

“No, this is all.”

Nadia opened the envelope handed by Fabian.

Her father’s handwriting was hard to read sometimes.

Nadia had to stare at the paper for a long time to comprehend the content.

It was just a greeting to ask about her current wellbeing.

There was an epidemic in the southern part of the Kingdom, and the DUke was asking how the situation was at the Winterfell estate.

Her eyes sank as she read the letter.

The letter did not give details of the epidemic, but she was already well aware of it.

A dark and deadly disaster.

“It finally started.”

The worst plague ever, the Black Death.