Chapter 35

Ch . 35 In the Midst of Negotiations!

‘Coexistence daily living’, ‘annulment of the decoration wife clause’, ‘lovers besides the Duke are prohibited’ –these have been laid out by the Duke in the contents of the contract reform but, this exceeds the category of reforming, is it just me who thinks that the new contract is now equivalent to a blank-paper annulment? ......well, although, whichever way is fine . In this way the number one worry of my family’s debt problem, has been settled under the form of ‘betrothal money’ so I have no problems .

The Duke also added,

“Socializing and the like; it is fine to do so only in the necessary spheres so please bear with it . ”

One more addition is made . This is preparation in regards to my previous ‘optional’ remarks!

Shoot, have optional items also been firmly included?! Oops......sorry, I got agitated .

“Understood . ”

I crush my agitation and, answer as calm as possible . It seems like the Duke has not noticed my agitation and, gives a satisfied nod to my answer .

“That is all for now from me . If there is something we will discuss it when the occasion arises . ”

“That is so,” with a sense of resignation I nod my head in assent when,

“Is there not anything from you?” unexpectedly the Duke asks my opinion .

“Conditions from me?”

I never thought that I would be asked such a thing, so, I blankly tilt my head to the side .

“That is correct . Is it not unfair to you if it is just conditions from me? Although in truth the best thing would be for you, Viola, to be by my side like a normal married couple, without such arrangements”, the Duke says while smiling faintly . Unexpectedly I have been fed swe~et words but, such things, I will ignore .

“......if that’s the case, it is about meals . ”

Conditions from me? Requests? If I were to name those, there is only one . From now on, living with the Duke together everyday, means also sharing eating habits . This way will be mainly painful for me, so after a little thinking I open my mouth and ask .

The Duke’s shoulders drop at my great ignoring but, I proceed in the way of not seeing this also .

This time it is the Duke who is staring blankly at me suddenly speaking of meals .

“Meals, is it? Has there been some point that is unsatisfactory?”

His eyebrows quickly rise . Oh no . Again Carthame has ended up coming under false doubt!

“Nononono!! Unsatisfactory and the such are out of the question! Rather it is too extravagant and it is troublesome and yet, um ahh...”

I am denying the Duke’s misunderstanding in hot haste so, my mouth unintentionally ends up slipping .

“Too extravagant?”

The Duke again has a dubious face and is frowning at this sort of verbal slip of mine .

“No, um, that, more than enough is satisfactory but, for me it is too much . Particularly breakfast! No matter how you see it, that is too much, it is too wasteful . ”

“Breakfast?”

“Yes . The quantity is the amount to ask ‘how many people is the meal for?’ . Clearly it is impossible for me to eat that much, I will end up being forced to go to bed with a stomach-ache again . ”

Evenings are fine . Eating at morning and noon, the stomach is properly working so, I can somehow combat it if it is a half portion . It is mornings that are the problem because my good quantity and good quality intestinal bacterias are still half asleep and have to work as soon as they get up for that breakfast . It is like the completely unarmed things are combating a dynamite opponent . I will probably end up breaking down before I am able to get accustomed to this lifestyle!

“That must not happen! Viola, you generally eat little . ”

The Duke has an over reaction to my ‘I might end up forced in bed’ . He firmly leans his body forward . I mean, Duke . The so called ‘generally eating little’ is more of a simple diet but...... well, I do not dare to state it .

“Therefore, allow the amount, even just my share, to be restrained from being excessive . ...... . Is Duke, also able to eat all of that degree of an amount everyday?”

“No, yeah, well, I do not eat all of it . ”

The Duke says with bad enunciation, suddenly averting his gaze in spite of having been looking at me closely up until then .

“In front of father-in-law and others, usually, it was to the extent of bread, soup, main dish and salad, right?”

“Yes . because when my parents were here it was always the same, decided-upon menu, so it is always matched to that . ”

“Well, changing tastes like this everyday, if one does such wasteful things they will end up being cursed as a wasteful monster!”

Moreover things like ‘not eating everything’, un-bel-eive-able!

“huh......?”

The Duke is surprised at my abrupt ‘wasteful monster’ theory . It seems like from this reaction that he did not know about wasteful monsters! Yes, yes, I will kindly, carefully and thoroughly teach him of course!

“First of all, it is the meaning of wasteful monster, it is the revengeful ghost of the wasted food and, every evening it stands by your bedside and says ‘wasteful......wasteful......’ ......(the rest is omitted1) . At any rate, being wasteful is no good!!”

“......yes” the Duke slightly pulls away at my talk of the ‘wasteful monster’ but I do not mind .

“Do you understand? Well, then, what shall be done from now on?”

“Yes I do . . . ... . on this occasion let’s agree with you . I will be unable to contain myself with worry if you are forced to bed . The wasteful monster and so on will stop . ”

The Duke puts his hand on his chin and answers while thinking . Unfortunately the story of the monster was not really received . It is regrettable! However it seems the extravagant meals will be ended .

“Thank you . Well then I will straightforwardly convey this to Carthame . ”

With this there will be peace from my intestinal terror for the time being .

“Understood . Asides from this?”

“Asides from this... . . at present there is not anything particular . This also if I have problems I will consult with you at all such times . ”

“Understood . ”

With this, the present contract reform has ended peacefully (?) .

The Duke and I eat dinner together .

“Tonight, please regret your break up with your sweetheart♪”

And, at night I politely show him out to the detached building .

Calendula . If we had not met like this we may have unexpectedly been friends . If you come to Rosia, you must tell me to please get in touch!

T/N: [1] I think this means she went on about it for a while but the rest of it is omitted .