Side Story 4

Three Years Later

Time flew by. It felt like I hadn’t done anything particularly special, yet three years had already passed since the wedding.

No matter how I thought about it, constantly going back and forth between Winterwald, Lilanibel, and Blueyen each year probably made time vanish in an instant.

Well… thinking back, I really was busy.

While Ruediger handled the family affairs in Winterwald, I learned how to manage the household myself.

Not only as the Duchess of Winterwald, but also as the current head of the Maibaum family, there were plenty of things that demanded my attention.

In Blueyen, aside from keeping pace with the former king, social events alone were enough to overwhelm me.

Seriously, why were there so many events to attend. Just sorting through the mountain of invitations was a task in itself.

The only time I could truly catch my breath was when we stayed here in Lilanibel.

Just as the former king said, Lilanibel was a city made captivating by the deep purple hues of its grapes.

The pure white snowfields of Winterwald were charming, and the bustling noise of the capital had its own appeal. But Lilanibel, where the scent of grapes always lingered at the tip of your nose, felt close enough to heaven to make you wonder if this was it.

Back when Ruediger first came looking for me and Luca argued that I was his mother, there had been a contrast between the pastoral surroundings and the wealth of the castle, between simple living and luxury…

Somehow, I ended up holding both extremes in my hands.

‘When you draw up a blueprint for the future, you really should be greedy. Things actually turn out the way you want.’

I nodded to myself, mulling over a thought that sounded straight out of a self help book.

Come to think of it, maybe because there had been less rain this summer, the grapes were especially sweet.

Laura would probably make an unbelievably good wine this year. I smacked my lips in anticipation.

After becoming the head maid, Laura picked up another hobby once we came to Lilanibel. Wine making.

It seemed the blood of the woman who ran the Winterwald kitchens hadn’t gone anywhere. Laura had a sharp tongue and an excellent palate.

Discovering her talent late, Laura experimented with quite a few combinations, fermenting not just grapes but various berries as well.

Last year especially, she made a wine with a fresh violet scent that lingered beautifully, earning high praise.

Laura named that wine after me. I refused several times out of embarrassment, but Laura wouldn’t budge.

“No, my lady, you’re the reason I thought of violets in the first place. Telling me what I can or can’t do with my inspiration is overstepping, even for you.”

After saying that, she immediately hired an artist to design a label with my name on it. Then she slapped that label on the bottles and gifted them straight to the former king and Ruediger.

Faced with that level of initiative, I raised both hands and feet in surrender.

Naturally, both the former king and Ruediger were delighted with the wine, praising it endlessly and saying the name suited it perfectly.

Ruediger complimented Laura for creating the wine and granted her an enormous bonus, letting her walk away with an unexpected fortune.

On top of that, the violet scented wine bearing the name Judith began supplying the royal family.

Of course, all the royalties from that went to Laura as well.

I’d never thought of myself as someone lazy or hesitant when it came to taking action…

But being surrounded by people who had no gap at all between thinking and doing made it hard to keep up in more ways than one.

Yeah. It was a fight I’d never win to begin with.

This is why overly proactive people are terrifying…

The former king especially loved that wine.

So much so that last year, he even had a round of tug of war with Ruediger just to monopolize it.

* * *

“If I don’t have a glass of that wine before bed these days, I can’t sleep at all. If you don’t want to see this old man die of insomnia, you’d better give in quietly, Brigadier General.”

It was hard to believe such childish and crude words were coming from a conversation between the former king and the future duke and Brigadier General of Rumgart.

“Why do you assume I wouldn’t want to see Your Majesty die.”

“Hah. I knew you’d say that, you shameless bastard. But what about our kind Judith. If I die because of your petty behavior, do you think her affection for you will drop or not.”

“If it drops, I’ll stick it back on with my face.”

“Hmph. You’re overconfident in that face now, but what happens when you get older and young, fresh handsome men start showing up. Do you think our Judith will still like you then.”

“…”

For the first time, Ruediger’s shameless face cracked like a wall struck by a sharp nail.

The former king puffed up proudly, clearly thinking he’d landed a solid blow.

“Compared to that, I’m her grandfather. We’re bound by blood. Resentment toward blood relatives lasts a lifetime.”

Strictly speaking, he wasn’t even my biological grandfather, just a distant relative I’d met barely three years ago…

But considering everything the former king had done for me, there was no way I could say that outright.

Normally, Ruediger would’ve argued back by now. But it seemed he’d taken the former king’s talk of young, fresh men at face value. When he looked at me, his face had gone pale.

‘What does he think I am, exactly?’

Sure, I said Ruediger was handsome, but I wasn’t about to start eyeing younger men while married.

Under Ruediger’s anxious and unsettled gaze, I let out a quiet sigh.

It was just wine, yet all sorts of nonsense were being thrown around. It was about time I stepped in to mediate.

“Ruediger, you’re more of a brandy person anyway. You barely drink wine. Since His Majesty wants it, just let him have it.”

“But!”

“And Grandfather. Drinking regularly isn’t good for your health. Haven’t you been collapsing more often lately.”

“I’m almost ninety now. There isn’t much time left until I die, so isn’t it happiness to enjoy what I want until then. I don’t want to regret it at the end, thinking I should’ve enjoyed wine without holding back…”

“You need to live longer. Don’t say things like that.”

Even as I said that, I couldn’t really argue with his claim that he didn’t have much time left. Given the average lifespan of this era, the former king truly was long lived.

‘Well, people say living however you want without holding back keeps you alive longer… or maybe it’s because he gets cursed at so much. Honestly, that sounds believable.’

I nodded to myself. The long lifespan of the Winterwald men followed a similar logic.

‘Though in their case, suicide, murder, or accidents tend to be the real issue…’

I shook my head, recalling how Ruediger had died before even reaching forty in the first timeline.

Ruediger’s father Maximillian had also taken his own life at a relatively young age.

Compared to that, both of them were extremely healthy now. Especially Ruediger, to the point that it was almost a problem.

Thinking about his seemingly endless stamina, I let out a deep sigh.

“…Then it’s one glass of wine a day. No more than that. If I hear you drank more, there won’t be a single bottle supplied next year.”

“Alright, alright.”

Receiving my permission, the former king beamed with delight.

* * *

That was how most of last year’s wine ended up going to the former king.

My name was on that wine, and it was all taken from us. I’d been prepared to endure Ruediger’s childish sulking about whether I liked the former king more or him.

But it seemed that conversation had struck his weak point hard.

Instead of sulking, he rushed off to work out, declaring he wouldn’t fall behind younger men.

I hurriedly grabbed him by the back of the neck.

If his stamina increased any further, I’d be the one suffering.

“Ruediger, you really don’t need to exercise more. You’re already doing plenty. You don’t have any excess fat. You look perfect as you are.”

“No. I’ve been complacent. The exercise I’ve been doing out of habit isn’t enough.”

“It is enough. To me, you’re perfect right now. Not more, not less. Right now is when you’re the prettiest.”

“…Really?”

At my honey sweet words, Ruediger’s sharply raised eyes softened slightly.

“Of course. Why are you so anxious. There’s no man more handsome than our Ruediger in Rumgart, no, in this world.”

“Maybe not now… but who knows about the future.”

Ruediger said something utterly ridiculous with a completely serious face.

What, even people who haven’t been born yet are rivals now. The age gap alone is absurd.

I struggled to keep a straight face. Then, forcing a gentle smile, I coaxed him softly.

“There won’t be any later either. Come here. Instead of arguing about nonsense, let me look at our handsome Ruediger’s face one more time.”

“It’s still daytime… are you sure that’s alright.”

Ruediger immediately picked up on my subtle signal. But instead of welcoming it, he hesitated, eyes darting around.

That was because I’d always firmly refused during the day.

Not because I was shy.

‘If I ever said daytime was fine, I’d be dead for sure.’

But today was an exception.

I’d pampered him so much, and yet he got shaken by the former king’s nonsense. Watching that bruised my pride instead.

I planned to hammer it into him today so he wouldn’t think useless thoughts like that again.

Fine. I wouldn’t mind admiring Ruediger’s body in broad daylight either.

With that thought, I pulled Ruediger into my arms.