Translator: Leila

Editor:

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Chapter 44 part 2

Jean's office door was knocked on loudly the following morning, followed by someone swinging it open.

"Jean! I want to ask you something!"

The margrave looked at his milk brother's face from his office table at the back of the room.

"I was expecting you."

As Sid strode his way into the room, Jean let go of the pen he was holding. He looked up at his milkbrother with folded arms. He then raised his eyebrows and continued

"You're here to talk politics, my area of expertise, aren't you?"

* * *

The first real winter season has arrived in the remote region and Clarisse was amazed at the sight of the snow which rarely falls in the royal capital, and even more astonished when she saw it piling up to the point it covered half of the door on the ground floor.

Meanwhile, Jean and other castle residents were accustomed to staying in for the winter and keeping a well-stocked supply of food and materials.

Also, when there was particularly heavy snowfall on days-- it was difficult to leave the mansion normally because the path in front of the main entrance and the back entrance were blocked by snow, they would simply scatter a lot of salt to melt the snow, which Clarisse thought was quite weird yet amazing.

While Clarisse couldn't imagine going outside on snowy days like this, others considered it part of their normal routine and were well adapted to living in such a cold area. With every passing day, Clarisse learned more about how the people in this remote land survived the harsh winters as she spent her days here.

Throughout the day, there was little to no sunlight, and dense dark clouds continued to cover the sky every day. Such weather tends to depress those who are not well accustomed to it, but Clarisse, with her bright personality did not mind it very much and remained cheerful as she found things to do in the mansion every day.

Mary continued to live in the Margrave's mansion, but the day after it was clear that she and Sid are now together, she was moved to a slightly larger guest room so that she and Sid could stay together. Mary was very reluctant to accept this blatant change in treatment, but Clarisse was unusually insistent, and in the end, Mary had no other choice than to relent.

The guest room had two beds, a sofa, and a fireplace, which certainly saved Sid from having to sleep on the floor in a cold room any longer– but Mary still kept asking why they were staying in the same room when they had only made a verbal agreement and were not yet officially engaged. However, in Sid's opinion, they were already engaged, so the two of them spent their time happily in the same room while arguing over various matters.

During the winter, it was difficult to send letters to the Royal Capital, because of the pilling amount of snow, therefore, before it could get any worse, Jean sent out a formal request to the king regarding the date when he should held their marriage ceremony and the restoration of Mary's family title, to which the king responded with an informal approval– after all, he had already promised that he would accept any of Jean's requests and it wasn't a good look if a king would go back on his word.

At first, Sid only asked Jean for advice on how he could somehow restore Mary's family title, since the cause of its termination was not a serious crime, as soon as he finished his talk, Jean readily suggested using his reward from the king, but Sid, clearly reluctant to do so, was very hesitant.

Still, Jean was quite determined and refused to listen to him, saying that by doing this, he would also be fulfilling Clarisse's wish after all. Clarisse wanted Mary to be happy, and even if the restoration of the title of baroness was in name only, it would make Sid's and Mary's union proceed smoothly, which would be essential for Mary's happiness. Sid bowed his head deeply to show his sincere gratitude to Jean.

Upon receiving the king's response, Sid told his parents about Mary and their relationship and –as Jean had predicted– they congratulated their third son on his engagement. Of course, support from Jean and Marius was of great help in this, but in any case, this was the beginning of Sid's almost daily visits to the Margrave's mansion, more specifically, to Mary's room.

Marius, who was well familiar with Sid's former dating life, had a great laugh at the change, but nonetheless, he was happy to see his cousin find true love.

* * *

Throughout the harsh winter months, Jean continued to devote himself to governing the borderlands, often traveling to the frontier posts when necessary, and even when he was at the mansion, he was so immersed in political affairs that it was not unusual for him to slip into their bedroom at night, where Clarisse was already asleep. Still, he gently pulls her into his arms, drowning on her blissful warmth. Nights when they sleep together, even without a fireplace, hold off the chills away from them until the morning.

Clarisse lives her life thinking that she would be happy if she could be of some comfort to him, who works twice as hard as anyone else. If she can make him happy by living their life happily together, even without doing anything special, she could not wish for anything more than that as a couple who will live together for a long time to come.

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