Chapter 20

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It had been an exhausting day.

I met with the archbishop at the Lombard diocesan cathedral, returned to Lombard Castle and exposed Viscount Clayton’s corruption, then stormed into the steward’s office and practically declared that I was the law.

After running around all day, even the walk back to my bedroom felt unbearably heavy.

‘I should rest while smelling Nero’s little paw pads.’

Clinging to that simple happiness, I trudged up the stairs. That was when I spotted several maids flustering back and forth in front of my door.

The moment they saw me, they froze.

“M, Madam…”

“What is going on?”

I asked, but none of them dared to answer. They shut their eyes tight instead.

A bad feeling pressed in on me as I moved toward the wide open door. Just then, Lady Olden stepped out from inside.

Before I could even ask, she spoke first.

“My apologies. Your cat has disappeared.”

“What did you say?”

“His temperament is excessively wild, so I was attempting to train him for a moment in the corner, but he escaped through an open window. I have no excuse.”

Her calm voice made my breath stop.

I had only just found Nero again. How could she let that tiny creature…

My mind went blank.

I could only bolt for the exit, desperate to search for him, when a small but familiar sound reached my ears.

It came from the garden adjoining my bedroom.

I pushed the lady aside and rushed to the balcony.

Moonlight cast a faint glow over the garden shrubs, and between them I saw a familiar head of deep navy blue hair.

“Duke?”

He must have sensed me, because his amber eyes lifted and met mine exactly.

My gaze fell next to his feet.

Nero.

And for some reason Nero was wildly smacking the duke with his front paws.

His expression was surprisingly ferocious, so without meaning to, I called his name.

“Nero?”

“…Nya, nyaang♡”

Ah. Not an attack after all. Just playing.

A closer look showed his claws were not out, and his pupils were round and sparkling rather than sharp.

That was the Nero I remembered.

“You little rascal.”

With a strange little smile, the duke scooped Nero up.

The kitten drooped like tree sap, body stretched out as far as gravity allowed, and the duke had to gather him with both arms to keep him from spilling everywhere. Then in the blink of an eye, he kicked off the wall and leaped upward.

He landed lightly on the second-floor balcony.

“Pardon the intrusion.”

“How did you…”

While everyone stood frozen, stunned by the duke’s inhuman physical ability, he simply looked around my room with a calm expression.

At that moment, Lady Olden stepped in front of him.

“It is improper for a man to enter the lady’s chambers without permission. Please leave at once.”

“Does that include me as well? It may apply to ordinary men, but I have never once heard that a husband is forbidden from entering his wife’s bedroom.”

“That is…”

Ignoring her protest, the duke brushed past with ease and approached me.

Then he carefully held out Nero, who hung limply like a melted rubber doll.

“So this really was your cat. A familiar looking kitten was wandering strangely in the garden so…”

“Kyah!”

“…walking normally, so I kept him with me for the moment.”

When Nero yowled loudly, the duke cleared his throat and corrected his words.

He looked uncharacteristically awkward, but that was nothing I needed to focus on. I quickly lifted Nero out of his hands.

Once he settled into my arms, his body relaxed immediately.

“Thank you. I was so shaken earlier because I thought I had lost him…”

“I see. It is fortunate that I found him.”

The duke reached out as if to stroke Nero.

Nero pulled his head sharply back.

Seeing Nero express himself so comfortably made me realize the two had grown much closer than I expected. He had always trembled like a frightened thing, yet now he made his opinions clear.

After a silent little battle, the duke finally managed to pat him and continued speaking.

“Either way, you nearly lost the cat you cherish, so the one responsible should be severely punished. There are so many maids here, yet not one searched for him until he came into my sight.”

“Forgive me, Your Grace, but we came from the capital solely to serve Madam.”

Before I could say anything, Lady Olden cut in.

For the briefest moment, the duke’s gaze turned icy.

“So you bear no responsibility?”

“We serve only Madam. That means Your Grace cannot censure us at will.”

“I know well that you are her closest attendant. That is why I have tolerated your insolence thus far.”

“As the one who serves Madam, I must speak plainly. Madam is unwell today and cannot receive guests. I humbly request that Your Grace return another day.”

My eyes shifted slightly.

Her tone toward the duke was elegant and respectful, but the content was completely divorced from my actual wishes.

True, I was exhausted, and also yes, the duke reprimanding my attendants would be overstepping.

But for a maid to say such things on my behalf was an entirely different matter.

‘This is becoming…’

A sudden thought struck me.

Judgment came quickly.

I stepped in between them.

“I did not thank you properly earlier. If you do not mind, would you like some tea before you go?”

“That sounds fine. I just finished my training and was a bit thirsty.”

I had worried he might turn me down immediately, but he simply nodded.

At least he intended to uphold the minimum courtesy toward the lady of the house.

Yet for some reason, Lady Olden’s lips twisted ever so slightly.

‘Something is definitely wrong.’

Having a good relationship with the duke strengthened the authority of the duchess, which was beneficial to the maids who served me.

They should have been wary of the duke treating me coldly, not the opposite.

‘But Lady Olden seems uncomfortable that I am growing closer to him.’

So uncomfortable that she could not stand even a moment of it.

On impulse, I jerked my chin toward the door.

“I have matters to discuss with His Grace, so all of you wait outside.”

“Madam, how can you do something so sudden without consulting us…”

This time it was not just Lady Olden, but the other maids from the capital who stubbornly remained.

When I still did not blink, Lady Olden approached me.

She whispered so quietly that no one else could hear.

“If you continue acting on your own, you will pay the price.”

Her cold eyes did nothing to move me.

Unlike the original Elicia, I was far too familiar with that kind of gaze.

Someone attempting to control me with a single sentence only made me laugh.

‘How did the original Elicia manage her servants at all…’

Eventually the maids backed away one by one, and silence filled the bedroom where only the two of us remained.

It had been a reckless decision, but the atmosphere became oddly tense. Husband and wife alone in a bedroom late at night. Even if I tried to ignore it, every small sound the duke made reached me.

“Ahem. Please sit here.”

“Y, yes…”

If there was any comfort, it was that the duke also looked extremely awkward.

When he sat where I gestured, he did not look straight ahead. His head was tilted at a strange angle.

About fifty degrees to the side.

“Your Grace, did you sleep wrong? Your neck seems to be at a strange angle.”

“That is not the case.”

“If your neck is fine, perhaps look straight ahead more comfortably?”

“Well, the thing is, on the bed…”

He could not continue and only pressed at his temple.

I followed his gaze.

A sheer negligee lay neatly folded on the bed.

Noblewomen often wore such things as indoor clothing. It was slightly translucent but nothing particularly shocking. And I had only just entered the room, still wearing my normal daytime clothing.

‘And he reacts this strongly just from seeing folded underwear?’

I gave the duke the kind of look one might give a slightly unhinged person.

“Shall I put it away?”

“…Y, yes, thank you.”

His ears turned bright red.

I moved the negligee to the bedside table.

His head rotated even further to avoid looking at it, now at nearly seventy degrees, so I finally tucked it into a drawer.

Only then did his neck return to a normal angle.