Chapter 21

At last, the conditions were right for me to speak calmly with the duke.

I decided to start with the thing that bothered me most.

“I know this may be rude to ask, but is it difficult for you to deal with women?”

What I wanted to ask was whether he was the type of pervert who got excited just from seeing indoor wear, but if he said yes, that would be a disaster, so I softened the question.

Fortunately, the duke answered in a somewhat awkward voice.

“No, that is not the case.”

A typical lady would have changed the subject here.

But I was not a typical lady, and I still had a tiny bit of spite left over from the other day when he pointed out the sound of my stomach growling without missing a beat.

And honestly, it was funny that this ever-so-dignified duke had crumbled over one little negligee.

I rested my chin on my hand with a meaningful expression.

“Still, that was truly unexpected earlier. I assumed you would have plenty of experience with the opposite sex, like other nobles.”

“…What?”

“Why that expression? Is something wrong?”

His face, which had finally returned to normal, stiffened again.

He looked as if he had just heard some impossible nonsense.

“My body and heart are both pure.”

“They look it.”

“No member of the opposite sex has ever laid a hand on me.”

The way he emphasized it felt strangely firm, so it made me feel a bit uneasy. Why did he keep repeating his purity?

I decided to let it go.

The Edwin from my past life was practically obsessive about avoiding women, so it was not surprising.

‘So he was not a pervert after all. Just an ordinary case of gynophobia.’

A reasonable conclusion.

“Oh, I did not even offer you something to drink.”

“I will prepare it. Please stay seated.”

Before I could move, the duke stood up.

There was a time when such small, easygoing kindness from him felt natural, but now it only felt unfamiliar.

Still, him doing the work saved me effort, so I waited while he went to the corner of the bedroom and mixed herbs and spices into some of the wine stored there, then set it over the brazier.

Before long, the sweet aroma of warm wine filled the room.

“You seem experienced.”

“There are many situations during expeditions where one cannot bring servants. I naturally learned various tasks.”

“It would be better if the taste was guaranteed too.”

“My subordinates say it is decent enough.”

Hearing that his subordinates were the ones who judged its quality did nothing to reassure me.

While I wondered if it was safe to drink, the duke poured the warmed wine into a decorative silver cup and brought it over.

“Nothing works better to warm the body.”

“Oh, thank you…”

As I peered into the steaming cup, the duke continued speaking casually.

“I heard you have been busy preparing to welcome the guest.”

“There is a lot to take care of, and only one of me, so what else can I do?”

“In that case, how about hiring new attendants? I actually know several people capable of supporting your duties. They are all very talented.”

So that was his real purpose.

A tempting but unwelcome suggestion.

I definitely needed help, because I was running myself ragged.

But I had no intention of taking someone the duke recommended into my inner circle. What kind of fool keeps a spy by their side willingly.

‘Well, such a fool might exist but I am not one.’

Now his kindness made sense.

He found my cat, accepted my impulsive invitation, and even spoke with me in a surprisingly decent atmosphere.

The duke disliked me. There was no way he was being kind just because I helped with internal affairs a few times.

But now it was all clear. He was trying to soften me up so he could plant his people around me.

Realizing this eased my mind.

“I appreciate Your Grace’s sincerity.”

“A shame. If you change your mind, simply tell me.”

“I will.”

I took a sip of the wine without thinking. It tasted better than expected, so I drank a few more sips.

Warm wine slid down my throat in the chilly weather, and I felt my body relax.

“Hmm, this is better than I thought.”

It seemed this body was weaker to alcohol than I expected.

I had only one cup yet a light buzz rose, and my cheeks warmed red.

Watching me quietly, the duke slowly stood.

“It is late. I should take my leave.”

“…Ah, right.”

My hazy mind cleared a little.

I gently moved Nero, who was sleeping on my lap, and stood to see the duke out.

“Thank you again for earlier. For finding Nero―”

Before I finished speaking, the duke stepped toward me in a swift motion.

In an instant, I fell into his arms.

“Are you alright?”

“…”

“You almost fell.”

That subtle tension again.

Under the faint bedside light, his sharp and defined features cast deep shadows across his face.

Even if the duke disliked me, a nobleman’s greatest duty was to continue the family line, so this situation was not strange enough to rule out consummating the marriage right there.

In my past life, Edwin had not wanted his fingertips to touch Elicia, but this time it seemed not to be that extreme…

‘No no, I must be drunk.’

Consummation? Ridiculous.

Trying to break the suffocating atmosphere, I pushed him away.

He did not move. Instead, he simply scooped me up as if I weighed nothing.

Then he strode straight toward the bed.

I blinked, overwhelmed by how opposite this was from what I expected, and he set me down gently on the soft mattress.

‘What is this atmosphere?!’

Something was absolutely going to happen at this rate.

Nervous, I unconsciously clenched the bedsheets.

The duke looked at my pale knuckles and let out a faint laugh.

“You need not worry. You are not my type.”

“…What?”

“As I mentioned earlier today, I prefer a voluptuous wo… urk.”

“That awful preference of yours. If you insult my beauty standards one more time, I will not let it slide.”

I kicked his thigh with all my strength, but his amused expression did not fade.

There was no way he was smiling innocently in this situation. It was clearly mockery.

My eyes burned from the humiliation, and I gritted my teeth. Then the duke added in a low voice.

“I will take all your nightmares for you. So please have only good dreams.”

Once he straightened his slightly mussed clothes, the duke left the room without hesitation.

He stopped Lady Olden, who tried to enter, and closed the door behind him.

Silence fell over the bedroom.

‘I will take all your nightmares. So you only have good dreams.’

‘But then Edwin will have scary dreams…’

‘It is fine. Nightmares could never harm me.’

When my parents died suddenly, I had known why Edwin came all the way to my home beyond the outer wall on that rainy day.

He had been worried about me.

He woke me from my daze, cooked food and forced me to eat, cleaned the house that my relatives had rummaged through and left in shambles, and set poor chaotic Nero loose to make a mess.

He pulled me back into the world.

When we were young, Edwin had been that kind of gentle person.

‘Then why did you let me suffer such a horrible death? Why did you not stop Elicia? Was your noble honor truly more important than our friendship?’

No matter how much I screamed it in my heart, I would never hear the answer.

I felt tears rising.

* * *

“Ha.”

Walking down the empty hallway, Edwin wore a dark expression.

The slender fingers that had clutched the sheet. The clear eyes that had looked up at him with unease. The flushed cheeks warmed by wine.

All of it overlapped with another face.

‘…That was dangerous.’

He rubbed his face roughly, trying to shake the images stuck like afterimages in his mind.

There would never be such a mistake again. Not when it meant ruin.

Even so, tonight would be exceptionally long.

* * *

There is an old saying that thoughts born at dawn become meaningless by morning.

I remembered that with embarrassment when I awoke to loud chirping as morning broke.

The gloom of last night was gone without a trace, replaced by bright sun.

“Yawn, Nero, did you sleep well?”

“Chirp chirp…”

Still half asleep, I groped around with my eyes closed.

Nero liked to curl up like a little seashell when he slept.

Sometimes he would crawl between my legs or under my arm, but most of the time he slept by my pillow.

Then a thought struck me.

‘Why do I hear chirping instead of meowing?’

…Hmm.

A chill ran down my spine.

I shot upright.

There was Nero, eyes sparkling brightly, with a small precious morning bird in his mouth.

And when our eyes met, Nero proudly dropped it right in front of my face…

“Kyaaaa! No no, ahhh!!”

Any lingering dawn sentiment evaporated instantly.