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Chapter 13
Even Genos didn’t take his eyes off the documents he was reading.
“Yes?”
For a moment, Katarina froze, blinking her long lashes in confusion. It was only then that Genos let out a deep sigh and finally looked at her.
In his blue-violet eyes, there was only annoyance, contempt, and a faint trace of exasperation.
How can he be so cold-hearted!
Actually, his coldness wasn’t a new thing.
Katarina, who had grown up close to him and dreamed of becoming the Grand Duchess, knew his icy temperament better than anyone.
But now, Katarina had shocking news that even someone as indifferent as him couldn’t ignore:
Rene Blanche, that sly woman, had committed adultery!
And the undeniable evidence was…
I am the evidence!
Yes, Katarina herself was the proof. She had witnessed the act with her own eyes!
Normally, eyewitness accounts without tangible evidence would be dismissed as slander.
Unfortunately, Katarina was so blinded by her desire to remove Rene Blanche that logical thinking was difficult.
Pouting repeatedly, she gathered her courage and raised her voice.
“I saw it with my own eyes! Rene Blanche was standing in front of the annex with a mysterious man!”
“Was he a servant sent from the Grand Duke’s mansion?”
“No way! If there had been such a handsome servant, I would have known!”
“…?”
Glancing at the visitor briefly, Genos returned his attention to Katarina, his expression one of disbelief.
Realizing she’d said too much, Katarina’s face flushed slightly.
“A-Anyway! That’s not the important part! The man had green hair, long straight hair down to his waist. To my memory, there is no servant with that hair color in this mansion!”
“Kal, is that true?”
Kal, the butler, who had been waiting as if posing for a painting while guiding Katarina, answered.
“In this, Miss Hugo is correct. Our household has no long-haired, green-haired servants.”
“See!”
I’m telling the truth! Why don’t you believe me?
Katarina choked back tears of frustration.
If it were anyone else, she might have stomped her feet or jumped around, but in front of Genos, she held back.
“Ha…”
Whether Katarina was uneasy or not, Genos on the other side was silently enduring his own irritation.
Katarina Hugo.
The girl he had known since childhood was vain and boastful. She had loudly declared she would become the Grand Duchess, but when another woman actually became it, jealousy drove her to enter the Grand Duke’s mansion under the pretext of being a maid.
It was obvious she had come to seize her opportunity.
Even this irritated Genos.
But…
Katarina’s family, the Hugo Countship, had been loyal retainers to the Celeste Grand Dukes for generations.
Orphaned early and raised only by his strict grandmother, Genos had always been treated kindly by Count and Countess Hugo, like a member of their family.
That kindness was why Katarina had grown up spoiled, which was problematic—but still, she was someone Genos could not harshly reject.
Unlike her blunt grandson, her grandmother had found the somewhat immature but endearing Katarina charming.
It wasn’t that she was seen as a potential granddaughter-in-law—it was more like being doted on as another grandchild…
Katarina, of course, was convinced her grandmother wanted her to end up with Genos.
Naturally, this was extremely uncomfortable for him.
In his life, marriage had never been part of the plan. He had never, not for a second, thought of taking anyone—Katarina or otherwise—as Grand Duchess.
He intended to bear all burdens himself and finally end the protracted madness.
“Ha…”
But when thinking about marriage, that woman still appeared in his mind.
Rene Blanche.
The woman who widened her eyes innocently and pretended to be gentle was nothing special—a noble lady like any other.
The problem is her family.
The Blanche Marquisate had even produced a Chancellor. Yet, the family as a whole was indulgent and decadent—their bloodline itself was clearly reckless.
Knowing their family’s habits, the Chancellor did not hide his desire to erase his origins.
Just as Genos was about to think this through further, Katarina’s whining interrupted him, leaving no time to continue his thoughts.
“Your Grace! Please believe me. That woman is too licentious to be Grand Duchess. The one truly suited to be Grand Duchess is… me!”
“Enough. Leave.”
“Genos!”
Katarina’s shrill voice filled the study.
Genos’s gaze, sharp and full of killing intent, fixed on her.
Katarina froze, unable to utter a word.
The intimidation…
Like a wild beast in front of her, all her senses numbed, her body hairs standing on end.
When Katarina began trembling, Genos finally withdrew his hostility.
It was not easy for a woman to withstand the aura of a Swordmaster directly.
That should be enough to scare her.
Gathering his composure, Genos spoke again, his voice icy.
“When did I allow you to call my name?”
“…”
“Know your limits. That is, unless you want to return immediately to the Hugo household.”
“…Huh!”
Katarina ran off, scattering tears as if she were a tragic heroine.
Of course, Genos had no intention of stopping her, returning his attention to the documents naturally.
“Hmm.”
Yet, for some reason, the words on the page no longer registered clearly.
The events of the recent dim dawn kept replaying in his mind:
A woman with silver hair like moonlight.
Eyes glittering like the red sun in contrast.
The subtle scent of roses and her moist, glimmering eyes—it unsettled him.
“I… wanted to take a bath…”
“At this hour?”
“I couldn’t sleep. The cabin where I stay doesn’t have a bathtub as large and sturdy as the main building’s. I couldn’t sleep, so I… just by myself…”
Genos hadn’t paid much attention before, but he hadn’t realized her living conditions were so poor.
In truth, he hadn’t forbidden her from coming to the main building, so logically, Rene’s words made sense.
He barely remembered what he had blurted out back then.
Yet, Rene Blanche’s image had stuck in his mind, irritating him.
I just said whatever came to mind… not like me.
His words had clearly hurt her.
Her next words were absurd, yet somehow poignant:
“After one bath, I see all sorts of trouble! Not fair, not fair!”
A strangely resilient and yet fragile little woman.
He could never predict her.
Even though he found her exasperating, Genos had been shaken these past few days.
He didn’t understand the source of these feelings, and it troubled him.
The sleepless nights continued.
Even the quiet dawn hours, which he had spent alone, became exhausting simply because her face intruded.
Such an innocent face…
Could it be real?
Katarina’s nonsensical words, and his own unsettled feelings—Genos liked none of it.
“Your Grace, is something troubling you?”
Kal, the perceptive head butler, asked.
Genos set the documents down irritably.
“It’s probably nonsense. She probably said whatever just to insult Blanche.”
“That may be so.”
“….”
But strangely, the testimony was specific.
Katarina Hugo was not particularly clever, yet she described the time, place, and the man’s appearance in detail—it nagged at him.
“Shall I call the maid we assigned?”
Reading the lingering unease on Genos’s face, Kal asked.
Genos lightly nodded.
“Yes. And… I will go to the last room in the west tower.”
“!”
Kal’s face showed brief surprise.
“…Understood.”
But when the calm response returned, the surprise vanished completely.
