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Chapter 9
“!”
For a brief moment, Xenos sucked in a sharp breath, his eyes widening in genuine surprise for the first time in a long while.
And it seemed the other person felt the same.
Renée Blanche, startled out of her wits, nearly stumbled backward and barely swallowed a scream as she took a shaky step back.
She dropped the basket she was holding, and the things inside clattered noisily across the floor.
“Eek!”
Her wide, round eyes sparkled even in the darkness.
As if she had just finished bathing, her cheeks were slightly flushed and warm.
Drops of water clung to her silver hair as it flowed softly along her slender neck.
Some strands, still damp, stuck lightly to her cheeks.
His gaze, following the line of her hair, reached the small, plump pink lips he had never really looked at before.
But then her small hands quickly covered the lower half of her face.
With just that light movement, a faint scent of roses drifted from her.
“Oh! Um! Well, I mean, Grand Du—sir?! G-Good evening?”
Whether she greeted him in that strange tone or not—
For some reason, the moment their eyes met, Xenos’s heart dropped straight to the bottom of his feet—
—and then shot back up just as quickly, pounding wildly in his chest.
It beat so loudly he feared she might hear it.
He had hardly ever been this startled since he first picked up a sword.
Not even realizing what he was saying, Xenos spoke sharply, swept up in emotion.
Unfortunately—or perhaps fortunately—his tone was harsh.
“Why are you… coming out of here?”
***
That was what I wanted to ask.
‘Why are you here?’
No, more importantly—
‘I’m doomed!’
I didn’t think I’d get caught this fast!
A few days ago, under Betty’s leadership, we had secretly used the main building’s bathroom once—and it had been absolute heaven.
I was mostly satisfied with the cabin, except for one thing.
There was no proper bathtub.
I always had to crouch inside a barrel-like tub and wash quickly.
Because of the crouching position, my legs would go numb, so I couldn’t even enjoy soaking properly.
In comparison, the bathtub in the main building was so large that, with a little exaggeration, five adults could fit inside.
The guest bathroom in the corner of the main building looked like it hadn’t been used for a long time, but once Betty and the maids cleaned it, it shone brightly.
They carefully maintained it just for me, secretly managing it behind the head maid’s back.
And today, I had just finished enjoying that luxury again…
“Explain truthfully what you were doing here.”
The Grand Duke’s expression was terrifying.
He looked so angry that even in the darkness, I could clearly see how red his face had become.
‘Even so, he’s seriously handsome.’
Just looking at his face, you’d think he was a tsundere male lead whose heart was racing over the heroine.
But I couldn’t be fooled by that shell.
I pressed a hand against my pounding heart and quickly lowered my gaze.
‘Tch, I thought it was the perfect crime.’
Still, lying would probably make things worse.
I spoke in a small, trembling voice, pretending to be scared.
“I… wanted to take a bath…”
“At this hour?”
“I couldn’t sleep. The cabin I’m staying in doesn’t have a big, sturdy bathtub like the main building. I couldn’t sleep at night, so I just… by myself…”
I ended up rambling awkwardly, partly because my legs were tingling and partly because everything I said was true.
Unfortunately, none of it seemed to work on the Grand Duke.
“Who told you that you could use the bathroom? I never permitted you to come to the main building in the first place.”
His sharp voice made something flare up inside me.
“You never said I couldn’t use it…”
I finally blurted out what I had been holding back.
But of course, he remained cold.
“Don’t make excuses with childish wordplay. Have you been sneaking around the grand duchy like a rat, gathering information to report?”
His expression grew even harsher.
But the more he spoke, the more unfair it felt.
“Information? What are you talking about? Who would I even report to?”
“Your rotten family or the Empress. Or both.”
“……”
Even I, who had only just transmigrated, could tell the Blanche family had no affection for me.
Did he really think that?
‘No matter what, isn’t that going too far?’
As someone from a culture that values filial respect, hearing someone insult my family—even fake parents—felt unpleasant.
Of course, I agreed they were rotten.
No decent parents would treat their child like that.
I knew he disliked me from the start.
But his openly hostile attitude made it hard for me to stay obedient.
‘All this because I took one bath? What a cheapskate!’
If he’s supposed to be the northern duke of a romance fantasy, shouldn’t he have a broad heart to match his broad chest?
At this point, I was mentally crossing out the possibility that he was a male lead.
‘Male lead? Sub male lead? Please. He’s just a villain!’
Why was this happening to me when I just wanted to live quietly?
At the same time, my resolve grew stronger.
‘If he’s a villain, his ending won’t be good. When he gets punished by the real protagonist later, I’d better stay distant so I don’t get dragged down with him.’
It was obvious we’d never get along anyway.
I gathered the bath items scattered around me with a displeased expression.
I felt like I needed to curse him out at least once to feel better.
“…Seriously disgusting.”
But even after reincarnating, my courage remained pea-sized, so I muttered it as quietly as possible.
“What?”
The Grand Duke let out a disbelieving laugh.
Regardless, I tightly gripped the basket with both hands and leaned forward slightly.
I was ready to bolt.
Perhaps he misunderstood the movement because he stepped back in surprise.
That created an opening.
I seized the chance and dashed off.
“All this drama just because I took one bath! Fine, I won’t use it anymore!”
Yeah, yeah. Even if it’s unfair and petty, I’m never stepping into the main building again!
Maybe his pride didn’t allow him to chase after a tiny woman running away.
Thankfully, he didn’t follow me.
But whether it was from running or from the shock of the encounter—
“Ha…”
My heart pounded uncontrollably that night.
And I couldn’t fall asleep easily.
***
A few days later.
My vow to never return to the main building became reality.
Garnet, Nina, Dora, Ria, Mari, and Betty—the so-called “Gana Team”—basically took my job.
They insisted that cleaning the library was too harsh for my delicate body and begged me to leave it to them.
Honestly, since I planned to lie low for a few days after running into the Grand Duke, it wasn’t a bad arrangement.
Left alone again in the cabin, I sat against the bed with a pounding heart.
Since I had nothing to do, I decided to read the books I had brought.
Among them, the one that had instantly caught my attention—
The Super Ultra Strongest Imperial Magic Transparent Dragon Roared
I eagerly opened it and flipped the pages.
***
[“Kuaaang!!!”
Among all the dragons, the super ultra strongest imperial magic transparent dragon roared.
The transparent dragon was so freakin’ strong lol that it was totally the SSS-rank strongest among dragons.
The transparent dragon was the one and only existence in the world. Anyway, it roared.
But no one could see it T_T because it was transparent.
It fired its breath attack! Boom boom …]
“……”
Oh, my head.
