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Chapter 24
She was always known to be greedy.
“Oh dear, craving too much is never good.”
“Since I was little, I always got what I wanted.”
“I can see that. You’re acting like this because you think you won’t get what you want this time, right?”
“And I’ve never once failed to get what I wanted.”
She smirked.
That confident smile—there was no way not to feel puzzled by it.
“I came to let you know that it’ll be the same this time, too.”
She kept only the bare minimum of courtesy, disregarding everything else.
Still, it was the kind of confidence that only those with nothing to lose could possess.
“You’re saying you’ll stop at nothing to get it.”
“That’s actually my specialty, which makes it all the more unfortunate, Lady.”
“…You’d better start traveling with knights from now on, Your Grace.”
After saying that, she turned and walked away swiftly.
Watching her retreating figure, I couldn’t help but mutter,
That confident demeanor, that tone that disregards even me as a duke, and that dangerous warning—
“She must’ve joined hands with the emperor.”
I murmured, then calmly turned my gaze away.
I’d even been warned to be careful walking at night. What more was there to hide?
Ah… the sunlight’s nice today.
✦ ✦ ✦
After dinner, I finished the remaining tasks for the day.
I watched in the mirror as three maids—Mia, Lilia, and Jayla—dried, combed, and styled my wet hair.
“Your hair is like silk.”
“You look beautiful as always.”
Their admiring words made me laugh.
“Thank you.”
The maids of the ducal household always felt like emotionless dolls.
But maybe because I had brought these maids in myself, their behavior and manner of speaking felt warmer.
I’d never really chatted and laughed with attendants like this before—other than my old nanny.
When I was younger, I grew fond of my nanny. But once I became old enough not to need one, Father sent her away far.
‘I should visit her sometime.’
Aside from that nanny, this was probably the first time I shared such casual conversations with attendants.
“I think the circlet you bought this time will suit you well.”
“We’ve prepared the dress you’ll wear tomorrow.”
“The uniform you ordered arrived at the estate today—would you like to try it on?”
I stared blankly up at the three of them.
They only blinked innocently as if wondering what was wrong.
“You’re all so open with me.”
“Oh…”
“We’re sorry. We’ll be more careful.”
“Please let us know if anything makes you uncomfortable.”
I shook my head.
That’s not what I meant.
I gently touched the damp ends of my hair.
“No, I like it.”
I’d heard they were all a bit younger than me.
Mia hurried over and knelt at my feet.
As I patted her head, I murmured,
“You girls… don’t have families, right?”
“Yes.”
“You’re the one who saved us, My Lady.”
“You gave us the opportunity to work with the merchant guild.”
“No matter what anyone says, to us, you are our savior.”
“You rescued us when we were thrown out and almost died.”
“You gave us a place to sleep, food to eat, and work to do.”
I felt oddly embarrassed.
“No… I should be the one thanking you girls for being here.”
With that warm feeling, I finished getting ready for bed.
“Shall we sleep now?”
“Yes! We’ll get things ready!”
“I’ll prepare your usual cocoa.”
After they left, Kissel came in.
His hair was still wet—he must’ve just bathed too.
I pulled him to sit beside me.
“You’ll catch a cold if you walk around like that.”
“I know. But I kind of want to experience what this ‘cold’ feels like, just once.”
“Am I misremembering? What happened to all those times I nursed you back to health?”
“If I say I don’t remember, will you be mad? Honestly, I remember everything. Colds are horrible.”
As I played with the ends of his damp hair, I leaned my head on his shoulder.
“Something funny happened today.”
“What happened?”
I swung my feet back and forth.
My indoor slippers hung precariously off my toes.
“Mmm…”
I gave a brief summary of what happened with Lady Giselle today.
Kissel chuckled behind his hand.
When I stared at him, something between us suddenly felt awkward, and he cleared his throat and changed the subject.
“By the way, Duchess, your head feels heavy.”
“It’s because it’s full of thoughts.”
“You should empty it out a bit.”
His calm voice right beside me made my eyelids heavy.
The cocoa in my hands had long gone cold.
Kissel said I should sleep and quietly turned off the lights and left.
Just as I was drifting off…
Beep beep beep!
The communicator buzzed.
“What the—?!”
Startled, I reached for my earring, only to realize it wasn’t that—it was the orb-shaped communicator on the desk.
I opened my eyes wide.
There was only one reason this communicator would activate.
“Oh.”
I thought he wouldn’t contact me today…!
As I grabbed the communicator, the previously cloudy crystal orb began to clear.
“Eshdua.”
I called the person on the other side.
—Oh dear, your hair’s a mess. Were you sleeping?
This communicator had been given to me by Eshdua when I left the imperial palace.
“I thought we weren’t talking today, so I went to bed early.”
—We weren’t supposed to talk today, actually.
Then why…?
—But there was something I needed to confirm.
He trailed off with a soft smile. I had no choice but to ask.
“What is it? You didn’t contact me for days.”
I could hear his quiet laughter beyond the crystal orb.
—Something a bit troublesome happened. But it was fine. It was… quite entertaining.
I filled my head with confusion at his cryptic words.
“Well, I’m glad. So the issue is resolved, and you’re calling now?”
—Yes. And I wanted to hear your voice.
Hearing such cheesy words after days of silence made my ears burn.
‘But why isn’t he showing his face today?’
Normally, we’d talk face-to-face, but today, I could only see a buttoned-up white shirt and his veiny hand.
Still, it didn’t matter.
I had something I needed to say to him anyway.
Just as I opened my mouth to speak, he gently tapped on the orb.
—I feel bad for waking you up. Should we end it here for today?
The vibration from his voice even reached me.
“Oh? Uh, I don’t mind.”
—I love hearing your voice, but more than that, I want to respect your time.
We exchanged a few more words before the sweet tone of his voice faded and the connection cut.
—Ina, sleep well.
The communicator shut off, and I tilted my head before realizing—oh no.
‘I had something I wanted to say!’
I thought about turning the communicator back on but just pulled out a piece of paper instead.
I wrote down what I wanted to say and tied the letter to a messenger bird.
✦ ✦ ✦
Why is time moving so fast?
I swallowed a groan as I looked at the man sitting across from me.
“Ina, focus.”
“…”
“I held myself back from seeing you just to keep this promise. Isn’t that admirable? So today, just for today, you have to focus on me.”
The noise from outside, the uncomfortable rattling—all of it disappeared.
Of course it did…
“Good. That’s better.”
All of my senses were focused entirely on the man before me.
He leaned down, met my gaze, and came so close I could feel his breath.
“Mm-hmm,” I responded reflexively.
A few nights ago, I had sent Eshdua a letter asking to meet.
“You said this was your first time going out for fun?”
“Huh? Oh, yeah. It’s my first.”
“Hmm…”
It was a promise made in response to Eshdua’s earlier invitation to “go have fun,” which had a magical compulsion.
He leaned toward me with an unreadable expression.
“I’ll make sure it’s worth it. I’m pretty dependable, you know.”
Huh? I don’t remember ever doubting him.
Well… maybe after he was cursed.
I leaned comfortably against him.
“But… aren’t these clothes too warm?”
At his words, I looked down at my outfit.
“It’s winter. Isn’t it fine?”
“It still looks a bit stifling.”
I was even wearing a robe.
He massaged my hands, then touched my sleeves, saying I could roll them up if I felt hot.
Startled by his hand brushing against my skin, I quickly pulled the sleeves back down.
“No, I’m fine. I don’t like the cold.”
“Well then… I’m glad.”
His fingers fidgeted awkwardly.
As he looked down at me, I instinctively turned to the carriage window to call for Kissel—then remembered.
‘Ah, he’s not here.’
He wanted to come, but I turned him down. Of course, he’s not here.
“Ina, did you know?”
I keep forgetting—he’s always by my side.
“When I got that letter from you… I was so happy.”
