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Episode 5
“You are making an unfunny joke.”
“It is serious.”
The duke seemed to be asking out of genuine curiosity.
When Roze looked at the butler, the white-haired old man looked as if the butler wanted to cover the master’s mouth immediately.
Roze let out a dry laugh and answered in a way that matched the duke’s straightforward nature.
“Don’t worry. There will be no crossing of lines due to being dazzled by appearance. Even if Your Grace is a beauty capable of toppling a nation, everyone has different tastes. Besides, since the divorce, men have been outside my interests for a long time.”
The butler, who had been watching silently, could no longer contain the anger and suddenly burst out.
“What nonsense is this! How dare you speak so casually about beauty and nation-toppling looks, and to whom!”
When the duke raised a hand to stop the outburst, the butler—who looked ready to throw Roze out at any moment—stepped back with a face turning red and blue.
The duke held out the contract.
“Since both sides seem to agree, is it enough to sign now?”
“Yes. However, the detailed clauses will be written separately. There is a risk of words leaking out at the temple.”
At Roze’s words, the duke nodded.
After writing one more copy of the detailed contract, the group finished signing as if the earlier argument had never happened.
Roze closed Roze’s eyes briefly, looking tired, and then spoke to Khan.
“I will return and wait for contact.”
As Roze and the group bowed and stepped out of the study, Jack followed behind with an uneasy expression.
Khan blocked the door just as it was about to close and stood in front of Roze.
“There is something to say.”
“…Has another condition appeared?”
Khan looked as if Khan did not understand the question, and Roze waited quietly, as if saying that it was fine if not.
“Since you also seem to dislike speaking indirectly, I will ask directly.”
Looking at the tension in Roze’s eyes, Khan asked the question that had lingered for a long time.
“Do you perhaps have voyeuristic tendencies?”
Khan observed the rapidly beating heart and Roze’s reaction, already able to confirm the truth without hearing an answer.
With a faint smile, Khan spoke in a sweet voice.
“I will take that as having heard the answer.”
The door closed.
Only Roze was left behind, feeling wronged.
When Roze turned Roze’s head with a reddened face, what appeared was an enraged Gray, a red-haired mercenary named Kasa watching as if witnessing something strange, and a butler full of suspicion.
“…No.”
Seeing Roze filled with injustice, Jack cleared Jack’s throat loudly.
“Guests, the exit is over there.”
* * *
Khan stood by the study window, watching the Chaos Upper Citadel’s carriage leaving.
Sensing a presence approaching, Khan turned around and saw worried milk-brown eyes.
The white-haired butler only moved the lips, unable to say anything.
This matter was a promise made by the previous Duke Klaus.
It was not something a butler could interfere with, so Jack hid the anxiety and simply waited for instructions.
“Jack.”
At Khan’s call, Jack bowed the head.
“Investigate Roze again.”
Jack paused at the name coming from Khan’s mouth, then looked at the master and asked,
“How far should the investigation go?”
“This time, dig all the way to the bottom. Bring everything.”
“Yes.”
After Jack left, Khan remained alone and recalled the grandfather’s journal.
[Roger von Isaac.
She was quite an impressive person.
While watching the owner of the trading guild who did not bend before any hardship, such a thought came to mind.
Rather than bending, it felt more likely that the person would break and die.
Regardless of gender, this was the first time such an impression was felt.
It is regrettable that there was not even time to satisfy a small curiosity.]
Though the passage was only a few lines long, the lingering attachment of the grandfather could be felt.
After meeting Roze, it became clear why the grandfather mentioned Roze in the journal at the edge of death.
Khan had briefly witnessed what a life filled only with duty and family looked like while staying beside the grandfather in childhood.
The grandfather had been nothing more than a corpse that merely breathed, unable to feel any emotion.
That was why even a small amount of pain tasted at the end of life, and trivial curiosity that others would pass by, must have been no different from treasure to Duke Klaus.
Still, there was no need to deny that life.
Though dull and boring, the choices were likely made to live with a sound mind.
Love and women.
When these two combined, nine out of ten men of the Aitan family became madmen.
The men could risk death for a wife, but because of that devotion, perfection was demanded even from the one they loved.
Excess was worse than lack, and this was the perfect example.
Khan quietly looked at Khan’s reflection in the mirror.
A beautiful face, an attractive voice, and even without the romantic wrapping of being passionate and devoted in love, the Aitan family produced rare suitors.
Marriage itself was never a problem.
However, as time passed, the madness hidden beneath the sweet fruits of love slowly crawled out within the safety device called marriage.
The men of Aitan were the kind who, if unable to receive the same unchanging affection they gave, would turn into the most terrible partners in the world.
A madman was not called a madman for no reason.
“No matter how good the shell looks, if the inside is flawed, it won’t last long.”
Khan’s voice was pleasant to hear, but the tone carried the chilling killing intent unique to someone who had rolled across battlefields.
Khan turned the head and looked at the snow growing heavier.
“Roze von Isaac.”
The name rolled around in the mouth, leaving an unpleasant aftertaste.
It felt like the taste of someone hiding many things.
Khan could understand why the grandfather had a good impression of Roze, but that alone was not enough for Khan to form a guardianship contract.
As said to Roze, Khan was not someone who welcomed loss, and any trust in humans—already scarce—had long been erased on blood-soaked battlefields.
The reason Khan accepted even a vow staking the heart so readily was because Roze matched the figure Khan had been searching for all along—the ‘spy’.
From the moment Roze entered the study, Khan had been watching closely, recognizing a familiar presence.
On battlefields, in bathhouses, sometimes in beds, and even when sleeping outdoors in fields, there had often been the feeling of unseen eyes.
At first there was anger, then interest followed.
Though the gaze that deceived Khan’s eyes and watched closely—even enjoying the sight at times—was unpleasant, there were moments of strange sensation.
When asking others, the explanation given was ‘favor’, but Khan did not believe it.
Why would a spy feel goodwill?
Still, the reason Khan could sometimes let out a dry laugh was because, for a spy, there was not even the slightest hostility felt.
It was behavior that Khan’s poor emotional capacity could not understand, but there was a certain enjoyment in trying to find the one responsible.
Then one day, the gaze disappeared and never returned.
Normally, Khan would have ignored it, but instead, Khan deliberately began searching for the spy.
Only today, after meeting Roze, did understanding come.
From the start, there had been no spy at all.
Though the eyes could not see it back then, the sense of presence watching Khan was remembered clearly.
Every human had a unique atmosphere and presence.
Even if an identical person existed in the world, the moment Khan saw Roze’s eyes, certainty formed.
‘Recognized me.’
Roze tried to hide it, but the trembling pupils for a brief instant revealed flustered emotion, like meeting someone familiar in an unexpected place.
Judging by Roze’s reaction, it did not seem that Khan had been followed knowingly.
However, after testing with killing intent, Roze was not someone whose body was trained enough to deceive Khan and approach closely.
Khan muttered with a faint smile.
“Meaning there must be another hidden ability.”
Though interesting, Khan was not particularly curious about the ability itself.
Rather, curiosity arose about Roze as a person.
For emotionally dull Aitan men, interest or curiosity toward the opposite sex was something to be most wary of, but Khan had already made a decision.
To Khan, Roze was an ideal partner who appeared at the right moment with excellent conditions.
For reasons unknown, Roze also needed Khan.
Moreover, with a ten-year contractual bond, there was plenty of time.
Everything was perfect.
Even if deliberately trying to create such conditions, it would not have been possible. Roze was the optimal counterpart for Kan.
Then, one line from the detailed agreement in Khan’s hand caught Khan’s eye.
[Each party’s free sexual life and private life shall be guaranteed.]
Khan let out a quiet chuckle, recalling Roze’s bold question.
‘Do I need to sleep with Your Grace as well?’
This deal was satisfying in many ways.
