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Chapter – 07
After calling for the butler and writing up Emil’s employment contract, Louise went out almost every day.
Sometimes she even brought Emil along as a servant to carry her things.
‘I need to get closer to Emil somehow.’
Building a relationship with the true heir of House Thierry would surely prove useful in many ways.
Maybe because Louise kept taking her around so often, Emil seemed to have adapted somewhat compared to the beginning.
She occasionally joked around now and even laughed openly.
Even so, Louise still knew nothing about Emil’s past, but she had no intention of digging into it by force.
‘If she wants to talk about it, she will eventually.’
After all, people didn’t have to know everything about each other to become close.
That was when—
“Louise.”
“…Calix?”
At the sudden voice behind her, Louise turned around.
“What are you doing here?”
“What do you mean, what am I doing here?”
Calix’s expression stiffened for a moment.
“We were supposed to go on a date today. Don’t tell me you forgot?”
“No, that’s not it. I just assumed we’d meet at the place.”
Recently, she had been going out so often that she barely had time to see Calix.
And Calix had been restless because he couldn’t take care of her properly.
‘It’s probably because he still feels sorry about what happened at the lake.’
Whenever Louise got sick or went through something bad, Calix would usually take her around to cheer her up and look after her more carefully.
She had liked that so much that she had once intentionally slept with the window open just to catch a cold.
‘When I was sick, Calix became gentler.’
She had hurt herself just to receive that kindness.
Even though his kindness never meant she could win his heart.
“Shall we go?”
Calix held out his hand toward Louise.
Perhaps because she had just been recalling old memories, Louise had to struggle to suppress the sudden flutter in her chest.
“Have a nice trip, My Lady.”
At Emil’s farewell, Louise’s eyes widened slightly.
“…Right. I’ll bring back something delicious for you.”
Seeing Emil smiling as she sent her off, maybe they really had become somewhat close.
Trying hard to hide the smile spreading across her lips, Louise accepted Calix’s escort and climbed into the carriage.
“That’s the kid from before, right?”
“If you mean that kid… you mean Emil?”
“…Emil?”
Calix hesitated.
For some reason, it bothered him that they were already close enough to use a nickname.
Meanwhile, Louise continued chatting casually.
“She looked like she was suffering doing odd jobs at the restaurant, so I told her to work here instead.”
“You told her to work here?”
“Yeah.”
“Why?”
Calix looked genuinely puzzled.
“Why are you trying to help her?”
“She’s pitiful. She lost her mother.”
At Louise’s answer, Calix’s lips twisted slightly.
“She’s not the only person in the world who’s lost their mother.”
“But Emil was connected to the ring I have.”
Louise replied calmly.
“So what’s wrong with taking her in?”
“You said her background was unclear.”
“People don’t investigate every servant’s background one by one. And if there had really been a problem, the butler would’ve refused.”
He couldn’t deny that.
Even if it was only a servant position, it was still employment under the Duke of Florence’s household.
Especially at a time like this, when the head of the family, Eloise, was absent, the screening process would have been even stricter.
“Still, there’s no need to keep someone suspicious by your side.”
“Emil is just a servant.”
And because she had taken her in, Louise simply intended to look after her. She spoke firmly.
Then she turned her head and fixed her gaze outside the window.
As if to say she didn’t want to discuss the matter any further.
Calix felt his blood run cold, but he couldn’t continue arguing.
If he did, it felt like they would end up in a serious fight.
‘There’s nothing more foolish than fighting with your fiancée over a mere servant.’
Thinking that, he kept his mouth shut.
Today’s date location was the library of House Western.
And Louise had been the one to choose it.
“Why did you suddenly want to come to the library?”
“I just… found some books I wanted to read.”
Louise brushed it off casually.
If she wanted to truly become close with Emil, she felt she needed some knowledge about medicine and herbs.
‘But reading books like that at the Florence estate would stand out too much.’
Louise had never shown even the slightest interest in such things before.
But at the Western estate, it was fine.
‘I can just pretend I’m reading difficult books to impress Calix.’
In her previous life, Emil had made contact with Marquis Orlando’s family only after the impostors pretending to be Thierry’s heirs had been captured.
‘If I want to adjust that timing to my advantage, I need to figure out how much medical knowledge Emil has.’
At the same time, she needed to grow closer to Emil and learn what she truly wanted.
Only then could Louise activate her safety measures at the right time.
“Wow.”
As soon as she entered the library, Louise’s mouth fell open in amazement.
It was the largest library she had seen since visiting the imperial library as a child.
‘Finding the books I want won’t be easy.’
After admiring the place for a while, Louise sat across from Calix.
Calix looked at her curiously.
“What?”
Wondering if something was on her face, Louise touched her cheek, and Calix answered with amusement in his voice.
“You always insisted on sitting beside me, and only sat across from me after I told you no.”
Resting his chin on one hand, Calix smiled as though recalling a fond memory.
“But today you didn’t do that, so it feels a little strange.”
“……”
His teasing answer made her face heat up instantly.
Thinking about it now, she really had bothered Calix quite a lot, and it was embarrassing.
“…I won’t do that anymore.”
“You won’t?”
“Yeah.”
Watching Louise nod firmly as if making a vow, Calix burst into laughter.
It felt like he was making fun of her, and she puffed up in annoyance.
“This is a library. Be quiet.”
“Ah, sorry. That was rude of me.”
Calix quickly stopped laughing and smiled gently.
“But no one else is coming here today.”
“No one?”
“Yeah. I told them not to allow anyone in except the librarian.”
Louise tilted her head.
“Why would you give an order like that?”
“Because I didn’t want our long-awaited date to be interrupted.”
“……”
“And it’s also the first time since the accident that you were the one to say where you wanted to go.”
The excitement she felt at the word date sank instantly when she heard the word accident.
Of course. He’s only doing this because he feels sorry for me again.
“Thank you for being considerate, Calix.”
Even if it wasn’t love but pity, gratitude was still gratitude.
So Louise thanked him with a smile—just enough to match her feelings—and stood up.
“I’m going to pick out some books over there, so stay here and do your work.”
“I’ll come with you.”
“It’s fine. You’re busy.”
After refusing Calix’s offer to guide her around the library several times, Louise finally managed to wander around alone.
‘I’m looking for medical books. It’d be awkward to bring Calix along.’
If she searched only for those kinds of books, and in large numbers at that, he would definitely become suspicious.
She planned to hide them among the romance novels she usually read and bring them little by little.
‘Anyway, once Calix starts concentrating on work, he doesn’t pay attention to anything else I do.’
Thinking that, she quickly scanned the bookshelves.
Herbs good for tea, stories about plants, the history of torture and treatment…
“There really are a lot of different kinds.”
The problem was that there were too many kinds, and she had no idea where to start.
Just as she stacked about five books together, intending to take them all and examine them one by one—
“What are you doing?”
“…You startled me.”
At the handsome face that suddenly appeared without a sound, Louise pressed a hand to her chest.
“I thought you were working. Why are you here?”
“You were taking too long. I thought maybe you’d gotten lost.”
As he spoke, Calix naturally took the books from Louise’s arms.
Louise widened her eyes in surprise, and Calix extended his other hand as though escorting her.
“Shall we?”
“…Mm.”
Almost entranced, Louise took Calix’s hand and returned to their seats.
Now she could finally try to learn as much as possible about herbs—
“What are you reading so intently?”
“Just…”
…Apparently not.
Calix, who usually ignored Louise completely once he focused on work, kept paying unusual attention to her today.
“Is that book interesting?”
“It’s okay.”
“What’s it about?”
Like this.
Thanks to that, Louise never even got the chance to open the herb-related books she had awkwardly brought over.
