Chapter: 120
Why on earth am I thinking things like this?!
At that, the young lady looked at me worriedly.
“Lari, your face is red. Are you okay?”
“I-I’m fine. I guess it’s because it’s warm inside the department store.”
“That’s strange. It’s not warm enough for that.”
The young lady tilted her head in confusion.
Meanwhile, my face kept getting hotter and hotter…….
“Let’s go outside for now. I think something other than clothes would be better.”
I felt like my face was going to explode at this rate.
So I hurriedly dragged the young lady outside.
Then.
‘Ah.’
I suddenly stopped walking.
I spotted a wristwatch displayed behind a glass case.
It had a classic design made entirely of silver metal, while the watch face was a pale sky blue reminiscent of the duke’s eye color.
‘Come to think of it…… the duke always wears a wristwatch, doesn’t he?’
Perhaps because he was always pressed for time, he tended to check the time quite often.
More importantly, a wristwatch……
‘I could always carry it with me in my everyday life.’
If, whenever he looked at that watch, he thought of me, even if only for a brief moment.
If it could remind him that I was the duke’s lover……
“……”
At that moment, I made up my mind.
“Eva, let’s take a quick look at the watches before we go.”
I stepped into the shop.
That evening.
“Stay at our house tonight.”
The young lady promptly grabbed hold of me as I was about to return to Ancyga’s townhouse.
“We have to spend the morning of Saint Laila’s Day together. Okay?”
Unable to resist her sparkling eyes, I decided to stay for a night at the Duke Claudius residence.
Well, I also had a gift to give the duke.
The young lady was absolutely thrilled.
“There’s actually something I’ve always wanted to do with Lari.”
“What is it?”
The young lady pointed toward the large fir tree set up in the living room, which was still completely bare.
“That tree. Let’s decorate it together, okay?”
Apparently, she had intended to decorate the tree with me from the very beginning.
The boxes on the floor were filled with all kinds of decorations for the tree, including stars, ornaments, and wreaths.
The young lady picked up a glittering ornament and gave a faint smile.
“When I was little, whenever Saint Laila’s Day came around, we would all decorate the tree together.”
When she said the words ‘when I was little,’ along with that faint smile, I realized that the young lady was reminiscing about the past, when the previous duke and duchess were still alive.
“……Is that so?”
“Yes. But after my parents passed away, my brother was always so busy.”
The young lady shrugged and hung the ornament on the tree.
Unlike her subdued voice, the ornament itself shimmered beautifully as it caught the light.
“So I had to decorate the tree all by myself……”
The young lady soon turned toward me and smiled brightly.
“I’m really happy that I can spend this holiday with Lari.”
Hearing those words, I suddenly remembered the portrait of the young lady from her childhood that I had seen before.
I imagined that tiny, angelic child hanging decorations on the tree with a dejected expression.
“……”
Ah, what am I supposed to do?
My poor young lady. How could I not feel sorry for her?
My heart feels like it’s breaking……
“I’m happy that I get to spend the holiday with Eva too.”
I answered in as cheerful a voice as possible.
At my answer, the tips of the young lady’s ears turned bright red.
“Th-The top of the tree……”
The young lady turned her head, pretending to be completely unaffected.
“You absolutely have to put a star decoration on top. That’s the most important part.”
“Really?”
“Of course. I hear a lot of people don’t put stars on them these days, but I still think they look the prettiest with a star.”
We busily moved our hands while chatting together.
And so, as the sun slowly began to set.
The duke finally came home.
“Brother, you’re back?”
“Welcome home.”
The young lady and I greeted the duke side by side, each holding decorations in our hands.
The duke took off his coat and handed it to a servant. When he spotted me, the corners of his eyes curved into a familiar smile.
“Ah, Lady Ancy.”
After what happened at the charity party.
The duke and I had become lovers, but even so, almost nothing had really changed.
The duke was still busy with work.
And the young lady and I continued to go out and have fun together as we always had.
Still, if I had to point out one thing that had changed, however slightly……
‘That look.’
No matter where I was or what I was doing.
Whenever I happened to look up, my eyes would meet the duke’s as he gazed intently at me.
Whenever that happened, the duke would give me a small, gentle smile.
Every time he did, my heart would flutter so much that lately I had begun to seriously worry about the health of my heart……
“Brother, come over here for a second.”
The young lady grabbed the duke’s arm and dragged him toward the living room.
Then, looking extremely proud of herself, she pointed toward the fir tree that she and I had painstakingly decorated.
“How is it? Pretty, right?”
The young lady proudly lifted her chin.
“Lari and I decorated it together!”
The fir tree, wrapped with all sorts of ornaments, was objectively quite beautiful.
But the duke’s gaze was directed somewhere other than the tree.
The duke seemed to stare at me for a moment before—
“Yes, it’s pretty.”
He gave me a broad smile.
My face instantly grew hot, and I awkwardly pretended to be busy, running my hand over one of the tree’s decorations.
“……”
The young lady alternated between looking at the duke and me with an irritated expression.
“Enough, enough.”
She shook her head as if she were completely fed up.
“Let’s go have dinner.”
With that, she strode off toward the dining room.
“Eva, wait a moment!”
“I-It’s not like I was looking at Lady Ancy! Well, I was looking at her, but still……!”
The duke and I watched her retreating figure with embarrassed expressions before hurriedly following after her.
Dinner was absolutely wonderful.
In particular, to celebrate Saint Laila’s Day, they served a roasted chicken stuffed with all kinds of nuts and fruits.
It was so tender that it practically melted on my tongue. I could have sworn it was cotton candy rather than chicken……
After we finished dinner.
We each took a cup of tea and gathered in the living room.
“I’ll have a cup of coffee, please.”
As always, the duke spoke to the maid while holding a stack of documents.
I narrowed my eyes.
“You’re going to have coffee again?”
At my sharp tone, the duke stiffened his shoulders and turned toward me.
“I’ve noticed this for a while, but I think you drink far too much coffee, Duke. It’s bad for your health.”
“Lady Ancy?”
“You were bedridden from overwork last time, and now you’re doing this again……”
I rattled off my complaints before belatedly realizing my mistake.
‘Hmm, did I get too serious?’
There was no need to speak so sharply.
At the same time, the duke’s eyes softened.
“Are you worried about me?”
“……”
I swallowed a breath.
‘What am I supposed to do?’
Every time the duke looked at me so intently like that, my heart kept trembling……
“Ah, seriously!”
At the same time, the young lady looked utterly disgusted.
“There are other people here, you know! Have some consideration for the people watching!”
Startled, the duke and I hurriedly put some distance between ourselves.
The young lady raised her voice again.
“I don’t mind you two being all lovey-dovey! I really don’t! But do it when I’m not around!”
Then she glared at the duke with her eyes shining fiercely.
“Especially you, Brother! Don’t look at Lari with those eyes!”
“What kind of eyes?”
“You know! Those greasy eyes, like you’ve eaten about a hundred sticks of butter!”
The young lady shuddered her shoulders as if she couldn’t stand how greasy it was.
Actually, I was a little dissatisfied with her reaction.
‘That’s not it.’
The duke’s gaze wasn’t like someone who had eaten butter.
It was gentle, kind, and warm……
