IDSTD 09

Chapter : 09

“R-Run away?”

What? Did he find out?

How did this man know about my perfect plan to retreat to my territory and hole myself up there?

Flustered, I quickly darted my eyes around.

Then, the man who had been calmly sipping his tea smiled sweetly and said,

“I was joking. You look so flustered. Surely you weren’t actually planning to, were you?”

He was joking?

That was certainly a relief, but my heart had already taken a beating as though someone had viciously hacked at it.

Calm down. Calm down, Erna.

“……You can speak comfortably with me.”

“What?”

“We already agreed to be senior and junior, after all. And it feels strange when you speak so formally to me.”

“Shall I, then?”

What was this? He sounded so natural.

His informal speech came out as if he had been waiting for me to say it, and for a moment, my mind went blank. But since he was a man who stood at the very top of the social hierarchy, I decided not to think too much of it.

“So, why did you come?”

“Ah, right. The reason I came. Well, after I said I’d give you some time last time, I thought about it and realized I never set a deadline.”

“A deadline……?”

At my words, the Grand Duke smiled and nodded.

“I should set one properly. Otherwise, you might just try to drag things out until everything fizzles out like this.”

“…….”

“Of course, I don’t think you’d do that.”

Gulp.

Feeling strangely guilty, I pressed my lips together.

The luggage bags that were still sitting in my room flashed through my mind, but I quickly erased the thought.

At this point, there was only one way left.

“Fine. I’ll just be honest with you. I’m sorry, but I genuinely don’t remember anything about what happened that day. So I’m in a rather confusing situation.”

Forget it. I’m going straight in. I’ll just be honest.

“To be honest, I said I’d think about it a few days ago because I was too flustered to process everything. I still don’t know what’s going on.”

“It’s a little difficult to just brush it off by saying you don’t remember when I’m on the verge of being dismissed from my position.”

“Exactly. If you’d just kept your mouth shut as though nothing had happened, we could have all ended up happy, so why on earth did you have to be so unnecessarily honest…….”

“Ah. So it’s all my fault?”

“Being honest and sincere is a good thing. Of course. It’s the greatest virtue and all that.”

You really are quick to take offense. When did I ever say it was all Your Grace’s fault? Hoho.

“Of course, just because I don’t remember doesn’t mean I’m refusing to take responsibility. I have that much sense. It’s just that I really can’t understand how it happened.”

“All right. Then we should settle that first.”

“Yes. First of all…… was the woman you met that night really me?”

There had been what was written in the letter, and the timing matched as well, so I had simply assumed it was true and moved on. But I needed to make sure.

He thought for a moment at my question before opening his mouth.

“Last Wednesday. I was getting out of my carriage when you came up to me and shouted, ‘Huh? Leon Obsidian. It’s Obsidian!’ like that. Oh, come to think of it, you seemed to have had a bit to drink.”

“That must have been…… quite awkward for you.”

To think I had loudly called the Grand Duke’s name while drunk.

“Then you grabbed my face like this.”

“Gasp.”

“You said, ‘You’re so freaking handsome. Did you know that? You’re my favorite!’”

“…….”

“But what does ‘favorite’ mean? I’d never heard such a strange word before, so it stuck with me.”

At that, I let my head fall.

That reckless, completely tactless behavior. And words like favorite, whose meaning I’d never heard of before.

That alone was enough to prove her identity.

“Wait a moment. But how did you end up spending the night together……?”

“You seemed drunk, so I couldn’t leave you alone. I put you in my carriage. And when I was about to take you to the marquisate, you clung to me, insisting that you didn’t want to go home.”

“Good grief…….”

“You even said, ‘When else am I going to get to spend some quality time with my favorite?’ You said I didn’t have to worry about anything because you’d take full responsibility.”

There it was again. That favorite nonsense.

What on earth did favorite even mean?

Anyway, Miss Park Sumin, who had possessed my body, happened to spot her ‘favorite’ on the street and promptly latched onto him.

“So I headed to the Grand Duke’s residence first. After that, as I told you before…….”

“Ahem. I understand. You don’t have to say anything more.”

Right. So they had stripped off their clothes, rolled around in bed, and had a good time. Got it.

“Fine. I understand. I’ll admit that we slept together. Then, the second thing.”

I tightened my grip on the tension that had begun to loosen, reminding myself that this wasn’t over yet.

“You said that I took your…… first time away from you, but honestly, I don’t think that makes any sense either.”

“……Are you saying you can’t believe I’ve remained chaste until now?”

“That’s not what I meant!”

Somehow, his voice seemed to have turned slightly heavy, so I hurriedly shook my head.

“Just look at our builds. A skinny woman like me, taking you down like this, and then, and, and…… like that. How would that even be possible?!”

It was embarrassing to say out loud, so I couldn’t even bring myself to say the words properly. But when I asked whether something like that could really have happened, the Grand Duke gave a short laugh.

“You don’t necessarily have to force someone through sheer strength.”

“Then?”

“I suppose I should explain just how attractive you were that night, then? Since you don’t remember, I’ll describe it in a little more detail……”

“No, that’s, that’s enough! I understand!”

“Good. Then what else is it that you can’t understand?”

What else can’t I understand?

Obviously, the whole thing.

But considering the two people who had caused this mess, the letter that woman had left behind, and the Grand Duke’s consistent claims, I felt like I had no choice but to accept reality now.

“Surely you still don’t believe it?”

“I believe you. I do, but…… I just can’t believe it.”

“Which part, specifically?”

“You and me? You, Your Grace? Surely you could be with a much more beautiful and wonderful woman, but for it to be me…… The entire Empire’s citizens would probably find it baffling.”

“I don’t think I can agree with that.”

Ah, there it was again.

His brow furrowed as though he were slightly displeased.

He leaned back against the chair, pulling his body away from the table, then spoke with that characteristically stubborn expression.

“To me, the Marquess looks like a very attractive woman.”

“What? That’s…… Are you feeling all right?”

“Why did the conversation suddenly turn in that direction?”

“You couldn’t possibly say something like that while in your right mind.”

It wasn’t because he had called me beautiful.

It was because the person saying it was that man—Leon Obsidian.

A beauty that would stand out even when buried among hundreds, thousands of people. The aura that could be felt even from a distance, and the dazzling halo that seemed to surround him.

He was praised as a being chosen by God, to the point that even the circumstances of his birth were overlooked.

Almost every word used to describe him was something that sparkled.

Even if you put the most beautiful woman of the century beside him, people would surely say she wasn’t good enough for him.

And yet, he was telling me that I was beautiful.

As if he actually has feelings for me.

At that presumptuous thought that suddenly crossed my mind, I quickly shook my head.

Are you insane, Erna Zaherette? You’re being way too full of yourself.

It’s probably just courtesy toward someone he spent one night with. Or resignation. It has to be one of those two.

I didn’t know why, but the Grand Duke seemed to attach tremendous significance to his first night, and since the deed was already done, he was probably just trying to think positively about it.

“Fine. I understand. I won’t question what happened that day anymore. So we definitely had a relationship that night, and Your Grace is asking me to take responsibility?”

“Yes.”

“……And you have absolutely no intention of letting me off the hook? For example, keeping what happened that day a secret and dating another woman?”

Before I had even finished speaking, the Grand Duke’s eyebrow shot up.

“Again. You’re subtly trying to get out of taking responsibility……”

“Ah, no! That’s not what I meant. I just thought there might be a possibility. You mentioned marriage, but surely you might want another woman as your partner? So, I just thought, maybe, just in case.”

At my question of whether he might regret it later, his eyes hardened.

Right. He was confident he wouldn’t regret it.

No, but still. Isn’t marriage going a little too far? To stake the rest of your life on one night? The cost-benefit ratio doesn’t make sense!

As if he had read my thoughts,

“Don’t worry. I have no intention of forcing you into marriage right away.”

“What? Then…….”

“But you’ll have to do something else with me instead.”

Something other than marriage?

So there really was room for negotiation after all!

Hope blossomed in my heart.