Chapter : 07
“…By the way… is it really okay for me to use this room?”
As I looked around the room, the thought suddenly crossed my mind.
I still didn’t know exactly what had happened, but one thing was clear now: someone named Lylit had truly existed, and she had been deeply loved by the Duke.
The more I realized that, the guiltier I felt about staying here.
For both the Duke… and Lylit.
It didn’t feel right to overwrite the traces of someone who had once lived with those of a completely different person.
“Yeah… I’ll ask them to change my room.”
Knock. Knock.
Just then, someone knocked on the door.
“Who is it?”
“It’s me. Reindart.”
“Your Grace?”
Hearing the low, familiar voice from the other side, I hurried over and opened the door.
Reindart was standing there.
“Your Grace? What brings you here…?”
“I heard from Ruby. She said she’d show you around the castle after you finished unpacking. Are you still not done?”
“Huh? Oh, no, that’s not it…”
“Then hurry and get dressed.”
“Uh…”
Does this Duke seriously have nothing to do?
The novel described him as a complete workaholic.
Some workaholic.
At this point, he practically spent all his time centered around me.
“You could just have another maid show me around the castle.”
“Do you dislike being with me?”
What? How did the conversation become so extreme?
“Huh? No! That’s not what I meant.”
“Then what did you mean?”
“You’ve already spent so much time because of me. I just feel bad for taking up even more of your time.”
“So… you don’t dislike me?”
“Of course not! Why would I have any reason to dislike you?”
Especially when he was going to give me one billion Kent.
“…Your eyes look rather impure.”
Oops.
Did my thoughts show on my face?
His instincts are annoyingly sharp.
“Come on. If I really disliked you, would I have followed you all the way here?”
“Hmm…”
Apparently pleased with my answer, he smiled faintly.
Honestly…
He was surprisingly simple.
“My work is mine to handle, so you don’t need to worry about it. Besides, I brought you here. It’s only natural that I should be the one to show you around.”
The Duke quietly extended his hand toward me.
“Come. Let’s go, Urania.”
“…”
For a moment, I couldn’t speak.
It was the first time.
The first time he’d called me by my own name instead of Lylit.
People who are overwhelmingly handsome really do transcend personal preferences.
When I read the novel, I had definitely preferred blond male leads…
But black hair and red eyes aren’t bad either.
I wasn’t usually the type whose tastes changed this easily.
“…What are you thinking about?”
“Huh?”
“It looks like you’re having impure thoughts again.”
“Come on! You’re the one making strange assumptions, Your Grace!”
Smack.
I quickly grabbed his hand and walked out of the room.
“Now hurry up and show me around the castle, Your Grace!”
“Wow…”
“Do you like it?”
“Yes… It’s so beautiful.”
The North hadn’t been described in great detail in the novel.
After all, most of the story took place in the capital.
Unlike the capital, which overflowed with brilliant colors, the North had a calm, monochromatic beauty.
Perhaps that was why…
Everything here felt so fresh to me.
Then a strangely familiar statue came into view.
“Oh! That statue!”
“You know what it is?”
“You’d have to be an idiot not to! It’s where the heroine and the male lead first confessed their feelings when they visited the North—”
“What?”
“…I mean, it’s the symbol of the North! The winged lion.”
Seriously, this mouth of mine…
I’m going to expose myself as someone who’s transmigrated if I keep talking like this.
“I’ve been wondering this for a while now. Just what kind of book was it that described the North in such detail?”
“Who knows…? I don’t really remember the title. Haha…”
At that moment, the sharp sound of metal clashing echoed from somewhere nearby.
“What’s that sound?”
“It’s coming from the training grounds. The knights should be training around this time.”
“Oh! That’s the training grounds?”
The novel had described this place before.
While the heroine was staying in the North, she had visited the training grounds every day with snacks just to get closer to Reindart.
As a fan…
How could I possibly not visit?
“Um… if it wouldn’t be a bother… could we go take a look?”
“The training grounds?”
“Yes!”
“I don’t think there’s really anything worth seeing…”
“Oh, come on! Please show me!”
At my enthusiastic request, he hesitated for a moment.
“Are outsiders not allowed inside?”
The instant I finished speaking, his expression hardened.
“There is nowhere in this castle that you are forbidden to go.”
“…”
“Everything here belongs to you.”
His sudden seriousness made things awkward, so I tried to lighten the mood.
“So if I asked you to give me this ducal castle… would you?”
“Of course.”
“…Huh?”
I was speechless.
He answered without even a moment’s hesitation.
“If that’s what you want, we can draft the transfer papers immediately.”
“No, no! I was joking! What would I even do with an entire castle?”
“…Is that so?”
His slightly embarrassed smile made my heart flutter for a moment before I quickly returned to the original topic.
“Anyway… are you going to show me or not?”
“Hmm…”
After thinking for a short while, he let out a quiet sigh.
“We can go.”
“Oh, really?”
“On one condition.”
“What is it?”
“Try not to look at the knights.”
“Huh?”
What did the knights have to do with anything?
“Uh… sure. That shouldn’t be difficult.”
“…Good. Then let’s go.”
“Yes!”
Finally!
I was going to see a place straight out of the novel!
Seeing how excited I was, Reindart naturally reached over and gently patted my head.
The unexpected physical affection startled me once again.
“Um… don’t you think you’re a little too comfortable with physical contact?”
“Physical contact?”
“Yes. Like what you’re doing right now.”
“…Am I not even allowed to do this much?”
“It’s not just this. You kissed me before, too—”
Cough!
Before I could finish, he suddenly coughed violently in surprise.
“Why do you always react like that whenever kissing comes up?”
“…At the time… it was instinctive. I acted out of habit. I’m sorry.”
“No… I don’t think it’s something you need to apologize for.”
Honestly…
Rather than feeling offended, I found it kind of adorable.
A huge, broad-shouldered man turning bright red over nothing more than a kiss on the forehead.
Come to think of it… he was like that in the novel, too.
Seeing it in person somehow made him even cuter than I’d imagined.
“Then let’s get going.”
He naturally held out his hand again, but halfway through, he seemed to realize what he was doing.
His face immediately flushed red.
Even so…
He didn’t withdraw his hand.
I quietly slipped my hand into his.
The warmth of his large hand spread through mine.
Following that warmth…
I walked beside him.
“Oh…”
Clang!
As I stepped into the training grounds, where nothing could be heard except the sharp clash of cold steel, I found myself speechless.
Well…
To be more accurate, I was staring at the knights.
“They’re all… shirtless?”
Now I finally understood why Reindart had told me not to look at them.
“It’s to help them adapt to the cold of the North.”
“I see…”
This is… incredibly nice.
Every single one of them was incredibly well-built.
Clearly defined eight-pack abs, thick biceps, powerful triceps, broad chests…
My eyes were instinctively drawn toward them.
Now I really do look like a pervert.
No.
What’s perverted about this?
They’re training.
If anything, deliberately looking away would be weirder!
That’s right. I haven’t done anything wrong!
Just as I relaxed and prepared to admire the knights without guilt—
“That’s enough.”
Reindart covered my eyes with one hand.
I immediately pulled his hand away and protested.
“I wasn’t looking at the knights!”
“I never said you were.”
…Oops.
Looking slightly irritated, he muttered,
“…This is exactly why I didn’t want to come.”
Just then, a familiar voice rang through the training grounds.
“The Head of the House has arrived!”
Before I even had time to react, the doors opened.
Grandmother entered the training grounds with perfect posture.
Leaving the rows of bowing knights behind her, she walked straight toward Reindart and me.
“Grandmother, what brings you here?”
What kind of way was that to speak to an elder?
“You make it sound as though I’ve come somewhere I shouldn’t.”
After taking a few more steps, she stopped in front of me.
“The one who truly shouldn’t be here seems to be standing before me.”
The moment she finished speaking, the Duke’s expression hardened.
“Since when have outsiders been permitted to enter the training grounds?”
“There is nowhere within the Grand Duke’s castle that the Grand Duchess is forbidden to go.”
“Hmph…”
A tense silence settled over us.
Or rather…
Over all three of us.
It was obvious she didn’t think very highly of me.
Then again, that was only natural.
The beloved Duchess of the North had disappeared, and some strange woman had suddenly taken her place.
Who would welcome that?
“Is that so?”
Grandmother smiled coldly before turning to me.
“Then starting today, I shall entrust the Grand Duchess’s duties to you.”
Her chilling smile widened.
“You will accompany Reindart immediately…”
“…and carry out the task of picking Winter Flowers.”
