Chapter: 99
Leaving the knights who had followed the Duke behind to deal with the situation, we returned to the villa.
Inside the carriage, the young lady and I had to endure an absolutely tremendous lecture from the Duke.
“Even if we are within the Duke’s territory, this is still a remote region!”
Unlike his usual calm demeanor, the Duke looked genuinely angry.
“What on earth did you think might happen, going around with just the two of you?”
……I really shouldn’t have let myself be swayed by the young lady.
I bitterly regretted it.
“Rari, don’t you trust me?”
I could still hear the young lady’s voice as she thumped her chest.
“I’m a Claudius duchess. Who would dare harm me in the Duke’s territory?”
“……But.”
“Honestly, having an escort knight around is a little uncomfortable, isn’t it? I just wanted the two of us to have some fun together. Please?”
The young lady had clasped both hands over her chest, her eyes sparkling brightly.
Faced with such an adorable sight, my mind had simply gone blank……
To be honest, I thought there was some merit to what the young lady had said, and the security throughout the Duke’s territory had been absolutely impeccable in all my experiences so far.
So it was true that I hadn’t been particularly worried.
I had never experienced anything like this even in my home viscountcy.
The problem, however, was that no one in this village knew the young lady’s identity.
As it turned out, the villagers didn’t even know that the villa halfway up the mountain belonged to the Claudius ducal family.
‘No wonder the Duke was angry.’
I lowered my head dejectedly.
Once we arrived at the villa,
“Please, just don’t cause any more trouble. All right?”
The Duke repeatedly urged the young lady to behave before disappearing to take care of his backlog of work.
I…… simply felt terribly embarrassed and guilty.
How could I have caused such trouble for someone who was already so busy?
And so, the afternoon passed quietly.
“Shouldn’t you go to bed now?”
“Aww, already?”
Late that night, after escorting the young lady, who had been clinging to me, to her bedroom, I returned to my own room.
But no matter how hard I tried to sleep, my eyes remained wide open.
What had happened today kept circling through my mind.
The Duke, who had fearlessly confronted the men who had threatened me.
And those blue eyes that had turned toward me……
‘Oh, honestly.’
After tossing and turning for a long while, I finally sat up.
‘Maybe a cup of warm tea will help me sleep.’
As I trudged toward the kitchen, I suddenly stopped.
‘Huh?’
The reason was that a faint light was spilling through the door of the study the Duke used.
It was already late at night, and all the servants should have been asleep……
‘Could he still be working?’
After hesitating for a moment, I knocked on the door.
Knock, knock.
“……”
After a brief silence,
Click.
The door opened.
The Duke’s calm face appeared, as though completely disconnected from the commotion that had taken place during the day.
But only for a moment.
“Lady Ancy?”
The moment he saw me, the Duke’s expression changed in an instant.
Beyond his silver-rimmed glasses, his vivid blue eyes shimmered with both surprise and delight.
“What brings you here……?”
“Well, I think I’m having trouble sleeping because I’m in an unfamiliar bed. I came out because I thought perhaps a cup of tea might help, but then I saw that the light was on in your study……”
Feeling awkward for no particular reason, I rambled on.
The Duke smiled faintly and took a couple of steps backward.
“I can’t very well leave a lady standing outside. Would you come in for a moment?”
“Ah, thank you.”
I carefully stepped into the study.
The room was filled with a warm, reddish-orange glow.
Apparently, he had been sitting on the sofa looking over documents, because a large pile of papers was stacked on the table beside it.
There was also a glass coffee pot that must once have been filled to the brim with drip coffee, along with a mug that was still half full……
“……Don’t tell me you drank all of this coffee?”
I couldn’t help but look horrified.
The Duke quietly averted his eyes like a child being scolded by his parents.
“Even without Lady Ancy saying that, Eva has already been scolding me quite a lot.”
“You deserve to be scolded. Do you know how worried the young lady is about you?”
I had been freely lecturing him when I suddenly froze.
The Duke was staring intently at me.
“I suppose I’m still not part of ‘us,’ then?”
Although his voice was playful, if the expression on the Duke’s face looked a little hurt when he said that……
……Was I being overly sensitive?
B-but still.
Wouldn’t it be better to show a little more courtesy in front of the Duke……?
Confused, I eventually corrected myself slightly.
“Um…… Eva is.”
Only then did the Duke smile brightly.
His smile was so beautiful that for a moment, I lost myself and stared blankly at him.
‘Wait.’
I suddenly furrowed my brow.
“Duke, your lip is bleeding.”
His lips were cracked, with a scab of dried blood forming over them.
‘Could he have been injured by those men earlier?’
Without realizing it, I bit my lip.
But that couldn’t be it. The men hadn’t even managed to touch the Duke’s clothes……
“Ah, it’s nothing.”
The Duke happened to touch his lips and answered casually.
“This happens often when I’m tired. If I get some rest, it gets better quickly.”
Good heavens, his lips had cracked from exhaustion.
Just how tired was he?
Before I knew it, I had jumped to my feet.
“Please wait a moment. I’ll go get some lip balm.”
“Lady Ancy?”
The Duke tried to stop me, but I was a little faster.
For some reason, I felt a surge of emotion as I hurried through the dark corridor.
‘No, just how much have you been pushing yourself?!’
It was already upsetting enough that he had looked so haggard lately.
What on earth had he been doing to let his lips crack this badly?
How could someone live doing nothing but work?
He needed to think about his health, too!
I returned to my bedroom and rummaged through the handbag I had casually tossed onto the table.
“Touch-ups are essential. Understand?”
“I absolutely can’t stand it when my friend’s eye makeup smears until she looks like a panda, or when she goes around with all her lipstick rubbed off!”
……Following the young lady’s advice, I had recently started carrying cosmetics with me for touch-ups.
And among them was lip balm.
I took it out and headed back to the Duke’s study.
“This is lip balm.”
I held out the little jar containing the balm and spoke proudly.
“I use it myself, and it works pretty well……”
Wait.
‘But it’s still something you put on your lips. Is it a little strange to recommend it to a man?’
The thought suddenly crossed my mind, and I froze.
It was almost like an indirect kiss or something……
‘Ah, as if!’
I hurriedly banished the indecent thoughts filling my head.
I was just being overly sensitive.
The Duke definitely wouldn’t think of anything like that!
Meanwhile, the Duke stared down at the little jar of balm.
“Thank you.”
He accepted it.
Then he opened the lid and scooped out a little balm with his index finger.
“……”
I suddenly held my breath.
His long, elegant finger touched his red lips.
The way he slowly rubbed the balm over his lips somehow seemed strangely sensual……
‘Am I crazy?!’
He was merely applying lip balm. So why was I so conscious of the Duke?!
“Um, wouldn’t it be better if you got at least a little sleep?”
Feeling as though my face was growing hot, I awkwardly changed the subject and suggested it to him.
“Applying lip balm is only a temporary solution, after all. You should get some rest first.”
“Thank you. But I think if I look over these just a little longer, I’ll be able to finish all the urgent matters.”
The Duke answered politely.
“If I finish even a little earlier, I’ll be able to spend some time with Lady Ancy, won’t I?”
