“You should definitely reject them clearly. Giving vague hope only makes you a worse person.”

So Podion did the right thing by rejecting her in the greenhouse garden.

As Olentia chatted with Podion, who felt strangely familiar, she felt time passing quickly. Before she knew it, the sun had set and evening had arrived, but Dimidius seemed busy and didn’t join her for dinner. Just like at the Grand Duchy palace, he seemed to eat dinner haphazardly.

After dining alone in the banquet hall with no guests to entertain, Olentia told Bobby,

“It feels so weird eating by myself in such a large place. From now on, it would be better to eat separately in my room.”

Bobby nodded in response.

“Yes, I’ll arrange for that. You only ate breakfast together at the Grand Duchy palace anyway.”

Olentia stood facing Podion at her bedroom door to say goodbye. He had been escorting her all day, so now another knight would guard the door, he said. It seemed they took turns.

But Podion asked her in a puzzled voice,

“But why are you and His Highness the Grand Duke sleeping separately? Is something wrong?”

At his words, Olentia’s body momentarily stiffened. She thought it was a issue worth being puzzled about, but at the Grand Duchy palace, no one had asked, so she seemed caught off guard.

‘What should I say?’

After pondering for a moment, she spoke with the most nonchalant face possible.

“His Highness the Grand Duke has bad sleeping habits. There will be days we sleep together too.”

Olentia couldn’t properly look Podion in the face, feeling self-conscious for no reason. Moreover, saying there would be days they slept together was not something she had discussed with Dimidius.

Shortly after, Podion’s voice poured over her head.

“I see. I think I asked something unnecessary. I’ll be going now.”

Olentia sent him off and entered her cozy room. She liked that it wasn’t next to Dimidius’ room this time. If they really continued sleeping separately, the servants would find it strange. She wasn’t sure if it was okay to just leave things like that.

Thinking she would have to discuss it with Dimidius later, Olentia finally lay down on the bed.

If they slept in the same room, would she be able to see his bare face?

She was very curious if Dimidius wore his mask even while sleeping. She clearly remembered his face shining beautifully in her prophetic dream.

Rose petals floated in the huge bathtub. Opaque steam filled the bathroom, and the ornate tiles engraved with flower and tree designs exuded a strong presence.

Entering the bathroom, Dimidius immersed his body in the warm water and let out a deep sigh.

“Hah… Another day is coming to an end.”

Dimidius was so busy today that apart from breakfast, he barely saw Olentia’s face properly. Just like at the Grand Duchy palace, it was difficult to know what she ate and how she lived. But he didn’t want to order his attendants to find out. That would clearly be interfering with Olentia’s private life.

Enjoying a half-bath in the tub, Dimidius scooped up the red rose petals with his hand. Using so many rose petals like this was because he didn’t even want to see his face reflected on the water.

He looked almost exactly like his father, James Belial.

He hated seeing that face.

For making a single mistake during sword training, James Belial had locked young Dimidius in a closet. It was one of his bad habits.

‘You won’t make a mistake again! Understand? This is what happens when you make mistakes.’

Young Dimidius cried and screamed to be let out. There were days he passed out from exhaustion after crying. With Lilith gone, there was no one to rescue him.

Because of these incidents, there was a time when he felt suffocated just being inside a room. It made him feel breathless and dizzy, as if he were trapped in a closet.

As old memories kept resurfacing, Dimidius closed his eyes and shook his head. Even while bathing, the urge to quickly put his mask back on surged through him.

After getting out of the bathroom a while later, he returned to his room and lay down on the bed. He only took off his mask when bathing and sleeping. He had to take it off while bathing, and while sleeping it was cumbersome and would come off with his movements anyway.

Dimidius sighed as he touched his smooth face.

If not for this face, he wondered if he could share a room with Olentia. He felt regretful that they couldn’t sleep in the same room.

“Disgusting bastard.”

Dimidius found it absurd and repulsive that he had such lecherous thoughts despite it being a contract marriage. He seemed to have a serious mental problem.

He closed his eyes and tried to fall asleep. Although it seemed he wouldn’t be able to sleep well tonight either, there was no viable solution.

As morning arrived, Olentia, after washing up and getting ready, followed Bobby to the dining room. Dimidius was sitting at the table reading a newspaper. It was no different from the Grand Duchy palace.

As soon as she sat down, Olentia said to Dimidius,

“I think it will seem strange if we keep sleeping separately, Your Highness.”

At that, Dimidius noticeably shrugged his shoulders in surprise.

“What do you mean by that? Who will find it strange?”

Olentia looked at him quizzically, tilting her head slightly.

“Since we’re sleeping separately, everyone watching will find it strange. They’ll think we don’t get along well.”

“Why do you care about that, lady? Calling you ‘lady’ instead of ‘wife’ will also seem strange to others. But everyone will keep their mouths shut. Because they’re my people.”

Dimidius seemed to have strong faith in the servants of the Grand Duchy palace.

Olentia slowly nodded.

“That’s true. Then I don’t need to worry, right?”

Dimidius didn’t answer for a moment when she asked while eating fresh fruit. He seemed to be thinking about something as he looked elsewhere before stiffly raising his head again.

“Well… but if you don’t want people talking, I think it would be okay to sleep in the same room a few times.”

Thinking his attitude had suddenly changed, Olentia pouted her lips. Sleeping together would be uncomfortable no matter what. Although she wanted to see his face, there was no guarantee she could.

‘What, you want to sleep together if you can see it?’

That seemed like a dangerous thing.

“I’d prefer to avoid that as much as possible.”

In the end, she expressed her refusal.

Olentia’s face as she ate breakfast was very fair and pretty. Her round eyebrows were neat and her lips were slightly full and nice to look at. When those lips moved freely to chew, it felt like your stomach would be full even without eating anything.

Dimidius quietly watched her for a moment before coming to his senses and eating his breakfast.

He felt he had been making mistakes often lately. It would be troublesome to directly express that his heart was drawn to her. He had to suppress it somehow.

As Olentia finished eating and left the dining room, Killen approached Dimidius. Killen looked quite flushed.

“Your Highness! Do you know what festival is happening in the territory?”

Dimidius stood up from his seat and narrowed his eyes.

“What festival? Why a festival?”

“Since Your Highness got married and returned, everyone seems happy so a masquerade festival is taking place in the territory.”

“What is marriage?”

“From the residents’ perspective, it probably feels more stable.”

“We’ll be getting divorced in 5 months anyway.”

“Instead of that, how about going to see the festival?”

It was impossible to know what Killen was thinking. If he was so surprised and recommending this, it would only increase Dimidius’ work.

Dimidius ended up chuckling.

“Where do I have time to go sightseeing? I’m not a child.”

Then Killen pushed Dimidius’ back and said,

“In the Odor territory, the lady guided you. So now it’s Your Highness’ turn.”

His words made sense. Besides, at a masquerade festival, it seemed he wouldn’t be recognized as the Grand Duke even among people. There weren’t many days when that was possible.

After seriously contemplating for a while, Dimidius headed to Olentia’s room.

“You want to go see what?”

Olentia asked Dimidius again at the bedroom door. She wondered what Dimidius, who usually acted busy, was talking about.

Then Dimidius spoke again without blinking an eye.

“Going to see the masquerade festival will become a special memory too. I thought staying inside the Grand Duchy palace for 5 months wasn’t quite right.”

Olentia was curious about the Belial territory as well. Staying idle in the Grand Duchy palace seemed like it would be quite taxing.

She hesitated for a moment before carefully nodding.

“Alright. I had nothing to do anyway and was bored.”

After setting a time to meet with Dimidius, Olentia picked out a dress in her room. She pondered what dress would suit the festival. Seeing Olentia humming, her escort knight Podion smiled.

“I’m glad to see you in a good mood.”

Olentia harrumphed and looked at Podion with sharp eyes.

“I’m not in a good mood, okay?”

She felt embarrassed that she had been happy at the thought of going to the festival with Dimidius.

But Podion spoke firmly again, unlike his usual self.

“You are in a good mood.”

“It’s not like that so don’t misunderstand.”

Olentia took her eyes off Podion and looked at the dress again. Although there was still some time left since it was afternoon, not morning, she wasn’t very bored with the thought of going out.

‘Right. Just enough to not be bored!’

How much time had passed like that?

Finally, the promised time with Dimidius arrived. As the weather kept getting hotter, Olentia wore a dress made of cool fabric with a striking off-shoulder neckline and went down to the first floor hall.

In the first floor hall, Dimidius was standing in a dress shirt and black pants. He had been wearing a jacket just this morning, but he seemed to be feeling hot too. If the Belial territory was this hot, Geranium would definitely be much hotter.

Olentia left the Grand Duchy palace with him and headed to the carriage depot.

Pointing to an ordinary carriage mainly used by servants, Dimidius said,

“There’s no need to spread rumors all over town that the Grand Duke has come, so let’s move using this.”

Olentia didn’t mind either way, so she boarded the carriage with his escort. Dimidius opened the window and enjoyed the breeze for a long time. Seeing his free-spirited side, her heart felt open too.

It would be nice if he took off his mask too…

But it couldn’t be helped. It wasn’t an issue to force on Dimidius. She had no right to do so, and he must have his reasons for wearing the mask.

Listening to the sound of the wheels rolling, Olentia asked him,

“I need to wear a mask too when we arrive, right? What mask should I wear?”