If Roselia was caught by the Duke now, she knew she would be utterly trapped.

Feeling a sense of life-threatening danger, she instinctively began to back away.

Esteban, who had been watching the scene with amusement, seemed to feel a twinge of conscience and stepped in front of the Duke.

“Duke Balthazar, I doubt you came here to dance with me.”

“Step aside,” came Klaus’ threatening voice.

Esteban teased, “Oh, approaching so fiercely might scare the lady.”

“This doesn’t concern you, Your Highness,” Klaus said, his words a rebuke to the Prince who had left the Princess Consort alone while flirting with another woman.

Esteban’s face slowly hardened under Klaus’ defiant glare.

“Do you realize how disrespectful your tone is right now?”

There was a spark of tension between the two.

Meanwhile, Roselia took the opportunity to slip away, backing up stealthily.

Klaus, noticing her too late, widened his eyes in surprise.

“Hey!”

As soon as she heard Klaus’ voice, Roselia turned and dashed through the crowd.

Klaus cursed as he chased after her.

Crazy! If he catches me, I’m doomed!

Hearing the furious pursuit, Roselia ran towards the secluded garden. The dense bushes and trees made it an ideal hiding spot, especially in the night.

Hiding amidst the bushes, she saw Klaus rush past, missing her hiding spot. After waiting for some time, she cautiously emerged, brushing leaves off the beautiful dress prepared by Clozet.

As she turned, someone suddenly grabbed her wrist.

Startled, Roselia looked back to find Klaus, breathing heavily, his dark blue eyes shining intensely.

“You have quite the knack for escaping.”

Roselia swallowed hard.

“Is this the third time you’ve run from me?”

Klaus’ hand approached Roselia’s frozen face. As she closed her eyes in anticipation, he gently removed her eye mask.

Under the moonlit sky, Roselia’s green eyes sparkled.

Klaus gazed down at her and murmured in a low voice, “Roselia.”

Hearing her name pronounced so clearly, Roselia’s gaze wavered.

His dark hair and deep blue eyes, contrasting with the night sky, seemed incredibly fitting, almost unreal.

“Roselia de Hesingk.”

Klaus called her name again, bringing her back to reality.

Roselia faced him with a tense expression. His confident eyes left no room for denial.

Ignoring the trembling of her eyelids, Roselia tried to maintain her composure.

“You must be mistaken.”

At her defiant response, Klaus twisted one corner of his mouth into a smirk.
“What are you saying is wrong? That the woman I saw at the tavern that day wasn’t you? Or when we crossed paths in Alglisha village? Or are you trying to say that you’re not Roselia?”

“If I say it’s all untrue… you wouldn’t believe me, would you?”

Roselia asked in almost a state of resignation, to which Klaus hardened his expression decisively.

“After I lost track of you that day, I re-investigated the Hesingk baron’s family. Your documents, declared dead, turned out to be forgeries.”

Roselia’s throat involuntarily gulped in tension.

Observing this, Klaus smirked lightly, tilting his head leisurely.

“Well… I suppose I should blame the civil servants who eat up our tax money without doing their jobs properly… But one thing’s certain, Antonio has deceived me.”

Roselia’s gaze at Klaus flickered, startled.

Could it be…?

He seemed certain that she was Roselia, yet he appeared not to realize that Antonio, whom he knew, and Roselia were the same person.

This was rather fortunate.

Her ultimate goal was to remain unnoticed by him as a woman. As long as he remained unaware of her true identity while she was Antonio, things might pass more smoothly than expected.

As Roselia was organizing her thoughts, Klaus continued.

“Have you been in contact with Antonio all this time?”

Roselia hesitated for a moment, searching for the right words.

She had to concoct a plausible and unsuspicious story.

After all, revealing any hint of doubt to this panther-like man might mean immediate danger…

“Occasionally, I met him where I live. Please don’t tell Antonio about this. He was just… trying to look out for me.”

Roselia’s feigned pathos elicited a twisted smile from Klaus.

“So, that’s where you’ve been hiding from me?”

He was clearly referring to the tavern where they had met.

Given the circumstances and her attire at that time, he must have believed she worked in that sort of establishment.

Roselia was about to deny it but then reconsidered.

Rather than making excuses for being in the tavern in that outfit, she decided it was best to let him believe what he wanted.

“Whatever you think doesn’t matter to me. Just know that I’ve been doing my part to help repay the debts of the Balthazar family.”

Klaus’s expression twisted unpleasantly at her words.

“You’ve done your part, huh… Including meeting the Prince like that?”

What kind of nonsensical accusation was this?

Did he actually think she had been serving the Prince in that place? Even if that were true, what business was it of his?

Though indignant and annoyed, she didn’t feel the need to correct his misunderstanding.