Before Klaus could open his mouth to speak, Roselia cut him off with a resolute voice.

“From now on, I’ll send the money through my elder brother Antonio. I hope we never have to meet again for such an unpleasant matter.”

With those words, Roselia turned away coldly and walked out.

Klaus furrowed his brow as he watched her retreating figure, unable to bring himself to stop her.

Bang! Roselia disappeared out the door with a loud noise.

After staring at the door she had vanished through for a while, Klaus silently looked down at the money pouch.

What in the world… What nonsense had he spouted so unlike himself?

Moreover, he was someone who utterly despised paying for a woman’s company.

Yet with his own mouth he had blurted out such absurd and ridiculous words about deducting her debt in exchange for her services.

It must have been because his nerves were frayed from the school construction issue and the matter of Antonio being detained by the Crown Prince this morning.

Klaus let out a deep sigh and slumped onto the sofa with an exhausted look.

Roselia, who had returned as Antonio, the servant of the Duke’s household and Closet’s il domestico, was blankly staring at the sky.

As she gazed vacantly into space like someone in a daze, she suddenly ruffled her short black hair roughly with both hands.

The pressure and strange atmosphere she had felt when trapped in his arms last night kept coming to mind, making her head feel like it was about to burst.

“Sleep with me,” he’d said…!

To think that money-obsessed Duke would say such a thing!

She felt angry, then dumbfounded, then indignant, then flabbergasted.

She thought he only cared about work and money with no interest in women, but was the Duke a man after all?

Closet, who had been munching on cookies, watched Roselia’s behavior curiously as she went from being dazed to suddenly fuming.

“Antonio, is something bothering you?”

Belatedly remembering she was having tea time with Closet at this sudden question, Roselia smiled awkwardly.

“Bothering me? Not at all.”

As Roselia tried to brush it off, Closet stared at her suspiciously.

“You came into the mansion dressed as a woman yesterday… Did something happen with Klaus?”

At Closet’s words about “something happening,” Roselia suddenly recalled the incident with Klaus and blushed, shaking her head vehemently.

“Nothing happened! Wh-what could have happened? The Duke only cares about money and work!”

Closet responded with a rather startled expression to Roselia’s overly sensitive reaction.

“I was just asking if Klaus had become suspicious of your identity.”

Realizing she had jumped to conclusions out of her own guilt, Roselia laughed awkwardly and rolled her eyes.

“Ah… No, nothing happened. I just gave him the money and left right away.”

For now, at least…

Roselia smiled awkwardly, deliberately avoiding Closet’s gaze.

Closet, who had been staring at her intently, suddenly stood up.

“Great! Let’s go on a picnic to the lake!”

“What??”

As Roselia wore a startled expression at the sudden talk of a picnic, Closet gave a mischievous smile and winked.

“Actually, I have something to discuss privately with you.”

But it’s already quiet enough here and just the two of us…

In truth, the nanny Melda who was attending to them was completely Closet’s person, so she might as well have been a wall.

Though puzzled, Roselia nodded in agreement, seeing how excited Closet seemed.

And so, as they reached the large lake within the Duke’s estate, Roselia wore a blank expression.

This was because an elaborate little boat adorned with all sorts of frilly decorations and lace was waiting for them at the edge of the lake.

“What are you doing? Hurry and get on!”

As Roselia stood there in a daze, an excited Closet stepped lightly onto the boat first.

Belatedly realizing the picnic would be on the boat, Roselia asked in dismay.

“G-get on, you say?”

“Hurry up!”

Closet, who had already boarded the boat and taken a seat, waved her hand for Roselia to come quickly.

At that moment, Melda, who had quietly approached from the side, placed a picnic basket in Roselia’s hands.

It meant for her to bring it on board.

Resigning herself, Roselia got on the boat with the basket and sat across from Closet.

The boat was already gently moving out onto the lake.

“Why the sudden boat ride?”

When Roselia asked curiously, Closet took off the flower-decorated hat she had worn to set the mood and held it out to Roselia.

It meant for her to hold it.

Roselia smiled wryly and obediently took Closet’s hat, placing it on her lap.

“I have something to discuss with you privately.”

Roselia gave a deflating smile at Closet’s behavior of lowering her voice even in the middle of the lake as if it were some great secret, and replied.

“What is it?”

“A letter came from Her Highness the Crown Princess today.”

“Her Highness the Crown Princess??”

As Roselia asked with a surprised expression at the unexpected topic, Closet frowned and put her finger to her lips.

“Shh!”

As if anyone could hear in the middle of this lake…

“The Crown Princess has invited you and me to dinner tomorrow evening.”

“The Young Lady and me?”

It was unexpected, but not entirely unpredictable.

Until now, she had been meeting the Crown Princess quietly on her own, but with the Crown Prince’s continued suspicions, it was probably deemed safer to meet with Closet included.

As Roselia was lost in thought, Closet continued speaking.

“To be precise, you as Roselia and me.”

Wait… me as Roselia…

Does that mean me dressed as a woman?

“What???”

In that moment of shock, her grip loosened and Closet’s hat flew away in the wind.

Roselia, startled, tried to grab the hat, but it fell into the lake right next to the boat.

Seeing that it looked quite expensive at a glance, Roselia reached out to try and grab the hat.

“It’s fine. We can just buy a new one, so don’t worry about it.”

“Just a moment, I think I can reach it.”

As it was just out of reach, Roselia leaned over the railing of the boat and stretched out her hand further.

But at that moment, the boat’s center of gravity suddenly shifted and it tilted precariously.

“Kyaah-!!”

It happened in an instant.

As the boat rocked violently, Roselia fell overboard with Closet’s scream.

Splash-!!

“Antonio!!!”

Hearing Closet’s panicked voice, Roselia suddenly remembered.

That she had never been in water deeper than waist-high in her entire life…

Surrounding the Balthasar ducal estate were the pristine Lake Hypris, clean enough for the people of the duchy to use as drinking water, and the massive Beldef mountain range, called the roof of Lugbelzet, which adjoined the estate.

As the hunting grounds began at the foot of the Beldef mountains past Lake Hypris from the ducal estate, Klaus would sometimes ride his horse towards the hunting grounds when he wanted to clear his head.

That day too, he was riding towards the foot of the Beldef mountains to clear his complicated thoughts.

As he was passing by the lake to enter the forest, he halted his horse at the sudden sound of a scream and turned his head towards the source of the sound.

He saw the estate’s picnic boat floating near the edge of the lake and a familiar silhouette on it.

“Closet?”

As Klaus was looking quizzically at Closet standing precariously towards the lake, he soon saw the lake shore churning noisily and spurred his horse without a moment’s hesitation.

“Closet!!!”

As if she had heard Klaus’s voice, Closet cried out with a face on the verge of tears.

“Antonio! Antonio!!”

Seeing Closet’s urgent demeanor as if about to jump in herself, Klaus’s eyes hardened sharply as he dismounted his horse and ran over.

“Stand back!!!”

Warning Closet not to move, Klaus dove straight into the lake.

Splash-!!!

Klaus, who had slipped smoothly into the lake as if diving, swam with all his might towards Antonio who was flailing on the surface.

Antonio, who had been thrashing about like a fish out of water, seemed to have swallowed a lot of water as his movements soon subsided and he began to slowly sink below the surface.

Klaus, who had not lost sight of this even while swimming, immediately dove underwater.

He saw Antonio looking at him with hazy eyes.

Klaus swam with all his might, grabbed Antonio’s limp waist, and pulled him up to the surface.

Pulling an unconscious person out of the water was a burdensome task, feeling two to three times heavier than their actual weight.

But Klaus, gritting his teeth, dragged Antonio to the shore and laid him down flat to check his condition.

“Hey! Hey!!”

After slapping Antonio’s cheeks a few times, Klaus, seeing no response, let out a curse in his sudden anxiety.

“Damn it!”

As he muttered the curse involuntarily and was about to lower his head to perform artificial respiration while holding Antonio’s chin, Antonio took a deep breath first and turned his face to the side, spitting out a mouthful of water.

“Hack! Cough cough!”

Klaus, who had been watching this with a relieved expression, suddenly grabbed Antonio’s shoulders roughly in a surge of anger.

“Just what! What were you thinking to jump into that lake?!”

Seeing Klaus looking extremely angry, Roselia looked at him with a dazed expression and spoke in a voice that barely came out.

“I didn’t jump in… I fell…”

“Whatever it was, why can’t you stay still for even a moment?!”

Before she could even shake off the lingering fear of nearly dying, Klaus’s forceful voice made her feel inexplicably sad.

She really thought she was going to die, she was so scared…

Suddenly, with her shoulders gripped by Klaus’s hands, tears began to fall from Roselia’s eyes.

Klaus froze in bewilderment as he realized what he had thought was just water was actually tears.

“I thought… I was going to die…”

At her voice breaking with sobs, Klaus’s hands involuntarily stiffened.

It was strange, but suddenly upon seeing her tears, his whole body seemed to freeze and he couldn’t move an inch.

Unaware of Klaus’s situation, Roselia was sobbing as tears fell drop by drop.

Klaus’s hands gripped her tightly as he looked at her.

He couldn’t begin to fathom what this strange emotion was.

He felt angry, irritated, anxious, worried…

And now it was oddly difficult to look at his tears.

Even though he was just a servant… a man… what was this strange feeling he had for him?

Even as he thought this, why couldn’t he take his hands off of him?

As he looked at Roselia in confusion, she looked up at him with wet eyes as if pleading her innocence.

At this, Klaus’s body stiffened again.