“Since when did you care about such things?”

At Roselia’s curt words, Klaus’s eyes hardened slightly.

Come to think of it, not just now, but all his actions and words towards her so far had been forceful and blunt.

While Klaus, belatedly realizing this fact, fell into serious contemplation, Roselia, looking at him strangely, continued curtly.

“Well then, I’m supposed to meet Lady Closet, so I’ll be going.”

Saying that, as Roselia turned her body and walked away briskly, Klaus stood for a long time watching her retreating figure.

“Marquis Yukiliode brought you?”

Roselia, who had changed into the fourth dress brought out by Closet’s maid, answered nonchalantly.

“Yes.”

“My goodness. Could it be that the Marquis has feelings for you?”

“That can’t be…”

For a moment, Johannes’s kind smile flashed through her mind, but Roselia shook her head.

While she felt comfortable and happy when with him, she didn’t feel him as a romantic interest.

Roselia certainly thought he had affection for her, but that it was somewhat different from romantic affection.

Suddenly remembering what Johannes had said to Klaus, Roselia, after pondering for a while, carefully opened her mouth towards Closet.

“But there’s a problem.”

“What is it?”

“I lied to the Duke that Marquis Yukiliode was my lover.”

“Oh my… Isn’t that lie too far-fetched…?”

“But the problem is… somehow the Marquis also knew about it.”

“That you told Klaus the Marquis was your lover?”

“Yes.”

“And what did he say?”

That’s what I’m saying…

Normally, wouldn’t one be upset and question the person who lied?

“Rather, he went along with it and deceived the Duke.”

“Ah… I see, that’s right.”

At Roselia’s words, Closet clapped her hands together with a meaningful expression.

“What do you mean?”

“As I said earlier, the Marquis must like you. That’s why he’s going along with such a lie.”

“That can’t be… He might just be teasing me…”

At that moment, there was a sudden knock on the door of the reception room where they were.

As Roselia and Closet looked towards the door, Klaus stood there with a stern expression as the slowly opening door revealed him.

“Isn’t it still before mealtime?”

At Klaus’s sudden question, Roselia answered with a blank face.

“Yes, that’s right, but…”

“Let’s have dinner together.”

Both Roselia and Closet’s eyes widened at the sudden dinner invitation.

Glancing at Closet’s face, Closet was expressing a strong refusal through her expression.

“I’m afraid I…”

Just as Roselia, having made up her mind, was about to express her refusal, her words were cut short as she met Klaus’s gaze.

Roselia’s heart wavered at his desperate look, as if there had been tremendous deliberation before making this request.

She thought that it wouldn’t hurt to have a meal with him when even that cold-blooded Duke was looking at her so earnestly. Come to think of it, she was feeling a bit hungry too.

“Alright.”

At Roselia’s answer, Closet looked startled.

Roselia gave an awkward smile towards Closet.

However, it didn’t take long for her to regret that choice.

Sharing a meal with siblings she had never dined with before was truly an ordeal.

Amidst the awkward silence, Klaus kept clearing his throat and sipping wine.

Every time his glass emptied, the maids promptly refilled it with new wine.

What on earth had gotten into him to do something he never did before?

As if sensing her thoughts, Klaus, after emptying another glass of wine, spoke nonchalantly.

“I just thought it would be nice to gather and have meals together occasionally.”

At Klaus’s matter-of-fact words, Closet muttered quietly.

“The sun must be rising in the west.”

At Closet’s words, Klaus cleared his throat unnecessarily and moistened his throat with wine.

In that awkward atmosphere, there was no way the food could go down properly.

As Roselia barely ate and just picked at her food, Klaus, who had been observing her, opened his mouth.

“Does the food not suit your taste? If the food is not good, I can tell the chef to bring something else.”

At his uncharacteristically caring tone, both Closet and Roselia widened their eyes in surprise.

“Hic, pardon?”

As Roselia hiccupped, startled by Klaus’s unfamiliar behavior, Closet, unable to bear it anymore, looked at Klaus and said.

“Are you drunk by any chance?”

As Roselia was leaving the dining room, not even knowing how the meal had ended, she suddenly realized that she had left the garment bag containing Antonio’s servant clothes in the dressing room.

Roselia, who was about to tell Closet, thought it would be easier to go get it herself after asking for permission, and carefully opened her mouth.

“I left something behind, so I’ll quickly go to the dressing room.”

At Roselia’s words, Closet nodded without much thought, telling her to go ahead.

Roselia quickly turned her body and headed to the dressing room where she had changed her dress.

Entering the dark dressing room, Roselia was about to light a candle but seeing the moonlight coming through the window, she decided not to bother.

Fortunately, her garment bag was neatly placed on the table illuminated by the moonlight.

Roselia, after checking the contents of the bag, turned around with relief.

At that moment, Klaus was leaning against the entrance, illuminated by the moonlight.

Roselia, belatedly noticing him, was startled.

“D-Duke?”

The surprised Roselia unconsciously hid the bag containing Antonio’s clothes behind her back.

Klaus, fortunately seeming uninterested in what she had hidden, spoke slowly.

“Is it alright to leave without seeing Antonio?”

On closer look, his usually sharp eyes seemed relaxed, probably due to the effects of alcohol.

Roselia, after briefly observing Klaus’s expression, spoke with an awkward smile.

“Ah, yes… I can see him separately anyway.”

Roselia tried to act nonchalant while consciously ignoring the bag hidden behind her back. However, Klaus, as if he had something on his mind since dinner, muttered quietly.

“Why did you come in the Marquis’s carriage today?”

Despite the simplicity of the question that seemed too straightforward for the build-up, Roselia replied casually as if it were nothing.

“We just happened to meet by chance.”

At that moment, Klaus slowly approached Roselia.

As he entered the dark dressing room, the moonlight flowing through the window illuminated him dimly.

His unusually hazy gaze and the room faintly lit by moonlight felt strangely surreal and dreamlike.

As he came closer, the faint scent of wine wafted over.

Is he really drunk?

“You say it was a coincidence…”

Saying that, Klaus leaned his body as if supporting himself against the wall next to her, gazing down at her intently. Although unlike usual, it wasn’t a threatening action, Roselia felt her body shrink, pressing her back against the wall and swallowing hard.

Klaus, slowly scanning her face, continued languidly.

“What did the Marquis say to you…?”

Didn’t he ask this question earlier too…? Why is he making me repeat the same answer?

Although what the Marquis said wasn’t much, even if it were, the Duke had no right to pry into it.

He and she were nothing more, nothing less than a debtor and a creditor. No, they shouldn’t be anything more.

“As I said before, I have no obligation to tell you that, Duke.”

At Roselia’s voice clearly drawing the line, Klaus’s brow furrowed deeply.

“Damn it, Roselia.”

The gentle tone he had maintained since dinner, unlike his usual self, crumbled.

Klaus, gripping the hand that was pressed against the wall next to her face, muttered with all his might.

“Don’t put me to the test.”

Unlike her composed demeanor, Klaus was in a daze due to the alcohol he had carelessly consumed.

It was futile to try to soothe himself by saying it wasn’t jealousy, that he was merely displeased by the intrusion into his domain, as his gaze was drawn to her face like a magnet.

Those green eyes that seemed to pull him in.

Those small lips parted as if in temptation.

Even that sweet scent that always drove him crazy…

He had wanted to treat her kindly as much as possible following Johannes’s words, but damn it, his emotions started to run wild uncontrollably as he got close enough to grasp everything about her.

“It seems the person you call your lover has no intention of paying off your family’s debt?”

At Klaus’s mocking words, Roselia frowned unpleasantly.

“That’s a matter for our family.”

“If it were me, Roselia, I would have paid off all the debt just to avoid sharing what’s mine with others.”

At his unexpected answer, Roselia looked up at him with wide eyes.

What did he mean by that? Right, he must have said it without any particular meaning.

Roselia tried to ignore Klaus’s piercing gaze and attempted to slip past him.

But as her wrist was immediately caught by his hand, Roselia was helplessly trapped in his arms again.

Trapped again between the wall and Klaus, Roselia looked up at him with wavering eyes.

Although she was the one who should be flustered, his eyes were shaking with even more confusion.

“Don’t turn your back on me.”

Saying that, he lowered his head over her shoulder, muttering something low as if trying to hold back.

“Don’t go to that man, Roselia.”

That man…

Could he be referring to Marquis Yukiliode?

The puzzling thought was brief, as Roselia had to swallow her breath in embarrassment at the closeness between them.

Klaus’s breath touching her neck felt scorching hot.

The sweet scent of wine seemed to intoxicate her as well.

Pressed against Klaus’s firm body, her breath caught, and the wine scent tickling her nose seemed to make her head hazy.

While Roselia was trapped against his chest, confused, Klaus slowly raised his head to look at her.

His hair, illuminated by the moonlight, seemed to shimmer blue. Klaus’s gaze looking at her was distant, as if trying to capture every single eyebrow hair without any gap.

She felt like she might be enchanted by that gaze.

“Roselia…”

At his affectionate and desperate voice, never heard from the usual Klaus, Roselia’s heart seemed to skip a beat for a moment.