Roselia froze as Klaus’s deep blue eyes met her green gaze intently.

Recalling what happened in the carriage when they desperately clung to each other, Roselia averted her eyes and blurted out in a flustered voice:

“I… I am a man.”

Klaus curled his lips leisurely at Roselia’s attempt to draw the line once again.

“That’s not important.”

At Klaus’s all too calm voice, Roselia looked at him with a bewildered expression.

If this isn’t important, then what is?

Does he really not mind if I’m a man?

But for Klaus to have that kind of preference… When they met while she was Roselia, he was just as passionate and uninhibited as he is now.

As Roselia gazed at Klaus with a confused look, he was staring at her intently as if to devour her, without the slightest hint of backing down.

Roselia’s heart sank at that gaze, and she quickly averted her eyes.

This wasn’t good. No, it was dangerous.

She had disguised herself as a man to avoid getting physically involved with him, but if it was possible even as a man…

She felt like her body would be instinctively drawn to him again, like Pavlov’s dog.

“You’re going too far with your jokes.”

As she tried to avoid the situation, Klaus stared at her lips and spoke:

“What’s a joke? That it doesn’t matter if you’re a man? That I’ll kiss you over and over?”

Roselia’s face flushed at Klaus’s aggressive words.

No, Roselia, get a hold of yourself!

She had realized a lot from Nadia and the Count’s situation.

The more she intervened in the original story, the stronger the feeling that events were accelerating dominated her.

She shouldn’t get involved with Klaus anymore.

The more entangled they became, the more the tightly knotted thread tangled, making it shorter than its original length.

For her own sake and for Klaus’s, getting further involved was dangerous.

“I… I’ve never thought of such feelings towards someone of the same sex.”

At Roselia’s firm words, Klaus slowly rose and looked down at her, continuing coldly:

“Then what was that kiss that day? I’m pretty sure you responded passionately too.”

Roselia’s face flushed again at his direct words. She tried to ignore her own reaction and spoke as curtly as possible:

“That was because I was confused about Nadia’s situation.”

Klaus stared intently at Roselia’s reaction as she averted her gaze and blushed, then leisurely approached her.

He then placed his hand on the armrest of the sofa where she sat, bending low and gazing at her piercingly.

“Try being more honest with yourself, Antonio.”

His breath seemed to touch her ear as she turned her face away to avoid his gaze.

Roselia, her shoulders tensing involuntarily, quickly slipped out from beside the sofa and stood up.

“I have some work to catch up on, so I’ll take my leave first.”

Saying this, Roselia bowed her head politely and headed for the door of the office.

Her heart was pounding wildly again. It had been racing so much that her chest felt tight and sore.

But considering Nadia and the Count’s situation, getting involved with Klaus was still dangerous.

For Klaus’s sake too…

Roselia set her lips firmly, deciding she would have to avoid Klaus for the time being.

Closet, dressed in an outdoor gown and checking herself in the mirror, asked worriedly towards Roselia, who was sipping tea while sitting on the sofa:

“Are you sure you don’t want to go?”

“Yes… I have a lot of other work to catch up on.”

At Roselia’s hesitant voice, Closet sighed heavily with a gloomy expression.

“I think Grandfather Bernas will be disappointed…”

“…”

Closet was about to visit Count Bernas, who was hospitalized.

The Count had no major visible injuries, so he could have been discharged immediately, but due to Klaus’s arrangements, he was to stay in a special room for a month under the care of a nurse.

Closet had been visiting the Count almost daily.

Roselia also wanted to see the unharmed Count face to face, but contrary to her wishes, the anxiety settled in a corner of her heart held her back.

More precisely, she was afraid of getting involved with the Count.

She was afraid that her involvement might make the Count’s condition worse, that he might end up like Nadia.

Perhaps for the Count’s sake too, it might be better not to get involved with him any further.

Noticing Roselia’s shadowed expression, Closet tried to change the mood with a forced bright expression.

“Don’t worry, I’ll explain it well to Grandfather.”

After saying this, Closet put on her outdoor bonnet, and Roselia responded with a forced smile:

“Have a safe trip.”

After Closet left the mansion in a carriage with Melda, Roselia deliberately sought out work to clear her complicated thoughts.

Fortunately, Jeffrey willingly assigned her the task of cleaning the mansion’s decorations.

She cleared her mind as she organized and cleaned the decorations and display cabinets lined up in the corridor.

The decorations were already shiny, but wiping them with a dry cloth and polishing them made her feel refreshed for some reason.

Feeling somewhat proud, Roselia was in the middle of straining to reach a decoration placed at an awkward height on the display cabinet that occupied the entire wall.

She was struggling to reach out, grunting, because going to the storage room to get a stand would take too long for just one item at the very top of the cabinet.

Suddenly, a shadow fell over her as she stood on her tiptoes, grunting.

Startled, she looked up to see a large, solid hand easily reaching the shelf that her fingertips could barely touch.

Following the large hand and firm arm with her gaze, Roselia had to swallow a gasp.

“Y-Your Grace?”

Klaus, who had reached out above her, was looking down at her while pressed close behind her.

With one hand stretched out over the cabinet and the other braced beside her, she found herself trapped against his massive chest.

As Roselia’s gaze wavered in surprise, Klaus leisurely curved his eyes and spoke:

“You wanted this taken down?”

Biting her lip at the thought that he saw right through her reaction, Roselia turned her back coldly.

“I-I can do it myself.”

As Roselia turned her back and reached for the shelf again, Klaus lowered his head to her shoulder and murmured in a low voice:

“Antonio, try to be more honest. If you want something, just say it.”

Startled by the hot breath touching her ear, Roselia turned to look at him again.

With Klaus staring at her intently right in front of her face, Roselia bit the inside of her cheek, trying not to be flustered.

“What would change if I did?”

At Roselia’s expression, maintaining a forced coolness, Klaus curled his lips gently and spoke in a soothing tone:

“What you want would appear before you.”

As his body seemed to draw even closer with those words, Roselia squeezed her eyes shut.

Thump thump.

Her heart was racing madly.

Conversely, he had come close enough that she could hear his heartbeat too.

Rolling her eyes in confusion at his gaze, Roselia suddenly blurted out:

“Th-then, could you just get that decoration from up there?”

Though his intended meaning was clearly not just about the decoration, Roselia drew the line and immediately changed the subject.

Klaus looked at her as if she were cute and curled the corners of his mouth charmingly.

“That’s right. Well done, Antonio.”

Roselia’s brow furrowed slightly at his tone, as if praising a child who had just expressed their opinion for the first time.

Smiling gently at her reaction, Klaus then reached up to the high shelf and easily grasped the decoration.

“Is this what you wanted?”

“Yes…”

Roselia looked up in wonder at how easily he grabbed the object that she had struggled to reach even with her fingertips.

Her gaze naturally moved from Klaus’s strong arm holding the decoration to his broad shoulders and the thick line of his neck as he looked up.

As she stared at his solid neck with its prominent Adam’s apple, her gaze unconsciously drifted to his lips.

And soon, her eyes met Klaus’s as he lowered his hand holding the decoration.

Klaus’s breath tickled Roselia’s forehead as he looked down at her.

Though their eyes had just met, she felt as if her whole body was tied to him, unable to move.

He seemed to feel the same, frozen in place with his hand still lowering the decoration, staring at her.

For a moment, it felt as if everything around them had gone silent and only the two of them remained.

But soon, at the sound of footsteps passing through the corridor, Roselia was the first to snap back to her senses and turn her head.

As she looked around, she felt like two servants passing by in the distance were glancing in their direction.

Flustered, Roselia quickly bowed her body and slipped sideways out from between him and the cabinet.

Klaus chuckled at how she slipped out of his arms so easily, being so small and slender.

“Thank you.”

Roselia, conscious of her surroundings, exaggeratedly thanked him and took the decoration he was holding.

Klaus stared at her for a moment before smiling bitterly.

“You don’t have to do this kind of work, there are plenty of servants to do it.”

At Klaus’s tone, which seemed to imply special treatment, Roselia furrowed her brow and replied stiffly:

“I am also a servant of the Duke’s household.”

At her stubborn tone, Klaus curved his eyes and spoke leisurely:

“Aren’t you doing special work different from other servants? You’re also Closet’s il domestico.”

Being an il domestico was hardly work, just keeping Closet company and drinking tea together.

These days, considering Roselia’s poor condition, Closet didn’t even insist on her accompanying her to external gatherings unnecessarily.

In fact, from the perspective of other servants, she was already receiving preferential treatment that could be considered annoying.

It had always been like that, but now that Klaus was openly being affectionate, she felt even more burdened by the gazes of other servants.

“I’ll help within reasonable limits.”

At her firm voice, Klaus gently curled the corners of his mouth.

“Well, if that’s what you want, I can’t help it.”

Saying this, Klaus patted Roselia’s head, causing her eyes to widen in surprise.

Though Roselia looked at Klaus in bewilderment, he smiled casually and then leisurely turned to leave.

Roselia’s brow furrowed as she stared at his retreating back.

Where did that cold, iron-walled duke go? As the image of Klaus smiling gently at her came to mind, Roselia shook her head roughly.

She shouldn’t be swayed by that smile.

As the images of Nadia and the Count flashed through her mind, Roselia’s expression suddenly creased.

If… If Klaus’s fate of dying for treason in the original story were to be brought forward… If that happened… Somehow, it felt like it would be incredibly painful.

Surprised by her own thoughts, she shook her head, and suddenly felt a pain in her chest.

“Ugh…”

Startled, Roselia gripped the cabinet shelf and clutched her chest.