The sudden pain that had appeared subsided as quickly as it had come.

Roselia breathed heavily and rolled her eyes in confusion.

What, what was that pain I felt in my chest just now?

Have I been under too much stress lately, putting a strain on my heart?

Though puzzled, since it was only a momentary pain, Roselia didn’t dwell on it and brushed it off.

As Roselia turned away saying that, a thick fragrance wafted from her.

The eyes of nearby servants were drawn to her as if bewitched by the strong scent that only the opposite sex could perceive.

No one in the duke’s household noticed that the chest pain and the lingering thick fragrance following her were signs of an impending awakening.

Roselia’s expression darkened as she gazed out the window.

Lately, the chest pains seemed to be becoming more frequent and their intervals shorter.

Could she have contracted a fatal illness?

There was no mention of such an illness afflicting Roselia in the original story…

Could this be another side effect of diverging from the original plot?

As Roselia pondered this, her gaze fell upon Klaus sitting on the terrace outside the window, sifting through documents while drinking tea.

It was an unusually dazzling sight to see Klaus, who normally stayed cooped up in his office working, reviewing documents while basking in the sunlight on the terrace.

As Roselia stared blankly at Klaus, their eyes suddenly met when he raised his head, sensing her gaze.

Startled by his charming smile as he curled up the corners of his mouth towards her, Roselia had to turn away abruptly.

Escaping from that spot and entering the hallway, Roselia had to clutch her chest and lean against the wall as she felt another bout of chest pain.

“Huh…”

Beads of cold sweat formed on her forehead as her whole body tensed up.

Leaning against the wall with a pained expression, Roselia panted as the pain gradually subsided as it always did.

“Huh… Huh…”

The intervals between chest pains seemed to be getting shorter while the duration of pain was lengthening.

Roselia, leaning against the wall covered in cold sweat, looked up at the ceiling and let out a deep sigh.

It seemed she would have to go to the hospital after all.

After all this struggle to avoid death, it would be extremely unfair to die from an illness.

As Roselia was catching her breath while thinking this, Alejandro, who had approached her unnoticed, asked with concern.

“Are you feeling unwell?”

To Alejandro’s question asked with a rather serious expression, Roselia forced a smile and shook her head.

“Ah, no. Just a momentary anemia.”

Seeing Roselia’s calm expression, Alejandro quickly dropped his suspicions and spoke bluntly.

“I happened to have something to tell you, so this is fortunate.”

“Something to tell me?”

To Roselia’s puzzled question, Alejandro observed her expression and continued calmly while pushing up the silver-rimmed glasses he always wore.

“You need not worry about the painter Abello and his daughter Erlin. They are being thoroughly protected under the duke’s orders.”

She had been concerned about them anyway.

After Count Bernas collapsed and Nadia’s death, she naturally worried about them, but hesitated to visit them for fear of making things worse with her approach.

Roselia felt grateful for the duke’s thoughtful care in handling the aftermath, as if he had read her inner thoughts.

“Ah, of course, we are protecting them without interfering with their daily lives. I thought you might be curious, so I’m letting you know.”

Alejandro added the latter part just in case, knowing how she disliked shadows.

Looking at him, Roselia smiled brightly.

“Thank you.”

At least if the duke was thoroughly protecting them, they could avoid incidents like what happened to Count Bernas.

And fortunately, there were no descriptions of conflicts involving the Abello family in the original story.

Considering how events related to Count Bernas and Nadia had occurred earlier than in the original story, she thought that perhaps content not in the original might not have much impact.

Of course, this was just her wishful thinking…

As Roselia was lost in these thoughts, Alejandro suddenly furrowed his brow and asked curiously.

“By the way, are you wearing musk?”

“What? What do you mean…”

At Alejandro’s sudden question, Roselia looked at him with a bewildered expression.

Wasn’t musk a scent with effects like an aphrodisiac that bewitches or excites people?

Was he saying such a scent was coming from her?

“Do I smell of something?”

Roselia asked curiously and sniffed herself just in case.

Alejandro’s face suddenly turned red as he looked down at her sniffing herself while holding up the front of her shirt.

Flustered by his own reaction, Alejandro cleared his throat and quickly continued.

“Never mind if not. It seems you might have some musk-like scent on you, it would be good to change your clothes.”

Though the scent was too strong to just be something that rubbed off, Alejandro, having no way of knowing the cause of the fragrance, made a casual remark and moved away as if fleeing.

Roselia stared blankly after him, then fell into thought about her scent that Klaus and the crown prince always had on their lips, while Closet and the crown princess never seemed to notice.

She had dismissed it as their imagination since Closet and the crown princess never noticed, but seeing how there were more mentions of the scent lately, it didn’t seem like something she could just ignore anymore.

Really… there might be someone related to the Lapelios bloodline among her distant ancestors…

She thought that Duke Yukilliode, being from Lapelios, would probably know more about this issue.

Resolving to ask the duke about the fragrance when she met him later, Roselia moved on to finish her assigned tasks.

“Are you sure? Is it really true that the duke and Antonio have that kind of relationship?”

It was Jacqueline, a servant of the duke’s household, who blurted out with wide eyes while spending her break time in a corner of the mansion.

Looking at Jacqueline, Denver continued with an exasperated tone.

“I tell you, I saw it clearly. There was definitely something strange about the atmosphere between them.”

Having said that, Denver twisted his lips and spat on the ground in disgust.

“Scrawny like a girl, yet oozing sex appeal all over the place, isn’t it quite a sight?”

“If that’s the case, shouldn’t we be careful with our words? If he’s the duke’s lover…”

At Jacqueline’s concerned voice, Denver let out a scoffing laugh.

“Lover? More like a male concubine. Have you ever seen a nobleman in Lugbelzet keep a male concubine as the mistress of the mansion?”

“I haven’t.”

Unlike female concubines who were given some degree of status, male concubines were generally treated like slaves.

“That guy is just a plaything for the duke’s entertainment in the back room, nothing more.”

Having said that, Denver clenched his jaw so tightly it seemed to stiffen, showing his extreme displeasure.

“Yet he acts like he’s something special, looking down on people.”

Seeing Denver’s ominous demeanor, Jacqueline continued with a troubled expression.

“I don’t think he’s ever done that…”

Just then, as if speaking of the devil summons him, Roselia was seen passing by in the distance, holding a dry cloth.

Upon spotting her, Denver’s eyes lit up and he stood up.

“Wait here.”

Jacqueline tried to say something worriedly, but before she could stop him, Denver had already strode off towards Roselia.

For the past few days, Roselia had been assigned by the head butler Jeffrey to clean the decorative items inside the mansion.

Given how vast the duke’s mansion was, it would take several days to clean each decorative item one by one.

Denver watched meaningfully as she approached a decorative cabinet in the corner of the hallway and started cleaning the ornaments.

He soon approached her and began to sneer.

“Hey, Antonio. Looks like you missed a spot here.”

Roselia glanced at Denver and then silently wiped the part he had pointed out with the dry cloth.

Looking at her, Denver twisted his lips and pointed to a higher shelf, taunting.

“This part’s not cleaned either. I guess you can’t reach up there because you’re so short? Want me to lift you up?”

Roselia shot Denver a sharp look at his clear mockery.

Despite her reaction, Denver just shrugged and continued to sneer.

“Why not? You look light enough for me to lift easily.”

As he said this, Denver moved his hand towards Roselia’s waist as if he was really going to lift her up. Roselia roughly knocked his hand away with her arm.

“That’s enough, Denver.”

Despite Roselia’s warning tone, Denver twisted his lips and sneered.

“Why so prickly when I’m just offering to help?”

“I know you don’t like me, but the more you act like this, the more low-class you appear.”

Denver’s expression suddenly crumpled.

“What? Low, low-class?”

Even as Denver distorted his face menacingly and snorted like an angry bull, Roselia calmly turned and walked away.

Angered further by her seemingly dismissive response, Denver raised his voice.

“Where do you think you’re going!”

In contrast to the highly agitated Denver, Roselia glanced back at him and replied curtly.

“I’m going to get a stepladder.”

With those words, she continued walking away nonchalantly, causing Denver to clench his fists and tremble with rage.

Jacqueline, who had approached Denver, noticed his ominous mood and placed a hand on his shoulder.

“Denver, maybe we should stop…”

“Let go!”

Perhaps even more provoked by being disrespected in front of Jacqueline, Denver roughly shook off her hand and strode off in the direction Roselia had disappeared, snorting angrily.

Roselia entered the storage room to find a stepladder and spotted one placed in a dark corner of the room. She walked towards the inner part of the storage.

At that moment, she heard a loud ‘thud’ as the storage room door behind her was roughly closed.

Startled, Roselia turned around and saw Denver standing in front of the door. She frowned sharply.

“I’d appreciate it if you’d leave now. We have nothing more to discuss.”

As Roselia said this and turned her back on Denver, he suddenly approached her, grabbed her shoulder, and roughly pushed her.

Roselia’s back hit the wall hard, and she looked up at Denver with furrowed brows, as if in disbelief.

“What are you trying to do?”

At Roselia’s irritated voice, Denver curled up the corners of his mouth and leaned in close to her face.

“What am I trying to do? You’re a man, yet you’re wagging your tail at the duke!”

“What…?”

“You’re just oozing sex appeal all over the place.”

Having said that, Denver licked his lips as he suddenly caught a whiff of Roselia’s fragrance.

“Actually, haven’t you been wanting other men to do this to you?”

Thinking he wasn’t worth dealing with, Roselia pushed his chest roughly with a disgusted expression.

“Get out of my way.”

But unlike Klaus who always moved away easily, Denver, who was extremely angry, forcibly pressed his body against her and didn’t budge an inch.

Pinned down by a man’s strength, Roselia, who was actually a woman despite her male appearance, couldn’t move at all.

Only then did fear flash in Roselia’s eyes as a sense of crisis overwhelmed her.

Denver lowered his head to Roselia’s neck area and inhaled deeply, speaking in a husky voice.

“You smell really good.”