Although the Duke knows her as a man…

“A friend… I thought you were quite close since you’re staying in the same house, even if temporarily, but I guess not. Seeing as you don’t even know your friend’s preferences.”

Right, that was it. He knows her as a man, but thinks she’s someone who likes men.

Nothing ever goes right.

“What do you mean?”

Calcus’s round eyes twisted slightly.

“Oh my, oh my… It’s a bit awkward for me to bring it up first if you don’t know. It’s Clyne’s private life, you see.”

“Your Grace!”

Chloe felt her face burning up as she tried to stop the Duke.

Please stop already!

“What is it, Clyne?”

The Duke looked at her calmly, without changing his expression.

“Although I may be… like that! Still, you shouldn’t see Calcus and me that way. We’re not that kind of relationship.”

“Ah, haha… Hmm, I see.”

The Duke replied with a chuckle that seemed almost annoyingly mischievous.

“Clyne, what are you talking about?”

“I’ll tell you later.”

Calcus would understand everything if she explained the reason for the Duke’s misunderstanding…

“No, tell me now. What do you mean?”

Calcus’s face had completely hardened as he pressed her.

Huh…? Wasn’t he supposed to be able to understand everything? Why is he so serious?

She had never seen such an expression on his face since the day she first met Calcus.

“Clyne, now that I think about it. What you told me before, it seems to be true.”

While Calcus’s face was clearly angry and frozen, strangely, the Duke’s face seemed to be getting more and more relaxed. As if he were sitting on his own sofa, drinking tea that made him laugh.

“What do you mean?”

She asked out of habit, even though this wasn’t the time.

“That you like m-”

“Ah! That! Yes! I remember what you’re talking about!”

Why is that coming up now!

As much as her expectation that Calcus would understand everything if she explained later had been wrong, she couldn’t let any more misunderstandings pile up. So she couldn’t let the Duke say first that she liked him.

“Seeing as you told only me about your preferences, which even your supposedly close friend doesn’t know, it seems that what you said was indeed true. To be honest, I didn’t believe it until now, but now I understand. That you were sincere with me.”

“Pardon?”

To think he would believe now that she likes the Duke. Of all times!

“Now that I know your true feelings, I’ll seriously consider your feelings from now on.”

“W-what? Seriously c-consider?”

Chloe’s mouth gaped open in disbelief. No matter how she heard it, it sounded like he was considering whether to accept her confession or not.

Were you really that sick yesterday? Enough to change your sexual orientation? Or do you remember the kiss? Don’t tell me you enjoyed kissing a cross-dressing attendant? If not that… are you setting the stage to kick me out by mentioning the kiss? If not that, are you teasing me because you’re upset about me trying to send you away from our house?

“Clyne, what does His Grace mean? Tell me.”

To make matters worse, Calcus kept pressing with an aggressive attitude.

“Calcus, let’s talk later. The Duke is here now…”

“Don’t talk about me when I’m not around, just say it now, Clyne. Should I just tell him? I’m fine with it.”

The Duke spoke nonsense again.

What do you mean you’re fine with it!

“No!”

Please, just keep your mouth shut!

She was just bewildered by how strangely the atmosphere had changed. The Duke seemed to be in a better mood than ever, while Calcus seemed to be at his worst. It felt like the Duke had suddenly become overly friendly, and Calcus had become equally prickly.

“No, I think it’s better if I explain. Calcus Tacan, the truth is, Clyne likes me. In a special way. So there’s no way he would dislike me staying at this house. Right, Clyne?”

“…!”

‘Have you lost your mind?’

Chloe glared openly at the Duke.

Even if you’re the master, this is crossing the line!

If the Duke truly believed that she sincerely liked him, shouldn’t he refrain from speaking about her feelings in front of others like this! Even if it was actually a ridiculous, made-up emotion that she had hastily concocted!

“I don’t like it!”

“You don’t like it? Then was what you told me last time a lie?”

The Duke suddenly asked with a stern face. It was as if he had seen right through her true feelings. As if he was trying to punish her now for getting through that crisis with a lie.

The fundamental lie once again caught her ankle like this. It wasn’t just anything, but concealing her gender. The lies that stemmed from it, and other lies, had piled up neatly.

“No, Your Grace! I meant I don’t like making you sleep in such an uncomfortable place.”

“I said I’m fine with it.”

The Duke smiled, his expression softening in an instant. As if the displeased expression he had worn just moments ago had been a lie.

“Then I’ll go check the bed in my mother’s room…!”

Chloe froze mid-sentence. The hair on the back of her neck stood on end as well. The Duke had reached out over her head and ruffled her hair while she was speaking. As if he were petting the head of an obedient dog.

She stared at the Duke with wide eyes.

‘What are you doing, Your Grace?’

Though she couldn’t say it out loud, the meaning must have been clear in her eyes.

“That’s right, there’s no way you would dislike it. No way you would dislike me.”

However, the Duke smirked nonchalantly, as if he hadn’t noticed her shock at all. Still stroking the top of her head with one hand.

Ah! This is weird! Really weird.

“Hugrey Ulpaz, Duke.”

Calcus’s chilly voice came from beside her. Her widened eyes unconsciously turned towards Calcus as he addressed the Duke.

Duke, he said. Not Your Grace, not Your Excellency. Just Duke.

Calcus’s face was completely hardened. His usually puppy-like round eyes were now emitting a fierce energy. At this moment, he looked more like an angry lion than a puppy.

How did the atmosphere become so strange?

Why, in this house where she should be relaxed on vacation, did she end up having to be mindful of not only the Duke, her employer, but also Calcus, who had been her most comfortable friend?

“Haha! Your Grace! Why are you doing something you don’t usually do?”

Chloe couldn’t bring herself to openly brush off the Duke’s hand, so she slowly shifted her hips to the side.

The Duke was sitting on the sofa opposite her. Yet because his arms were so long, he could reach her head. So to get his hand off, she had to move to a place out of his reach.

The Duke turned over his hand left in the air, looked at his palm, and then stared directly at Chloe. Though she hadn’t openly brushed him off, he must have clearly known she was trying to avoid his touch. Now she felt conscious of the Duke’s gaze as well.

Tap, tap, tap.

The Duke tapped the table with the hand that had been touching Chloe’s head. The noise he made sounded like a warning signal foretelling something to come.

“Something I don’t usually do?”

“Pardon?”

“Don’t you remember when you insisted on following me into the bathroom to help me bathe? That was just two days ago.”

Help him bathe? Ah… the day we returned from Kinden? What happened that day… Oh!

She finally realized what the Duke was talking about.

Two days ago, when the Duke returned from Kinden looking so exhausted that she thought she should help him bathe, he had messed up her hair. Just like he did moments ago.

But the Duke had left her completely frozen and entered the bathroom as if it had been an action done without any thought or meaning on his part.

Thinking it was a meaningless action the Duke had done unconsciously, she had completely forgotten about it. But seeing him speak like this now, it seemed that even if it was an unconscious action, he still remembered it. But why was he remembering it so precisely and reminding her of it… Could it be that it wasn’t an unconscious action after all?

“Cl…yne. What do you mean by helping him bathe? You’ve been doing that?”

Calcus asked with a face even more hardened than before.

Ah, now even helping with bathing is an issue.

Generally, for a personal attendant, it would be natural to help with bathing as well. But her situation was a bit different, wasn’t it? The Duke probably mentioned helping with bathing so casually because he thought Clyne was a man, but Calcus was clearly shocked because he knew she was a woman.

Imagining how Calcus might think of her helping the Duke bathe made her head spin.

In fact, every vacation, Calcus had always questioned her closely about what she did at the Duke’s mansion. Among those questions was whether she helped with bathing and such. He had told her to quit immediately if she was made to do such things. He said he would somehow manage to get money for her. Even though he was in the same penniless, orphaned situation as her.

What had she said then? Probably that she absolutely didn’t do such things, right? Actually, up until the last vacation, she had never helped with bathing, and had no idea she would ever have to do so.

Chloe suddenly realized her face had turned bright red. Why was her face burning up in this situation?

“You didn’t know? That’s something a personal attendant naturally does. Besides, Clyne particularly enjoys helping with bathing. Isn’t that right, Clyne?”

The Duke answered Calcus’s question.

Who asked you to answer! And when did I ever enjoy helping with bathing?

“Ha! Haha! I didn’t enjoy it that much, Your Grace.”

Chloe barely managed to answer while gritting her molars. Not knowing how to navigate this crisis, she felt like angry bull-like snorts might burst from her nose.