“My lord? Are you feeling unwell? My lord!”

“Ah.”

His dazed mind returned at the sound of Clyne’s unstable voice. Clyne was staring at him with furrowed brows. His face was a mixture of worry and annoyance.

“No, what were you thinking so deeply about? Please come quickly. The food will get cold!”

Clyne said with an obvious frown.

It can’t be, it can’t be…

Hugrey tried to suppress the wave of doubts crashing over him as he walked towards the dining table.

However, even after sitting at the table, the wall behind the fellow kept spinning round and round, making it seem like everything was turning upside down. To the point of dizziness.

Clyne was a man. But could he also not be a man?

The upside-down world kept feeling more and more like the real world.

“Your Grace, it’s time for you to leave now. So Clyne can rest.”

Soup and rye bread, bacon and scrambled eggs.

As soon as they finished the breakfast that was too simple to serve to a duke, Calcus again urged the duke to leave. It seemed almost strange how desperate he was to drive the duke out.

As for Chloe, she thought it didn’t matter when he left now, since the duke had already slept at her house.

He’ll probably leave sometime today.

“That’s a bit difficult. With Clyne’s mother not here, it doesn’t seem right to leave just Clyne and Tacan alone, does it? Who knows what might happen.”

However, the duke’s nonsensical words snapped her back to attention.

It’s not right for them to be alone? What might happen? It sounded as if he was implying that she and Calcus might do something strange in an empty house.

Does he really think she and Calcus would engage in sodomy? This is uncomfortable in its own way. And unpleasant.

“What do you mean what might happen! Nothing you’re imagining will happen, so please go downstairs now.”

The thought that she didn’t mind when he left completely vanished due to the unpleasantness.

“Well, you did say there’s nothing between you and Tacan.”

The duke immediately changed his words as if flipping his palm. He even glanced at Calcus at the end of his sentence, and strangely, the corners of his mouth seemed to lift slightly as he looked at Calcus.

Why is he acting like that?

Both what he said earlier and what he’s saying now seemed somewhat ill-intentioned. Either way, it seemed right to send him off now.

“Yes! There’s nothing for you to worry about, so please go now. Sir Joyce must be waiting for you as well, right?”

“…You don’t need to worry about Joyce.”

A brief look of displeasure flashed across the duke’s face, which had seemed cheerful for a moment. Was it because a mere servant had overstepped by mentioning the master’s attendant?

In any case, the loyal Sir Joyce must have surely waited for the duke who hadn’t returned last night. He might have even lost sleep waiting for the duke who didn’t come back until late at night.

“Yes, I’m not worried.”

While she wasn’t exactly worried, she was a bit concerned. But seeing the duke’s expression, it seemed best not to mention Sir Joyce any further. Sir Joyce hadn’t come to the house looking for the duke, and as the duke’s subordinate, the duke would handle it himself.

“Anyway, I can see clearly that you don’t have even the slightest feelings for Tacan.”

The duke seemed satisfied with Chloe’s response and relaxed his expression as he turned the topic back to Calcus. Though he changed the subject in a rather peculiar way. Not even the slightest feelings? She had said they were best friends! Why did he have to phrase it in such an unpleasant way?

However, the duke continued speaking without giving her or Calcus, who was wearing a dumbfounded expression, a chance to respond. He kept saying truly absurd things.

“Still, you must understand that I can’t help but feel this way from my position. It’s concern for the one I’ve taken to heart. The anxious feeling that the one who looks pretty in my eyes might look pretty in other men’s eyes too. Can’t you understand? You must feel the same.”

“…Pardon? What are you… saying? What do you mean I must feel the same?”

Can’t I understand? I don’t understand at all. I don’t even know what the duke is saying right now.

The one he’s taken to heart? The one who looks pretty in his eyes? I must feel the same? What do you mean I must feel the same? I don’t understand any of this!

“So, Clyne, why don’t you come downstairs with me?”

However, the duke ignored her question and changed the subject.

“What do you mean?”

“This is my first time in Voergen. Since it’s your hometown, could I ask you to guide me? It would be a shame to just return to Roizen after coming all this way. Is that too much to ask?”

“…”

“I feel bad asking this of you when you should be enjoying your vacation, but perhaps because I’ve been overworking lately, I don’t feel up to returning to Roizen right away. So I thought I’d rest here and return with you. But it would be too boring to just stay cooped up in an inn for days.”

Unlike usual, the duke’s words were long. The content of his words was also far from his usual temperament.

Both the statement that he didn’t feel up to returning due to overwork and the desire to tour Voergen were words that didn’t suit the duke at all. Nevertheless, she couldn’t flatly refuse.

Perhaps because he was conscious that she was on vacation, his tone was one of sincere request rather than the usual orders given to a servant.

“There’s not much to see in Voergen. You’d be better off asking the lord of Voergen for a tour of the castle. If he knows that Duke Ulpaz has come, he’d be happy to guide you.”

While she was conflicted, Calcus refused the duke’s request on her behalf.

“I asked Clyne, not you. Hm? Clyne, answer me.”

The duke urged Clyne to answer without even glancing at Calcus.

Good heavens… What did I just hear?

‘Hm? Clyne?’

There was something about the duke’s tone that made her skin crawl. It was hard to pinpoint exactly, but strangely, she sensed a hint of whining in his words.

Duke Ulpaz, whining? Does that make any sense?

“Clyne doesn’t know Voergen well enough to guide someone. If you really need a guide, I’d be better suited to do it.”

Chloe, who had been unconsciously rubbing her arms, looked up at Calcus with wide eyes at his sudden offer. The atmosphere between Calcus and the duke had been tense, like that between a dog and a cat. Yet now he was offering to be a guide?

Calcus raised an eyebrow slightly as he looked at her. As if to say, what’s there to be surprised about?

“Ah…”

Seeing Calcus’s expression, she finally realized that she had been making an absurd consideration.

A tour of Voergen?

As Calcus said, she couldn’t claim to know Voergen well enough to introduce it to someone. It felt like a lie that she had lived in Voergen all her life, from her earliest memories in childhood.

Her mother didn’t like her and her brother interacting with people. To the point of controlling even their trips into Voergen town. She even took responsibility for all of Chloe and her brother’s education herself, trying to handle everything in this forest house as much as possible.

Of course, since not everything could be resolved, there were times when they had to go into Voergen town as they grew older, but it was only to take care of brief errands. The reason she even got to know Calcus was because she frequently went to the library in Voergen town.

Why did her mother insist on such an isolated lifestyle? It had always been a question. Even more so because her mother had never properly answered it.

Chloe’s train of thought, which had started from her life as a stranger within Voergen, had somehow flowed to her mother’s way of life. Not just Chloe, but her entire family were strangers in the city of Voergen. How could someone like her give a tour of Voergen?

“…Well then, shall we do that? It wouldn’t be bad to go with your friend.”

Lost in thought, Chloe’s eyes widened at the duke’s words. Is the duke really accepting Calcus’s offer? A dog and a cat touring Voergen together?

However, this out-of-place conclusion seemed to please him quite a bit. The duke, who had barely looked at Calcus until now, looked straight at him and even smiled. Moreover, the duke’s next words were even more baffling.

“Then your friend will stay with me in Voergen town, and you, Clyne, can rest well by yourself.”

“You’re going to stay in Voergen with Calcus? But Calcus is staying at our house…”

“Stop talking nonsense.”

It was truly just for a moment.

The duke’s voice sharpened and his eyes turned fierce.

Calcus was already staying at her house, so she couldn’t understand what was nonsensical about it. But the duke’s eyes didn’t seem to tolerate such a retort.

“…”

Chloe looked at Calcus. Sure enough, Calcus was looking at the duke with a scornful snort. However, the duke didn’t seem to care about Calcus’s reaction at all.

“Clyne, don’t ever say such nonsense again. I mean about being alone with another man when I’m not around.”

“What do you…”

“I told you before, didn’t I? That I would seriously consider your feelings.”

“Pardon?”

She didn’t want to stupidly respond with ‘Pardon?’ like this. Nevertheless, there are times when one can’t help but respond this way. Like right now.

“I’ve finished considering.”

And there are times when even a response like ‘Yes’ seems impossible.

Somehow, it felt like she shouldn’t question the duke’s words right now.

She had an uneasy and ominous feeling. These feelings tend to be accurate most of the time…

“Your Grace…”

Calling out to the duke in a weak voice was an attempt to somehow stop the duke’s next words.

“I like you too.”

“…!”

Why do ominous feelings always turn out to be right?