“Sir Joyce, His Grace and Lady Tilbert have started their meal, so you should go for your meal now.”

The butler addressed Joyce, who was lost in thought outside the dining room.

“Ah! I should. Will you have your meal after His Grace finishes?”

“Yes! That’s right. However, I need to briefly visit the kitchen due to the Duke’s instructions.”

“A butler shouldn’t leave such an important post. I’ll do it instead. What’s the matter?”

“Oh, would you? It’s not really that important, but the Duke insisted.”

“…..”

It was hard to understand how something the Duke insisted on could not be important.

“You know Clyne Liden? The one who returned injured in the Duke’s arms.”

“Ah! Yes, what about Liden?”

Joyce’s brow furrowed involuntarily.

“He said to prepare Liden’s dinner and take it to His Grace’s office. He said to absolutely not enter the attending servant’s room, just tell him from outside the door to eat, but… I’ll follow the instructions, but… it’s a bit strange that I’m even taking care of the attending servant’s meals. Is Clyne Liden’s condition that bad? No one has seen him since he arrived like that yesterday.”

At the butler’s words, Joyce finally frowned. Clyne Liden. What on earth was that fellow up to!

“Did Clyne play some big role in His Grace’s recent schedule?”

“…Well. You just focus on serving the meal here. I’ll handle His Grace’s instructions instead.”

“Ah, but I was given these instructions…”

“Don’t worry about it. His Grace won’t mind if I do it instead.”

“Well, since it’s you, Sir Joyce…”

Only the Duke, Clyne, and Joyce went to Solaine. So it was reasonable for the butler to think Joyce would know about Clyne’s injury.

In reality, Joyce didn’t even know where Clyne was injured. It was because the Duke had carried him wrapped up so tightly that not even a strand of hair was visible.

So this was a chance to find out exactly where and how badly Clyne was injured, and why on earth the Duke was coddling that fellow.

“Sir Joyce!”

Chloe got down from the bed when she saw Sir Joyce visiting her room. He had never come to her room before.

“Are you feeling better?”

“Yes! I’ve improved a lot.”

“That’s good.”

It was somewhat uncomfortable how Sir Joyce was staring intently at her face.

“What brings you to my room?”

“Your glasses are broken.”

“Ah! Yes! I think I’ll need to get new glasses soon.”

“Hmm…, where are you injured? There don’t seem to be any visible injuries now.”

“I injured my head slightly, and I have bruises here and there, but I’m recovering well overall.”

“I see.”

How fortunate that she was already wearing men’s clothes.

No one had ever visited her room before, but if she had been lying down as Chloe when Sir Joyce arrived, it would have been unthinkable.

“I brought your meal. His Grace said to take it to the office.”

“Ah! Yes, thank you.”

“I thought you might be too injured to move, but looking at you now, that doesn’t seem to be the case. But why is the Duke even taking care of your meals? I don’t quite understand.”

This was exactly as she had expected. If the Duke let an attending servant idle without reason, it was natural for anyone, like Sir Joyce, to find it strange.

“I’ve inconvenienced you, Sir Joyce. I’m sorry. The Duke is just so generous that he’s taking care of me too. I think I can start working again from tomorrow.”

“…You didn’t have any special incident with His Grace in Boergen, did you? It’s a bit awkward to ask this, but is your sister ‘Chloe’ really dead?”

Chloe felt her throat go dry.

Had Sir Joyce noticed something?

Well, it was strange enough to have meals brought to an attending servant. Moreover, Sir Joyce would probably know that she had been nursed in the Duke’s bedroom.

“Yes, nothing happened. My twin sibling is really dead.”

She answered as vaguely as possible, since it was neither Chloe nor her sibling who had died. Having confessed everything to the Duke, she wanted to avoid lying as much as possible from now on. As long as she didn’t leave the Duke, there would surely come a time when she had to reveal herself as ‘Chloe’.

“Why did you hide that your hair is blonde?”

Was this really turning into a full-fledged interrogation?

“Just… blonde hair is too noticeable. I’m an attending servant, after all.”

“For such a reason? Are you really wearing glasses because your eyesight is poor?”

“My eyesight isn’t actually that bad. The glasses are just a habit.”

Cold sweat broke out on Chloe’s forehead. If people started suspecting like this, she thought it might be better to quickly reveal that she was a woman, as the Duke had said.

The longer she spent time with the Duke and the lies continued, the longer she would be deceiving those around the Duke. And when they realized they had been deceived, they might feel betrayed not only by her but also by the Duke, who had now become an accomplice in the lie.

She didn’t want the Duke to disappoint his people because of her. But she still couldn’t decide how to act, as she didn’t know which was the best course of action.

“Why don’t you get new glasses or take them off if your eyesight isn’t bad? Wearing ones with broken legs like that lowers the dignity of an Ulpaz Duchy employee.”

Would Sir Joyce, with such high pride in the Ulpaz Duchy, be disappointed in the Duke too?

“Yes, I understand, Sir Joyce.”

Would she eventually have to pay the price for lying?

Chloe became increasingly gloomy.

The next day, Chloe went to the Duke’s bedroom at the usual time she prepared his washing water.

“What are you doing now?”

The Duke frowned as he got up from the bed.

“I’ve come to prepare your washing water.”

“Chloe! I said to stay in that male disguise for just a while! I didn’t mean for you to actually perform the role of an attending servant like this. What on earth do you think of me!”

“Your Grace, I understand your feelings, but I have my own position too. If I just idle around doing nothing, won’t it be difficult for me to stay in this house? Even if I can’t fulfill the full contracted dates, I think it’s right to do the work I was originally doing for that ‘while’ you mentioned.”

“…..”

The Duke closed his mouth.

“I’m sorry. It’s all my fault. Because I lied from the beginning.”

“…..”

The Duke still said nothing. Was he really that angry?

“Um… shall I prepare your clothes?”

To think this was all she could do.

“No.”

“Then um… shall I open the windows for some air?”

He really likes ventilation, after all.

“No! That’s really not necessary! Just…”

Chloe unconsciously took a step closer to the Duke.

“Just… hold me… please?”

What are you whispering? Chloe had somehow approached right next to the Duke’s bed. Now the Duke was sitting with his legs over the side of the bed, looking up at Chloe who had come right next to the bed.

“Your Grace, what did you say?”

“You, you’ve taken off your glasses.”

The Duke changed the subject. What he said earlier was clearly not this.

“Yes. The glasses leg broke, so I’m not going to wear them anymore. Actually, since you already know I’m a woman. If I end up being discovered as a woman by the people of the duchy, I’m just going to say, oh well, I’m a woman, I lov… like Your Grace.”

Chloe felt her face turn bright red. She had been thinking about how to reveal that she was a woman and ended up blurting out that she loved the Duke.

She managed to say “like” instead of “love”, but it was the word she hadn’t dared to say. In fact, she wasn’t sure if her feelings for the Duke were “love”, so she didn’t know if it was right to attach the word “love” to these feelings.

She just… felt so thrilled that the Duke liked her and didn’t want to let go of him and wanted to stay by his side a little longer. But could she dare call these emotions love?

“You love me?”

As expected. The Duke picked up on her words and asked again.

“Um… would you like some tea before your meal…”

“Chloe.”

“Yes…”

Why was this so embarrassing? In fact, it was the Duke who first said he liked her. He even said he had “imprinted” on her.

This wasn’t how she had planned to confess. She had meant to say that she would gradually reveal to the people of the duchy that she was a woman while performing her role as an attending servant.

“Say it again.”

“You already heard it.”

“I need to hear it again.”

But this… no matter how you look at it, isn’t this the relationship between a commanding master and an obedient attending servant? Perhaps due to the inertia of their relationship, he was still commanding and Chloe was still obeying. She didn’t particularly dislike this relationship. Even before, she didn’t really dislike following the Duke’s orders as a servant. It was her rightful position after all.

And truthfully, she didn’t dislike it now either. Not because the Duke was her master. Just because she liked this man. Because she didn’t dislike this man’s desire to have her love confirmed. She was just too embarrassed to confess her feelings that had burst out again.