“That’s enough! Get away!”

Even though she hadn’t yet put on the necklace, Reina roughly pushed away the maid’s shoulder. She still couldn’t identify the body odor, but it was clearly an incredibly unpleasant smell.

“Didn’t you say you were going to get glasses fitted?”

“Yes. Please take care of your business first and return. I’ll go alone later. I can’t trouble the young lady with my affairs.”

“Forget it. I’ve never been to an optician’s since my eyesight isn’t bad. I’d like to take this opportunity to see what it’s like.”

If you’re getting glasses fitted, you’ll have to take off those stuffy glasses. This won’t do at all. I need to see your face.

The maid insisted she could quickly buy glasses alone, but when I persisted in following her all the way down, she looked very flustered. She also seemed clearly uncomfortable.

“Young lady, I’ll buy the glasses quickly and come out. If you could just wait here and look around the street for a moment…”

Even at the door, she tried desperately to separate herself from me.

“After coming all this way? Stop talking nonsense.”

Reina ignored the maid’s words and stepped into the very narrow eyeglass store.

“Um, I’ll take these, please.”

As soon as she entered the store, the maid picked out a pair of glasses. They were the thickest lenses among the glasses displayed by prescription strength.

“You should check if they fit your eyes.”

“Ah, just a moment, this is fine. It’s alright.”

At the shopkeeper’s suggestion, the maid hastily put them on, barely trying them, and immediately took them off. The more I watched her actions, the more certain I became. That person doesn’t want to show her bare face.

“Even I, who’s never worn glasses, wouldn’t buy them like you’re doing. Try them on properly.”

When Reina ordered, the maid slightly frowned and then turned around, facing away from her. I had expected her to turn away if I told her to try them on in front of me. She probably didn’t know there was a mirror on that wall. You were desperately trying to grab any glasses and leave quickly, with your head down.

Sure enough, the mirror clearly reflected that person’s face without glasses. And finally, I saw those eyes…

‘They’re blue…’

I didn’t even know they were that color because the glasses were so thick. After confirming the eyes, the overall face shape, then the nose and mouth newly caught my attention. Just from removing one pair of glasses…

‘… What… That small white thing…’

Reina’s eyes were growing wider as she carefully examined the maid’s face. That maid was not a man!

Returning to the duke’s residence, Chloe shut herself in her room, lost in thought.

To think the duke was planning to marry Reina Tilbeth. When Reina Tilbeth mentioned it, her heart sank so much that it was difficult to control her expression. She wanted to dismiss it as a lie. But recalling the expression on that woman’s face when she said those words, it didn’t seem like she was making it up.

Moreover, her fluent Tigrium. She had noticed from the accent, but indeed, the woman was Tigriumese.

She had been curious about why the duke kept a maid who could speak Tigrium, as it wasn’t a particularly necessary skill for a maid. Though she was given translation work, it didn’t seem that essential. But if he had hired her for communication with the woman he was to marry, everything made sense.

The fact that the woman could speak Elaion was likely for the same reason the duke had hired her to marry him. For smooth communication with a husband who spoke Elaion.

To begin with, Tigrium and Elaion weren’t that different. The grammar was the same, and much of the vocabulary overlapped, so if one set their mind to it, it wouldn’t be that difficult to learn. But the fact that she had even mastered the language showed that Reina Tilbeth had been thoroughly preparing for marriage to the duke from early on. Thorough enough to understand why she might harbor hostility towards the woman who had stolen the duke away.

However, understanding was one thing when thinking from Reina Tilbeth’s perspective. In the current situation where Chloe herself was the woman who had taken the duke, understanding or not, it was just endlessly uncomfortable.

Why on earth did the duke fall for her, a commoner maid in male disguise, after exchanging marriage talks with such a beautiful noble lady?

Even to her own female eyes, Reina Tilbeth was a strikingly beautiful woman who captivated attention. Is the duke someone who isn’t swayed by appearances? But even if he’s a man unmoved by looks, there’s no reason for him to like her, is there?

The conversation with Reina Tilbeth in the carriage was so shocking that she didn’t even remember how she bought glasses at the store. In her dazed state, the moment she put on the newly bought glasses, everything became so blurry that she felt dizzy. Amidst all that, she somehow felt Reina Tilbeth’s eyes lingering persistently on her face.

She thought it didn’t matter how that woman saw her. That woman was just a temporary guest, and even if she had intended to marry the duke, that was no longer the case.

That may be so, but… why did she feel so uneasy and unsettled? It would be good if she left quickly. How long was she planning to stay?

Late at night.

The duke returned late in the evening, finished his bath, and was once again sitting at his office desk writing something. As Chloe placed a warm cup of tea on a corner of the duke’s desk, he put down his quill pen and stared at Chloe.

“I have something to give you.”

“Pardon?”

“I saw it on the way and bought it.”

The duke opened a drawer and took out a small box.

When the box was opened, a necklace came out. It was the very necklace that Reina Tilbeth had tried to put on earlier that day.

“I wanted to mark you as my woman, even if just like this.”

“Your Grace certainly has a way of saying embarrassing things without warning.”

“Shall I put it on for you?”

“And you’re good at embarrassing actions too.”

The duke, ignoring Chloe’s words, stood up from his chair and approached her.

“You don’t need to give me things like this. It’ll just get in the way when I’m working.”

“Shh. Be quiet. Just because you look like a boy doesn’t mean you have to talk like one too.”

Chloe closed her mouth.

‘Looking like a boy.’

The moment she heard those words, she didn’t know why Reina Tilbeth’s face, who looked like the epitome of a ‘woman’, flashed through her mind.

The duke had already come behind her and was putting on the necklace. Chloe hunched her shoulders at the feeling of the duke’s hands on the back of her neck.

“Your wig is short, so your neck is fully exposed…”

Murmuring as if to himself, the duke’s hand that had put on the necklace slid down her nape. Chloe trembled slightly. His thumb had somehow slid to the front and was now stroking her collarbone.

“W-why are you doing this?”

Embarrassingly, even her voice trembled.

“It’s hard to hold back…”

At the duke’s answer, which didn’t match her question at all, Chloe turned around abruptly to look at him.

“Y-you should go to sleep! I-it’s late!”

Her face, neck, and even shoulders must have all turned red. She blurted out anything just to get out of this room quickly.

“Shall we sleep?”

“Yes! You must be tired after going on an inspection today…”

“Will you sleep with me too?”

“Pardon?”

Chloe’s eyes widened as if they would pop out.

“I went out to be apart from you, to get tired, but somehow I’m not tired at all.”

“I don’t understand what you’re saying at all.”

In fact, her heart was pounding because she seemed to understand his words all too well, but Chloe pretended not to know.

That day, what happened with the duke must have been because she was drunk or slightly out of her mind. Hearing the duke’s words with such clear intent while in her right mind made her dizzy.

“You probably don’t really not know. I guess it’s not time yet.”

“Yes! It’s not!”

“If you’re not going to sleep with me, go ahead and sleep first. I’ll sleep a bit later.”

The duke tilted his head towards the door. As if to say if she wasn’t going to share his bed, he had no further business with her and she should leave.

Even though things went as she wanted, somehow it felt strange.

“Yes, then good night.”

Chloe gathered her thoughts that were sinking to the bottom and moved towards the door.

‘If you’re not going to sleep with me, leave. I have no business with you yourself.’

It felt as if she had heard such words. Even though the duke hadn’t actually said that.

Even if it’s not love, does he actually like me? Could it be that it’s not me, but sleeping with me, my body that he liked?

In the end, such thoughts crossed her mind. In fact, it had been a question she had been suppressing since returning from her outing with Reina Tilbeth until now.

‘Does he really like me? Why does he like me? Why did he imprint on me?’

Even in the short time it took to walk to the door, Chloe’s mind was busy with questions and anxiety.

“Lock the door when you sleep.”

The duke’s voice, sounding playful, flew at the back of Chloe’s head as she opened the door to leave. Chloe slammed the door shut and came out as if fleeing.

As she returned to her room, Reina Tilbeth’s words echoed in her ears.

What could it mean that she snatched the position by taking his virginity?

She didn’t want to know. She felt like she knew what it meant, but she didn’t want to think about it anymore in case it really meant that. After all, she was the one who had actually taken the duke’s virginity. It was true that the duke had become interested in her after that.

Nevertheless, she wanted to know. She wanted confirmation that Reina Tilbeth’s words weren’t true. She hoped that the duke really liked her.