‘No, this isn’t it. I want to tell you right now that I want to marry you because I like you.’

However, in the end, greed could not overcome conscience.

“……”

In an instant, the playfulness disappeared from the Duke’s face, and his smile vanished.

“Even if we were to get married in the future, I don’t think now is the right time. We’ve only just started dating…… So, I want to date you a bit more rather than marrying you right away. When we can be more certain about each other, when time passes and we can be sure that our feelings for each other won’t change, that’s when we should get married. Because right now, we don’t know each other well.”

Words that were different from her true feelings continued to flow out calmly. When in fact, she wanted to have this man. Wanted him so badly that her heart ached.

“……I see. You may be right. I may not have certainty…… about you.”

The Duke turned his eyes away from her. Veins were popping out on his neck as he gazed at the burning fireplace. He looked as if he was holding something back.

Was he angry?

“Your Grace, I’m just saying we should take our time.”

But wouldn’t this be the right thing to do?

She needed to give the Duke time to love her for herself, not as his soulmate. The Duke really didn’t know her well. Didn’t he only find out her true gender a few days ago?

“I’m sorry for acting on my own, but anyway, you’re no longer my personal maid. I fired you yesterday, and everyone in this household already knows you as Chloe Liden.”

After closing his mouth for a moment and only looking at the fireplace, he finally turned to her again and informed her. While she was sleeping, unaware of the world, the Duke had already revealed her identity to everyone in the Ulpaz ducal household.

The gazes and criticisms of others were now a burden she had to bear alone.

“The room for you to stay in will be ready in a few days. You can use my room until then, right?”

“Then what about you, Your Grace?”

“Are you worried that I won’t have a room to stay in this ducal residence?”

“Ah! No.”

“You wouldn’t want me to share this room with you, would you?”

When asking the last question, the Duke scrutinized her face unusually persistently. His gaze somehow made her restless.

The thought occurred to her that if the Duke’s blind feelings for her were just imprinting and not love, could it be physical desire? She wanted to believe that wasn’t the case, but if imprinting worked that way in the first place, then what the Duke wanted from her now might be just that.

Perhaps the reason he was rushing the marriage was for the official consummation with her. Of course, they could do it without getting married, but for the Duke of Ulpaz, consummating with his official wife would be much more comfortable than with a personal maid.

But she didn’t want that.

If the Duke wanted to hold her because of lust and not because he loved her, she didn’t want to sleep with him. Regardless of what the Duke’s gaze actually meant, Chloe felt her heart, which had been wavering with greed, solidify firmly as she looked into his eyes.

Because what she wanted wasn’t just the Duke’s body. She wanted all of him. Not just his body, but his heart and everything.

“Even if you say you don’t want to marry me, I hope you’ll quickly adapt to living as Chloe Liden.”

Regardless of Chloe’s determination, the Duke’s words sounded a bit cold as he got up from the bed.

“I’m not saying I don’t want to. I’m saying I need time.”

Chloe hastened to correct his words.

“Time……”

The Duke mulled over Chloe’s words and then grasped a handful of her golden hair that reached down to her chest.

“Seeing a woman whose hair reaches down to her waist, I had a thought that it’s a bit scary. Your hair might be scary too if it grows down to your waist. So I’d like you to come to me before it gets as long as a siren’s.”

The woman with hair flowing down to her waist must be Reina Tilbeth.

“But even if your hair gets long……”

The Duke stopped mid-sentence and quickly let go of her hair as well.

“I’m busy with training today. See you later, Chloe.”

He swiftly left the room. He seemed to be in a bad mood somehow.

Chloe spent the next few days adapting to the changes in her surroundings, forgetting about the Duke’s emotions. At first, there was only one female servant in the ducal household, but as the days passed, the number kept increasing, and after about half a month, seeing a woman in the ducal household was no longer surprising.

That wasn’t the only change. During that time, she got a new room, and not only the butler but all the servants called her “Young Lady”. Even Sir Joyce did. Of course, the faces of those who called her “Young Lady” were all stiff.

It could be because they disliked the situation where she went from being a male servant to a “Young Lady”, or because it was hard for them to accept. It was understandable, but it made it just as difficult for Chloe to deal with them. When she spoke to them in a higher tone, they told her to lower her words. But that wasn’t easy either.

Who was she to do that? Until now, she had only been the newest servant in the ducal residence. Even now, she was just the Duke’s woman. A commoner woman who would never receive such treatment from them without the Duke’s affection.

The Duke didn’t come to her very often during those two weeks. He seemed busy with work and frequently left the ducal residence. He was originally a busy person, but it felt like he had become unusually busier. As if he was avoiding running into her.

But then again, if you looked closely, he unfailingly appeared before her every morning and evening. He would also come to find her at any time without notice. However, each time they only had mundane conversations, and he didn’t urge or pressure her about marriage.

It was both a relief and uncomfortable.

In fact, some days she wished the Duke would propose to her again so she could pretend to give in and accept. On other days, she became afraid of her own selfishness. If the Duke proposed and she accepted, this awkward “Young Lady” treatment would then change to “Duchess”. Because of the Duke’s instinct, not his affection.

On such days, she hoped the Duke’s silence would continue forever. Then nothing would change and she could stay by the Duke’s side like this.

“Young Lady, a letter has arrived.”

Mainy handed a letter to Chloe, who had been lost in thought about what the Duke might be doing now. It was the first mail she had received since being employed at the ducal residence.

“Ah……”

Her heart raced the moment she saw who sent it. Mother had sent a letter!

‘Clyne Liden.’

Mother must have thought that she was still living as a man, as Calcus had told her, and sent the letter like this. In any case, Mother seemed to have returned home. The place of dispatch was the Börgen post office.

Chloe, who had been about to think of her next vacation day, involuntarily laughed. Everyone here was treating her as a “Young Lady” and making sure not a drop of water touched her hands. And here she was, as soon as she thought of Börgen, calculating her vacation.

Come to think of it, she realized her position in this household was ambiguous.

It was the result she had brought upon herself. She couldn’t accept the Duke’s proposal, but she had no intention of leaving him either.

Chloe smiled wryly as she took the knife Mainy offered and opened the envelope to take out the letter. To think that she even had a maid by her side attending to her like this. The treatment she was receiving just for being “the Duke’s woman” was burdensome and humbling.

I recovered my health with the medicine sent by His Grace the Duke of Ulpaz and went somewhere for a while.

I heard through Calcus that you had come with His Grace the Duke of Ulpaz.

My schedule was extended, so I couldn’t meet you when you came home.

I’m sorry I couldn’t thank him for his help when he came all the way here, and I’m also worried that something might have happened to you since you came all this way with him.

I know you got a job there to pay for my medical expenses.

Fortunately, I have some money I left with someone else. That’s why I left home, to find it.

So here’s the thing. I can pay back not only the monthly salary you received first but also the money His Grace paid for my medicine, so how about you quit now and come back home?

Considering various circumstances, I think it would be uncomfortable for you to stay there, and I don’t want to be apart from you like this either.

I want to see you again as soon as possible. So, my dear Clyne, please come back as soon as you receive my letter.

From your mother, who can’t sleep due to longing and worry for you.]

Mother’s concern about Chloe living as a man was evident throughout the letter. It was unknown where she had obtained such a large sum of money, but she wasn’t one to lie, so she must have really secured the money.

It seemed that the reason she left home as soon as she got up was also because she knew Chloe was living as a man and wanted to resolve that. When Mother was on the verge of death, Chloe had decided to disguise herself as a man and get a job. A mother who had opposed even her brother’s employment could never accept her pretending to be her brother and getting a job.

Chloe finally realized she had an opportunity to escape from her current situation where both her identity and feelings were ambiguous. She couldn’t accept or let go of the Duke like this, so taking a break from him for a while to examine her heart and situation could be a way.

Now that Mother was waiting for her, she had a place to return to and a reason to go back.

Above all, she wanted to see Mother. Even though she said she was fully recovered, she had been that sick, so Chloe wouldn’t be completely relieved until she saw her with her own eyes. She needed to go and show her face to ease Mother’s worries.

Having made up her mind, Chloe immediately headed to the Duke’s office.