However, Chloe’s legs came to a stop after only a few steps.
Run away? That’s crazy talk.
Of course, the implied command “Come with me immediately” followed the words “Let’s return to the duke’s residence first.”
Although the duke left her behind as if giving her the freedom to choose her next action, Chloe wasn’t foolish enough to think she could actually escape.
Not when she had even left behind a guarantor.
This is why guarantees are so frightening.
If she were to cut the leash around her neck and run away, the leash she left behind would be fastened around Calcus’s neck instead, who had helped her so many times.
Trudging along.
With the feeling of being pulled by a powerful leash that she couldn’t touch or see, but whose existence was certain, Chloe took heavy steps towards the duke’s residence.
[This is the timeline separator]“You arrived quite quickly.”
As soon as Chloe entered the duke’s office, a sharp voice greeted her.
It was a rebuke for arriving so late after walking slowly without even taking a carriage, while the duke had gone on horseback.
Hello, leash-holding master.
No matter what, what cow would eagerly run to the slaughterhouse?
“I apologize.”
But contrary to her inner thoughts, Chloe bowed her head and apologized.
Walking slowly was her minimal resistance.
But now was the time to grovel. Because the duke was holding papers in his hand.
The papers that made her come back here.
As expected, it was those.
The employment documents that Mr. Wilson had. This is why documents that leave evidence are so frightening.
To think that even family relationships were recorded there.
Her guess during the walk was correct. The duke had discovered her lie because of those documents.
In fact, she hadn’t completely ruled out the possibility that family information might be recorded on the documents.
But even if such things were written, she thought the duke wouldn’t have any reason to look at the employment documents of a mere servant.
After all, she was just an attendant at best. There was no reason for the duke to pay attention.
Why, how did the duke end up seeing those documents? There must be many servants whose names he doesn’t even know. Why take interest in the documents of an attendant who was planning to leave after only three months of work?
Then again, thinking about the past few days, the duke had been showing a lot of personal interest in her.
Though he also drove her away like looking at an insect.
“Are you going to keep standing in front of the door?”
At the duke’s words, Chloe put down her luggage and moved towards the duke’s desk.
But she stood with her hands folded neatly over her stomach at a position much farther away than usual. If she got too close, he might say something scary again about her having a smell or whatnot.
“Chloe Liden.”
“…!”
Words more frightening than saying she smelled came out.
Chloe Liden, he said.
She was so surprised that she almost answered, “Yes!”
“That’s your younger sister’s name.”
“Ah… yes.”
He wasn’t calling her.
He was confirming the name of Clyne Liden’s younger sister. Though in reality, it was her name.
So even family names were written on the documents.
Perhaps due to feeling both surprised and flustered, her clasped hands were slippery with sweat that had suddenly formed.
At this point, when Lord Joyce had already found out that the name of the woman who had slept with the duke was “Chloe,” to think he even saw the name “Chloe” on her documents.
It seemed the duke had called her not to question the lie about not having a sister, but to ask, “Could your younger sister Chloe be the woman I slept with?”
It made sense to be suspicious since the names were the same.
Then it also explained why the duke had come all the way to the information guild alley to catch her, citing the reason that a resigned attendant had lied. She needed to pull herself together. One wrong word to the duke who had chased her this far could be disastrous.
“Chloe. The same body scent.”
The duke muttered to himself.
Seeing the duke’s expression as he muttered, she had a premonition.
The duke didn’t seem to be asking if the woman he had slept with was the attendant’s younger sister, but rather he already seemed convinced of it.
The same name and the same body scent, so Clyne Liden’s younger sister Chloe Liden must be that woman.
That damned body scent. How could a human have such a strong scent!
Duke, were you the only one smelling me all night?
I smelled you too! But I don’t remember your scent at all!
Why are you the only one being so dramatic…!
‘Huh…? What… is this?’
It was truly strange. This had never happened before, but suddenly she could smell the duke’s scent.
Was it an illusion?
A symptom of nervous exhaustion due to extreme stress?
She had never smelled someone else’s scent from this distance before. Moreover, she was even further away from the duke than usual right now.
So why could she suddenly smell the duke’s scent?
Scent, scent.
Because of the duke going on about scents, it seemed even her own head or nose had gone funny.
Chloe bit the inside of her lip, bewildered by the sensation that she couldn’t tell if it was real or imagined.
“Why did you lie about not having a younger sister? You must have known that the woman I’m looking for is your sister.”
As expected… the duke was completely convinced.
Ridiculously, it seemed his conviction was based more on the “body scent” than the name “Chloe.”
What was even more ridiculous was that, regardless of how flimsy the basis was, it was the truth.
What should she do? Should she just confess that it was her who spent that night with him? Including the fact that she had deceived him about her gender for three months?
Once again, the familiar dilemma hit her with renewed force.
“I really hate lies. Clyne Liden.”
“…Yes.”
Although no one likes lies, the duke, looking straight into her eyes as he spoke, seemed to particularly dislike them.
So much so that it felt like he was warning, “I will definitely collect the penalty fee if it’s revealed that you violated the employment regulations!”
Under that gaze, her courage to confess the truth was melting away like snow under the summer sun.
“Of course, one might make a mistake once in a while. For instance, a small lie like saying you don’t have a younger sister when you actually do. But if that sister is the woman I slept with, it becomes a very serious lie. Fatally serious, to the point where lives could be at stake. So it would be better to tell the truth. Clyne Liden.”
“……”
Fatally serious to the point where lives could be at stake? Do I have to stake my life for one night? That’s too much!
But at that moment, she vividly recalled the duke’s desperate resistance that night.
Haah…!
She had forcibly taken a man who had resisted so fiercely, saying he didn’t want it.
At the same time, Lord Joyce’s angry words also came back to her one by one.
She had taken the purity of this man who disliked women.
Tear to pieces, dispose of.
Just hearing those words made it seem like I had committed a mortal sin.
Do I really have to offer my life to take responsibility for one night with the duke?
Combining the words of the duke and Lord Joyce, the conclusion of what to do became clear.
She couldn’t die for just one night’s mistake.
“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you beforehand. Actually, my sister Chloe Liden died a few months ago.”
“What?”
The duke frowned.
“To be precise, she died in an accident just before I moved into the duke’s residence.”
“Died… in an accident?”
“When I mailed the employment documents to the duke’s residence, it was before my sister died. So the documents mention my sister, but now that she’s dead, that’s why I said I don’t have a sister.”
If she changed the dead person from Clyne to Chloe, everything would fit together and it wouldn’t even be a lie that she had told.
“I was also surprised that the woman who supposedly slept with you and my sister have the same name.”
By now, Chloe was calmly spinning her lies.
Perhaps because she was simply explaining the circumstances of Clyne’s death, the lies flowed smoothly as if she were telling the truth.
Of course, only the circumstances of the death were the same, she had just switched the person who died.
But what more could be done about a dead person?
In a way, it might have turned out even better.
Even if the duke didn’t believe her words and sent someone to her hometown to verify the truth, it would be difficult to discover that it was her brother who died, not her.
Only her mother, herself, and Calcus knew about her brother’s death.
Her house was in the forest, separate from the village, and the family only went to the village very occasionally.
So there wouldn’t be anyone who particularly remembered that her family lived there.
Of course, Calcus was an exception, but there was no need to worry about him.
Although Calcus had opposed Chloe disguising herself as a man and entering the duke’s residence, once the decision was made, he became her strongest supporter.
It was Calcus who provided various items suitable for her male disguise, warning her to be extremely careful not to get caught.
“I’m sorry for the unnecessary suspicion. It must be an unpleasant memory that your sister died.”
The duke, who had looked a bit dazed, finally spoke again.
He’s sorry?
Although she felt a little guilty at the duke’s apology, it seemed like sticking to her lie until the end was the right choice.
Now she would be removed from his suspicion.
Even if Lord Joyce or the information guild came tracking the name Chloe, they would change the direction of their search, thinking the Chloe from Boergen was a dead woman.
When she was young, she used to grumble to her mother about why their family lived so lonely in the forest.
Even when Clyne died after being attacked by unknown assailants, there was no one to ask for help because they were so deep in the forest.
But now, it turned out to be beneficial that they had lived in isolation.
No one in Boergen would know whether it was the brother or sister of the twins living in the forest who died, or even if there were twins living in the forest in the first place.
Still, she would have to be careful and maintain her male disguise for a while when she returned to her hometown.
“It’s alright, Your Grace.”
Chloe accepted his apology proudly, as if she really were a brother who had lost his younger sister. Though it wasn’t her sister, she did have to recall the memory of losing her brother.
“Now that the misunderstanding has been cleared up, may I return to my hometown?”
The duke stared at her intently.
Without saying a word. For several seconds.
“Your Grace?”
Chloe called out to him again, feeling slightly uneasy about why he was looking at her with such an expression.
“There’s one more thing I want to ask. If you answer this, you can leave.”
The duke finally opened his mouth again.
Turns Out He’s Been Secretly in Love with Me
One-line summary: He acts like he doesn’t like her but is actually playing hard to get.
Synopsis:
Xu Muzhou like her. He has liked her for a very long time, and through repeated schemes, he finally closed the distance with her.
But this is still far from enough.
He wants to be the one who stands out among her many suitors, to fight for her attention, and to make her take the initiative to pursue him.
_____
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