She definitely didn’t choose what she liked for herself.

But how can he take care of her like this without showing any interest and acting indifferent?

“So what does she like?”

It didn’t seem like she particularly liked the clothes he bought her either.

「I’ve figured out the secret of this room. It feels like anything I try on here, I’ll end up buying.」

「Why worry? Your Grace has already bought over twenty sets.」

「What? What did you say? Excuse me, Master. Shonne doesn’t need so many clothes.」

If she liked it, she would have accepted without refusing, keeping her mouth shut.

Illeon pondered deeply for a while.

“……Is it money?”

Upon reflection, the times when Rona seemed happiest were when he said, ‘I’ll raise the money.’ or ‘Tell the butler to give you more gold.’

“There should be plenty of money in the Duke’s house.”

No matter how much he thought about it, there was no answer.

Moreover, the more he pondered, the clearer it became. He knew too little about Elishia.

As he was lost in thought, the butler entered the Duke’s office. Seeing Illeon open his eyes for the first time in years and being in his office, the butler entered the room with an emotional face, stuttering.

“What is it?”

“It’s a list of taxes and specialty products collected from the territory. I’ve been organizing it so far, but I thought Your Grace should see it.”

“Thank you.”

“It’s nothing. Just doing my job. But do you seem to have something on your mind?”

“I went to the Duke of Uter today.”

“Oh, your brief outing earlier. But why did you go to that house?”

The Uter Duke’s family wasn’t particularly connected to Duke Clément.

“I went to see the young lady there.”

“Yes? Oh, is that why you suddenly wanted to get married?”

Illeon nodded vaguely.

“If you’d told me earlier, I would have prepared a nice gift.”

“She said she liked something, but today she said she didn’t.”

Unlike Illeon, who spoke seriously, the butler answered nonchalantly.

“People’s minds are like that. Fashion changes so quickly.”

“Is that so?”

Haa, Illeon sighed.

“Then how do I win her favor?”

“Your Grace! Win her favor! Such words…….”

Bernard jumped at Illeon’s words, and Illeon slightly lifted the corner of his mouth.

“Why? Is it strange for me to say that?”

“You are someone who can win favor just by standing still. Ah, it’s ridiculous.”

Our Duke is the best. The most fantastic Duke in the world. The Dukeloving butler was suddenly filled with rage.

“What kind of person is she? What kind of person must she be for Your Grace to go this far?”

Illeon’s mouth curled into a sincere smile as he thought of Elishia.

“She is truly adorable.”
Seeing Illeone like that, Bernar’s jaw dropped, gaping in disbelief.

“I thought appearance wasn’t important. I was curious, but still. But seeing with my eyes and feeling that it’s pretty is another matter.”

“How much of a beauty must they be for Your Highness to speak so?”

“I asked for a cup of tea today, and she gave me black tea.”

“You? But that’s not the tea Your Highness usually enjoys.”

The butler spoke indirectly. In fact, it was a tea that Illeone, who disliked bitter taste, would hate.

“But I laughed after receiving that tea.”

“Really?”

“She was very cute when she gave me that black tea.”

“I can’t quite imagine. Perhaps they have a very beautiful smiling face.”

With a slightly wry face, Illeone nodded his head, responding to the butler’s love counseling.

“No. It was an angry face.”

“…And yet you said it was cute?”

“Yes.”

“Ah, yes. Then I’ll excuse myself.”

The butler gave up on the conversation and withdrew.

‘A woman who dares to treat our Duke so casually.’

It was unforgivable. Bernar made up his mind to meet that lady someday. If she ever set foot in the Duke’s residence as a guest, he would serve a tea ten times more bitter than the black tea she had given to my Duke.

Outside the door, the butler muttered to himself or not, Illeone murmured quietly.

“I already miss her again.”

(This is a time separator.)

The next day, Illeone visited the Duke’s residence again.

“Can you show me the paradise of Uter?”

Hearing Illeone’s words, Elishia thought.

‘I guess that black tea yesterday really won’t do?’

If she was asked for tea again, she might give black tea, so it seemed like she was making an excuse to tour the garden.

Elishia asked Lady Ozhe, who stood far behind.

“Lady, I’m curious, can’t we just not see the guest when they come?”

“Huh? Oh, Miss.”

“Is it necessary to always come out to greet?”

Placing the Duke in front and breaking etiquette, Lady Ozhe seemed to grab the back of her neck, watching Elishia.

“Please pretend you didn’t hear that.”

“I heard it, but as much as you wish.”

Elishia slowly began to tour the garden with Illeone.

“Will you not explain? Your voice is good to hear.”

“I don’t know it myself.”

It was because of possession, but it matched perfectly with the concept of amnesia.

“You don’t remember?”

“Yes.”

“It’s unfortunate.”

“It’s not always bad not to remember.”

It popped out of Elishia’s mouth.

“Thanks to that, you can start everything anew. Because you can’t remember.”

“Don’t you think there might be something regrettable among the things you’ve forgotten?”

“I don’t know. If it’s regrettable, I wouldn’t have forgotten.”

It was a strange feeling. Would Elishia have such thoughts?

It was not the thoughts of Wonyoonji, but it came out naturally as if Elishia had thought and said so.

‘With such an extraordinary appearance, extremely rich, affectionate parents, a status where you don’t get pushed around anywhere, and being called the next ambassador?’

In some ways, Elishia was a woman who had everything. It seemed unlikely that she would think that way. Yet the sudden words subtly touched Elishia’s nerves.

‘Maybe I’m trying too hard to be Elishia.’

Lately, she had even thought of running away to that extent.

Elishia is a woman who has everything. But seeing that living up to that life wasn’t easy, maybe it wasn’t such a rosy life?

Suddenly, Illeone’s mouth seemed to be sucking on something caught her eye.

“What are you eating?”

“A small candy.”

“You don’t like swee… Oh, it seems like you would.”

Illeone hated sweet things. Looking puzzled, Elishia watched Illeone grin.

“If I don’t suck on candy, I feel like I’ll unknowingly do something.”

His eyes lingered on Elishia’s lips.