After Duke Lumps had left with a meaningful greeting, wishing for my good health.

I pondered the situation while fiddling with the pin she had thrown and left behind.

“Are you alright?”

The knight who had been silent until now asked. I answered by silently nodding my head.

‘So Duke Lumps likes Duke Artenbach? That’s why she gave such a warning.’

I’m not in that kind of relationship with the Duke. I’m just staying to be the one-year mother for the little one.

‘I don’t feel very good about this.’

My chest felt tight. I kept thinking it was unfair, even though I could endure wearing ill-fitting clothes and awkward adornments.

I roughly combed my hair with my hand. Then I grabbed my skirt to go outside. At that moment, Duke Artenbach entered with his secretary.

“The conversation took longer than expected, so I’m late. The test drive hasn’t started yet, right?”

The Duke sat down, adjusting his tie. He looked completely unaware of what had just happened here.

I hesitated whether to speak or not. To tell him that Duke Lumps had come, that she had warned me not to covet him, and that I felt very wronged so he should persuade her well.

“You’ve let your hair down in the meantime.”

As he said this, his gaze was fixed on the car, not on me.

I had planned to mention meeting Duke Lumps if the Duke asked why I had let my hair down. But that was the end of it.

“… Do you have something to tell me?”

The Duke carefully asked, perhaps sensing my gaze. I barely swallowed the words rising to my throat and answered.

“No.”

I couldn’t focus on the test drive at all. Not remembering how it ended, the Duke and I were walking side by side towards where the carriage was.

“Are you hungry?”

The Duke asked while loosening his tightly fastened tie.

“It is meal time.”

I looked at the hands of the distant clock tower, shielding my eyes from the sun with my palm. Meanwhile, the secretary who had brought the carriage smiled broadly at us and said,

“Your Grace, today’s schedule is over. If you have no other tasks, may I take my leave?”

It was a question asked with the air of someone ready to collapse if not allowed to go. The Duke glanced at me once and then told him to go ahead.

“Thank you, Your Grace.”

The secretary who had bowed 90 degrees also greeted me.

“Young lady, I’ll see you next time.”

“You’ve worked hard, Tirel…”

After greeting according to noble etiquette, I raised my head, but he who should have been in front had disappeared.

“…Baron?”

Surprised, I looked around. The Duke tapped my shoulder and pointed to a spot. There, Baron Tirel was just catching a rickshaw, making superhuman efforts to leave work.

“We should start moving too. It’s too crowded here.”

An enormous number of carriages and rickshaws began to gather at the test drive venue where the event had ended. We boarded the carriage before it got more crowded.

The place the Duke took me, saying he had somewhere in mind, was a hotel near Artenbach Hot Springs. Seeing my momentary confusion, he casually explained that the first-floor restaurant of this hotel was famous for its goose dishes, as if telling me not to misunderstand.

As we entered the restaurant together, a waiting staff guided us to a private room. Seeing the candles and fancy tableware on the table, it really seemed like a place for dating couples. It was a bit embarrassing.

‘The little one would like this place too.’

Mount Tid could be seen through the large glass window. Signs pointing to the hot spring entrance and people who were obviously tourists were busily passing by.

“Young lady, I was thinking of going with today’s menu.”

“Anything is fine.”

“Wine?”

“I won’t drink.”

“Today’s menu for two. No wine needed.”

The waiter who took the order scribbled the menu on paper and left. In the room, no sound could be heard except for the music flowing from the music box.

“How was the test drive?”

The Duke spoke first. Honestly, I couldn’t remember anything about the car. The only thing strongly imprinted in my mind was Duke Lumps’ chilling gaze.

“…It was a meaningful time.”

The Duke’s expression softened slightly at my answer.

“I was worried you might be bored, but I’m glad.”

There was no time for that. My mind was incredibly noisy.

I quietly turned my gaze to the window. It was a choice made because I had no particular topic to discuss and didn’t know what to do.

“Young lady.”

It was the Duke who broke the long silence again.

“You don’t have to grant all of Rublion’s requests. If you don’t feel like it, you can refuse. He’s old enough to understand that much.”

He was looking at me with quite a serious face. I felt a little sorry for sitting there so indifferently.

“Yes, I’ll do that from now on.”

I don’t want to be pushed into dates like this either.

Once one topic ended, silence began again. We both looked out the window as if we had made an appointment.

‘This is really awkward.’

Since entering the restaurant, the time we spent in silence was longer than the time we spent talking.

When the room door was closed, it felt suffocating as if even oxygen couldn’t enter, but when the waiter came in to change dishes or serve, it loosened up a bit.

We emptied our plates silently, not even knowing what flavor the appetizer was. When half a roasted goose was placed on the table, I spoke first.

“This is a dish I’ve never seen before.”

A dish I’d never seen in my memories of my past life or in this life.

“Really? Excuse me for a moment.”

Just as I was about to pick up my fork and knife, the Duke took my plate. He cut the meat into bite-sized pieces, put them on the plate, and placed it back in its original position.

“If it’s your first time, it might not be easy to eat because of the bones. Tell me when you’re done. I’ll debone more for you.”

“Thank you.”

Seeing him start to debone his own portion of meat only after I had taken a bite, I suddenly thought of the little one.

“It reminds me of the young master. He cut my steak for me, saying it was a gentleman’s manners.”

It was so cute it could make my heart burst. How adorably he fiddled with hands much smaller than mine.

“I taught him that. A gentleman’s manners.”

He continued speaking while dipping his meat, with an indifferent face.

“I taught him to do it for the lady he likes, but I didn’t expect him to use it on you.”

“So you studied for your future Duchess too.”

He abruptly stopped cutting his portion of meat. Then, turning his head slightly to the side, he answered.

“Well, I suppose so.”

Suddenly, I missed the little one. I wanted to touch the soft cheeks of the child who calls me auntie with a bright smile.

“Is there anything you’d like to do after the meal?”

I shook my head as I didn’t have anything particular in mind. The Duke thought for a moment and then said,

“There’s a walking trail on the outskirts of the hot spring district. You can see it from here too.”

He pointed somewhere with his finger.

“How about we drop by for a bit after the meal?”

“That’s a good idea.”

I’ve never been to Artenbach Hot Springs before. I heard from people in the shopping district that it feels like being in an ancient city.

“Are we going inside the hot spring district too?”

The Duke nodded at my cautious question. I took a sip of water before continuing.

“I heard the duck eggs and beef skewers gently cooked in hot spring water are so delicious.”

“So I’ve heard.”

“They say hot water just gushes out from the ground.”

“It’s called geyser.”

“Is it true that there’s a statue of the primordial god made of limestone? I heard it’s as big as five people combined.”

My heart was pounding. I had meant to visit at least once, but I had forgotten about it because life was so busy.

“Not five people, about ten.”

The voice answering “about ten people” sounded like slow motion. Behind his back, a halo of wealth was shining brilliantly, and the faint smile visible in his expressionless face seemed to whisper, ‘Say you want to see it.’

As if entranced, I slowly opened my mouth.

“…I want to see it.”

“Really?”

The Duke’s lips curved into a pleasant smile. Then he said with a chuckle,

“We can buy duck eggs and skewers as dessert after seeing the geyser, and then go see the statue.”

I picked up my fork, suppressing the urge to get up right away. It felt like my heart had moved to my ears and was pumping.

“There are many other works besides the primordial god statue in the hot spring district. We’ll have to walk quite a bit to see them all, so eat well.”

The Duke tore off more goose meat and put it on my plate.

Was it because of the upright posture sitting across from me? He looked incredibly large as he gave me food. It felt like looking up at a leopard sitting peacefully on a high rock, licking its paws.

And for a truly fleeting moment, my heart raced not because of the statue and hot springs, but because of him. Perhaps it was because I saw his genuinely smiling face.

After filling our stomachs to the brim and leaving the restaurant, we headed straight for the hot springs. As expected of the lord, he and I were able to enter with a free pass without waiting.

The manager in charge of the hot springs welcomed the lord’s unannounced visit enthusiastically, without showing any sign of discomfort. Instead, he followed our moving route, briefing about the costs needed to maintain the hot springs smoothly, mentioning how many times he had sent funding request forms to the government office.

After following us around for quite some time, the Duke finally said to the persistent manager.

“Submit the request form directly to my secretary instead of the government office. I’ll review it right away.”

“Thank you! Your Grace!”

They say the persistent one gets what they want. The manager disappeared contentedly, telling us to have a good time.

The geyser, located in the direction of Mount Tid from the hot spring district, was an amazing place where hot water periodically gushed out. Although we couldn’t get too close because it was hot enough to cause burns, it was certainly an attractive place.

After touring the geyser.

As we were about to head to where the food stalls were gathered, a sharp, stabbing pain surged in my upper abdomen.

‘Is it indigestion?’

I often got indigestion when under severe stress. And I had eaten a bit hastily to see the statue…

‘It’ll probably get better if I walk.’

I slowed my pace and stood behind the Duke. And I walked while tapping my solar plexus with my fist.