“He should be back tonight at the latest. We need to prepare clothes and bathwater for the Duke’s return, so don’t sleep, no matter how tired you are, and wait.”
“Yes. I understand.”
Thump.
“Hoof.”
Coming out of Emma’s room, Lina sighed deeply and thought.
‘It’s a relief the Duke’s not here, but it’s better to be scolded sooner. How can I wait until night feeling uneasy?’
The gloomy gray clouds filled the sky outside the window, looking like it would rain soon.
“It’ll rain soon, won’t it?”
‘I still have a lot to do, don’t I? I have to pick up the laundry I hung to dry yesterday… And close the windows. Haah. Well, worrying won’t solve anything. Let’s do the piledup work first, and think about this later.’
[This is the time separator]“Lina, they say the Duke just passed the castle gate. Hurry up and prepare his clothes and warm water.”
“Yes. I understand.”
‘It’s past midnight, and he’s just coming in. I must be dead tired.’
Having worked frantically since morning to calm her anxious heart, Lina’s heavy eyelids and body had long since driven away her anxiety.
‘Let’s quickly finish what I have to do, and if I run into the Duke, just say I’m sorry! Surely he won’t really kill me?’
With a courage born of fatigue, Lina quickly headed to the bedroom with the Duke’s change of clothes.
When she reached the thirdfloor corridor, the clear sound of flapping was heard.
“The wind…?”
Lina moved toward the sound, only to find a window in the middle of the corridor wide open, welcoming her.
The curtains fluttered dramatically in the wind that rushed through the open space.
“Who on earth opened the window this night?”
Lina hurried to the window to stop the wind.
But an unexpected rush of cold air caused the clothes she was holding to be blown to the end of the hallway.
“Ah!”
She quickly closed the window and rushed to pick up the clothes that had fallen to the floor.
Someone approached as Lina, checking for dust, shook the clothes clean.
‘Who is it?’
Highend men’s shoes, seemingly wet with moisture, came into view first.
And before she could identify the owner of the shoes, a familiar hand suddenly picked up the clothes.
“Du…Duke?”
He looked down at Lina, who was slumped on the floor. For a moment, silence filled the space between them as if time had stopped.
Soon, Lina, coming to her senses with the wind blowing again, spoke.
“Ah. Bring me new clothes……”
“It’s done.”
With that, the Duke pushed the clothes back in front of Lina.
Lina, who was staring blankly at the Duke’s extended hand, reached out to take the clothes. Her fingertips brushed past the warm body temperature.
‘What? Just now with the hand……’
For a moment, she felt as if the Duke’s fingertips had grazed her finger. Lina, feeling strangely uncomfortable, looked at the Duke. But the man’s expression was as usual, serene.
‘Is it an illusion……?’
“Aren’t you going to my room?”
“……Yes? Oh, yes.”
Following the Duke to the bedroom, Lina looked curiously at the Duke, who made no mention of the previous night.
‘Why isn’t he saying anything……?’
After laying the clothes on the bed and drawing warm water in the bath, Lina cautiously spoke to the Duke.
“Duke, the bathwater is ready.”
“Yes.”
‘Perhaps it will be easier to be forgiven if I apologize first……?’
To bring up the matter of last night, Lina hesitated and licked her lips.
“I…… That, yesterday……”
“I’m tired. Let’s call it a day.”
“Oh, yes! Then, rest comfortably.”
After closing the door on the Duke’s dismissal, Lina tilted her head.
‘He seems to have cut me off on purpose……?’
If the Duke was not speaking, she thought there was no need for her to speak first. Lina, tired, shifted her steps.
So the night passed, morning came, and even the next day, the Duke said nothing to Lina. As if he did not remember that day at all.
‘Is he just going to let it go?’
If there was to be a punishment, the knights would have stormed in that night and dragged her to the underground dungeon.
‘Or does he not remember……? Yeah. He might think it was a dream. Since it happened right after waking up, he might not have thought it was real!’
“Then, does it just become as if it never happened?”
After observing for a few days, the Duke’s attitude was no different.
‘Even his complexion looks quite good?’
The problem that had been gnawing at Lina’s mind seemed to be resolved.
She didn’t know why, but Lina, thinking that the Duke would not make an issue of this, walked through the corridor with a lighter step.
Sometimes, even skipping happily, Lina looked excited.
“You look relieved.”
Until a familiar baritone sounded from around the corner.
‘!!!’
Lina’s joyful steps came to a halt as if blocked by an invisible wall.
Moving her stiff neck like an unoiled iron door, she looked to the side. The Duke was leaning against the wall, arms crossed, looking down at Lina crookedly.
“Duke……?”
“Watching you scurrying around like a frightened mouse was amusing, so I observed.”
The Duke, leaning against the wall, got up and took a step towards Lina.
“Why, did you think I would just let it pass?”
Male lead reborn without memories — but he still falls for her.
The person he finds displeasing in this life turns out to be his cherished wife-master in previous life…
Xie Zhi and Fang Xianxing who had known each other for less than three days through a blind date sat in the same car in front of the civil affairs bureau. They had a disagreement and failed to get married.
Xie Zhi immediately took out his phone, slid through his contacts, and randomly selected the next marriage candidate.
The woman snatched his phone and hung up. Looking at his phone wallpaper, she awkwardly changed the subject: “An ancient painting, eh? It looks pretty good, it’s just that the person in the painting looks a bit like me.”
When he heard this, he sarcastically mocked her for being so delusional, completely unaware that, the person in front of him was the reincarnation of Wen Ru, the famous prime minister of Yuan Shun whom he most admired…
The female CEO who doesn’t want to get married with a divorce agreement in hand × The male archaeological researcher who will only get married if he’s sure he can get divorced
