‘Is it because of the slow flood recovery?’

The slow support from the royal family, continuous rain, and the Hyperion trees had hindered the flood recovery work.

The complaints mixed with resentment towards the Duke that she’d heard during meal times came to mind. Despite it not being his fault, the arrows of blame were pointed at Valige.

Nevertheless, the Duke, silently enduring everything, seemed somewhat pitiful.

Was that why? She blurted out impulsively.

“Your Grace, don’t try to carry everything alone.”

Lina’s voice caused his pen to stop moving.

“What do you mean?”

“It’s okay to say that you’re tired. Having someone by your side would be better than drinking alone.”

But the Duke just stared blankly at her, not responding. Feeling embarrassed, thinking she had spoken out of turn, Lina pulled the blanket over her head and said,

“I’ll go to sleep first!”

The soft touch of the blanket wrapping around her quickly closed Lina’s eyes. Then, only Lina’s gentle breathing began to echo quietly in the tent.

.

.

.

“Mmm.”

Watching Lina, who seemed cold, huddled up, Valige took a blanket that had been hanging on the chair and approached her. Then he gently covered her.

The heavy blanket pressing down didn’t seem to bother her, and Lina’s expression became more relaxed.

It was the first time since arriving at Harlen Castle that Valige had faced Lina so closely.

He gently brushed Lina’s cheek with a slow touch.

“Impudent.”

But despite his words, the corners of his mouth were gently raised.

He was glad today when, unable to sleep, he went for a walk and, like a dream, she appeared before his eyes. At first, he thought he was dreaming.

But it was too vivid to be a dream.

He was happy.

The one who had been haunting his mind was right before his eyes.

Valige was looking down at Lina with a pleased smile when his soft gesture of brushing her hair stopped suddenly.

‘But why am I happy?’

His body stiffened, as if struck by something.

‘Why, exactly?’

Could everything he felt and thought truly be due to the curse? Unanswerable questions trailed one after the other, turning his mind upside down.

‘Or?’

Valige looked at the lying Lina with confused eyes.
For a very long time.

(This is a time separator.)

“Um—.”

Lina woke up, rubbing her eyes at the noisy sound of someone hitting the tent.

The Duke had already gone out, and she was left alone in the large tent.

“Did you oversleep?”

At the moment Lina, in a hurry from the sounds of busy people moving around, was about to leave the tent, an unwelcome figure entered.

‘Lawrence?’

The man she saw as soon as she opened her eyes was this man. And that too, at the Duke’s residence.

And he also seemed to feel the same way as her, furrowing his brows as his eyes met Lina’s.

“You really are fortunate.”

Lawrence said to Lina, handing her a clean robe as if throwing it. Though he was using polite language, his tone seemed anything but respectful.

“I don’t know what you were thinking, following me all the way here.”

Lawrence approached Lina.

“But you’d better refrain from such impulsive actions in the future. Would you like to cause any more trouble to the Duke?”

Could this be the kind of gaze a motherinlaw has when looking at a disliked maid?

Lina, about to leave, ignoring Lawrence’s threatening words with a kind face, stopped in her tracks at the words of a man she heard once again.

“Though the Duke might have been deceived, you won’t fool me. I will soon expose your true identity.”

This man seemed almost convinced that I’m a spy.

‘Ha—.’

Now, she didn’t even have the will to make excuses.

‘Think whatever you want.’

Wondering what to reply, Lina soon, seemingly bored, lowered her head and moved her feet again. Then Lawrence continued speaking, watching her.

“If your goal is to become the Duchess, you should give up. The Permanence family never even had a regular wife, let alone a Duchess from a common background.”

The thing that grabbed Lina’s ankle as she was about to leave with an indifferent attitude was the words that followed.

“You don’t think the Duke doesn’t have a fiancée, do you?”

‘Fiancée?’

Lina, passing Lawrence with a nonchalant expression, stopped in her tracks. The man then twisted the corners of his mouth as if he knew she would.

“The Duke has had a betrothed for a very long time.”

‘Of course not now.’

Lawrence conveyed the words to her, omitting the most important fact. Looking at the woman who seemed quite shocked, he felt a little prick of conscience, but he couldn’t help it.

‘This woman is absolutely not suitable.’

In truth, if Lina had been an ordinary maid, Lawrence wouldn’t have gone so far as to say this. He was always the Duke’s servant, and it wasn’t his business whom the Duke met.

‘But I have a bad feeling.’

His intuition was telling him. That maid seemed to be hiding a big secret.

And that secret didn’t seem like it would be good for the Duke.

“Then hurry and change into that robe. The carriage to the mansion will arrive soon. Then, I’ll take my leave.”

With those words, Lawrence left the tent. But Lina hadn’t heard anything Lawrence said after the word “fiancée.”

‘He had a fiancée.’

Of course, even if he had been at the battlefield for a long time, he was still a Duke. It was only natural for him to promise his future to a young lady from a decent family.

“Yes. It’s natural.”

But.

“Why do I feel so bad about this?”