I was in a daze for a moment before realizing. This man had no intention of sending me to Belliata from the beginning.

‘Why on earth…’

He clearly said he wanted to help me. He said I could leave whenever I wanted, and he even said he would look into ship schedules for me, so why…?

Reus would know best that I hadn’t done anything suspicious. So I didn’t think he might still not trust me.

But that’s why this moment was all the more confusing. No matter how much I thought about it, I couldn’t fathom why he was doing this.

“You’re joking, right, Reus…?”

I wish it had been his usual meaningless prank. Despite my desperate hope, Reus just smiled briefly and continued leading me to the bedroom.

“Let’s go back to the bedroom now.”

“W-wait a minute. Just a minute, Reus!”

When I stood firmly in place with all my strength, Reus finally stopped walking.

“Um, so… Dwin is waiting! I really need to go now or I’ll be too late. So stop joking around…”

I subtly turned my body towards the stairs, but my hand was immediately grabbed, causing me to spin around.

“I’m not the kind of person who would joke about this with you.”

How is that any different from saying you really got rid of all the ships heading from Rocheter Port to Belliata…!

I felt like shouting at him to just be joking.

‘Why are you really doing this to me…?’

I was so dumbfounded that I couldn’t think rationally at all. When I stopped walking again, we had already passed the bedroom door.

“…Reus.”

“Yes, Roel.”

“About the port. You didn’t… You didn’t bring the ownership rights to do this, did you?”

Reus was about to answer right away, but I added more words first.

“I believe you didn’t.”

That’s just ridiculous. There’s no way he would have done that to the port just to prevent me from leaving…

“If that’s what you want to believe, then let’s say I didn’t.”

He did. …That man must be crazy.

“I, I need to go, Reus. This joke really isn’t funny.”

I tried to head towards the door, my body stiff from shock, but Reus gently stopped me.

“Isn’t it already too late to board a ship leaving today anyway?”

“…Was there actually a ship leaving today?”

“Hmm. There wasn’t.”

I was so dumbfounded that I just stood awkwardly in the middle of the room. Then Reus slowly pulled me closer.

“Don’t sneakily take me to the bed…”

“But isn’t it time to sleep now?”

His somewhat gloomy voice actually brought me to my senses.

“Again…! You’re trying to gloss over it like this again.”

“I’ll improve from now on.”

“Liar!”

Do you think no one knows that you always just say plausible things! I glared at him to show I absolutely didn’t believe him, but Reus quickly led me to sit on the bed.

“It’s late, so let’s talk tomorrow.”

“You were fine talking normally before, so why not today?”

“I’m tired from working so busily.”

“Don’t tell me you’re talking about the Belliata work… Ah.”

As Reus naturally intertwined our hands and wrapped his other arm around my waist, I had no choice but to lie down with him.

‘Am I ruined?’

It seems like I’m ruined… No. It’s not that it seems like I’m ruined, I am ruined. Without a doubt, definitely.

‘So what do I do now?’

It feels like a situation where I should cry, but strangely no tears came. All that flowed out was a powerless laugh.

Even after lying down, there was a brief meaningless argument, but in the end, I fell asleep just like that. And then the morning I had been waiting for dawned.

I quickly came to my senses and turned my head. What greeted me was… an empty space beside me.

“This man, really…”

Still, just in case, I checked the bathroom and dressing room, but as expected. It seemed Reus had already left the bedroom.

“Where did he go so early in the morning.”

Surely he didn’t leave the Grand Duke’s castle from early dawn to avoid talking about Belliata?

I quickly changed clothes and was about to go out to look for Reus when I suddenly remembered my luggage bags. Thinking that finding the pitiful ownerless bags should come first, I hurried out to the hallway. But the bags were nowhere to be found.

“What, where did the bags go now!”

I circled the hallway once and roughly searched the other rooms on the floor, but still couldn’t find the bags. As I was holding my forehead and trying to suppress my anger, Milly came running from far away.

“Your Highness!”

“Ah, Milly, good timing. Have you seen any bags placed here-”

“How could you do this…?”

Milly, who never interrupted my words, spoke with teary eyes.

“How could you think of running away without telling me, Your Highness…”

“Run… Running away? I don’t know what you’re talking about, Milly.”

My heart rate suddenly increased at the direct word “running away,” but I tried to play dumb for now.

Besides, it was closer to leaving home than running away. I don’t know why they know it as running away even if they know…

‘Wait a minute. Whether it’s leaving home or running away, does it make sense for Milly to notice it so quickly?’

Could she have seen what was in the luggage bags? But honestly, it doesn’t make sense to immediately infer running away just by seeing the contents of the bags.

Going back to Ibelle for a while, or going on a trip. Or even going to see Lady Shanette. Aren’t there quite a few reasons?

“How could you do this when you even promised not to leave, Your Highness?”

“That’s, Milly…”

I didn’t know it would be discovered so quickly when I said that.

Things have become awkward. But given the situation, I should comfort her, right…? But just as I was about to say I was sorry, Milly suddenly shouted.

“Even if you had a marital fight, you absolutely can’t run away!”

What is she talking about now? Yesterday she was also going on about marital fights, could it be…

“Did Reus say that?”

“Ah, no! The Grand Duke didn’t say anything… The Grand Duke hasn’t returned to the castle, and Your Highness has been depressed every day, so we just guessed among ourselves…”

Milly said it wasn’t the case, but I was certain. If such rumors had spread throughout the Grand Duke’s castle, Reus must have definitely done something.

This man not only got rid of the ships, but he even mobilized the servants’ eyes to try to keep me here!

‘Moreover, the reason Reus went out wasn’t because we fought, but to get rid of the ships to Belliata!’

It was frustrating that I couldn’t tell the truth even in this situation.

“They say marital fights are like cutting water with a knife, Your Highness. We’ll do anything to help you reconcile!”

“Milly, what are you saying? It’s really not like that.”

“You don’t have to hide it from me, Your Highness!”

“Reus and I really haven’t had a marital fight.”

“How can a married couple always get along? It’s more natural to fight sometimes.”

“So we haven’t fought yet… We’re going to fight.”

“…Pardon?”

“I don’t understand why rumors spread like that when we haven’t even properly fought yet.”

“Y-Your Highness… First, calm down…”

“So where is the Grand Duke now?”

I spoke with the most gentle smile I could manage, but Milly just pursed her lips and shook her head.

After pressing Milly, I came down to the dining room where Reus was said to be.

“Good morning, Roel.”

Reus greeted me with an even more nonchalant face than I had expected.

“…Yes. It’s a very good morning, Reus.”

Somehow, I could feel that the servants watching us from afar were very tense.

“Was that your doing too, Reus?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Of course you don’t know…

You’ve done so many things that even you must be confused about what exactly I’m referring to!

Although it was far enough that the servants couldn’t hear, I had to be careful about mentioning Belliata for now, so I decided to postpone that and continue pressing about the rumors.

“I mean… the strange rumors spreading in the Grand Duke’s castle.”

“Rumors?”

Reus’s expression was truly one of not knowing anything as he questioned back. I almost shouted, asking how he could pretend not to know so shamelessly every time.

“…There’s no way you don’t know about rumors spreading within the Grand Duke’s castle.”

“I’ve been away from the castle for long periods lately due to busy work, so I’m not sure exactly what you’re talking about. I’ll look into it later…”

“Another lie…!”

But I couldn’t hold back for long and ended up raising my voice. Soon, Reus looked at the servants and said regretfully,

“Oh my. It seems there really were rumors like you mentioned.”

I could guess what kind of faces they were making and what they were thinking, so I didn’t bother turning my head.

“So you’re saying you knew nothing about the rumors at all?”

Reus nodded once as if it was obvious.

You’re going to be like this?

‘I didn’t want to use this method because it’s childish, but…’

But from the beginning, Reus was not a person who could have a normal conversation, despite looking normal. So this choice now was really close to being unavoidable.

I put down the silverware on the table with a clank.

“I’ve lost my appetite, so I’ll excuse myself first.”

“…Roel.”

As I got up and headed towards the hallway, Reus immediately followed and blocked my path. It was always surprising how this kind of threat worked on Reus.

Reus immediately lowered his tail and started flustering as if he had never been shameless.

“I was wrong. So, please have your meal…”

“I don’t want to.”

“You don’t…”

Reus trailed off and dropped his arms as if greatly shocked. Although I was a bit surprised by the reaction being more intense than I expected, I quickly regained my composure.

‘Who’s worried about who now!’

Even that reaction should have been mine, after being betrayed overnight by someone I trusted!