“The door slammed shut with a loud bang, startling Dwin out of his seat. He twisted his tense body and looked around, but the office was already empty.

Realizing there was no one to be angry with him, Dwin sank back into his seat, feeling deflated.

‘What on earth made him so angry?’

Dwin usually wasn’t good at gauging his master’s mood.

His master rarely showed his feelings over trivial matters and wouldn’t bat an eye at most things, so it was impossible to discern anything in the first place.

But for some reason, his master’s mood had been changing dozens of times a day recently.

He would often throw down his pen as if tossing it aside.

Dwin had grown somewhat accustomed to seeing his master staring blankly into space, ignoring his work, or muttering curses under his breath while leaning back in his chair as if surrendering. There were also times when he would press his forehead with a deeply troubled expression, closing his eyes for a long while.

‘Well, in the end, His Highness is only human after all.’

It was understandable.

But the important thing was that Dwin had no idea why he was acting this way.

‘Come to think of it, he looked out the window and then abruptly left.’

After much serious pondering, Dwin approached the window where Reus had been standing earlier. Looking down, he saw Her Highness the Duchess conversing with a few maids in the garden.

‘Could it be… that he got so angry after seeing Her Highness the Duchess?’

But they were just having a conversation…?

At that moment, an unusual determination filled Dwin.

Although he didn’t know the reason, he felt a sense of mission to ensure that Roel could have an untroubled daily life during her stay at the ducal castle.

* * *

The goodwill of the determined Dwin and the endlessly kind servants was not to be taken for granted.

When Roel first appeared, Dwin watched her every move and expression with suspicion, not missing a single detail.

He wondered what ulterior motives she might be hiding behind her seemingly kind face. He was worried that His Highness might have fallen into some strange trap.

The servants working at the ducal castle were equally concerned, albeit for slightly different reasons.

Lady Shanette’s overly excited reaction. The unprecedented orders and unusual guest reception purchase lists.

Everything pointed to the Duke bringing home someone he was going to marry or get engaged to.

It seemed unlikely that the master of the ducal castle, whose change in expression they had never even witnessed, would bring a woman he loved. It had to be a union between families for gain.

Which family’s young lady would become the mistress of the Rochester ducal household?

What kind of personality would she have? Would she cause unnecessary disturbances in the pleasant ducal castle? Would she meddle with the household affairs under the pretext of being in charge?

As worries piled up one after another, many servants, including the head maid Beryl who worked with great affection for the ducal castle, eventually began to resent the not-yet-present wicked Duchess.

As the days passed, the internal atmosphere of the ducal castle grew unsettled, and almost all the servants were preparing for something that hadn’t even happened yet.

That’s when the veiled woman revealed herself earlier than expected.

The lady with eyes resembling a summer lake spoke gently and had very proper manners. Fortunately, she seemed far from being haughty and overbearing.

The eldest daughter of the Bellew Count’s family?

But apparently, His Highness brought her here out of love!

The Duke of Rochester?

Really?

That fact was also hard to accept, but there was something else the servants couldn’t understand.

Roel Bellew, who would become their mistress, not only lacked the typical arrogance of the nobility but was also remarkably kind and benevolent.

She never failed to exchange even the smallest of greetings and expressed gratitude to every maid and footman, making eye contact with each of them.

…Such a person would be loved wherever she went, so why would she marry our Duke?

Although the nobility was known for their greed, sending such a lovely daughter to the notorious Duke of Rochester…

The Bellew family was one of the top noble families, which only heightened the servants’ bewilderment.

And they all thought the same thing.

If Roel Bellew were their daughter, they would not have sent her to the Duke!

The servants were well aware that the Rochester ducal castle provided an excellent working environment and many benefits, and paid the most. They also knew that the master of the ducal castle was the one providing those things.

But that didn’t mean they could lie and say the master was a good husband material.

Every single day, without fail, the master would wake up at the same time and head to the training grounds. He would swing his sword until dawn. After training for a long time, he would immediately go have breakfast.

Afterward, he would either lock himself up in his office all day or leave the ducal castle altogether and not return until late. Sometimes he would leave the ducal castle for weeks on end.

And his personality was something else. Forget about warm words, they had never seen him smile even faintly.

As for women, he was utterly indifferent.

Tossing the influx of invitations and marriage proposals into the trash as soon as they arrived was the most meaningless task in the Rochester ducal castle.

So people were always at a loss as to whether they should feel consistency or seriously worry about Reus’ unwavering demeanor.

Just as they thought marriage seemed wrong for him…

One day, their master suddenly brought a woman, saying he was going to marry her.

He would smile while making eye contact with her and personally escort her. His voice would become so gentle when calling the name of the future Duchess.

Moreover, he would even stay in the dining room that was often empty due to his rushed meals, all the way until dessert time!

Rumor had it that he even secretly visited Lady Bellew’s room at dawn.

And do you know how many dresses he bought?

Well, the scale of the wedding…

As amazing events unfolded one after another, the servants naturally seemed to accept the ducal couple.

However, Dwin, who knew the real situation, still couldn’t shake off his concerns about Roel.

Usually, the master would not only fail to treat her with respect but mostly ignore the Duchess. Not long ago, he finally left for the battlefield after uttering a single word to her.

How much the Duchess must have suffered from the blatant rejection!

At that time, Roel was privately struggling with guilt, but that’s how it appeared to Dwin.

That was worrisome enough, but recently, he was even more anxious because His Highness had become noticeably strange.

Before leaving for the war, he at least made an effort to show the appearance of an affectionate couple in front of people, but these days, he openly avoided the Duchess even in the presence of others.

‘It must not be easy for him to accept the Duchess after all…’

No matter how much he was mistreated growing up, the fact that the Duchess was a descendant of the Bellew Count remained unchanged.

Dwin was aware of what had happened between Reus and Count Bellew, so he fully understood his master’s reluctance to open his heart to Roel.

But no matter how much he thought about it, there seemed to be no reason to get this angry.

She wasn’t causing a disturbance in the ducal castle or scheming anything suspicious. The Duchess always quietly stayed within the permitted areas.

But he couldn’t even stand the sight of her smiling and talking normally?

‘To the point of cursing and abruptly leaving his seat?’

It was a complete misunderstanding from beginning to end.

Reus Rochester was simply not in his right mind these days due to the emotional changes he was experiencing for the first time in his life. But Dwin couldn’t even imagine that and kept inwardly criticizing his heartless master.

In the meantime, Reus, who had returned to the office, ordered Dwin to bring Roel.

“What are you doing standing there?”

Contrary to his outwardly cold appearance, Reus had sorted out his thoughts to some extent and made a pretty big decision for himself.

But Dwin was almost certain that Reus had called for Roel to give her a hard time for no reason.

At this rate, the Duchess will suffocate and pass away before she can even leave the ducal castle!

‘He’s not only indifferent… No, this is too much.’

It’s really too much, no matter how you look at it.

Unaware of Reus’ true intentions, Dwin left the room, mumbling his unspoken complaints inwardly.

* * *

As soon as she was summoned to the office and sat down, Reus abruptly asked if there was anything she needed.

“Anything I need…?”

“Yes. Anything is fine.”

She blinked her eyes in utter confusion. A moment later, she realized what Reus meant by his question.

It seemed he wasn’t really asking if there was anything she needed, but indirectly inquiring about what she had been doing lately.

“There’s nothing difficult about working, and there’s nothing I particularly need. Thanks to Dwin’s great help…”

“Why are you suddenly talking about work?”

“Pardon…?”

“I asked what you needed, but I have no idea why you’re mentioning work.”

I’m the one who’s puzzled as to why it’s not about work…

Unable to grasp the situation, Roel looked at him with confusion, and Reus continued in an exasperated tone.

“You can just say what you need, literally.”

‘Then what are you asking about…?’

Still unsure, she looked at him, and Reus spoke with a sigh.

“I heard it was your birthday not long ago.”

“Ah, birthday…”

But that birthday…

‘Could he possibly be talking about my birthday?’

Contextually, it seemed to be the case. But no matter how much she thought about it…

‘That’s not something that would come out of Reus’ mouth.’

Did I miss something he said during the brief moment I was lost in thought? Or is there some hidden meaning? If not, my ears must have malfunctioned without me realizing it.

As she was frantically racking her brain, she could sense Reus’ expression gradually darkening.

I should say something, anything!

“I gratefully received the gift you gave me, Your Grace.”