‘It’s quite hot during the day now….’

Seeing the reaction that indicated no intention of backing down this time, I finally decided to give up on going out.

‘Alright. For now… let’s talk.’

I should bring up the attic story casually and decide whether to continue talking based on the reaction.

“Actually…, I have something I must tell Reus.”

However, as soon as I spoke, Reus awkwardly froze in place. I wondered if he had already guessed what I was going to say just from my tone.

“I wanted to go out because I didn’t think this was a conversation to have in the bedroom. I’m not at all ignoring Reus’s concerns….”

But it seemed there was a different reason. Despite explaining sufficiently, Reus remained frozen in the same position as before.

“Reus, did you hear me?”

“…..”

“Reus…?”

There was no response even when I called his name. I was starting to worry and was about to get up when Reus asked in a somewhat dazed voice.

“Are you thinking of leaving?”

I was completely bewildered by this sudden question.

“What? Where…. What are you talking about?”

Is he really asking if I’m leaving now?

Though not explicitly stated in the contract, the contract period was implicitly understood to be 1 year. Since I’d been here for less than 6 months, the time to leave would come only after spending more time than I already had.

Reus must have known this fact. So for him to suddenly mention Belliata like this…

‘Did he actually want me to leave quickly all along…?’

I felt somewhat dejected. But in case I was misunderstanding Reus’s intention, I asked again properly.

To be honest, it was closer to asking in hopes of hearing that it wasn’t true.

“When you ask about leaving, are you talking about me leaving for Belliata?”

Reus was silent. But I immediately realized that was a tacit affirmation.

“…Th-that’s not what I was going to talk about….”

My voice trembled slightly, perhaps from surprise. But I didn’t want to show that I wanted to keep staying here. Reus was the type to endure discomfort out of consideration for my reaction.

“If that’s what you want… we could have a serious conversation about that too. The one year we talked about was just an estimated period, and if Reus wants, I think it would be right for me to leave the Duke’s mansion even if it’s earlier….”

But then Reus suddenly interrupted me urgently.

“Roelle, I made a mistake.”

“A mistake…?”

“I thought you wanted to talk about that.”

“What I was going to talk about… had nothing to do with Belliata.”

An awkward silence fell.

I was flustered, but Reus also looked quite confused. However, that didn’t guarantee his previous answer was sincere.

So I nervously asked.

“Then what about Reus…? Is it okay if we don’t talk about this and move on?”

“As I’ve said before, I have no intention of demanding anything from you. Including… leaving the Duke’s mansion, of course.”

But why did the talk of leaving suddenly come up then?

I felt a bit uneasy, but since he had clearly stated it wasn’t the case, I decided to let it go for today.

“Then what were you trying to say that you wanted to arrange a separate meeting for?”

“Well….”

Should I really talk about it? As I kept hesitating, Reus looked at me as if wondering why I was hesitating so much.

“Um…. I thought this conversation might make Reus uncomfortable.”

“Why. Did you get hurt again while I wasn’t looking?”

“No…?”

I don’t know why the talk of getting hurt is coming up again here.

And even if I did get hurt, I had absolutely no intention of letting Reus find out in the future, and was planning to tell Druin.

That man nags so much….

“Then are you planning to fast from now on?”

“Huh? No…. Of course not.”

“Then it’s fine, you can say anything.”

Having gotten this far in the conversation, I couldn’t hesitate any longer. I took a small deep breath and cautiously brought up the topic.

“About the library….”

“Yes, the library.”

“…Can I continue talking?”

I thought he might show signs of discomfort when I brought up the library, or make me pause for a moment. But Reus just looked very puzzled.

“Why wouldn’t you be able to?”

“I thought Reus would be uncomfortable talking about the library.”

When I answered awkwardly, Reus just stared at my face silently without any reaction. Not knowing what was going on, I stared back quietly. But then suddenly, a rather loud laugh was heard.

I’ve gotten somewhat used to him laughing softly lately, but this was the first time I’d seen him laugh so openly and heartily, so I was very surprised.

“Why are you laughing?”

“It’s just so like you.”

“What is….”

“You want to talk about your parents, don’t you?”

“Ah, well….. It’s similar.”

It wasn’t entirely wrong, since I caused that trouble while touching the picture frame with the family photo.

But he was more direct than I expected, which made me even more flustered.

“To be honest, I can’t say I’m comfortable talking about my parents. But I’m not the type to completely avoid mentioning them either. You may not know, but I sometimes talk about my parents with my aunt.”

It was unexpected, since I thought it was absolutely taboo given that he never goes near the library.

Reus now gave me a look as if telling me to say what I wanted to say.

‘Where should I start?’

I guess I should first find out if he knows this ring is not just an ordinary ring?

I took off the ring on my fourth finger and placed it on the table. I felt Reus’s body stiffen slightly, but I went ahead with what I was going to say.

“Do you know anything about this ring that you can tell me?”

“Isn’t it the ring I gave you at the wedding?”

“Besides that?”

“Well. I think I may have seen my mother wearing it a few times when I was young… but it’s not a particularly memorable object.”

As expected, he didn’t seem to know at all that there was a secret hidden in the ring. Then the chances were high that he didn’t know about the hidden space behind the picture frame either.

“Actually, I’ve been using the attic… without permission sometimes.”

Reus, who had seemed fine until now, tensed his facial muscles slightly as soon as the attic was mentioned. When I looked at him worriedly, he slowly nodded as if telling me not to mind and to continue speaking.

“So I really accidentally discovered a place where this ring could be used in that attic.”

“What do you mean by using the ring?”

“Exactly what I said. I found a strange gap in the picture frame on the wall and discovered it while touching it. There was a groove carved under the wooden frame of the picture frame that fit this ring perfectly. So when I inserted it, the picture frame opened like a door and….”

“So that’s why your forehead… no, wait. What do you mean the picture frame opened like a door?”

Reus rambled uncharacteristically.

While curious about why the picture frame suddenly popped out, I quickly changed the subject as he seemed to want to say something about me getting hurt.

“No matter how much I tell you to be careful…. What if you touch something you don’t even know….”

“I-I was scared…! I couldn’t see clearly, but it looked like there was a passage leading somewhere behind the picture frame…!”

* * *

Reus was very troubled by Roelle constantly trying to go outside.

He wanted to do anything the woman wanted, but this time he really couldn’t give in.

So when he refused quite firmly, Roelle made a face he’d never seen before, looking slightly upset. At that sight, Reus almost unconsciously told her to just do whatever she wanted.

Just as he barely managed to keep his wits about him, Roelle opened with unexpected words.

“Actually…, I have something I must tell Reus. I wanted to go out because I didn’t think this was a conversation to have in the bedroom. I’m not at all ignoring Reus’s concerns….”

Seeing her struggle to speak while being excessively cautious…

This woman is trying to leave.

It made sense.

Her ex-fiancé and those who couldn’t even be called family kept trying to manipulate her as they pleased. And the Duke’s family, which had been protecting her until now, was no longer considered safe after Countess Ibelle visited the mansion.

On top of that… he was nothing more and nothing less than someone connected to her by contract, so he would have no influence in keeping her here.

“Are you thinking of leaving?”

He hadn’t meant to ask so directly, but the question popped out like an uncontrollable cough.

His heart was sinking with fear even before hearing the answer, when suddenly:

“What? Where…. What are you talking about?”

Roelle tilted her head with a very puzzled expression. And with the words that followed, he realized he had made a complete mistake.

“Th-that’s not what I was going to talk about…. If that’s what you want… we could have a serious conversation about that too. The one year we talked about was just an estimated period, and if Reus wants, I think it would be right for me to leave the Duke’s mansion even if it’s earlier….”

Shamefully, he felt greatly relieved at the woman’s flustered appearance.

The words “pathetic bastard” spontaneously popped up in his mind, but what could he do? This was just how he was.

But if she wasn’t planning to leave right away, was there another reason for her to hesitate like that?

Reus, who usually predicted things well, couldn’t quite gauge the reason this time.

But with the words that followed, he immediately realized why Roelle had been so insistent on going outside.

“I thought Reus would be uncomfortable talking about the library.”

True to her nature of prioritizing others over herself. The fact that she had been so stubborn out of concern for him made it impossible to hold back his laughter.