She longed to escape from this suffocating situation immediately. She thought she had become somewhat inured to the insults thrown at her over time, but….
The sight of desireflickering gazes and strangely similar faces gave her goosebumps. The scene of them trying to buy and sell her purity was utterly disgusting.
Overwhelmed by a wave of nausea rising unbeknownst to her, Idel grabbed a napkin.
“Ugh….”
No one seemed concerned about her, who was gagging quietly with a pale face.
“What a disgrace all of a sudden! And that too, in front of an esteemed guest, how uncouth….!”
The Countess was busy chastising her with a furrowed brow. Just as she was about to admonish her again, who had been silent with her head bowed,
“My, my lady! Just a moment….”
“What on earth is the matter? I told you not to interrupt our conversation!”
On seeing the butler hastily enter the reception room, the Countess furrowed her brows. With an urgent expression, the butler whispered softly into the Countess’s ear, his head bowed.
“What, what did you say? Is what you just said true?”
Upon hearing the butler’s words, the Countess jumped up in surprise.
“Countess, what’s the matter?”
Duke Chalret asked with a scowl, disliking the disorderly atmosphere. The Countess responded with an extremely flustered expression.
“That is…. we seem to have another guest.”
“Another guest? I thought I was the only visitor today?”
“The guest was uninvited….”
“Huh! Then shouldn’t they be turned away?”
“That’s the thing… the guest is…”
Just as the Countess was stumbling over her words, appearing to be in a difficult situation,
“Even though I couldn’t make a prior appointment, I have business with the Count.”
Two men entered the reception room, one step ahead. They were a tall man in a lounge suit and a man who appeared to be his aide following him.
The first man to enter dominated the room with his presence alone. The suit line fell heavily, tailored to his densely woven muscular physique. The cufflinks decorating the highquality fabric shirt bore a crest that signified royalty.
“Your Grace, the Duke!”
Duke Chalret’s mouth fell open in surprise. Rosellin, her eyes wide open in shock, covered her mouth. Idel, who had been trying to suppress her nausea by sipping from a waterfilled glass, also froze in her tracks.
‘The Duke…?’
As Duke Chalret recognized the Duke and hastily paid his respects, the Countess and Rosellin, not knowing what to do, bowed their knees and offered their greetings.
The reaction to the sudden appearance of the Duke was divided. Duke Chalret and the Countess were busy scrutinizing him with tense and anxious expressions. On the other hand, Rosellin was mesmerized by the Duke’s presence up close, her face flushed and her eyes unfocused.
Regardless of the varied gazes thrown at him, since the moment he entered the reception room, Caeron’s eyes were fixed solely on one spot.
The woman who stood up belatedly to offer her respects looked fragile. Caeron’s eyebrows twitched as he watched the woman who looked as if she might collapse at any moment.
“If I had known Your Grace was visiting, I would have prepared something grand….”
“It’s an unannounced visit, so there’s no need to fuss. However…. I didn’t expect Duke Chalret to be here.”
An unanticipated and unwelcome figure. Caeron stared at Duke Chalret with an icy gaze.
“Ah…. that’s…. Although it’s a bit awkward, I am soon to welcome Miss Fleur as my new wife.”
“Miss Fleur….?”
At those words, the Duke’s face, which had been frozen, grew even colder. Duke Chalret flinched inadvertently under the stern gaze of the Duke. As Duke Chalret stiffened and froze, the Countess responded on his behalf.
“Our eldest, Idel. She has always been very shy and unable to participate in social activities, so this is her first introduction.”
“Marriage to Duke Chalret….”
Caeron murmured quietly. He was clenching and unclenching his fist. The knuckles were strained to the point of turning white.
“Ahem! It’s a great honor to welcome such a beautiful bride.”
“We, too, are supremely honored to forge such a meaningful connection with the Duke’s family.”
When the pressured Duke Shale finally managed to speak, the Countess awkwardly chimed in with a forced smile. Caeron turned his gaze away from them towards the motionless woman standing nearby.
“Do you think the same, Miss Idel?”
Slowly lifting her gaze from the floor at his question, her face, devoid of any expression and pale, resembled a wax doll. To a cursory observer, she might have appeared calm, but his sharp gaze didn’t miss the flushed corners of her eyes.
“Idel, doesn’t His Grace ask you a question? Answer him quickly!”
The urging Countess provoked a scowl from Caeron, who squinted in annoyance.
“I want to hear the answer directly from her. Would you mind giving us some space for conversation?”
“……You wish to converse privately with Idel……”
“Your Grace! My apologies, but she is betrothed to me…….”
Turns Out He’s Been Secretly in Love with Me
One-line summary: He acts like he doesn’t like her but is actually playing hard to get.
Synopsis:
Xu Muzhou like her. He has liked her for a very long time, and through repeated schemes, he finally closed the distance with her.
But this is still far from enough.
He wants to be the one who stands out among her many suitors, to fight for her attention, and to make her take the initiative to pursue him.
_____
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