“How strange. I’m sure this was the right way…”

Dalia, who had separately looked up a doctor, looked around while examining the paper with the address written on it.

It had already been two hours since she started walking alone on the street.

It didn’t seem like she had walked more than a few blocks from where she was earlier. Unlike the bustling downtown area filled with lively people, the atmosphere here was somehow gloomy.

‘Should I turn back now…’

It was already more than enough time for them to notice her disappearance.

By now, the maid and guard knight were probably searching for her. No, they might have even alerted the mansion.

This meant that if not today, she would no longer be able to be alone in the downtown area under the pretext of lemon tarts.

And above all.

‘I feel like someone’s been following me from behind…!’

There had been a man following her since earlier.

At first, she thought they were just going in the same direction, but he kept following her wherever she went, and even when she deliberately slowed down, he showed no signs of overtaking her.

Right now, she wanted to forget about the doctor and just go back to where she was originally, but she wasn’t confident she could shake off the person following her and make it back to the downtown area.

It would be nice if there were people nearby, but apart from the occasional carriage passing by, not even an ant could be seen.

Dalia, who was scared and regretful of the current situation, whimpered inwardly and increased her pace.

At the same time, she began to imagine how to deal with a potential emergency situation.

‘If the man following me grabs me, I’ll have to throw a punch…!’

And that situation really did happen.

With a thud, someone suddenly grabbed Dalia’s shoulder.

At this, Dalia, thinking that what she had been dreading had finally come, tightly closed her eyes and swung her arm widely.

But the man who easily blocked her arm said,

“Dalia.”

A familiar voice penetrating her ear.

“…Duke?”

It was Clayton.

Looking around, the man who had been following her had already disappeared. It seemed he had run away with Clayton’s appearance.

“Dalia.”

Clayton, who had been staring at Dalia as she looked around behind her, called her name again.

Only then did Dalia realize the situation she was in and bit her lip.

It was Clayton who broke the brief silence that had settled.

He frowned when he didn’t see the people who should have been with Dalia.

“Why are you alone here? Where’s your escort?”

“Well, that’s…”

And watching Dalia’s hesitation, Clayton ordered Caddison, who had been observing the situation from behind.

“Bring Dalia’s escort and maid before my eyes, right now.”

As Clayton spoke sternly towards Caddison, Dalia grabbed his arm.

“No, no! It’s not their fault. I wanted to walk alone, so I deliberately gave them other tasks and secretly wandered around, and then I got lost!”

Dalia’s voice was urgent.

That was because she felt guilty at the thought that the two would be reprimanded because of her.

Clayton, looking at such a Dalia, exhaled a short breath as if dumbfounded.

“You got lost? You’re not going to say you don’t know where this is, are you?”

“Where… where is this…?”

“Ha.”

At Dalia’s expression that truly seemed to have no idea, he let out a hollow laugh.

The place where the two were now was the old downtown area, which, unlike the new downtown, was not safe.

Moreover, this was a place where prostitutes and various criminals mainly stayed, so even during the day, women rarely walked around alone.

If a noble lady carelessly set foot in such a place, who knows what kind of rough treatment she might encounter.

Yet, he couldn’t help but be exasperated seeing the woman blinking her clear eyes, not even knowing what she had almost gone through.

Sensing from the man’s increasingly grim expression that this place was dangerous, Dalia spoke in a shrinking voice.

“…I’ll never wander around alone again. So please don’t punish the escort and maid. I’m begging you.”

Clayton, who had been silently watching Dalia plead with a completely deflated attitude, said to Caddison.

“Wrap it up with a two-month salary cut for the escort and maid. But tell them that if this happens again, it won’t end with just being fired.”

“Yes. Understood.”

At the duke’s order, color returned to Dalia’s face.

She was just grateful for this level of punishment, as she could separately make up for the deducted salary.

At this, Dalia raised her head to express her gratitude to Clayton.

“Thank you. From now on, this won’t happen aga…”

Growl.

Due to the untimely signal from her stomach indicating hunger, her body froze on the spot.

“…”

“…”

Clayton too remained silent for a moment at the unexpected sound, and the longer the silence continued, the more Dalia’s head sank towards the ground.

And as always, it was Clayton who first broke this awkward atmosphere.

“Let’s have a meal first.”

Returning to the new downtown area, Dalia encountered her maid Samantha and the guard knight who had been anxiously searching for her.

The two were relieved to see Dalia with Clayton, but only for a moment. When they heard the duke’s words from Caddison, their faces turned pale again.

Dalia inwardly apologized to the two who had turned not just blue but completely pale, and then took a seat with Clayton at a high-end restaurant.

The ordered dishes were placed before them one by one, and after she had somewhat satisfied her hungry stomach.

‘Come to think of it, this is the first time we’re facing each other and talking like this since that kiss that day…!’

Suddenly realizing that this was the first time she had faced Clayton since the garden party, Dalia belatedly began to feel awkward.

But there was an even bigger problem than the awkwardness.

It was the fact that her gaze was unconsciously landing on the man’s lips.

Dalia secretly glanced at Clayton’s lips while putting steak in her mouth.

Every time his lips moved, memories of that day would pop up unexpectedly.

‘This is driving me crazy.’

Secretly stealing glances at someone else’s lips. Just as she was starting to feel self-loathing, feeling like she had become some kind of pervert, Clayton, who had been keeping his gaze on his plate, asked.

“You’ll bore a hole in my face.”

His voice was nonchalant, as if he knew Dalia had been secretly stealing glances at him.

“If you have something to say, say it.”

“I, I don’t have anything like that!”

“Then I’ll speak.”

He put his cutlery on the plate and wiped his lips with a napkin before continuing.

“What’s the real reason you went there?”

“I told you earlier. I just took a wrong turn…”

“You don’t expect me to believe that someone who’s lived in the capital for over a decade accidentally went there, do you?”

Ah, right.

She had forgotten that the original female lead had lived in the capital for a long time, due to all the commotion.

“And how do you explain that attire?”

“…”

There was no way Clayton would have been satisfied with the plain outfit that even made the maid look perplexed.

But she couldn’t exactly say she was looking for a doctor to get birth control pills.

Dalia tilted her water glass, trying to think of a plausible excuse.

‘What should I do? He doesn’t seem like he’ll let this go. What excuse should I make?’

However, perhaps because she was lost in her own thoughts, she let go of the glass before it even touched the table.

Crash.

At the same time, the sound of breaking glass echoed through the restaurant.

Only then coming to her senses, Dalia bent down with a flustered expression.

A staff member who came running at the sound tried to clear away the plate, but Dalia was faster.

As she reached out to clean up the broken glass pieces, Clayton tried to stop her.

“Dalia, what are you…”

“Ouch.”

With a short cry, Dalia clutched her finger.

“Madam, are you alright? It’s dangerous, we’ll take care of this.”

“Ah, I’m sorry. I was just thinking of something else…”

“No, no. You should stop the bleeding first.”

The staff member spoke with a worried face, watching red droplets flowing between her fingers.

Then he left to get medical supplies.

Dalia, who was wrapping a napkin around her finger to stop the bleeding for now, turned her head towards Clayton. She was about to apologize to him.

“Duke, I’m sorry. Because of me, there’s a commotion… Duke?”

She couldn’t help but close her mouth when she saw his face, which had turned pale.

Bang!

As Clayton returned to the mansion and kicked the door open, a startled Jason approached him.

His disheveled appearance, unlike his usual self, and the noticeably protruding blood vessels showed that his current state was not good.

“Duke! What on earth happened!”

Clayton, who was almost staggering towards his room, spoke in a hoarse voice.

“Send someone to Hertz immediately.”

“Pardon?”

Jason, who was supporting Clayton, unusually flustered, continued speaking.

“But today isn’t the scheduled day…”

However, Jason had to stop mid-sentence when he saw Clayton’s sharp gaze.

Clayton looked dangerous, as if one wrong move would make him cross some line.