There was Lloyd’s hideout on the second floor of the bookstore Ars, located in an alley where people rarely pass by.

Although there were stairs on the outside of the building, Dalia deliberately went up to the second floor through the stairs connected to the bookstore’s warehouse.

“Do you come here often?”

Lloyd’s hideout was cozier than expected.

As if he spent a lot of time here, traces of life were clearly felt inside.

Of course, it was modest for a nobleman’s hideout, but it was sufficient for one person to live in.

Dalia, who was looking around the empty house with curious eyes while holding the cat, stopped her gaze on a small frame placed at the head of the bed.

“This is……”

It was a picture of a young girl and boy with red hair holding each other’s hands and smiling affectionately.

“Wow, they look exactly alike.”

The two children resembled each other so much that it was hard to believe they were fraternal twins.

Ah. Of course, their eyes were slightly different. If the boy had a sharper image, the girl’s eyes were more gently curved.

As Lloyd had said his sister was weak, her skin was also a bit paler, giving the image of a sickly girl.

“I’d like to see her in person someday.”

Even if not right away, perhaps an opportunity would come to meet her when the situation stabilizes.

It was then, as she was having such innocent thoughts. There was a creaking sound along with a presence.

Soon, the closed door opened wide and a person wearing a robe appeared.

The red hair that caught the eye as soon as the dark cloth was removed was the first thing that came into view.

“Lloyd!”

Dalia, who finally realized that the owner of the red hair was Lloyd, smiled brightly.

He also smiled at Dalia and called her.

“Have you been waiting long?”

“Not at all. I just got here! Thank you so much for coming. It must have been sudden.”

In fact, although she had vaguely sent a letter here, she didn’t expect to meet Lloyd right away today.

She had planned to wait for Lloyd here for a while, and if that didn’t work, she was going to ask the bookstore owner to take care of the cat for a while, but she was lucky.

“Just in case, I asked the bookstore owner to let me know immediately if a letter came. More importantly, there was no one outside, did you come here alone?”

“Yes. I thought it would be a bit awkward to come with a maid and a guard knight to meet you, so I got help from my godmother.”

Lloyd tilted his head at the appearance of an unexpected figure.

“Your godmother?”

“Yes.”

The moment Dalia decided she had to meet Lloyd, she immediately went to her godmother.

‘You want me to help you sneak out of the mansion?’

‘Yes. There’s somewhere I want to go quietly alone.’

‘It’s not difficult to help you sneak out of the mansion without anyone knowing. But you have to tell me your destination.’

So Dalia made the excuse that she was secretly going to a clinic to treat infertility.

It was because that was the only suitable excuse she could think of that would make her godmother actively help her.

Fortunately, although her godmother looked at her with pitiful eyes, she helped Dalia as promised before.

‘The people in the mansion would only think I’m with my godmother right now.’

The annex and the main building were far apart and there was little interaction between them.

Most of the maids working in the annex were also the godmother’s people.

So it wasn’t that difficult for Dalia to slip out of the heavily guarded Sayer mansion.

Dalia, who had briefly recalled her journey here, looked at Lloyd again.

But seeing Lloyd in women’s clothes even though he wasn’t going to meet Clayton, Dalia asked curiously.

“But why are you dressed as a woman today? You’re not going to meet the Duke.”

“Someone might accidentally see us meeting. It would be better for your reputation if the Duchess is seen meeting a woman rather than a man outside.”

Dalia let out a short breath when she realized that the reason he had gone through the trouble of dressing as a woman and coming here was purely for her sake.

It was something she hadn’t thought of herself.

“Thank you for being considerate, Lloyd.”

Lloyd smiled and shifted his gaze towards Dalia, who was sincerely expressing her gratitude.

“More importantly, is that the cat? The cat you mentioned?”

“Yes. I picked it up in the forest where we first met. It seems to have been abandoned by its mother after injuring its leg.”

The cat sleeping peacefully in her arms was quite cute.

Lloyd seemed to think the same, as the corners of his eyes curved pleasantly.

Dalia carefully asked while gently stroking the sleeping cat with her thumb.

“So, I was wondering if you could take care of the cat? I’d like to keep it myself, but I don’t think I can at the mansion.”

Her voice was mixed with apology and regret.

“Yes. I’ll take care of the cat. My sister happens to like cats. She’ll probably be happy.”

“Really? Thank you so much, Lloyd!”

When he readily agreed, Dalia rejoiced as if she could jump and handed the cat to Lloyd.

The cat, which had been sleeping quietly, whimpered.

Lloyd, who was looking fondly at the cat’s sleepy fuss, raised his head.

“By the way, have you talked to the Duke? I’m sure he would allow you to keep a cat if you said you wanted to.”

“I thought so too, but the Duke seems to dislike cats a lot.”

Dalia’s face was dripping with regret as she said this.

Stroking the cat that was sleeping comfortably in her arms, Dalia recalled Clayton’s serious face.

She had been inwardly surprised, as it was the first time she had seen such a cold face since her possession.

Even though she had confidently thought she knew the male protagonist better than anyone else.

“I guess I didn’t know as much about the Duke as I thought.”

Dalia’s expression turned bitter. Lloyd quietly gazed at Dalia’s face, which had sunk like a lead weight.

‘I heard it was a contract marriage.’

Although there were those who said the two had fallen into a fairy tale-like love and married, he already knew the inside story.

That the Duke of Sayer, who despised his curse more than anyone else, had made a kind of contract marriage with the eldest daughter of the Baron Molden family, known to be barren, in order to end his line.

So he thought that beautiful words like love didn’t suit the two of them.

But seeing Dalia making a bitter expression in front of him now, he began to feel as if his belief was cracking.

That expression of being hurt by her husband was just like…

“How do you think of the Duke, my lady?”

Finally, unable to resist the curiosity ringing in his heart, Lloyd asked.

“Huh? What do you mean, how do I think of him?”

“As a man.”

Despite the bold question, his voice was cautious.

“Do you love the Duke?”

And as expected. Dalia, taken aback by the somewhat abrupt question, asked back.

“…Do I love the Duke?”

“Yes.”

“Hmm…”

It was a question she had never thought about, nor felt the need to ponder over.

The time she had spent with Clayton was too short to use the word love.

Moreover, the feelings Dalia had for Clayton so far were closer to survival instinct than love.

After all, her relationship with Clayton was very important to maintain this quality of life in this world.

So it was only after hearing Lloyd’s question that she began to seriously consider it.

‘Well, he is the male lead of the novel I liked. I guess there is a bit of a flutter…’

To begin with, she didn’t completely lack affection for Clayton.

Although he was cold, indifferent, and sometimes acted unpredictably, startling her. He was, after all, the male protagonist of the novel she had loved. Moreover.

“Well, he is my husband after all.”

Now that she had to live rubbing shoulders with him for life as his wife, there was no way she could dislike him.

So Dalia expressed her current honest feelings.

“I see…”

Somehow, Lloyd’s shoulders slumped at Dalia’s plain answer.

“I heard you two had a contract marriage… That’s fortunate.”

“Huh? You knew we had a contract marriage?”

“Yes. The Duke wants to end the curse of the Sayer family in his generation. There was once a rumor among the vassal families that he would adopt an heir unrelated to the Sayer family.”

Dalia immediately understood his answer.

Of course, the Hertz family, being loyal to the Sayer family, would know the detailed circumstances.

‘Come to think of it, he was going to adopt an heir.’

She remembered that there was a clause about adopting an heir among the conditions of the contract marriage.

Of course, that plan of the male lead became moot when the female lead became pregnant.

Dalia, who was recalling the original content she had forgotten, suddenly looked around for a clock.

“Oh? Wait. What time is it now?”

Only then realizing that she had stayed here for too long, Dalia hurriedly got up from her seat.

It was because the time she had promised with her godmother was approaching.

“I’m sorry, Lloyd. I think I need to go quickly. I’m sorry I have to leave right after coming.”

“It’s okay. Don’t worry too much about the cat. I’ll take good care of it.”

“Thank you so much, Lloyd. I’ll write to you again when I get back!”

Lloyd’s eyes were filled with regret as he watched Dalia’s departing figure.