“Open your eyes.”

When Leah opened her eyes, she saw the duke so close that their noses could almost touch.

No, to be precise, Leah was overlapping the duke’s body.

‘Then what my hand is touching now is…’

Leah swallowed hard and lowered her gaze to see her own hand burrowing between the duke’s widely open dress shirt.

‘Gasp!’

Why was his shirt open so much?

She needed to get up, but Leah’s whole body froze like a broken machine.

“Leah.”

Then at the voice tickling her ear, Leah raised her head.

Did the duke just call her name? Even after hearing it with her own ears, Leah blinked her eyes in disbelief.

‘Quack.’

‘Apothecary.’

‘You.’

There were many titles to refer to Leah. Among all those many titles, the duke called her by her name.

Before she could fully grasp the situation, his gentle voice wrapped around her ear once again.

“If you want something like this in the future, just say so.”

‘I never wanted something like this!’

In that moment, as Leah came to her senses, her face turned bright red. And like a spring bouncing out, Leah suddenly raised her body.

“Are, are you alright?!”

“…”

“I mean, I didn’t mean to fall on purpose…!”

Seeing the duke buried among the books scattered everywhere, Leah felt dizzy. She had knocked over the duke. She was also afraid he might have been hurt.

She had forgotten that people’s gazes were drawn by the quite loud noise they made when falling.

Leah hurriedly approached on her knees and examined the duke this way and that. Seeing her like that, Akkia swallowed a sigh.

‘Not even realizing what she looks like right now.’

He could see the hem of Leah’s dress rolled up to her thighs.

Seeing her fussing over him, she seemed to have returned to the Leah he knew. That night. The night he had swallowed those red shining lips, Akkia had been extremely impulsive.

‘Perhaps…’

If a similar situation arose again, there was no guarantee he could suppress that impulse. Leah’s feelings would likely be not much different from his own.

Since that day, Akkia knew that the look in Leah’s eyes when she gazed at him had changed. And that something needed to be explained between them.

However, he himself couldn’t explain that impulse, so he had pretended not to know while knowing Leah’s feelings.

Even though he knew it would plant seeds of misunderstanding in Leah’s heart.

‘Besides, her grumbling appearance has been quite pleasing to see.’

To the point where he thought it was cute.

Even now, Akkia’s gaze lingered on Leah’s lips that kept pouting while worrying about him.

“This won’t do. I’ll help you up. Let’s go over there and check where you’re hurt!”

“…”

“I made a stupid mistake. I wasn’t trying to pull you down.”

‘Mistake?’

It was the moment Leah tried to stand up. Before she could, Akkia’s hand shot out and wrapped around Leah’s waist.

About to stand but sitting back down, Leah’s eyes widened. No wonder, as she was now sitting on Akkia’s lap from being pulled.

“Your Grace?”

Leah’s voice trembled slightly as she called Akkia. When their gazes met in midair, her pupils shook as much as her voice.

That kiss wasn’t something like a mistake. He didn’t want to end the kiss that had caused deep waves in his heart, which had been like an abyss, with just the word mistake.

“For me, it wasn’t a mistake.”

“Pardon?”

Akkia reached out his hand and brushed Leah’s red hair, swaying freely in the air, behind her ear.

The corners of his mouth slowly curled up, drawing an elegant curve.

“The kiss. I’m saying it wasn’t a mistake.”

And making all his worries up to now seem meaningless, Leah’s face turned bright red.

.

.

.

The two of them sat until closing time and only left the library after the sun had set. The books were better than expected.

‘Especially the book on poisonous herbs.’

It contained information about combining poisonous herbs that could be used as medicinal herbs.

Though it described the uses of quite a few poisonous herbs, what caught her eye most was the venom of the poison spider.

The phrase stating it could have a paralytic effect when used made her think of anesthesia.

‘If developed well, it could even be used as a painkiller.’

Moreover, depending on how the poison was combined, it could even have antidote effects. She planned to research it as an antidote for Polarium when she returned to Haidern territory.

The sun had been high in the sky when they came to the library, but now it was already setting. It was when they were walking together after leaving the library.

“Oh my. Miss Leah!”

Leah turned around at the sound of someone calling her.

“Hello! Are you on your way back to the trading company?”

“Yes. I’m going back now to have dinner!”

It was one of the employees working at the Magnolia shop.

“You should hurry back and have dinner. Oh, this is James, my assistant who came to Tren with me.”

“Ah, I see.”

At Leah’s introduction, the employee’s gaze shifted to Akkia.

“Nice to…”

Before he could finish his greeting, the employee’s complexion turned ashen.

“I’m James. I’m Leah’s assistant. Nice to meet you.”

“M-Mister James.”

The man accepted Akkia’s outstretched hand with both of his own.

“You know…”

“Oh my, look at the time! I have an urgent matter at the company, so I’ll be going now. Have a nice day!”

It was when Leah was about to say something cheerfully.

The man disappeared from sight in a hurry without even listening to Leah’s words.

“Urgent matter? Didn’t he just say he was going to have dinner?”

‘Is having dinner so urgent?’

Akkia turned around as he looked at Leah’s puzzled face.

“He must have some trouble.”

The corners of the duke’s mouth were gently curved as he answered in an indifferent voice.

[This is the timeline separator]

Butler Bayern sat in the reception room, fiddling with a cup. Though it was long past the appointed time, there was no sign of the mansion’s owner appearing.

The high ceiling covered in gold leaf and expensive artworks by famous artists hanging on the walls.

The luxurious interior of the mansion befitted the Marquis Rodrigo, who was wielding power under the current emperor’s protection.

Marquis Rodrigo was Bayern’s brother. To be precise, Bayern was the illegitimate child of the previous Marquis Rodrigo.

‘It certainly wasn’t this splendid just a few years ago…’

Both of them received orders from ‘that person’.

Marquis Rodrigo became the emperor’s closest secretary, and Bayern was sent to Haidern territory to monitor Akkia.

[I also want to assist that person while staying in the capital…] [Bayern. Is it even proper for someone of your birth to assist that person?] […] [Go to Haidern territory and earn merits. We’ll talk again then.]

The marquis gently coaxed Bayern, who felt wronged, saying it wouldn’t be difficult to secure an important position in the capital if he did well.

Believing those words, what things had he done?

Originally, Bayern was supposed to be included in this regular personnel appointment. Trusting it without doubt, he had made the rash move of slandering the duke along with the chief physician Jacob.

Upon seeing the list with only his name missing, Bayern immediately sent a letter to his brother. He asked what was going on, but the reply that came back was nothing if not brief.

[Bayern, your name is not on the list for important positions in the capital this time. Look forward to the next opportunity. – L.W]

Realizing it was useless to keep asking by letter, he came to see Marquis Rodrigo in person. Even using his vacation days.

Every time his friends around him settled in the capital one by one, Bayern’s heart boiled.

His brother inherited the title for being the legitimate son. Why couldn’t he do the same?

Unlike his brother who had ‘Rodrigo’ in his grasp from birth, Bayern wasn’t even allowed the surname ‘Rodrigo’.

That wasn’t all. An illegitimate child that everyone hushed up about. Due to the limitations of his birth, Bayern had to be assigned as a butler in the frontier.

How long did he have to stay quiet in Haidern territory? Thinking of his unsightly situation compared to his brother, Bayern choked up again.

Just as he tightly clenched his trembling hand, the reception room door opened. And Marquis Rodrigo approached languidly and sat down opposite him.

“Br-brother!”

At the title of brother that came from Bayern, the marquis’s brow furrowed slightly.

“Tsk. Can’t you address me properly, Bayern?”

“I’m sorry, Your Excellency… I just can’t believe it.”

“Believe what?”

The marquis rested his chin on his hand, seeming uninterested in Bayern’s words.

“The personnel appointment, I mean. Why I’m not included… Brother, no, Your Excellency, you know too, don’t you? What efforts I’ve made to come to the capital!”

Desperation filled Bayern’s eyes. The marquis, who had been staring at him intently, unfolded his arms that had been crossed.

“I know.”

Just as Bayern’s face brightened, thinking the marquis was the only one who understood his situation.

“How you disappointed that person. Bayern. You should know better than anyone why you couldn’t come to the capital, right?”

Bayern’s face froze at the unexpectedly cold voice. The marquis, looking at him like that, tapped his fingers on the table.

“If you want to come to the capital, you need to prove your worth.”

“…W-worth, you say.”

“There are many ways to please that person. You should know better than anyone.”

Bayern swallowed hard.

Is that still the only way? The demise of Duke Haidern.

The marquis stopped his tapping fingers as he looked at Bayern, whose tension was evident.

“And don’t come here on your own like this anymore.”

With those final words, the marquis stood up. Then he pointed his chin at Bayern, addressing the mansion’s butler who had entered.

“Bayern says he’s leaving, so see him out.”

“Yes, Your Excellency.”

Bayern clenched his trembling hands into fists. There was no more time to delay now.

If this year passes, the next opportunity for an official appointment would only come after several years. For his elderly mother to spend her remaining years comfortably, he needed to secure a position in the capital.

‘I guess… I have to do that after all.’

Bayern’s eyes glinted as he thought it was time to end his long-standing relationship with the duke.