– Rattle, rattle.

Inside the moving carriage.

Adeline closed her eyes tightly while holding her trembling hands.

‘It wasn’t going back to retrieve the seal.’

She had planned to just grab the seal and find another way somehow, but Adeline was now being forcibly taken away, captured by the knights who had come to the villa.

“We’ll take care of your luggage. Please get in the carriage quickly.”

She had hurriedly put the seal into the small bag she was carrying, but even that was taken away.

‘It’s just a luggage bag, surely they won’t search it?’

Adeline carefully lifted the curtain draped over the carriage.

‘One inside. Five outside.’

There were five knights visible through the window. To send so many knights just to capture one woman. Adeline briefly considered ways to escape but quickly gave up.

When first captured, she was devastated, thinking the Marquis had finally found her. But the armbands of the knights surrounding her were those of House Torpeo.

“We’ve come to escort you. Please let us know what luggage you need to bring, and we’ll take care of it.”

Adeline recalled what had happened just moments ago. Though maintaining a polite attitude towards her, the knights gave her no openings, as if determined to prevent any chance of escape.

Adeline turned her gaze to the knight sitting straight across from her.

Unlike the knights surrounding the carriage outside, the one inside was unarmed. Only the lightly worn armband clearly indicated he was a knight of House Torpeo.

Adeline was well aware this was a kind of warning that they wouldn’t harm her as long as she didn’t try to escape.

“Excuse me, sir knight? Where are you taking me?”

Adeline asked the knight with an innocent expression.

“I’ve only been ordered to escort the lady to the Duke’s residence.”

From the knight’s words, Adeline deduced that Duke Torpeo had returned to his residence and that his memory had returned.

‘Lady, he says.’

Adeline, who had been anxious about whether the Duke with his returned memories might have realized she was the daughter of House Credion, felt somewhat relieved.

If he had known she was the Marquis’s daughter, he certainly wouldn’t have called her “lady.”

‘Right. It was just that one time at the debutante ball.’

Even the Marquis hadn’t recognized her disguised appearance, so how could the Duke, who had only met eyes with her once at the debutante ball, possibly know who she was?

Adeline recalled the lie she had told the amnesiac Duke in the past.

“I-I’m a commoner! I-I fell in love with you without knowing you were a noble, and we had to run away because of our different social statuses.”

She had blurted out whatever came to mind just to escape the situation at the time, but who would have thought it would be helpful in this way? Adeline felt as if she had discovered a path she didn’t know existed, thanks to her own unforeseen foresight.

‘Yes. It’s still okay for now.’

Nothing could be determined for certain yet.

Even if the Duke’s memory had returned, she was the one who had saved and cared for him. Adeline planned to assess the situation and then request to be temporarily hidden as the commoner Del.

How much time had passed?

The carriage that had been running day and night finally slowed down and came to a stop.

Adeline, who had fallen asleep exhausted from the relentless journey, struggled to open her eyes at the light coming through the suddenly opened door.

Beyond the door, she could see the large ducal palace in the Torpeo territory.

Adeline followed the butler who had come to guide her, entering the Duke’s residence with light steps.

Adeline walked down the corridor of the Duke’s residence, following the butler.

‘Calm down.’

Adeline walked in slowly, her hands neatly clasped together. Though she had joined her hands to stop them from trembling, it seemed to appear differently to the servants of the Duke’s residence.

“My goodness. She looks like an angel.”

“Isn’t she the woman brought from Horn? To think the Duke would bring a woman here. A commoner woman at that. Is he planning to take her as a mistress?”

“Shh! She might hear you. But still, for a commoner, her posture is quite upright. One might mistake her for a noble lady.”

“Well, for the Duke to bring her himself, she must have quite the high nose.”

As she walked down the corridor, Adeline’s ears caught the whispers of the maids. She tried to pretend not to hear, keeping her gaze fixed straight ahead.

From the servants’ whispers, Adeline could once again confirm that the Duke still thought of her as the commoner Del.

‘He was the one who pointed a sword at me when we first met.’

Now, although Adeline had been brought here forcibly, she was being treated with courtesy.

Adeline felt elation at the situation turning in her favor despite the Duke’s returned memory, but this moment, akin to gambling, also made her extremely nervous.

Guided to the reception room, Adeline sat down demurely in the prepared seat.

Though she appeared calm on the outside, the reality was different.

Placed in the large reception room, Adeline was so tense she couldn’t even grasp the teacup prepared in front of her.

She clasped her hands tightly together to hide their trembling.

‘This is driving me crazy…’

As if trying to deny her shaking hands, Adeline fixed her gaze on empty space.

Perhaps due to Adeline’s beautiful appearance, fortunately, it appeared to the servants as if she was leisurely looking out the window.

As the waiting time grew longer, Adeline’s confidence shrank. She began to shake her head vigorously as if trying to shake off her thoughts.

‘Ah, I don’t know! It’ll work out somehow.’

Cornered, Adeline was actually in a do-or-die situation right now.

If this Duke Torpeo didn’t accept her, her immediate fate was obvious.

‘It’s a dead end either way, isn’t it?’

In any case, Adeline, with nowhere to run from the Marquis’s eyes right now, had to hide behind the Duke to buy time. Adeline’s mind became complicated, wondering what she should say when she saw the Duke.

Should she take the upper hand by blaming him for abandoning her after spending a night together? Or should she plead to let her stay quietly by his side for the sake of their past affection?

Just as she was deep in thought, the closed door of the reception room opened.

– Click.

“See to it that it’s handled that way.”

A familiar deep voice wrapped around her ears. The owner of the familiar voice was entering while giving some orders to a servant, seemingly busy with work.

Even though the voice wasn’t directed at her, Adeline’s emotions welled up at that voice.

Completely forgetting her earlier deep contemplation, Adeline sprang up from her seat and uttered the name familiar to her.

“Me… Mel.”

The Duke, who had been focusing his gaze on the servant even while entering the reception room, turned his head straight towards Adeline at that name from her lips.

‘Mel? What is this woman trying to do now?’

Adeline shamelessly called him Mel with her pretty lips. The Duke’s red eyes stared intently at Adeline. Her eyes were trembling yet wistful, as if looking at a long-lost person.

‘Did she think I wouldn’t recognize the Marquis’s daughter?’

The Duke sent an even colder gaze towards Adeline, who was deceiving him even at this moment of being brought to the Duke’s residence.

His lips remained tight, refusing to open.

– Gulp.

Casius shifted his gaze to Adeline’s moving Adam’s apple. She kept swallowing saliva, seemingly nervous. Adeline was exerting all her strength to keep her trembling hands still, gripping them tightly.

After slowly observing her tense appearance, the Duke suddenly seemed to change his mind and slightly raised the corners of his stiffened lips.

“Del.”

After a long silence, a familiar name reached Adeline’s ears.

Adeline relaxed her tensed shoulders, seemingly relieved at the sight of the Duke smiling and calling her Del.

“What’s going on now? I really don’t understand anything…”

Adeline decided to fully act out her confusion at being suddenly brought here, pretending she knew nothing.

The Duke found this situation immensely amusing. It was like watching a dance of joy, unaware of being already in his cage.

The Duke decided to enjoy Adeline’s act a little longer.

“Del. Were you very surprised?”

The Duke affectionately called the name of his prey, whom he would never let go again.

Adeline involuntarily flinched at the gentle voice penetrating her ears. She continued to act as if she knew nothing.

“How is Mel at the Duke’s residence… Could it be that Mel is the Duke?”

Adeline, lifting her head suddenly, was expressive.

She looked like she was about to cry, then smiled. What about those wavering eyes? The Duke watched her ever-changing expressions as if appreciating them.

Adeline was unaware that her expressions, which she had tried so hard to control, were instead appearing comical to the Duke’s eyes.

‘I must be crazy to find that appearance lovable.’

To think she would put on such a poor act when he had known from the beginning. The Duke was greatly pleased to see his prey, already in his grasp, squirming.

“Why don’t we sit down and talk?”

After seating Adeline, the Duke brushed back his thick black hair. Then, gazing at her with eyes tinged with blood, he flashed an affectionate smile.

“Mel. Do you know how long I’ve been searching for you? Why did you leave without a word?”

Why did she leave without a word, he asks. Is this something to say to her, who never showed a hint of sincerity to him until the end?

‘So she intends to deceive me to the very end.’

The Duke’s affectionate smile faded.

Though her squirming was adorably pitiful, it was now time to corner his prey.

“Everyone, leave.”

At the Duke’s command, all the servants left the reception room.

A heavy silence fell over the reception room where only the two of them remained.

Overwhelmed by the tension, Adeline emptied the teacup in front of her in one gulp.

The Duke, who had been staring at the empty cup, broke the silence first and approached.

“Oh my. The cup is empty.”

He began pouring tea into Adeline’s empty cup. His gaze remained fixed on Del sitting across from him.

“Why don’t you tell me now.”

Even as the cup filled to the brim with tea, the Duke’s gaze never left her.

“Why you have my seal in your possession.”

Adeline couldn’t understand how the Duke knew about the seal she had hidden.

‘Did they search my luggage?’

Unable to hide her confusion, she could only grip her skirt tightly.

The tea, filled to the brim of the cup, eventually overflowed.

Even as the hot tea spilled relentlessly, flowing across the table and soaking Adeline’s skirt, he didn’t stop.

Despite the hot tea seeping in, Adeline remained frozen in place, unable to move.

The Duke’s eyes, now filled with madness as he stared at her, had bound her, preventing her from budging an inch.