Chapter 39
“It seems you’ve been avoiding me.”
Was it that obvious?
Alice’s shoulders flinched.
Ahem. Alice cleared her throat.
“It’s not so much that… I just felt we didn’t have much else to discuss.”
“Don’t you have any questions for me, or anything you want from me? I thought you would have had enough time to consider.”
“My decision has always been the same, so there was no need to reconsider. And… I’m not interested in you, Your Grace.”
The last words came out a bit awkwardly.
They were a lie, after all.
How could she not be interested when her heart raced just from looking at his face?
Alice lowered her gaze slightly from Kylus’s eyes, worried her face might betray her lie.
As she looked somewhere between the bridge of his nose and his philtrum, Kylus replied.
“That’s a shame. I’m quite interested in you.”
I didn’t hear that. I didn’t hear that.
Alice pretended not to hear Kylus’s strange words and opened her mouth.
“I really should be going now…!”
But she couldn’t finish her sentence.
An unfamiliar warmth touched her hand.
In the moment she opened her eyes wide in surprise, Kylus was bowing his head as he took her hand.
Then, a soft sensation on the back of her hand.
Alice’s eyes filled with astonishment, but she didn’t pull away the hand he had taken.
No, she couldn’t pull away, because Kylus was holding her hand firmly.
Alice looked down at Kylus as he pressed his lips to the back of her hand, her eyes wide.
His handsome face came into view.
With his eyes gently closed, he looked like a beautiful sculpture she couldn’t take her eyes off.
It was only a few seconds, but all of Alice’s senses were focused on the back of her hand.
“…”
She unconsciously held her breath, and at that moment, Kylus’s lips slowly lifted from her hand.
He elegantly raised his head to look at her.
“Take care on your way back, Alice.”
A hand kiss is just a greeting.
She repeated this in her frozen mind, but her heart wasn’t listening, beating furiously on its own.
Alice forced a smile, as if trying to hide her pounding heart.
“…Yes, Your Grace.”
Alice covered the strangely burning back of her hand and left the reception room, pretending nothing had happened.
This is really driving me crazy.
While inwardly screaming in silent shock.
“Your Excellency.”
As Alice left, the door to the reception room opened and the butler entered.
“Did Alice return to her room?”
“Yes. She went up to her room at a very brisk pace.”
“I see.”
Even as he spoke, Kylus was staring intently at his own hand rather than at the butler.
The butler’s gaze naturally followed Kylus’s to his hand.
“Your Excellency, did you hurt your hand?”
It didn’t appear to have any visible injury.
As the butler tilted his head in confusion, Kylus spoke.
“It’s not injured, so don’t worry.”
“Then why are you looking at your hand…?”
“Her warmth still lingers.”
“Pardon?”
The butler made a bewildered expression at the incomprehensible words, but Kylus continued to stare at his own hand.
Alice’s warmth.
Alice had left, but traces of her remained on his hand.
As he gazed quietly at his hand, Kylus’s lips curved into a faint smile.
He recalled Alice’s face, her eyes wide as she looked at him.
Alice had tried to act nonchalant about the hand kiss, but Kylus had seen it all.
The way her golden eyes had trembled uncontrollably.
And even as he kissed her hand, she couldn’t take her eyes off him.
“Not interested, indeed.”
He already knew well that she was very interested in him, especially in his appearance.
Though she was quite shaken, she still struggled to hold her ground…
“…How cute.”
He had never thought of a person as cute before, but Alice was an exception.
Was it because of the goodwill from her saving his life?
Just then, the butler, who had faintly heard Kylus’s small mutter, asked again.
“Pardon?”
“It’s nothing. More importantly, the Duchess’s mood was likely soured by the Fordley family today, so tell the chef to pay extra attention to dinner. Don’t forget to prepare her favorite dessert in advance as well.”
“Understood.”
“Ah, and find out which knightly order that Fordley brat belongs to.”
Alice may have been satisfied with just that, but he wasn’t.
It’s best to nip troublesome buds before they grow, to avoid future problems.
He intended to send a warning to Eric Fordley, just enough not to startle Alice.
By stripping him of the armor that didn’t suit his abilities.
It shouldn’t be difficult to remove an ill-fitting cap, since he seemed to have no talent as a knight anyway.
As Kylus’s dark eyes glinted coldly, the butler cautiously spoke up.
“Um, Your Excellency. There’s one thing I’d like to ask.”
“What is it?”
“Is the reason you’re paying so much attention to the Young Madam… because she saved your life?”
“Why ask such an obvious question?”
“…It’s just that Your Excellency’s behavior towards the Young Madam seems a bit unfamiliar, so I wondered if there might be… other feelings involved.”
“Other feelings?”
Kylus’s eyebrow quirked up crookedly.
As he pondered what “other feelings” could mean, he soon grasped the implication.
And he let out a laugh of disbelief.
“Adolf, do I look like someone who would be swayed by such foolish emotions?”
Love, of all things.
It was true that Alice was special to him, but he absolutely did not love her.
He simply didn’t want to lose her holy power.
From the start, love was the thing he despised most in the world.
His mother’s life had been completely ruined because of love, and his father had destroyed many lives with the hollow emotion called love.
Even beyond his parents, he had seen many foolish people risk their lives for stupid love.
So Kylus had closed off his heart and vowed to himself.
That he would never love.
And now, me, in love?
Wouldn’t even a passing dog laugh at that?
But why?
As he smirked at the thought, a heavy weight settled in one corner of Kylus’s heart.
“I spoke out of turn. I apologize, Your Excellency.”
The butler bowed his head.
Kylus hesitated for a moment, but replied as coldly as ever.
“…Indeed, it was quite unnecessary.”
But he still couldn’t shake off the sinking feeling.
He had been in quite a good mood just moments ago.
His face was rapidly becoming rigid.
As if some weakness had been exposed.
Weakness… Could Alice really be my weakness?
Kylus found he couldn’t deny it.
After all, Alice was the first person he had ever thought of as this special, even if it wasn’t love.
“Then I can’t let her go.”
A dangerous emotion bordering on obsession flickered in Kylus’s dark eyes.
To firmly secure Alice, he needed to regain control of the duchy as soon as possible.
Only then could he give her whatever she wanted.
Moreover, he needed to wield strong power to protect his weakness from any enemies he might face.
Deliberately ignoring the uneasiness creeping into a corner of his mind, Kylus met Adolf’s gaze.
“There won’t be any issues with going to the Imperial Palace, right?”
“No. I’ve prepared the coachman and carriage, and have also made arrangements with the doctor to avoid arousing the Grand Madam’s suspicions.”
“Tomorrow, it’s finally tomorrow that I’ll be able to meet His Majesty.”
Kylus tightly clenched the hand that still held Alice’s warmth.
* * *
The next day, Grand Madam Quillian, who only opened her eyes after the noon bell had rung, screamed at the shocking news.
“The Duke went to have an audience with His Majesty the Emperor?!”
Maris, who had brought the news, flinched violently at Grand Madam Quillian’s fierce glare.
Faced with a demeanor that seemed ready to grab her by the hair at any moment, Maris turned her head towards Rhonda, but Rhonda coldly ignored her.
It meant she had to bear Grand Madam Quillian’s wrath alone.
Maris squeezed her eyes shut and answered in a trembling voice.
“…Yes. They say he left early for the Imperial Palace before the Grand Madam woke up… Eek!”
Crash-!
But before Maris could finish speaking, a metal object came flying towards her.
A candlestick hit her forehead and fell to the floor with a loud clatter.
Maris fell to her knees, covering the blood flowing from her forehead with her hand.
“Madam, I’ve done wrong. Please spare me.”
Maris lay flat on the floor, her body shaking violently.
If she provoked Grand Madam Quillian’s mood now, she might really end up dead.
This was the first time Grand Madam Quillian’s nerves had been so on edge since Maris entered the Duke’s household.
Grand Madam Quillian had barely been able to sleep properly since the Duke woke up.
On top of that, yesterday the Fordley family, who were practically Grand Madam Quillian’s minions, had been thrown out of the mansion on the Duke’s orders.
Though they were the Duchess’s relatives, they had come to the Duke’s mansion using Grand Madam Quillian’s name.
Throwing out such guests without Grand Madam Quillian’s permission was as good as showing how the Duke thought of her.
Of course, this also foiled Grand Madam Quillian’s plans to ensnare Alice, the Duchess, once again.
Even a lowly maid like Maris knew well that Grand Madam Quillian was now backed into a corner.
Fearing that Grand Madam Quillian’s anger might be directed at her, Maris repeatedly knocked her forehead on the floor, begging for forgiveness.
“Madam, I’ve done wrong. Please forgive me just this once!”
“You stupid thing! You just stood by and watched the Duke leave for the Imperial Palace?! You should have told me as soon as you saw it! No, why are you only bringing me this news now?!”
Grand Madam Quillian shouted, throwing whatever she could grab at Maris.
“I’ve, I’ve committed a mortal sin. Madam, please forgive me.”
“Forgiveness?! Do you think this can be resolved with forgiveness?! Aaaaagh!”
Grand Madam Quillian, who seemed unable to contain her anger, suddenly let out a scream and then gasped, as if the back of her neck had been pulled taut.
