Chapter 95
As I watched Joy’s fluttering white hair, I opened my mouth.
“Hey, Joy.”
“What is it?”
“Thank you for telling me.”
I felt Joy’s gaze shift to my face, but I kept my head fixed forward and continued speaking.
“If you ever need my help, just let me know.”
If it’s a precious jewel that can grant wishes, he might need connections or power from the nobility.
“I appreciate the sentiment, but you’ve already given me enough help as a customer.”
When I tilted my head in confusion, Joy clarified.
“I mean money. Money.”
He said that the amount I had given him as payment was more than sufficient.
Now that I thought about it, he had shown a strong obsession with money from the very first time we met.
At first, I had thought he was a bit extravagant, but it turned out to be the opposite.
“If I find that jewel first, I’ll give it to you as a gift.”
I confidently declared to him in a bright voice, hoping it would make him regret sharing a bit of his past less.
“Of course, you’re the customer I chose. You have a big heart.”
Joy also responded with a playful smile, mimicking a gesture of being moved, his hands clasped together.
As we returned to a comfortable atmosphere and exchanged a few words, we soon arrived in front of my room.
“This is my room.”
“Wait a moment.”
Just as I was about to open the door and enter, Joy suddenly stopped and turned to look at me.
“Even if I say I have no ulterior motives toward you, is it really okay for us to go into the room you used before your marriage, just the two of us?”
Joy questioned, pointing out that something felt off, even though he was my aide.
Only after hearing his words did I realize this fact myself.
“I’ve been so comfortable that I forgot.”
“That’s true.”
While everyone in the Duchy of Balestain had not paid much attention to Joy being my aide, I suddenly recognized that the situation was a bit different now.
It was obvious how it would look to others if I sneaked into a room I used before marriage with a man who wasn’t my husband at night.
“Anyway, we just need to check if there’s anything wrong with the things in the room, so let’s go in quickly and come out.”
Thinking it would be difficult to bring Joy to my room again if I didn’t do it today, I hurriedly opened the door.
Just then.
“Miss Dalia?”
Startled by the unfamiliar voice that came between Joy and me, I flinched, even though I hadn’t done anything wrong.
Turning around, I saw the butler, who had been devotedly taking care of the mansion for nearly 20 years, standing there with a bewildered expression.
“I thought you were in the dining room.”
He had been patrolling the mansion and, after regaining his composure, spoke to me.
“Since I returned home after a long time, I suddenly wanted to take a look around the rooms.”
“I see. It seems the aide has already finished his meal.”
I could feel Hale’s gaze on Joy as he spoke.
It seemed suspicious for us to be standing in front of the room together at night.
“I usually have short meals. The garden is beautiful, so I happened to meet Miss Dalia while taking a walk.”
Joy replied to Hale with his usual diligent aide demeanor.
Fortunately, thanks to Joy’s reasonable excuse, the confusion on Hale’s face seemed to ease a bit, but it was still too early to relax.
“I see. It’s even more beautiful during the day. I’ll give you a proper tour later. By the way…”
After finishing his sentence, Hale looked at Joy with an expression that suggested he had more to say.
“Have we perhaps met before? I feel like this isn’t the first time I’m seeing you.”
“That can’t be. This is my first time coming up to the estate.”
Joy shook his head in response to Hale’s words.
It seemed Hale quickly accepted Joy’s answer, nodding as if he realized he was mistaken.
“Hale, I’d like to take a look around the room. My belongings are still there, right?”
I decided to wrap up the conversation here to send Hale on his way.
“Of course, Miss. Everything is just as you left it before your marriage.”
“Thank you. Just as I expected from you, Hale.”
As I smiled and thanked him, Hale looked back at me with a pleasant smile and nodded.
With a remark that he would take his leave, Hale began to retrace his steps.
Once I confirmed he had disappeared down the hallway, I let out a sigh of relief and muttered.
“Did we look suspicious at all?”
“Did I look like I wanted to hold your hand or hug you?”
Joy’s words urged me not to worry unnecessarily and to act confidently, making me chuckle.
It was funny to think that I was the one worrying first about looking suspicious.
“Right. Let’s go in quickly. It’ll take some time to check if there’s anything wrong in the mansion as well.”
I opened the door and showed Joy the room.
Seeing my familiar room after almost three months brought a wave of nostalgia.
“Hm, this room feels much more extravagant compared to the one in the duchy. I thought you had a neat taste based on the room you used in the territory.”
At that moment, Joy, who had followed me in to look around, began to share his impressions of the room.
Indeed, as he said, my room before marriage had a much more luxurious feel compared to the one I was currently using in the Duchy of Balestain.
In fact, I lived without realizing that I preferred a neater style until I married Evan.
For over ten years, my life had revolved around adjusting to Delos’s tastes rather than my own.
Now that I recognized this and carefully examined the room again, I noticed that there were numerous items throughout that reflected Delos’s preferences instead of mine.
From the ornate fabrics to accessories and furniture, almost everything was more aligned with Delos’s taste.
“I’ll have to completely renovate this room later. It looks terrible now that I see it.”
I was determined to get rid of the accessories I had bought specifically to impress Delos first.
“By the way, do you sense anything strange?”
I approached Joy, who was surveying the room.
After looking around for a while, he tilted his head and spoke.
“No, nothing particularly unusual seems to be here.”
I nodded, as if I had anticipated his response.
“Of course, it wouldn’t be hidden in such an easy place.”
Coming out of the room with no significant findings, I began to explore the entire mansion with Joy.
I mentioned that there might be an object nearby that could serve as a medium, so it would be good to take a look around.
After about 30 minutes of searching, we didn’t find anything particularly odd.
“It’s already this late. We should head back soon.”
I hurried toward the dining room, thinking that if we were gone too long, people might start to feel something was off and come looking for us.
However, as we got closer to the dining room, we began to hear loud, boisterous voices.
Once we entered the dining room, Joy and I could only stand there in shock for a moment.
“Ughhh— So, that noble lady told me she wanted to break up with me, and I didn’t eat or drink for a while!”
“Hey! Cesar! Why are you boasting about your failed love life as if it were a success story?”
“Ugh, my father doesn’t even offer me any comfort. Just look at the Duke! How steadfastly he listens to my story!”
The dining room was on the verge of chaos.
No, had it already crossed that point long ago?
The first thing that caught my eye was Cesar, almost clinging to Evan’s side as he sat upright.
With a choked expression, Cesar was rambling on about the noble lady who had rejected him last time, while Evan’s face showed the expression of someone who had already reached enlightenment.
