Chapter 12
Shanette looked surprised for a moment but soon nodded as if she understood.
Wait a second. What exactly did she understand?
“You could’ve given me a heads-up, Reus. If you had, I would’ve told the staff to prepare everything in advance.”
“Lady Ivelle will be staying here for a while, so you don’t need to worry about that.”
Who…? Me?
‘That’s not right…’
“Oh my, really? Then I shouldn’t be standing here. I’d better tell the head chef to prepare more food. I’ll go on ahead, so you two take your time coming.”
“I will.”
Shanette, having finished her conversation with Reus, turned toward me.
“This isn’t how I would usually welcome a guest… I’m sorry, Lady Ivelle.”
“Oh, no, I… I’m not that special of a guest….”
“Yes, it’s my fault. I’ll be sure to inform you next time.”
I tried to clear up the misunderstanding, but Reus interrupted, so I couldn’t say anything more.
“Well then, I’ll see you in a bit, Lady Ivelle.”
Shanette glanced between us with a pleased look, then turned and headed toward the Grand Duke’s castle.
I stared blankly at her disappearing figure.
‘What is all this…’
I was so baffled I just stood there with my mouth open. It took me a while before I could finally speak.
“Wait, excuse me… wha–”
The real problem was that I was so dumbfounded I forgot all sense of decorum.
Calling the one and only Grand Duke of the Empire “excuse me”…!
I’d gotten too used to calling him “this guy,” “that guy,” and just plain “Reus” in my head, so the words slipped out before I realized it.
Knowing full well I was in the wrong, I couldn’t continue. Reus looked at me calmly and said,
“Yes, ‘excuse me.’ I’m listening. Go ahead.”
I was so flustered, all the questions in my head flew away.
‘Was my head the worst injury I got that day…?’
Right. I did have a terrible fever. Maybe it cooked my brain a little. How else could he be acting like this?
I was seriously worried and was about to ask if something was wrong with him. But then I closed my mouth again.
Because of Reus expression.
It’s hard to describe, but somehow… he looked strangely pleased.
‘Yup. He’s totally lost it.’
I felt a bit sorry for him… and pulled myself together.
Wait. That’s not the issue right now.
The problem is that Reus tricked me!
Thinking back, things started getting weird in the drawing room. The conversation didn’t flow like usual. He started explaining things I didn’t ask. And in the carriage, he even smiled for a moment.
I should have realized something was off right then!
Suddenly, I remembered the letter.
‘Then… the letter was fake too?’
He was unusually chatty, and it was all just to keep me from reading the letter!
I shouldn’t have brushed it off as coincidence or my imagination. And the carriage—Reus would never ride in one with someone else!
From start to finish, I’d been completely fooled by him.
“Why did you trick me…?”
The words came out sharper than I intended. But Reus answered without a hint of guilt.
“Didn’t you trick me too?”
“What?”
“You lingered in front of the door for a long time, didn’t you? I assumed it was because you were trying to come up with a good lie or find a way to escape. Was I wrong?”
“W-What are you talking about…? I just… I just couldn’t believe that you had come to our house! I was nervous, that’s all…!”
I tried to explain, but he looked like he wasn’t buying a word of it.
“Even if you had told the truth, I don’t think anything would have changed, Lady Ivelle.”
“Of course—”
I couldn’t finish because Reus let out a soft sigh.
No, it was more like—his gaze made me feel trapped, and I couldn’t say anything at all. Though his eyes looked relaxed, there was a sharp gleam beneath them—like a predator watching its prey.
“You seem very good at running away.”
“Did you try to escape right in front of my eyes this time?”
“I-I don’t know what you mean by escape.”
“You’re not just good at running. Pretending not to know—impressive. I see you in a new light.”
His attitude of “I’ll listen to your nonsense for now” made me flare up without meaning to.
“That’s because you always—! I mean… you used to…”
“I did?”
Reus looked as if he genuinely didn’t remember, or maybe he was just pretending not to. Then came his insincere apology.
“If I did, I apologize. I hope you can forgive me, Lady Ivelle.”
Then he reached out his hand to me with a soft smile—as if to escort me.
Maybe it was the messed-up situation or my desperate urge to run, but courage suddenly welled up from somewhere. I firmly pushed his hand away.
“I-I’m going back.”
I stuttered a bit out of fear of how he’d react, but I managed to turn away. I soon heard a soft tsk behind me.
‘La la la—I heard nothing. Absolutely nothing.’
Instead of stopping me, Reus quietly followed behind.
“I didn’t know you could be so cold, even normally.”
“I-I don’t know what you’re talking about, Your Grace.”
I tried to walk faster, but it didn’t take long before he caught up.
Reus stepped in front of me, slowly leaning closer until I had no space to back away.
“If I block your way… are you going to hit me again today?”
“Huh?”
He tapped his finger under his eye.
“That was…!” “That was?”
He looked down at me with an amused expression, waiting for me to say more. I bit my lower lip hard. I almost said it was just out of surprise and not on purpose.
Honestly, I kind of wanted to hit him again—just to check if I really had done it. But I held myself back.
‘For now… I’ll deny everything.’
Flaring up won’t help. Escaping is the priority.
Instead of reacting how Reus wanted, I spoke very calmly, as if I’d never been upset.
“Your Grace.”
“Did you finally remember what you were going to say?”
“No. I just want to offer my sincere sympathy. I don’t know who hit you, but they must be a real scoundrel. How dare they raise a hand to the Grand Duke. How rude… and brave.”
“So you’re the type who calms down by talking about yourself in the third person.”
He still wasn’t taking me seriously, which almost made me lose it again. But I swallowed my anger and kept speaking calmly.
“No. Anyway, it seems unrelated to me.”
Reus raised one eyebrow at my continued denial.
“In short, I just want to say I think there’s been a misunderstanding. I’m not the scoundrel who attacked you. So now, I’ll return to the Count’s estate.”
“No. I refuse.”
I thought he was finally letting me go—but he denied it firmly and coldly.
‘Why is he doing this to me?!’
Reus clearly remembered that day. So why go through all this trouble just to bring me here?
If he wanted to repay me, he could’ve done it earlier. If he wanted to thank me, he should’ve done it at the Count’s estate.
But he did neither!
‘Whatever the reason, I have to escape.’
I broke the tense silence first.
“I said I want to go back to my home….”
“Then how about the Forest of Silence?”
I tried to protest again, but froze at the name he dropped.
Reus quietly added,
“Isn’t that part of the Count’s territory too?”
“If you don’t like that, then come with me to the Grand Duke’s castle.”
“And if I don’t like either?”
I gave him a small glare full of resentment. But Reus didn’t avoid my gaze—in fact, I had to look away first.
‘Ugh, it hurts my pride… but also, I’m scared…’
If I’d known this would happen, I really should’ve hit him one more time that day.
Since I stayed silent and wouldn’t look at him, Reus spoke again, like he had no choice.
“Then we’ll just have to return to the Count’s estate.”
“Really?”
I quickly turned to look at him.
“Come to think of it, I never got to thank your mother properly for saving me. Since Lady Ivelle seems uninterested in my gratitude, I’ll thank the Countess in your place.”
“Or maybe the Countess already knows? If so, it makes sense that you keep insisting on going back.”
Should I return to the Count’s estate, get caught by Peria, and be trapped forever—just like in the original story?
Or should I try to escape this tangled mess and change my fate?
‘Obviously… the second one.’
I made my choice quickly, and after a moment’s hesitation, I brought Reus’s hand back in front of me—the one I had rejected.
I wondered if he’d react badly to being touched, but he just watched silently. I cautiously took his large hand.
“Let’s go, Your Grace… Miss Shanette must be waiting…”
Reus gently closed his hand around mine, looking more satisfied than ever.
