“Ah! I’m sorry.”
As soon as I realized I had been in his arms for too long, I was startled and pulled away.
“Oh.”
But as soon as I pulled away, I had to avert my eyes again. The robe he was wearing was almost completely open, which was more awkward to see than if he were wearing nothing at all.
From the water drops falling from Ricardo’s hair, it seemed he had just finished bathing. Of all the timings, it had to be this one.
Seeing me slightly turn my body and avoid his gaze, he slowly tightened the tie on his robe. The way he tied it with a sharp, crisp motion somehow looked angry.
“Why in the world are you here?”
“I’m sorry. I think the candle went out, so I was on my way to relight it. The door suddenly opened, and I lost my balance.”
“I asked why you’re here at this hour.”
His face was hard, as if he hadn’t heard the real reason yet, and he waited for my genuine answer.
“I’ve been waiting all day to talk to you, but I was told you went straight to your office, so I came looking for you. No matter how many times I knocked, there was no answer from inside…”
“What do you have to say?”
He let go of his arms and walked over to a shelf. Being released from his piercing blue eyes that were suspiciously looking down at me, I felt my energy drain away.
Ricardo poured some alcohol into a crystal glass, brought the glass to his lips, and looked back at me. His gaze then slowly moved to the candlestick on the floor. The extinguished candle, with black smoke still rising, proved my excuse. Holding the glass, he leaned against the wall and looked at me again, as if he was now ready to hear what I had to say.
I pulled myself together and quickly explained the reason for my visit.
“I heard there’s a hunting competition hosted by the imperial family soon.”
“And?”
“I came to tell you that I’ll be attending as well.”
He tilted his head slightly to one side. His face looked like he couldn’t understand why I would come all this way at such an hour to talk about a hunting competition.
“You came all this way just to tell me that?”
A small, sarcastic laugh seemed to escape him. To show I was serious, I stepped closer to him and spoke with more force.
“Yes. I met Sir Ernhardt earlier. I heard you told him I wouldn’t be attending because I injured my hand, is that correct?”
He looked at my still-bandaged hand and answered briefly.
“Yes. There’s no need for you to attend.”
“No. I really want to go. It’s the first event held since we became a married couple, and it would be strange if I didn’t attend. People will start making up weird stories about the Duke and Duchess. I don’t want to give them an excuse.”
He let out a cynical laugh.
“You don’t need to explain yourself to me. Let them gossip. Though there is one person who might feel uneasy hearing such things.”
He said this, mocking the Empress who forced the marriage.
Swallowing a bitter smile, I didn’t hold back my own words.
“If I attend, perfectly fine, wouldn’t you not have to explain how the Duchess injured her hand?”
A moment of silence fell.
Rumors spread quickly inside the mansion and can easily become the talk of the town. People would soon hear that the Duchess was injured while avoiding a rampaging horse, and the Duke saved another woman instead of his wife. He might not care, but he wouldn’t want Yelena to become the subject of gossip. Not if he truly cares for her.
The smile on his face disappeared. It hurt a little, but it seemed my guess was correct.
“So, I will attend. The Duchess, which is me, should be by the Duke’s side.”
Since he had no reaction, I felt I had successfully conveyed my message.
“That’s all I came to say.”
A brief silence settled in the room.
“Then, I’ll take it that you’ve given your permission and will prepare to attend.”
Just as I was about to leave after saying what I came to say, his voice from behind me stopped me in my tracks.
“You seem very attached to the position of Duchess.”
I stopped and turned to face him again. A detached and hollow laugh escaped me without my knowing.
‘Whatever. Who said I wanted to be the Duchess? Do you think I’m here because I like it?’
This suppressed and frustrating emotion unintentionally burst out.
“If the position of Duchess was such a great one, I wouldn’t have been pushed into coming here because the previous lady ran away.”
The dam holding back my feelings of injustice broke, and I honestly expressed my true thoughts.
“What woman would want to marry a man who already has a lover? Even if he were the Emperor and not the Duke, I’d refuse. That is, if I could reject the Empress’s command without losing my head.”
Perhaps I was too direct, as his face became even harder.
“What do you mean? Are you saying you married me because you didn’t want to die?”
I didn’t answer that question directly. Instead, I beat around the bush to make my true feelings known so he would understand.
“I hope you rise to the highest position soon. Then you can escape the Empress’s shadow.”
“What?”
Ricardo’s picturesque eyebrows slightly furrowed.
“You must be displeased that I’m here at the Empress’s command. But aren’t you in a similar situation as me, Duke? If you had refused this forced marriage, you wouldn’t be in a bad mood looking at me right now.”
“Ha.”
I must have taken him quite aback, as a crack appeared in Ricardo’s expression.
“In any case, I must faithfully play the role of the puppet Duchess, so please understand. Once you achieve your goal, then both you and I can be free from each other, can’t we?”
It was a statement that I would leave when the time was right. This much might have softened his contempt for me a little.
I calmly said one last thing to him.
“Please don’t think of me as your wife, but as your subordinate. I know you still have a lot of doubts about me, but I will do my best as the Duchess for your sake.”
I gave a short bow and quickly left the office. I could still feel his gaze on me.
Unexpectedly, getting to say what was on my mind to the Duke made me feel a bit lighter.
I didn’t know what he was thinking, though.
Ricardo stared at the door the woman had just left through. The glass of alcohol in his hand hung precariously at the tips of his fingers, as if it would fall at any moment.
He stood there even after he was alone, as if wondering what he had just heard.
‘Please don’t think of me as your wife, but as your subordinate.’
“Ha.”
A short, bewildered laugh escaped his lips.
First, she wanted separate rooms right after they got married, and now she was telling him to think of her as a subordinate instead of a wife.
He wondered what kind of scheme this was. If her goal was to constantly confuse his mind and complicate his feelings, she had definitely succeeded. It was harder to understand this one woman’s true intentions than to figure out the plots of armed enemies.
‘Was what she just said a promise to divorce me at any time?’
That was one thing, but telling him to rise to the highest position meant she already knew he was aiming for the throne.
He couldn’t understand why a woman sent to keep him in check and spy on him would look him straight in the eyes and say such a thing.
Lost in confusion for a moment, he brought the glass in his hand to his lips and downed the last sip of alcohol in one gulp.
She was more cunning than the Empress, as he was almost fooled by the woman’s trickery, if only for a moment.
Was it really an accident that she bumped into him and fell into his arms with an innocent face?
At the same time, he was annoyed with himself for his body instinctively getting hot in that moment.
He thought if she tried such a shrewd trick on him again, it wouldn’t be like today. If she kept provoking him, she would have to take responsibility for her own actions and what would happen next. With that thought, Ricardo’s mouth hardened.
A few days later, Ricardo’s steps slowed as he walked through the garden with Gary.
Gary, realizing what had caught his master’s attention and made him stop, also watched the scene intently. It was the Duchess, happily talking with Ernhardt while stroking a brown horse.
Her eyes were shining as she talked, and Ernhardt kept nodding, making it look like they were on very good terms. She occasionally let out a light laugh at something that was being said between the two of them.
Gary cleared his throat softly and spoke to Ricardo.
“She seems to be enjoying herself since this is her first time participating in the hunting competition. She has been diligently practicing riding every day.”
When his master didn’t answer for a while, Gary looked over. The Duke’s gaze hadn’t left his wife.
