The thought made my skin crawl with discomfort.
“Come to think of it, that’s right.”
Though I had avoided the misfortune of the Empress assigning a maid to me, there were undoubtedly spies of hers somewhere in this mansion.
I didn’t know whether it was just one person or several.
I clearly remembered a scene from the original novel where the Empress received secret letters from the duke’s estate several times.
“I need to figure out who the spy is—fast.”
The original story hadn’t revealed their identity up to the point I had read, which left me unsettled.
I glanced around, uneasy, as if someone might be watching me even now.
I had transmigrated, but it didn’t feel like I had gotten any sort of ‘transmigration buff.’
“I should reread the original story carefully. There might be something I missed.”
Resolving to do so, I headed to my room—
Only to stop short as something large blocked my path.
“Ah!”
Lost in thought and looking down, I hadn’t noticed Ricardo standing in front of my room.
“D-Duke?”
He looked down at me coldly, and I flinched without meaning to.
It felt like he had heard everything I’d been thinking.
As a defense mechanism, I gave him a sheepish smile.
I quickly wiped it away, realizing how foolish I must look.
“What brings you here so early in the morning? I’m not properly dressed…”
I made a show of clutching my robe as if flustered by his unexpected visit.
I had hoped he’d feel awkward and leave,
but instead, his gaze lingered—as if it slid across the back of my exposed neck.
No matter how much I clutched the robe, it didn’t cover that area.
Feeling uncomfortable, I rubbed the back of my neck.
Why did his eyes make me feel so… bare?
He let out a faint, mocking laugh, watching me awkwardly fluster.
As if amused by the idea I thought such an act would fool him.
“You’ve been wandering around the mansion in that outfit all morning,
and now you want to act like a modest lady?”
“Well, I had something urgent to take care of… I didn’t even have time to dress properly.”
“Chasing out a maid on your first day was quite a spectacle.”
So, he saw what happened in the garden.
Now I understood why he was looking at me like that.
It was obvious how that scene must have looked to him.
Once I figured out why he was annoyed, I relaxed a bit and responded calmly.
“I didn’t know you cared about household matters like that, Your Grace.
Should I get permission for everything from now on?”
He chuckled dryly, tilting his head mockingly.
“Do whatever you want—
just don’t let it be something that catches my eye and annoys me.”
I gave a half-hearted nod, eager to go back to my room and change.
So basically, he wanted me to avoid being visible to him in this house.
“Understood. Then… could you let me pass now?”
Ricardo looked behind him at the door and said shamelessly,
“Seems you’re not aware—this is my room.
Is there a problem with me going in and out of my own room?”
At his words, I suddenly remembered—this room was originally his before it became the bridal chamber.
Why had I assumed he wouldn’t show up here?
“Ah… I see.”
He seemed amused at my first genuine display of panic.
“If it’s uncomfortable, I’ll arrange a different room for you.”
I forced a smile and shook my head quickly.
“No, it’s fine. But if you feel uncomfortable and wish to move elsewhere, I wouldn’t object.”
Oops. That last part slipped out before I could stop it.
He furrowed his brows, trying to understand what I meant.
A bride telling her husband he could move to another room—it was certainly unusual.
Trying to fix the misunderstanding, I hurried to explain:
“I mean, I appreciate your consideration, really…
But wouldn’t that be a bit strange?”
“What do you mean?”
I fiddled with the tie of my robe and launched into a hasty excuse.
“As a married couple, we have a social standing to uphold…
Wouldn’t it be a bit odd if people started gossiping that the duchess had been kicked out of the bridal chamber right after the wedding?”
Even to my own ears, it sounded like a poor excuse.
But no matter what, I wasn’t going to leave this room.
I knew all too well what would happen if I did.
In the original story, the clever Stella had warned Kayla not to give up her room.
But Kayla, thinking Ricardo would soften over time if she obeyed him, had naively complied.
That blind faith was her downfall.
The moment Kayla gave up the room on her own, the servants began treating her like she didn’t exist.
And Ricardo’s suspicions—that she was one of the Empress’s pawns—only solidified further.
Later, when Kayla begged Ricardo to share the room again, he didn’t even look at her.
“That naive belief was the real mistake.”
So no—I wasn’t going to move out on my own.
If he wanted to leave, let him go.
He stared down at me suspiciously.
Now that I had said I would never leave this room, I suddenly felt embarrassed.
“If you’re really uncomfortable, how about using a different room instead?
Like… the one attached to your office.
I heard many busy nobles sleep in there.
That way, others wouldn’t question why we’re using separate rooms.”
Without thinking, I spouted the kind of lines I’d seen a lot in romance novels.
I even used gestures to explain my point,
but Ricardo’s face only grew colder.
Even that angry expression looked like something out of a fashion magazine.
The world really wasn’t fair.
“Are you joking right now?”
“Pardon?”
What was he talking about?
Who in their right mind would joke with the infamous Duke Zenkiss, the so-called battlefield demon?
“I’m asking if you’re pulling this stunt to get my attention.”
“Excuse me?”
“You’re more cunning than I expected.”
All I wanted was for us to sleep in separate rooms.
What kind of cunning stunt was that?
“N-no, I just…”
Before I could finish, he cut me off with a disgusted expression.
“Whatever trick you try, it won’t work on me.
So stay out of my sight, don’t do anything, and just breathe quietly.”
He turned, but then added coldly:
“You refuse to leave this room?
Fine. Then I’ll go.”
With those short words, he walked away briskly down the corridor.
Only then did I feel like I could finally breathe again.
Ricardo really had a gift for choking someone just with a look.
“Ugh. Just go back to the battlefield already, would you?”
He tells me not to let him see me even though we live in the same house.
No matter how much he dislikes me, that’s a bit much.
“Well, at least now I’ve made it clear I won’t be kicked out to the annex.”
That’s when a thought popped into my head.
“Right! There was that girl!”
Only after the mention of the annex did I recall a certain maid from the original novel.
“What was her name again… Ena?”
She was the only maid who became friends with Stella in the duke’s household.
Though Ena worked in the kitchen, she often ran errands between the main building and the annex,
which is how she grew close to Stella, who was tending to Kayla.
Even when the other maids gossiped and insulted the duchess and Stella,
Ena would sneak them leftover snacks from the kitchen.
“Perfect.”
Just as I was about to go back into the room, a maid approached.
She seemed to have something to report, so I stopped to listen.
“My lady, an important guest will be visiting this afternoon.”
“An important guest?”
“Yes. The Marquess and Marchioness and their daughter are coming to congratulate the newlyweds.”
“The Marquess… from House Guineiro?”
“Yes, and their daughter, Lady Yerena, will be accompanying them. I’ll take my leave now.”
As the maid departed, I entered the room and bit my nails, thinking about Ricardo’s connection to the Guineiro family.
The Marquess of Guineiro was a key figure in the original novel—someone closely tied to Ricardo.
Even when Ricardo wasn’t acknowledged as imperial blood and lived like a slave,
the marquess supported him in secret and later gave everything to help make him emperor.
That meant Yerena, the marquess’s daughter, was more than qualified to become empress.
In the original, she was always by Ricardo’s side in every way possible.
The story wasn’t focused on romance,
but even a reader like me—who had dropped the book midway—could tell that there was something deep between the two of them.
