DIJD 05

Chapter 5

“Good day. I am Sebastian Sterling, butler of the Karsiten Ducal Estate.”

Suppressing her surprise, Adelaïde returned his greeting.

“A pleasure to meet you. I am Adelaïde Saint-Clair.”

Her first impression of him was not unfavourable.

“Please, allow me to show you inside. His Grace is waiting.”

Just as she had expected, the Duke had not bothered to come out and receive her. As she stepped through the entrance, a vast hall opened before her. Servants and maids lined both sides in neat rows, bowing their heads in unison.

“Welcome, my lady.”

A brown-haired maid at the very front stepped forward.

“I am Emilia. I have been assigned to attend to you, my lady.”

Her tone was polite enough, but the faint upward curl of her lips set Adelaïde’s teeth on edge.

“Thank you, Emilia.”

She replied with a calm smile. The response she received was cool.

“The bedroom for the fiancée is not yet ready. For the time being, you will be accommodated in a guest room. We hope you understand.”

“A guest room?”

Adelaïde asked, caught off guard, but Emilia only bowed her head slightly and said nothing more.

He pressed me to come quickly, and yet my room is not even prepared.

“This way, please. I apologise for the head maid’s absence. We will show you to your room after you have met with His Grace.”

Sebastian spoke politely and led the way. Adelaïde followed him up the staircase. From the corner of her eye, she caught the maids behind her exchanging looks and stifling laughter.

Ah, so this is how it is. Looking down on me because I come from a ruined count’s family. The same everywhere, it seems.

Adelaïde sighed inwardly. There was always a group like this, no matter where you went. She drew a quiet breath and turned her attention to her surroundings. The ducal residence was even more magnificent than she had imagined.

It is like a museum.

After a long walk down a corridor, Sebastian stopped before a large door carved with intricate designs.

Knock, knock.

He opened the door and stepped to one side. Adelaïde entered with a composed expression, and her breath caught. Bookshelves lined every wall, a heavy sofa and table sat at the centre of the room, and a wide desk occupied the far wall entirely. It was, at a single glance, a lavishly appointed study.

“Your Grace, the young lady of the Saint-Clair family has arrived.”

Sebastian’s voice brought Adelaïde back to herself, and she turned. Only then did she notice the Duke, seated at his desk.

He looks like a painting.

The eyes that met hers were perfectly, coolly still. Even at the butler’s announcement, the Duke had not moved from his chair. Adelaïde pressed down her irritation and kept her expression neutral.

Some Duke. Appalling manners.

As she regarded him with thinly concealed displeasure, a low, indifferent voice reached her.

“This is the list of people who purchased the specialised tool you mentioned.”

He held the document out to her. With one hand.

No greeting. Just a document thrust at me.

“Are you not going to take it?”

Adelaïde chose to ignore this and offered the greeting that etiquette required.

“Good day, Your Grace. It is a pleasure to see you again.”

She bowed her head with deliberate courtesy, but the reply she received was flat.

This impossible man.

“That is quite enough. Just take the document.”

Adelaïde forced a pleasant smile and reached for it. The document, she found, was unexpectedly thorough.

“Well, you are good at your job, at least.”

“…What did you say?”

“This will make finding the culprit considerably easier.”

“I begin to wonder whether I should have drawn up an employment contract rather than a marriage contract.”

“I am saying that your investigation is very thorough.”

At her casually delivered words, the Duke’s eyebrow shifted by a fraction. Their gazes met in the air between them and held.

“What exactly do you mean by that?”

“Hm? What did I say?”

Adelaïde played innocent and dropped her eyes to the document. The Duke felt a flicker of irritation, rare and unwelcome, that this young countess refused to bend in his presence. Countless noblewomen had either fled or watched him with barely concealed wariness. Adelaïde Saint-Clair was doing neither.

I sent additional money deliberately, expecting her to become more accommodating. Instead her confidence has only grown.

He had an uncomfortable feeling that this contract, which he had treated as a simple formality, was going to prove far more complicated than anticipated.

Saint-Clair. Let us see how long you hold out.

Their gazes locked in a quiet standoff. Just as the tension threatened to tip over into something sharper, Adelaïde spoke first.

“How long am I expected to remain here? Until we identify the culprit?”

“What are you talking about?”

“I have an engagement ceremony to prepare for and duties on the estate to hand over. I am quite a busy person, as it happens.”

A crease appeared between the Duke’s brows.

He is going to give himself wrinkles. What a waste of a perfectly good face.

“From now on, you will live here. The engagement ceremony will naturally be held in the capital. You no longer need to concern yourself with the affairs of the Saint-Clair estate.”

“I beg your pardon?”

“You are soon to be mistress of the Karsiten Ducal Estate. Direct your attention accordingly.”

Adelaïde felt the room tilt slightly.

“Your Grace.”

Her tone became steady.

“It appears you have forgotten the terms of our contract.”

“I have not forgotten.”

“After the divorce, I will be returning to Solaris. I will of course attend to the ducal estate’s affairs, but I cannot abandon my responsibilities to the Saint-Clair family entirely.”

Her fingertips trembled, but her expression did not waver.

“Until the divorce, you are the Duchess. I will send someone to manage the Saint-Clair estate. You will concern yourself with conducting yourself as a Duchess should.”

“Your Grace, I think there is some misunderstanding here. We are not yet engaged, and we are certainly not married. Until I walk down that aisle, I am not a member of the ducal family. You are getting considerably ahead of yourself.”

Adelaïde pressed her hands together at her sides, her eyes bright with anger. At this rate, she thought she might genuinely punch him.

Patience. Think of Mabel. Think of all the people who depend on the Saint-Clair estate. I have to endure this. Investors are always arrogant. Sigh.

She let out a long, deliberate breath.

“Well then, I am tired and must excuse myself. It was a very long journey.”

She placed particular weight on the words “very long journey” as she bowed her head with composure and turned to leave. At that moment, a small jewellery box on the corner of the desk caught her eye.

“Be careful with that. I do not know what you intend to use it for, but giving or receiving something with a flaw in it carelessly will put a flaw in your reputation as well.”

The moment the words left her mouth, the Duke’s gaze snapped to her.

“What do you mean?”

“That.”

A ruby sat gleaming inside the box. To Adelaïde’s eye, the way its facets caught the light was slightly off.

“May I take a look?”

The Duke pulled the box closer rather than handing it over. Adelaïde stepped forward and lifted the gem herself.

“Is this a gift?”

“It is for the king.”

“You are sending something like this to the royal family?”

The Duke fixed her with a cold look.

“Is there a problem?”

Adelaïde tilted the ruby in the light and replied calmly.

“There is a microscopic fracture on the inside. Even to the naked eye it is visible, if you know where to look. If the royal family were to notice it, it would put Your Grace in a very uncomfortable position.”

A beat of silence passed. Without any change in expression, the Duke took the ruby from her hand and held it up to the light. The fracture was plain.

“…To think no one noticed.”

His voice dropped to something quietly dangerous.

“Well then, I will be on my way. Please consider my thanks already given.”

Slam.

The Duke stared at the closed door with an expression he rarely wore, one that was almost unguarded.

He crossed his arms.

“She is quite a handful. You are going to have a difficult time, Your Grace.”

Marcus stepped out from a hidden door behind the bookshelf, looking thoroughly entertained.

“She is certainly unlike the other noble ladies. Sharp, an extraordinary eye for gems, and on top of everything else, considerably more beautiful in person than the rumours suggest.”

“Enough. Go and bring me the jewel merchant immediately.”

“Yes, sir!”

“I feel like tearing up that contract.”

Adelaïde muttered as she made her way back down the long corridor.

That rude, immovable, infuriating man. If he intends to be like that, he should simply live alone. Why propose a contract marriage at all, and to a family in debt no less.

She cursed him thoroughly under her breath with each step.

And Adelaïde, really, did she know what kind of man he was when she accepted this? Then again, it must have been for the money. Same here as it was in Korea.

After grumbling to her satisfaction, she felt marginally better.

“But, where exactly am I?”

Not a single servant or maid was in sight. With no other option, she continued along the corridor, letting her eyes drift over the sculptures and paintings on the walls.

“Even at a glance, these are extraordinary.”

She had begun to feel as though she were wandering through a museum when her eyes stopped on one piece in particular. It was a large portrait that filled an entire wall.

“Is this a portrait of someone?”

At first glance it looked like a happy couple.

“Hm, he looks familiar. Where have I seen him before?”

She tilted her head, thinking, when a composed voice came from behind her.

“Good day. I must apologise for not greeting you sooner.”

Adelaïde turned, startled.

“I am Sophia West of the Karsiten Ducal Estate. I have served His Grace for a long time.”

“A pleasure to meet you. I am Adelaïde of the Saint-Clair family.”

“My goodness, what a beautiful young lady. Please, speak freely with me.”

“May I?”

Adelaïde smiled gently and gave a small nod.

“Have you met with His Grace?”