Chapter  05

While Gerald was making the tools needed to process the coffee beans, Roana stayed busy picking coffee cherries.

After gathering them, she shut herself in her room all day, removing the fruit flesh and soaking the seeds in water to remove the sticky layer.

“Are you not tired, my lady?”

“Not at all.”

Roana answered brightly at Ize’s worried question.

Just thinking about finally being able to drink coffee soon made all the hard work feel easy.

“Today makes five days.”

Roana happily counted the days on her fingers.

Thinking that she only had to wait two more days before receiving the roasting machine and brewing device filled her with energy.

“Bring me more cloth, Ize.”

Roana spoke while looking for a place to put the large pile of coffee cherries she had picked. Ize quickly brought clean cloths.

Roana poured the coffee cherries onto the white cloth with a smile.

“Ah!”

But at that moment, Ize suddenly gasped in shock and dropped the cloth.

“Oh no!”

Roana stared helplessly as the coffee cherries scattered everywhere across the floor. The sparkling eyes that had been shining like stars filled with despair.

“Ize, what happen—”

“Y-Your Grace!”

Before Roana could finish asking, Ize bowed toward someone behind her.

At the words “Your Grace,” Roana quickly turned her head. Then she froze in surprise after seeing Klaus standing behind her.

‘Why is he here?’

Startled, Roana could only blink silently for a moment.

Klaus felt strangely uncomfortable watching his wife shrink back like a frightened little animal.

He had seen countless people fear him before, but most of them had been rivals or enemies.

He rarely dealt with someone as small and fragile as Roana.

So whenever she looked at him with frightened eyes, it made him feel oddly uneasy.

‘It feels like I’m some cruel hunter tormenting an innocent squirrel….’

Klaus cleared his throat, and Roana finally came back to her senses and greeted him.

“It has been a while, Duke.”

Klaus looked down at the red Adanta fruits scattered around her feet.

“Were you gathering these?”

he asked with a puzzled expression.

He had come to investigate why she had visited the magician, but now it was Adanta fruits.

The mysteries surrounding Roana only continued to grow.

“Ah… yes.”

Roana answered awkwardly.

Klaus raised one eyebrow. For some reason, he did not like the fact that Roana seemed unwilling to involve him.

“You seem to wish I would not interfere.”

Roana immediately lifted her head at his words. Her expression gave away the answer so clearly that Klaus let out a dry laugh.

“I heard you visited the magician. I would like to know what exactly you are planning.”

Unexpectedly questioned, Roana’s face showed confusion.

‘Was she really plotting something?’

Klaus carefully studied her expression, trying to see whether she was hiding something.

‘She promised to live quietly, yet she has been secretly doing things behind my back.’

Klaus became irritated.

It was strange. He normally expected nothing from others, so he was never disappointed.

Yet the moment he thought Roana might be hiding something from him, disappointment suddenly rose inside him.

“Well….”

The longer she hesitated, the more annoyed Klaus became.

“Speak honestly. If you hide things from me here, the outcome will not be pleasant.”

At those words, Roana’s face turned pale. Anyone would think she looked exactly like someone caught doing something suspicious.

‘Just as I thought.’

Klaus smiled bitterly.

‘So her promise to live quietly was a lie after all.’

Without realizing it, he let go of expectations he had not even known he held toward Roana.

‘What do I do?!’

Roana’s mind went completely blank from shock.

A terrifying duke had suddenly appeared and started interrogating her harshly. She had no idea how to respond. His frowning face was honestly frightening.

And besides…

‘How am I supposed to explain coffee?’

At the moment, only Roana and Gerald knew about the effects of the Adanta fruit.

Even Gerald still doubted this mysterious drink called coffee.

‘If I suddenly say I’m making a drink from Adanta fruit, he’ll think I’m crazy.’

At worst, Klaus might think it was just an excuse to hide some other scheme.

Roana desperately tried to think of a way to smooth out the duke’s deep frown.

But no matter how much she thought about it, she could not find an answer.

In the end, she decided to simply be honest. If she could not do anything else anyway, telling the truth was better.

“Even if I tell you I’m not doing anything suspicious right now, you still won’t believe me, will you?”

Klaus looked slightly caught off guard.

“You think I broke my promise to live quietly, so you’re suspicious of me.”

Roana continued speaking directly. Klaus narrowed his eyes and looked down at the tiny woman standing before him.

Just moments ago she had looked terrified, like someone caught plotting something suspicious, yet now she suddenly sounded confident. Her attitude surprised and confused him.

“One week from now, please come to the annex where I live.”

Roana stepped forward as she spoke.

“Then I’ll explain everything to you.”

Her eyes began sparkling like stars again.

“One week from now… come to the annex?”

Klaus trailed off, surprised by the unexpected invitation.

“Yes. Then you’ll understand why I visited Mr. Gerald.”

Roana looked straight at him.

“And you’ll also understand that I never broke my promise to live quietly.”

Klaus stared into his wife’s unusually lively eyes.

‘I should press her now.’

But somehow, whenever he stood in front of Roana, he could not bring himself to act harshly. It was truly strange.

“…You had better give me a reason I can accept.”

In the end, Klaus only said that before turning around and walking away. Behind him, he heard Roana let out a sigh of relief.

‘Was my presence truly that unwelcome?’

For some reason, Klaus felt bitterness lingering in his mouth.

“No really, why does that man suddenly appear and scare people like that?”

After confirming Klaus had returned to the main building, Roana slid down onto the floor and grumbled.

The fact that he knew her movements was not surprising. She had already expected he would place people to watch her.

What surprised her was that he personally came to question her just because she had visited the magician.

‘I thought he wouldn’t care as long as I didn’t directly interfere with family affairs….’

It seemed Roana’s definition of “living quietly” was slightly different from Klaus’s definition.

‘Or maybe….’

Roana thought of another possibility, but quickly shook her head.

‘There’s no way.’

She brushed off her knees, stood up, and started picking up the coffee cherries that had fallen on the ground. Ize hurriedly helped her gather them.

“Let’s go, Ize.”

Roana forced herself to sound cheerful as she tried to shake off the intimidating presence left behind by the man who felt like a dangerous beast.

After that day, Roana stopped going out to the garden. She had already harvested all the coffee cherries she could find anyway.

She spread the green coffee beans all over the room to dry in the sunlight and spent her time happily reading beside them.

Then, two days after meeting Klaus in the garden, Gerald knocked on the door of Roana’s annex carrying a large bundle.