~Chapter 10~
She felt strangely embarrassed, as if it were her fault. Wynster, on the other hand, seemed completely unfazed.
Contrary to how she felt, Adeline spoke with a look of utter nonchalance. “I sent the ledger and invoice immediately, but you wouldn’t accept them. I wondered if there was a mistake, so I’ve been checking and updating the ledger every single day.”
The Grand Duke, who had been scanning the documents she handed over, let out a short, scoffing laugh. “Are you telling me to bear all these exorbitant costs?”
“If a lump sum is difficult, we can split it over 12 months. Or perhaps 24? I can even make a special exception for 36 months if you wish.”
Of course, she had claimed a somewhat excessive amount for damages. But what was ‘a lot’ for the Blackwood family, of all houses?
“I think it’s a reasonable price. My atelier couldn’t even open its doors today.”
“It seems you have no intention of ever opening them again.”
“Of course I do. I need to reopen in time for the Victory Commemoration events. I might be able to starve alone, but I can’t let my employees go hungry.”
Fortunately, she had already secured a good amount of inventory to sell during the parade. Still, if she could earn more, she would.
“What if I refuse to pay this cost so easily?”
“You have to.”
“Why should I?”
“Because you agreed to.”
“Do you want my entire fortune or something?”
“Well, if you’re offering? Will you give it all?”
“……!”
Why did he look so startled? Was she being too much of a scoundrel? But his next words made her doubt her own ears.
“Was that just a proposal?”
*Pfft.* Wynster chuckled shortly and casually changed the subject. “It seems my lawyers would handle this matter more precisely. What do you think?”
“Do you think I haven’t studied law?”
Adeline, snapping back to attention, fired back immediately.
Having lived through five regressions, she had acquired basic knowledge in everything except skills that were difficult to learn in one go. She kept Ian as her personal lawyer because two heads were better than one.
The Grand Duke finished examining the documents and tossed them lightly onto the table. “With an amount like this, it could cover about four months of pin money for the lady of Blackwood.”
“It seems the person destined to become the lady of Blackwood is more modest than I thought.”
“Our family isn’t one for empty pretensions compared to what we possess.”
*Lies.* What were all those golden statues placed throughout the garden if not pretension? Adeline forced a nod and offered only a faint smile.
“It would be wonderful if this matter could be resolved properly, without any nitpicking, just like those ‘non-existent pretensions.'”
“Enough about that. You must have decided on what to wear for the first day of the banquet, right?”
“Ah, I wanted to talk about that today as well.”
“Couldn’t find a dress you liked?”
Dresses sent by the Grand Duke had piled up at her home since last night until this morning. She didn’t know if it was his intention to pressure her, but all those dresses were now unnecessary.
“The dresses themselves aren’t the problem.”
“Then what is?”
“The problem is that I won’t be wearing any of them.”
“What do you mean?”
“I have a prior engagement that day.”
For nobles, keeping prior engagements was a fundamental principle.
“If it’s an important prior engagement, then there’s nothing to be done.”
The memory surfaced of how, in the past, she had successfully kept her distance from the Grand Duke using a prior engagement as an excuse. True to his high-born nobility, he considered honoring prior engagements a basic matter of etiquette.
*’Why did I agonize over this when such a simple solution was right here?’*
Adeline feigned regret and let out a sigh before continuing. “It’s a very important engagement. One I absolutely cannot break.”
“Cancel it.”
*Did I hear that wrong?*
“Cancel it. Prior engagement or not.”
“……?”
“It’s the Victory Commemoration.”
“But…”
“You’re well aware it’s the most important event in the Empire right now, aren’t you?”
“Well, it’s a very important event for the high-born, of course.”
“It’s important for everyone living in the Empire.”
“I offer my deepest congratulations. Thanks to it, we live in peace.”
“Congratulations from a heart I can’t see aren’t enough.”
“……”
“Come in person. I need to receive congratulations from you.”
Why had she forgotten that this man was more willful than anyone else in the world?
She had thought he at least had common sense. Today proved otherwise. It seemed he must have forgotten his manners while fighting the war.
“You didn’t actually think such childish wordplay would make me overturn my promise, did you?”
“We never made a promise in the first place.”
“You must have considered it a promise if you called it a ‘prior engagement.'”
“What kind of wordplay is that? Anyway, just know that I have a very important prior engagement.”
“How important?”
“More important than my life.”
“Are you saying your life is in danger if you break that promise?”
“That’s right.”
She wouldn’t actually lose her life over a broken promise, but Adeline saw no reason to share her private life with Wynster.
“Is that so?”
“Yes.”
“Truly?”
“Yes.”
The Grand Duke’s expression was relaxed, but his eyes alone were fierce. A short silence broke, and Adeline’s ears perked up.
“Then I’ll just cancel all events.”
With a perfectly calm face, Wynster rang the bell on the table. Soon, the butler Joseph appeared.
“You called, Master.”
“Joseph.”
“Yes, Master.”
“Contact the Imperial Palace immediately. Tell them to either cancel this event or postpone it indefinitely.”
“I shall do—”
“Wait a minute!”
Startled, Adeline shot up from her seat. If word got out that a national event was canceled because of her, she might have to flee the Empire under cover of darkness.
“You said it was a very important national event?”
“It is.”
“And you can just postpone something that important?”
“Then is it acceptable for you to skip something that important?”
“That’s different!”
“It’s the same.”
“It’s completely different!”
“Then give me a reason. A reason I’ll accept unconditionally.”
Wynster’s blue eyes flashed as if he were about to devour her.
“That is…”
“You’re not going to say it’s a prior engagement with another man or something like that again, are you?”
He’d kill her. No, death might not even be the end of it. Looking into his blue-flame eyes, the thought came to her unbidden.
She wanted to say that she was attending the banquet with Ian and her little brother, and that they had to go to the amusement park afterwards, but a premonition flashed that if she said such a thing, neither Ian nor Luca would be safe.
“Joseph.”
“Yes, Master.”
“Leave. It seems we still have more to discuss.”
“Understood. Call for me anytime you need.”
After Joseph left, Adeline collected herself and sat back down.
“Hah.”
Without realizing it, Adeline let out a sigh. She irritably swept her hair back.
“What’s the matter?”
“No matter how much I think about it, I just don’t understand.”
“What?”
“I have absolutely no idea why you, Your Grace, are going to such lengths. If you’re dissatisfied with the amount in the ledger, we can renegotiate.”
“I could give you that amount right now.”
“Then what on earth…”
“Why do you keep pretending not to know?”
“……?”
The Grand Duke, who had been sitting slouched until now, straightened his back properly. He placed the necklace he had been holding in his left hand onto the table. His now-deepened blue gaze bore into Adeline as if urging her.
“You.”
“……?”
“You have to take responsibility.”
“……”
“You’re not really doing this because you don’t remember, are you?”
“……”
“I have no patience.”
“……”
“I’m gathering every bit of patience I don’t have and using it to wait for you.”
*What on earth is he talking about…*
The necklace placed on the table was the one she had lost at the Grand Blacktree Hotel. Adeline began rapidly turning over the possibilities in her mind. But she couldn’t find confidence in her own conclusion.
Could it be that this man’s constant picking on her wasn’t just picking on her? How was she supposed to take this?
“Adeline.”
“……”
“I’ll say it again. I have a short temper.”
“……”
“I have no intention of vaguely postponing the wedding.”
*……Wedding?*
“I’ll take care of everything else. So, for the time being, you just need to be by my side at every important event.”
“Wait a minute.”
The Grand Duke was looking at Adeline with a serious expression.
“My thoughts are in complete disarray right now.”
“Why?”
“When you suddenly talk about weddings and such, how am I supposed to respond…”
The Grand Duke furrowed his brow as if asking why she would question something so obvious.
“If we did something that requires taking responsibility, then of course we have to take responsibility.”
Responsibility? Something that requires responsibility? Don’t tell me…
If her guess was correct, Wynster was clearly bringing up marriage because of that one night at the Grand Blacktree Hotel.
“…Surely it’s not because it was your first time.”
The thought she’d been harboring slipped out. It was a small mutter, but Wynster seemed to have heard it. As Adeline reflexively bit her lip hard, Wynster’s eyes flashed sharper than ever before.
“Was what you just said implying that *I* was the only one for whom it was the first time?”
