Chapter 26
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Furthermore…
It was as if she was preparing for him to be able to eat even if he were kicked out of the castle in fifteen days…
At least, that's how it appeared on the surface.
'...Hypocrite.'
What was he plotting?
His inscrutable attitude only served to irritate her more.
Edwin, who had been glancing at Ludville, cautiously opened his mouth.
"Do you find it suspicious?"
"You ask the obvious."
"It's just that I've never seen you care about someone else this much."
"......"
"Why don't you just go and see her?"
Ludville's gaze turned sharply.
Edwin shrugged nonchalantly and continued, "Is there any reason to wait for the Princess to appear? There's nowhere in this castle that His Highness can't go."
"......Who said I was waiting?"
"There you go again. Showing interest first doesn't mean you're losing. In a relationship, it's not always about pushing; sometimes, pulling is important too..."
"Shut up."
"Yes."
I'm sorry, I got a little carried away, didn't I?
Edwin respectfully put his hands together and quietly took a step back.
Ludville turned his gaze away from him and picked up the teacup with hot steam rising from it.
It was tea that came with explanations like it was good for sleep and calmed the nerves.
'He must have heard about my insomnia somewhere.'
He indifferently took a sip and slowly put the teacup down.
His insomnia wasn't the kind that could be soothed with just a cup of tea.
'It's meaningless.'
But strangely, the warmth of the teacup lingering on his fingertips didn't fade easily.
Ludville frowned, rubbing his fingertips.
* * *
"...He didn't come to see me even once."
In a space that was barely worthy of being called a drawing room, he looked around at the peeling paint on the walls and the creaky old furniture.
His brow was openly furrowed.
He looked as if he was saying, 'You chose a fine place to come to.'
"I told you to entertain me for fifteen days. You must know that means I'll allow you to do anything in front of me..."
Ludville slowly turned his gaze to Odelia and added, "Have you given up already?"
Leona, with trembling hands, barely managed to place a teacup in front of him before quickly hiding behind Odelia.
'As if.'
Instead of answering, Odelia calmly picked up the teacup placed in front of her.
Knowing all the truth, she had never been more sincere.
However, she had simply judged that to 'entertain' him, it would be better to stay out of his sight.
Because pleading, flattery, seduction, tears… none of it would have worked.
Wouldn't he be sick of it?
Having lost his memory, he obsessively searched for blue eyes, yet he was in a contradictory state of suspecting and pushing away anyone who approached him, tormented by the fake ones that had become entangled with him.
So, she made him come to her.
"...After seeing hundreds of blue eyes, I realized how common that color is."
Then, Ludville continued, as if provoking her lack of reaction.
"Most of them were people I didn't even deem worthy of remembering. So, just because you're Cardel, or because you happened to suit my taste, doesn't mean you're anything special."
He seemed to be asking if she could afford to be so relaxed.
But…
"But you ended up coming here anyway, didn't you?"
Odelia calmly retorted.
Without showing any agitation or emotion.
The winner of this battle was clear.
Ludville was the one who had moved first, and he was acting emotionally as if he was dissatisfied with that fact.
Whether it was curiosity, annoyance, or interest… the fact that she had made him feel something was a success in itself.
"You said I could do anything for fifteen days. So, I simply did what I wanted to do."
At that, one of his eyebrows rose in dissatisfaction.
"...Are you satisfied? That I took the bait?"
Ludville must have known that he was being lured, but he couldn't help but come in the end.
He must have been curious.
She had perfectly matched a taste that even the chef and he himself didn't know.
"So, how did you know?"
Odelia shrugged lightly.
'...Because I was your wife thousands of times.'
What he liked and what he disliked.
She could guess most things with her eyes closed.
'And compared to what you knew about me, this is a mild case.'
He knew not only Odelia's preferences but also her trivial habits, her breathing, her footsteps, the nuances in her words, and even her thoughts.
There were probably only a handful of things he didn't know about Odelia.
He analyzed everything almost in seconds, from a fleeting expression to what she was thinking, what actions she would take next, and how he should react to those actions to please her…
He spared no means to seduce Odelia every time she regressed.
So, it was both absurd and funny.
The man who once calculated every glance and word to seduce her was now questioning her with wariness.
Of course, he had lost his memory, so it couldn't be helped.
"It's a hunch."
Odelia vaguely glossed over it.
Ludville was known to be the illegitimate child of the 'Elbrecht Family,' which had fallen into ruin decades ago.
'It was a top secret that he was a slave in the past.'
But even if he had hidden his true identity, the fact that he had risen from the bottom to the position of Grand Duke remained the same.
"I thought you might have eaten Barley Porridge before. I wondered if it might evoke childhood nostalgia."
Even assuming he was from a fallen noble family with no assets, it was reasonable to assume that he had a time when he ate Barley Porridge.
"The taste of that Barley Porridge wasn't ordinary."
"Combining sweet and salty flavors generally works well. It's a kind of trick."
Then, Ludville's eyes narrowed slightly.
As if he couldn't understand how the Princess of Cardel, who had grown up eating only delicacies, knew such commoner cooking methods.
"So, are you saying the chef hasn't had a 'hunch' all this time and couldn't match my taste?"
"......"
Is he… really pushing it that way?
"A chef without a hunch… Isn't that someone who doesn't belong in the Ducal Palace? I should kick him out right away and hire someone new."
"......"
"Hmm, who would be good? Should I bribe the Imperial Palace chef? Or… the Cardel family chef who taught you such 'special cooking methods'?"
Ludville's eyes curved playfully.
He was speaking in a joking tone, but it contained a clear threat.
'Is he serious?'
Inwardly flustered, Odelia looked straight into his eyes.
Those eyes that gleamed with madness.
'...He's serious.'
