Chapter 8
He had a fairly handsome face, but he wasn’t my fiancé.
Because that man had silver hair.
‘Ah, is that my fiancé’s adjutant?’
His name was Ben, wasn’t it? Strangely enough, my fiancé’s face only came to mind vaguely, but this man popped clearly into my head the instant I saw him.
The tyrant brother was the same—did I only remember faces clearly after seeing them?
“……I greet the noble Duchess.”
He glanced at me slumped on the ground and Bond, his expression suggesting he half-guessed what had happened.
After hearing the full explanation from Bond, Adjutant Ben’s stoic face furrowed ever so slightly.
“I’m sorry, but the Duke is currently away and not at the residence.”
“This is a problem.”
Still sitting, I tilted my head.
Then I flashed a bright smile, my eyes curving into crescents.
“I have to see the Duke today.”
“……Pardon?”
For a split second, Ben’s face registered pure bewilderment.
Seeing the faint flush around his eyes, I nearly whistled to myself.
No matter how you sliced it, he reeked of dislike for me, yet Charlize possessed a beauty that could enchant even someone like him in an instant.
“I’ll wait here.”
“……What on earth are you scheming this time—no, what business do you have?”
“I’m not going to do anything…….”
“We cannot entertain guests at the Duke’s residence when the Duke himself is absent. I truly apologize, but please visit another time. I will make sure to inform the Duke of your visit today.”
Ben spoke with a stiffened expression.
He almost looked angry at himself for showing any fluster.
Gazing down at me, he added one more thing.
“I will stake my life on humbly offering this word of advice. If you linger any longer, the Duke will only come to hate you even more.”
I flinched. In truth, Ben had said similar things to Charlize countless times before, and she had always laughed it off like it was a joke—but I was different.
‘……I can’t afford for him to hate me more right here. No. Absolutely not.’
I couldn’t lose any more favor before we even met.
Slowly, I rose from my seat.
“Got it. So I can’t wait inside when the Duke isn’t here, right?”
“That is correct.”
“Fine. Then I’ll wait outside.”
“Yes, I underst…… Pardon?”
Ben’s mouth fell slightly open. On a fairly handsome man like him, even the dazed expression looked good.
“Is there some rule against waiting outside?”
“No, there isn’t, but…….”
Ben wore a thoroughly perplexed look.
As if to say, ‘You’re seriously going to wait outside? That’s absurd.’
True, the real Charlize never would have, but I was in a hurry.
I had to stop the broken engagement.
“Then when the Duke returns, tell him I waited outside?”
Without a second thought, I briskly dusted off my dress.
Even the servant who had prostrated himself and risen was now staring at me in a daze as I casually shook out my skirts.
“Thanks for the explanation. And sorry for the commotion. Finally…… don’t go throwing your life around like that. You’ll regret it if it really slips away.”
I walked past the dumbfounded onlookers.
In truth, there was one thing I couldn’t tell a soul.
‘Ah, this hangover…….’
My head throbbed faintly; the medicine hadn’t fully chased away the lingering effects.
No, for a drunken wastrel like me to turn into a total booze failure! Gimme my damn tolerance!
* * *
“……That woman came to my mansion?”
Duke Remute, Askin, had been extremely busy since early that morning.
There were many matters to review and handle outside.
By the time he returned from an outing closer to dawn than morning, Askin received some unwelcome news.
“Ahem, yes……. She is still within the mansion at the moment.”
“Huh? Where?”
Ben, in the midst of his report, scratched his cheek.
Even the unflappable adjutant’s dramatic shift in expression sparked a flicker of curiosity in the otherwise icy Askin.
“……She is in the garden. She said she would wait outside.”
“……That woman said she would wait for me outside?”
Today’s outing had been an unofficial matter, so he had slipped out discreetly.
As such, Askin had returned through the back gate, and Charlize waiting in the front garden hadn’t caught sight of him.
Naturally, Askin hadn’t spotted her in the front garden either.
“What kind of nonsense is she up to now?”
“Well, I wouldn’t know. Duke…….”
A faint crease formed between Askin’s beautiful brows.
Charlize waiting for him outside? Preposterous.
“Whatever. She’s probably just throwing another tantrum with some ulterior motive.”
That woman loathed sunburn so much she wouldn’t walk three paces without a servant holding a parasol and a knight to carry her outdoors.
It was infamous how she had draped black curtains over her own drawing room because she hated the sunlight.
A woman who could barely be bothered to walk on her own two feet, waiting for him outside in weather like this?
“She’s no doubt planning to claim she waited by sending some pitiful maid in her place.”
“Th-that is……. Duke.”
“What?”
Ben replied with a troubled look.
“She is still sitting in the garden herself…….”
“What?”
Ben pointed toward the window, saying it was visible from there.
Askin’s office was on the third floor. He strode over to the window.
Huh? It was true.
Below the window stretched the garden’s refreshing expanse, and Askin spotted Charlize without difficulty.
Small wonder—she was the lone splash of pink amid the green landscape, impossible to miss.
Her lavish dress resembled a flower blooming amidst the foliage.
It was unmistakably her.
No one in the kingdom would dare imitate that hair color, held sacred here.
“……What scheme is she hatching?”
Askin stared at his loathed fiancée before arriving at his conclusion.
‘She’s out to ruin the entire garden.’
From Charlize’s history of misdeeds, anything she touched ended up destroyed.
People or things alike. He himself had simply been too resilient……
“And Aria?”
“She’s in her room.”
“Then we’re good.”
Askin turned away coldly.
“Let her do whatever. Just ignore her.”
Truth be told, the mansion’s garden was the one space cherished by his sole little sister, but there was no helping it.
The instant that wicked woman’s hand reached it, ruin was inevitable, one way or another.
Regrettable as it was, since it wasn’t his precious sister being destroyed…… he had to count his blessings.
His one concern was how close the building housing Aria lay to the garden, but Charlize—with her temperament—would never set foot in something so shabby.
She believed even looking at the lowly made her own eyes lowly.
Askin ground his teeth in secret. He just had to endure a little longer anyway.
The end was drawing near.
“Du-Duke…….”
“What?”
“That, that woman. Today, she was…… a little off.”
“What does that mean? When has she ever not been?”
“…….”
Ben’s expression turned faintly awkward. His lord was right, of course, but remembering how especially strange—no, different—she had been today left Ben with the subtlest shift in his mood.
“Is it important?”
“……No, it’s not.”
But as his lord said, it wasn’t.
“However, Duke……. The Duchess has been waiting for you outside for three hours straight now.”
At that, Askin froze for the first time. Moments later, he turned back with a chilling gaze.
“And, um, she’s sitting on the bench, not budging. Should we just leave her be?”
“…….”
“Yes, we’ll leave her be.”
Askin stepped away from the window.
“……You can’t teach an old dog new tricks. Looks like she cooked up some fresh mayhem on her travels.”
With that, he settled at his desk.
At the same time, Charlize—whom the Remute household staff were stealing glances at from various floors, each with their own subtle expressions……
Had grown tired of waiting and fallen fast asleep right there on her seat.
* * *
‘Ugh, my stomach hurts……. My head hurts…….’
Unable to bear the pain any longer, I cracked my eyes open.
The sight of the sun beginning to set startled me.
‘Heavens, how much time has passed?’
I bolted upright—only to yelp “Ow, ow!” and flop back down.
I’d clearly dozed off sitting up, yet somehow I’d ended up comfortably sprawled across the bench.
Never imagined I’d use it like this, but the plush shawl made for a perfect blanket.
Still, it wasn’t exactly cozy—my neck was stiff, my back ached, and a dull pain gnawed at my stomach.
‘Aigoo, what on earth is all this…….’
Reality crashed down hard.
When you woke up in another world, weren’t you supposed to get back rubs, full bellies, and nothing but good times? Eh? Every book I’d read promised that—why was I the exception?
‘And the family’s loaded, but the goal they gave me is way too tough.’
The road to reclaiming my fortune was proving brutally arduous. No, this was just the start, right?
I hadn’t expected it to be easy.
The path to becoming a wealthy shut-in was long and treacherous, after all.
“Ugh…….”
I finally managed to prop myself up, leaning forward as I sat. I patted my chest.
My insides felt so clogged. Ugh, that damned hangover……. I felt like I might hurl…….
No clue why my stomach was roiling this late in the game.
