Chapter 27 - The Duke Must Be Interested In You

Chapter 27 – The Duke Must Be Interested In You

Claude burst into low laughter at my remarks. He then bowed politely and left the room.

When he was gone, I still stared blankly at the spot where he was a moment ago.

What on earth is going on here? What did I just do?

“Marie.”

Then, Martina peeped through the crack in the door and called out to me. I managed to shake myself back to my senses.

“Martina,” I said.

“May I come in?” she asked.

“Of course. Come in.”

Martina trotted into my room and plopped beside my bed, then gave me an expectant stare.

“So, what did you two talk about?”

“Well… He apologized for the carriage accident,” I replied.

“And?” she coaxed.

“Hmm… He said he will compensate me.”

“What kind of compensation?”

“Compensation for financial and mental damage.”

“I understand financial, but what’s with mental damage?”

“…”

Martina looked like she was curious about the ‘mental damage compensation’, but…it was embarrassing for me to be honest about that. How could I tell her that he was going to come see me every day because of that? I could already imagine Martina’s eyes sparkling as she would tease me, ‘Does he have feelings for you?’

My face suddenly hardened.

‘Wait, feelings? Is it really like that?’

It was suspicious enough that he would come visit every day because of ‘mental damage compensation.’ That didn’t make any sense unless he had feelings for me!

But even so…how could he have feelings for me when we just met? We should have met at least once more before he could develop anything for me.

‘Did he fall for Maristella’s face?’

Hmm… But that didn’t seem right. Maristella was attractive-looking, but she wasn’t so beautiful as to cause a man to fall in love at first sight.

And to be honest, Claude was beautiful enough—if there was a male deity, he would look like Claude— that if he dressed up as a woman, he might be even more beautiful than Maristella.

‘Then what is it?’

What hooked him? No, did he even have feelings for me in the first place?

My mind tilted in confusion, and the expression on my face must have made Martina anxious.

“Marie, Marieeee!” she called out to me.

“Huh, yeah? Yes.” I blinked back into awareness. “What’s going on?”

“What’s going on with you? What are you thinking about that you’re not paying attention to me?”

“What?”

Martina pursed her lips. “Something must have happened between you and the Duke. What even is ‘mental damage compensation’?”

No matter how hard I tried to hide it, it was impossible. How could I conceal the fact that he would come to visit when we were living in the same house?

I had no choice but to tell the truth. When I did so, Martina’s jaw dropped.

“Really? Seriously? Truly?” she said.

“Really. Seriously. Truly,” I echoed.

“Oh my, what to do, Marie? The Duke must be interested in you.”

I almost rolled my eyes. “…I already expected you to say that.”

“See, Marie. Doesn’t that mean you also think the same way I do?”

She was annoyingly sharp. I avoided her gaze with a guilty expression. She was right.

“You’re incredible,” she said in enthused awe. “After the Crown Prince, now the Duke…”

“Neither of them. Don’t be so excited, Martina.”

“But if you tell this to anyone else, they will also be excited. What if the two men fight over you? Wow, what to do? You’re incredible!”

What…? I couldn’t understand what she was thinking at all.

“Two men fighting over a woman…?” I asked.

“Isn’t it amazing? It’s romantic! It’s like a romance novel!”

“…”

Technically this was also a romance novel, but Martina, you have read too many novels. That was just fictional. I smirked at her nonsense and shook my head.

“There’s no such thing, Martina,” I explained patiently. “Besides, who am I for such things to happen to me?”

“You have a habit of underestimating yourself too much. What’s wrong with my sister? You’re a beauty with a brain!” she praised.

“…”

I was glad that there were only the two of us here, Martina. How embarrassing it must have been if anyone had heard it.

“You’d better stop talking and go back to your room, Martina. I’m a little tired, so I think I need to rest.”

“Ah, really? You can’t be tired. I will go now so you can rest, Marie.”

Martina pecked my forehead and trotted again out of the room.

Thud. 

When the door closed, I looked at the empty spot where Martina once sat and smiled.

“She’s so cute.”

Then, suddenly I remembered what Claude said earlier.

He definitely said he would come tomorrow.

Well, yeah. It was possible that he would come visit again after a day. But was it possible for it to last ‘every day’?

I was confident that he would come to my house for the first time as if he were going to the gym, and then at some point, he would stop visiting. It was never easy to visit the same place every single day, and it was difficult to remain committed unless someone was forced. Either way, it was fine with me, and there was no way Claude would come every single day.

‘I bet the dirt under my toenail that he will stop coming after a few days.’

That’s how confident I was.

***

…It was my perfect mistake.

“Hello, Lady Maristella.”

After Claude came to my house for the tenth day in a row, I learned two important lessons of life.

First, never be sure of anything.

“The weather is so nice today. How are you feeling?”

Second, never bet on something important.

What was I going to do if I didn’t bet the dirt under my toenail, but my wrist?

“Good, Your Grace.”

I looked at the handsome man in front of me with a tired expression.

If I looked at a handsome man’s face ten days in a row, it was possible that I would get sick of his face. But the more I looked at Claude, the more attractive he seemed to grow. He must be doing a skincare routine before every time he comes to my house. Otherwise, how can someone be that good-looking?

“Yesterday, my doctor gave me some good news,” I said to him.

“I can’t wait to hear that good news. What is it?”

“He said I could start walking next week.” In the end, it was three months later that I was allowed to walk. I gave Claude a heartfelt smile. “It turned out well, right?”

“…”

But he didn’t answer.

What? Did it not turn out well?

“Duke?” I called out to him, flustered.

His expression was far away, and it was a long time before he spoke. “…Ah.” He blinked. “I’m sorry, Lady Maristella. I must have spaced out for a while.”

“No, you don’t have to be sorry… I’m more worried if you’re tired.”

“Not at all!” he protested strongly. It seemed like a bit of an overreaction. “I’m never tired, Lady Maristella. I’m very healthy and fine.”

“Th-that’s a relief.” I smiled awkwardly and looked at the man in front of me.

If I were to describe the change in our relationship for the past ten days, I would say that we made unexpected progress. Claude was far more eloquent than I thought, and he was good at leading engaging conversation. He spoke to me very naturally and, thanks to that, I talked to him for the past ten days without difficulty.

I didn’t even try anything on purpose, so he must have been quite something. It wasn’t a lie when Claude said, ‘Such as I am, I’m not uninteresting.’

“Anyway, I’m so glad you’re better than ten days ago,” Claude said.

“…Now you don’t have to send food that is good for bones anymore.”

“But it isn’t over until it’s over. I will send you the food until next week.”

“…”

I was rendered speechless. For your information, this man’s ‘financial damage compensation’ wasn’t limited to the cost of treatment for the two injured people and the broken carriage. Every day, he sent a huge box of food to my house every day containing foods which promoted bone health.

I told him to stop sending them, but it didn’t do much good, and so I was forced to surrender.

Maybe I should do that today too.

Knock knock.

There was a knock at the door, and Florinda came inside the room. She carried a silver tray bearing two cups of warm tea and butter cookies, then delivered the refreshments to us.

Claude smiled and lifted his teacup, and so did I. It was a sweet Ceylon tea, but it tasted pretty good.

Claude’s eyebrows lifted in satisfaction as he sipped the tea. “The tea tastes great.”

“Yes,” I agreed. The tea seemed familiar, but I couldn’t remember it well. I turned towards Florinda. “You must have bought a new one this time, right?”

“Ah, no. Actually, they’re tea leaves from the Crown Prince.”

“Ah, really? When did—”

Pfft!

I heard the sound of a spit-take, and I hurriedly turned my head to the source of the noise.