Chapter 53

‘Claire Charne? That cunning…’

Ayla couldn’t even go near Owen’s residence because she had been taking care of small tasks in Theon’s office for five days.

He told her to come at every teatime; but in reality, when she brought the tea, she would be stuck in the office until the next teatime.

She could only move freely during mealtime, but she even missed that time because she was reviewing the documents, so she could only go to eat after all the other maids had left.

Since she left at dawn and only returned to the maid’s quarters at midnight, she wondered when was the last time she had spoken with Lily.

“Evil employer!!”

When Ayla stopped pouring the tea and shouted as if she were frustrated, the maids around her glanced at her once and continued their conversation.

“One of the maids I know said she saw Lady Claire secretly swaying her skirt in front of the Grand Duke?!”

“Oh my, what is a noble lady doing so lowly.”

“You know, nobles are worse by nature.”

***

It’s been a week already.

Claire, who was unexpectedly seduced by Owen, appeared at the west palace every day without fail.

Owen let out a small sigh as Claire seemed to be looking for something at the end of her walk.

After that day, Ayla did not show up for a week.

He was worried that maybe she had misunderstood his relationship with Claire, so he couldn’t sleep properly.

Claire faithfully fulfilled her duty as a seduced woman, clearly trampling over Owen’s worries.

Once seduced, the effect lasted up to a week.

There were times when the effect would disappear before one week, but this time it was more powerful as he had used magic after not using it for a long time.

Unlike other types of magic, the seduction effect of the mandolin did not show up immediately.

As there was a little bit of time before it took effect, he told Claire to go home and advised her to do a one-week confinement.

Of course, Claire couldn’t have known of this, so she obviously ignored Owen’s advice.

“Oh my, Grand Duke! Here you are. Good to see you.”

“Ah… Lady Claire, we already met 4 times today.”

When he found Claire, Owen quickly turned to go back towards the way he came, but he was helpless in front of her, who was blinded by love.

Having been seduced, her daily life collapsed, and the most important part of her day consisted in coming to Owen’s residence unannounced and waiting for him.

One day, he was walking through the natural forest of the west palace, which is difficult for outsiders to enter.

Not knowing how she had entered, he heard a rustling sound coming from between the bushes, and Claire, dressed as if she were almost naked, was hiding while looking at him.

He was so surprised that his chest still seems to pound when he thinks about that moment.

Wherever Owen went, Claire was lingering around him, as if she were a shadow.

Thanks to this, a nickname for Claire was created among the nobles and maids.

She was like a pet dog going after Owen so they called her ‘Happy’, and whenever Claire passed by, they would insult her by jokingly saying ‘Happy is going.’

It wasn’t intentional, but Owen had no choice but to take responsibility to some extent.

Though she was stubborn, it was also the reason why he couldn’t force Claire out.

He felt pity for Claire, who might really want to dig a hole in the ground and go inside when she wakes up from the delusion and reflects on what she has done.

“But it’s so nice to see the Grand Duke again. Shall we go somewhere quiet for a while?”

Claire, who was under the effect of seduction whether she knew it or not, courted Owen and seduced him endlessly.

‘Alright. Only one day left. One day.’

Even right now, Claire was winking at him.

Owen forced himself to smile, thinking that there wasn’t much time left now.

***

Sitting at the table in the office, Ayla’s expression was sulky.

For a week already, she has prepared Theon’s tea at the same time she opened her eyes, examined the documents, prepared the tea again and examined the documents.

She looked at the documents in detail while reducing her sleeping time, but all she could find were insignificant mistakes of small amounts of money.