Chapter 35

────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────

Chapter 35

Hyle kept his mouth shut. It was because if he insisted more, he would not be able to get the answer he wanted anyway. For him, there was something more important than the reason why Dimitri was smiling all alone like that.

“Anyway, I’ll prepare as I just said. Are you okay with that?”

Dimitri nodded roughly as he overheard Rowaine walking quietly out of the room. He did not know what it was about, though he thought it would be boring.

“Okay. Is there more?”

“That’s all.”

“Then, get out.”

Abruptly kicking Hyle out, he then ran straight to the mirror and smoothed his hair because he had just heard Rowaine say to the maids loudly, “I’ll go to the Duke’s room because I have something to do.”

While Hyle tilted his head at his seemingly urgent action and opened the door, Dimitri gave the order while fixing his gaze on the mirror.

“Leave the door open.”

“Yes…? All right.”

It was a gesture of being busy all of a sudden even though he was lazily tying his tie for thirty minutes earlier. In the end, Hyle did not even know what to say and rushed out as though he was being kicked out.

After kicking him out, Dimitri could hear her exchange greetings with Hyle in the hallway.

Then, Rowaine passed him and walked straight into his room.

Dimitri, who quickly adjusted his clothes and fell from the mirror, picked up the papers Hyle had left behind with an unconcerned face. Though his eyes turned to the paper, his attention remained focused on the sound of footsteps in the hallway.

At the end of his vision, a box on the bed suddenly came into view.

‘Oh.’

He quickly ran before shoving the cardboard box and the cat cushion she had given him under the bed. He hugged and rolled around so much that the cushion had a lot of gray hair stuck to it.

“Dimitri.”

At that moment, Rowaine was at the door and called for him.

“Can, can I come in for a moment…?”

I cautiously glanced in front of Dimitri’s door, fearing that he, who valued personal space, might not like it that I came to his room like this. For some reason, the door was wide open, and I could see him lying face down under the bed deep inside the room.

“Can, can I come in for a moment…?”

Was he surprised by the sudden conversation? Dimitri jumped up from under the bed and banged his head.

“Oh, are you okay?”

Surprised, I approached without realizing it. However, he grabbed the back of his head and stood up quickly before shoving something under the bed with his feet while holding me back from approaching with his hand.

“It’s okay. Don’t come in too much.”

At his words, I hurriedly returned to the open space.

“I’m sorry.”

…I should have waited until dinner instead of coming to his room.

‘I thought he was pretty open-minded when I saw the room next door, though I guess it was not to that extent yet…’

Wanting to be considerate of him, I did not approach him more than a certain distance and stood far away and opened my mouth.

“You must’ve been resting. The Viscount Hyle Bilph just left, so I came in knowing it would be okay, but if it gets in the way, I’ll come back next time.”

I never had a cat in the house, although I knew that house cats like dark, enclosed places like under beds. So, I spoke with the nuance of understanding. However, Dimitri frowned slightly, glanced at where he was just lying down, and then looked at me again.

“It’s not what you think.”

“….?”

He insisted a little.

“I sleep in the bed.”

‘…Is he shy?’

I smiled broadly, hoping he would feel relieved.

“It’s okay. I used to sleep under the bed, too. If I still have nightmares on thundering days, I will crawl under the bed. It’s pretty comfortable.”

“….”

Nonetheless, Dimitri, who still bit his lip once with a displeased face, raised his chin a little and changed the topic.

“Anyway, what’s going on?”

“I’ve something to ask.”

“You can say it.”

“I think I should go to my parents’ house, but I was wondering if you could go with me…”

A letter arrived to me this morning. It was written that I had to settle the problem of ownership of the diamond mine, which Rowaine had agreed to receive in exchange for becoming the Emperor’s mistress. Because of that, I had to go to the Count’s house.

‘Besides, Count Larscel was sick, and he did not reply to my request to come, so I was just going to go there like this…’

Does it not seem too condescending to say that the Emperor and the Count talked about mines and stuff before themselves, though when we have to fix it, Rowaine, the party concerned, should come and solve it herself?

‘It means that I have to go there no matter what.’

To put it another way, it meant that Count Larscel would not dare to come to Blois where Dimitri was. In addition, the Emperor could not even shamelessly send people here to tell me to come or go.

‘Even if I think about it, it is not fair.’

Rowaine did not even sign a pledge to become a mistress, so ownership of the mine has not yet been passed on. Despite that, in order to deal with the temporary contract issue, her signature was required or something.

A provisional contract was a contract that was temporarily concluded prior to a formal contract. It was absurd to mention a provisional contract on the matter of becoming a mistress.

For example, it could be thought of as a temporary contract before marriage, that was, an engagement, but could an engagement not end with just one unilateral notification when there was no exchange between each other…?

By marrying Dimitri, I had informed the Emperor that I had no intention of becoming a mistress. Still, the Emperor insisted on asking for my will directly, saying that I could become his mistress even if he had a husband.

As I explained the situation to Dimitri, I could feel the heat on my face at the Emperor’s childish attitude.

“…In this situation, I don’t think we can just ignore the request of His Majesty, anyway. It’s just a matter of signing and coming. So, if you’re not busy, I was wondering if you could come with me.”

The words came out like a mess. Still, I could not even think of going there alone.

Last time, I did not give in and acted bravely in front of Count Larscel, but in fact, my original personality was not like that at all.

‘I had to do it, so I just plucked up my courage.’

My father and brother made me realize well that he would only become a pushover if I quietly endured something I disliked without saying anything. So, when I muster up the courage, I burn it like fire. Nevertheless, that was a difficult task that required me to burn myself as firewood.

I think it would take courage again to meet Count Larscel and his wife, but just imagining it already made me exhausted. Therefore, I wanted to go easily and lean on Dimitri this time.

‘Count Larscel wrote that he would respect my will in the letter, though I do not believe it at all.’

I was concerned about the letter the Emperor had sent to Herman.

To be precise, the sentence that said that if I said I would return to him, he would make my marriage to Dimitri never happen caught my heart. Dimitri said that the signature on the ring finger disappears when we sign the oath, but having a wedding ring engraved on your body does not mean you can do foolish things.

‘If I see the Emperor come out like this, Count Larscel may have dug a trap with the Emperor behind my back.’

So, I hoped Dimitri would go with me since I intended to stick close to him without a moment for a little.

‘If I am with a husband who was equal to a duke, would it not be any different from being with Count Larscel?’

Besides, Dimitri was a strong cat who could handle demons.

With that thought, I gazed at him eagerly. A positive answer came out of his mouth so simply that it was ridiculous what I was worried about.

“I can’t let you spend the day in such a place alone, so I’ll make time for it.”

“Thank you, Dimitri!”

Feeling relieved, it feels like I have someone on my side in the enemy’s den. Now, I can put my mind at ease and come back on the same day as if I was going out on an outing.

Or, so I thought…

“What’re you talking about, Duke? Attending the elders meeting today is all that has been talked about today.”

On the morning of the day we decided to go to Count Larscel, his aide, Viscount Hyle Bilph, blocked me and Dimitri, who were getting on the carriage to leave.

“Didn’t I report it last time? The Count of Bilbao is struggling with the issue of compensation.”

“Did you report it to me?”

Asking back, Dimitri tilted his head.

“Don’t you remember? The last day you overslept, I went to my room and reported it to you.”

“Did you?”

I glanced up at Dimitri anxiously.

He was already fighting a hard battle with the elders who were trying to push him away.

‘If it is because of the elders’ meeting, I think it would be better not to miss it…’

If anything, the Viscount Hyle Bilph would normally have offered to serve as Dimitri’s representative. But, seeing the Viscount who was very troubled, it seemed that it would not be possible. However, I could not postpone the date of my appointment because the Emperor himself sent someone to nail me to check on my intentions.

The Emperor’s person must have already been sent off to the County. If I put off my appointment, it would be contemptuous of me.

‘I would not get caught up in this damn thing and drag it around again.’

Finally, I reassured Dimitri that it was okay to go alone and led him to the carriage.

“I’m just going to my family. Although it would be nice to go together, you’ve got an important business to do.”

__

────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────