Chapter 56

“I’ve been talking far too much. It’s quite late already, so you’d better go to sleep for now.”

“I hope that Your Highness will also spend the night comfortably.”

“Yeah.”

She greeted him with a bow once again before quickly turning her body.

She then began to run without ever resting to avoid her thumping heart from being overheard by the Grand Duke before she slowly ceased her steps.

“Thank God. He didn’t recognize me…”

Vivian had been smiling as she clasped on her chest while heaving deeply. But then, she soon bit her lips quite hard all of a sudden.

It was such a blessing that she had dyed her hair beforehand. If she had retained her red locks, he could have easily mistaken herself as Alexia since they had a similar body figure. Vivian really wanted to applaud the Young Lady’s foresight that had prevented such a situation.

She kept on exerting more force towards her hand that was clutching on her chest.

Still, how could he not recognize the person, who was always in his embrace—everyday? That was why he was referred to as someone cold. Even though he was such a gentle person. She snorted a little—thinking that he might only do so in bed.

A person who was with a completely different voice and hair color.

To Knox, whose eyes couldn’t see very well, she must have been entirely someone else. Even though she had already known about this, Vivian still could never hide that bitter feeling inside. As Vivian suddenly felt like she was about to vomit, she immediately gulped down her breath while clenching her heart, out of frustration.

It seemed like the food, which she had consumed during late night, incidentally made her stomach upset. Vivian then raised her previously lowered head. It looked like she would have to ingest some medicine before going to bed. And in this case, it would definitely be better for her if it was a strong medicine instead.

On the last day.

The hunting competition had taken place early in the morning, prior to the night that was supposed to hold a spectacular wrap-up gala. Even though the original purpose of this gathering was arranged, albeit belatedly, no one had said anything at all.

In favor of the night event, the preparation was organized in a rather thorough manner—considering the fact that it was held somewhat briefly. The ultimate goal was to catch as many animals as possible within the designated location.

While most of the men had to participate, the women were autonomously left to their own devices.

They could hunt on their own or even join a group with the men. Alternatively, they could also stay in the mansion after seeing off all the participants.

Nevertheless, not many of the nobles were that pleased to be woken up that early in the morning. And so was Alexia herself.

“Alexia.”

It was around the time when Alexia was staring rather blankly off the hunting ground that a voice had called out to her. That had instinctively made her head turn while her astounded eyes were locked onto the person—straight after she had confirmed whom it was.

“…Grand Duke.”

“Are you not going to call me by my name?”

She, who appeared completely flustered, carefully examined their surroundings before responding to him.

“That’s… there are just too many eyes watching currently.”

“Well, it doesn’t matter at all. More importantly, I’m going hunting right now—would you like to join me?”

“You are going to hunt, Your Highness?”

“Yes. But since my eyes have yet to heal completely, the knights will be hunting in my stead.”

The Grand Duke began gesturing to his back with his eyes while saying so. Some knights were already stationed in the place to where he had pointed out.

She thought over the Grand Duke’s invitation for a while. Then, she looked around briefly before giving a cautious nod.

“Okay, I will join you.”

She began to board the small carriage along with Knox, which had already been prepared beforehand for the sake of the Grand Duke, who still appeared unwell. There was a tad bit of a problem due to her fancy wide lace, but as soon as they had settled down, the carriage started moving instantly.

It was a space where a mere servant could never even step a foot into. Thanks to that then, they could sit—snuggled against one another—but still, they weren’t talking to each other at all.