CH 9

“Ah, Duke. How did you come to this place? If I had known you would come, I would have made a reservation at the restaurant. We haven’t seen each other lately. But who is this lady?”

Rose smiled at me. I noticed that she was lying. She already knew who I was.

“Haven’t seen you for a long time, Lady Rose. This is my daughter.”

“I see. Oh, we have to get along. After all, soon we will all become one family.”

Rose kept a good face at her bad game. It looked like the peacock had uncovered its colorful feathers.

“I’ve heard rumors about the adoption of a poor orphan. She is much more beautiful than I thought.”

“She’s sure cute,” Collen replied quietly.

Rose laughed as if she heard something very pleasant.

“Virtue is very important. I respect Duke’s choice. Young lady, if you improve diligently, you will grow into a worthy member of Duke’s family. I also want to do my bit. I can help you hide the origin of this child. Have you ever had a personal teacher? I know one who can tackle you with enthusiasm. Although his approach to teaching sometimes looks… too radical.”

I almost fainted at what Rose said next..

Suddenly Collen turned to me down.

Then he bent over and looked into my eyes.

“Who do you think I am?”

“The Duke.”

“Not this,” Collen whispered. “I’m your father. Call me like that.”

“…Uh.”

I was shy and kept my mouth shut.

“You’re still embarrassed, aren’t you?”

I nodded slightly. As I was contemplating whether I should say father, even belatedly, Collen continued.

“Then I want to ask one more question.”

“What is it”

“Don’t you want to tell me to kick this woman out of here?”

For a moment, the entire room fell into silence. I began to doubt my ears.

Lady Rose’s face turned blue.

“Duke? What does that mean?”

Collen smiled and continued.

“Oh, don’t you understand my words? This means that you must disappear from my eyes immediately. And I hope I never see you again. Simply put, get out.”

“…!”

“Are you able to understand it, Lady Rose?”

Lady Rose opened her mouth wide. My reaction was similar.

“How can you say that to me…”

Lady Rose’s lips quivered. It looked like a scene from a play.

‘Come to think of it, Collen had this kind of personality.’

Arrogant, but so charming as a beast of prey. A little naughty man, a man who is self-centered but cannot be refused.

But honestly, I felt a bit of sour taste.

“Say goodbye to her, sweetheart,” Collen whispered. “You will never see this person again.”

I hesitated before opening my mouth.

“Goodbye, ma’am.”

I grabbed the hem of Collen’s clothes and said timidly. He burst out laughing.

“You are very nice. Yes, you just have to learn to be aristocratic like this.”

Collen stroked my hair, which the maids meticulously braided this morning.

It was a nice feeling, but it was a little creepy.

“You, you…! Do you know who I am?”

Lady Rose looked at me as if she were extremely indignant at something. Is she going to pounce on me?

“I don’t know. But I am glad that I am not as beautiful as you.”

“What are you talking about?”

“If I were as beautiful, I would have been married off and sent to the suburbs.”

Now I couldn’t stop my mouth.

“Yes?”

Finally, Rose’s face turned white, her eyes darting between Collen and me.

“Or do you think that I should be sold to the circus?”

She bit her lip nervously. It seemed that at that moment blue flame was dancing in my eyes. I clung to Collen even tighter, without noticing it myself.

“Did you eavesdrop on me like a dirty thief?”

“I want you to refrain from insulting my daughter, Lady Rose. Moreover, have you ever heard of self-esteem?”

“We are not at your house! You can’t turn me out.”

That means kicking out guests from the house, right? Collen was dumbfounded.

“This street itself belongs to me. Who do you think is the owner of this building? I thought you knew that and approached me, but I’m disappointed.”

“…!”

“Oh, except you, of course. You don’t have to know anything.”

Haha, yes I felt like he’s doing it.

“Should I call the guard?”

Collen said to Lady Roget. Rose changed her tone and begged him.

“Duke, Collen. We’re dating. But how to understand this absurdity-”

“I didn’t know you had such a hopeful personality to say that we were dating just because we had a few meals. If you really believed in me, you can treat me cold,” said Kalen in perfectly polite language. “Then would you please disappear quickly? I don’t want to repeat the words ‘get out’.”

There was no answer. The atmosphere in the room cooled sharply. Rose bit her lips again and turned toward the exit.

“Why did you dislike Lady Rose?”

I pursed my lips.

“I overheard her conversation.”

Collen wanted to ask more, but I was the first.

“But how did you recognize me on the street?”

“I recognized it because it sparkled like when we first met.”

Collen poured compliments. My cheeks turned red.

‘Wow, the sweet words sound good too.’

So this is how noble people talk?

Then, instead of the dressing room, Mariane came down through the stairs on the second floor..

The dress she wore was the same as before.

Uh, didn’t she go to the dressing room to try on a new dress?

“Collen, when did you come? Oh my God. Why are you together?”

Collen looked at Mariane from head to toe.

“Instead of trying on a new dress, did you wear the same one you were in two weeks ago? Moreover, instead of taking care of the child, you went down from the second floor and out through the back door…”

Collen spoke slowly.

Marianne made a strange sound.

” Stop! Don’t do it! Isn’t it too much to analyze people instead of saying hello? Even if you know, you can pretend you don’t know. Anyway, you’re creepily sharp.”

Marianne’s cheeks flushed.

“As you can see, the ladies use the wardrobe for many purposes.”

“I want my younger sister, whose hobby is dating, to know what a headache it is for me. Please refrain from using the dressing room as a tryst.”

“What do you want to say? Every noble woman in the capital dresses here. More than that, are you saying that I, a woman, shouldn’t date?”

“You’re a saintess. You’re a special temple’s worker, it’s troublesome.”

Collen was so right that I wanted to agree.

Once a saint… If so, is it a job like a nun? Marianne changed her tone and attacked the other.

“My brother goes out with a girl like Lady Rose. Do you know how much he’s been talking about dating my brother? It would be fun if she became the Duchess. There would be a lot of uproar.”

“I don’t know if it’s true that we dated, but we broke up.”

“…What? When?”

“Just now. I kicked her out.”

When Collen finished, he and me exchanged glances at the same time. I could hardly contain my laughter. I felt like I had a secret.

“Have you bought everything you need?”

“Do you see this?”

Marianne pointed to the entrance. At the entrance was a mountain of boxes in gift wrappers.

“Oh, clothes…!”

Now was the chance to stop Marianne.

“I am very glad that Marianne took me to the city today… But such prices …”

Collen and Marianne’s eyes focused on me.

If Marianne really spent 100 gold coins on my clothes, I would faint from shock.

“How much did you spend?”

” I set a budget of 100 gold coins and asked for all the jewels and silk?”

“You have done a great stupidity!” said Collen disapprovingly.

Right? Phew, you did well that said it.

He avoided the risk of being kicked out of the gate right away, saying that the duke was rude.

It would be great for me that I don’t need to say it.

“You should have taken 200 gold coins at once. We need to order the dresses for the next season now, and so they have to prepare the best silk. Or otherwise, what would the people say if Duke’s child wore some kind of rag?”

“Aha! That’s right. It’s my brother!”

…Yes?

I doubted my ears. Marianne said cheerfully.

“That’ll do!”

What was that now?

“Oh, I just need Marianne’s childhood dress, and there are five of them at home!”

“Do you want to fill your wardrobe with five old dresses?”

Marianne shook her head.

“You don’t have a ball dress yet, do you?”

“But this… This is too expensive…”

“Don’t worry. You won’t owe anyone anything. This is the duty of your guardian,” said Collen.

I’ve never heard of such an obligation. It was really difficult.

“How many dresses did you buy?”

“Twenty.”

“Okay, then tell them to bring more.”

I said hastily.

“I-I’m a bit tired. I’m sorry, but I think my eyes will close…!”

I was really tired. Shopping was a huge waste of energy. And luckily, that excuse worked.

“Yes? Then there is nothing I can do about it. Take all of her clothes.”

Collen told the workers. The staff politely replied:

“We will prepare everything.”

Then, with the help of the staff, I changed back into the brown dress I was wearing at the beginning.

When I left the locker room, Collen was sitting on the couch, waiting for me.

“Let’s go,” KaCollenlen gestured.

“Collen, and what about me?”

Marianne, who had been trying on her dress belatedly, raised her head..

“Go back to the temple and pray. Sometimes it is useful to portray a vigorous activity.”

“…Sheesh. Okay. Honey, do you want to play with your aunt again another day?”

Marianne laughed and waved her hand at me.

“No. You are not able to keep track of the child. She isn’t a doll. I know what you want to do with her, but you’re not allowed to take her without my permission.”

Collen was hard on this because he saw me wandering the street alone.

Marianne smiled, pretending not to understand.

“Don’t pay attention to what my brother says. Next time, be sure to call me Marianne!”

I smiled and waved, then pretended to have a headache again when my eyes met Collen’s.

The moment I got on the carriage, the thought of the balloon made me depressed again.

‘What do I say to Jade?’

I was really happy to receive this balloon.

Will he think I lied to him when he finds out? We’ve gotten a little closer now…

“Ah…”

It was then. A woman staggered towards us. Collen quickly hid me behind his back.

“Help me…!”

The woman reached out to us. She had red hair.

‘…That person has a strange face.’

And the next moment, the pale-faced woman collapsed on the ground.