CH 79

After a while, I walked out the door and saw Lia returning. She rushed to me as soon as she saw me.

“Are you done?”

“Yes. I’ve filed it with the post office.”

“Thank you. You did well.” I walked slowly into the room and sighed. Her clear tone made me feel refreshed yet nervous. “This should be the end of it.”

Rupert would accept the terms of the agreement and sign it, and that’s it. Inside the envelope was also a short message to him.

‘…You may not know Chloe’s real identity.’

I decided to trust it and leave it to Rupert.

It was only after I signed the divorce agreement that I seriously considered my relationship with him.

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Duke Rupert Clifford, the male protagonist of this novel’s world.

As soon as I fell into this world, I was confused and scared at the wedding I faced.

If my first meeting with him wasn’t at the wedding, if only I had a little more spare time… then maybe our relationship would have been more amicable than it was.

Suddenly, I felt that I was really alone.

I stroked my shoulder and arm with both hands as the feeling of falling into an unfamiliar world came back to me.

‘That doesn’t mean I have any regrets.’

I was about to shake off my thoughts and enter the room, but I turned to think of the next thing I had to do.

I had spent four billion out of the eight billion gold I had. The remaining 4 billion would also be used to pay off my debts.

I couldn’t live in the Imperial Palace forever, and I needed more money to buy a new house.

‘I have to do what Billy Gordon asked me to do.’

I turned to Enoch’s office, thinking that I should ask more about the Empress, but when I opened the door to his office, Enoch was nowhere to be seen. The only people there had their faces buried in their desks.

Liam, Enoch’s assistant, lifted his head and our eyes met. 

“Where is His Highness?”

“He hasn’t come yet today.”

“…He hasn’t? Wasn’t he here earlier?”

So, did he just give me the shoes and leave?

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“His Highness doesn’t usually go to this office, although he’s been coming a lot lately. By the way, I’m going to hire workers now. Would you like to take a look?”

“Oh… Okay.”

The mining project was about to begin in earnest soon, so I couldn’t help but pay attention. I rummaged through the papers Liam handed me and answered a few questions.

I thought it was a little strange that things were going too fast. 

It’s good to be fast, but beyond that, it was progressing steadily under Billy Gordon’s preparation as if everything had already been decided.

‘Wait a minute, my nominee…?’

But Billy Gordon was my choice. Of course, he had selected a few of the many documents, but I personally chose him, and after that, I watched the interview and selected him.

I tried to move on, but the feeling of dread continued all day. I couldn’t fall asleep because of the thought that plagued my mind until I went to bed.

‘I’ll probably have to ask Enoch directly.’

Moreover, I requested to have an audience with the Empress tomorrow. I didn’t receive a notice of acceptance, but it would be good to see Enoch at least once before tomorrow.

Without waking Lia, I changed into my outerwear by myself.

Actually, I didn’t know where Enoch was, either. However, I couldn’t sleep, so I thought meeting him for a night walk would be good. It would be difficult to see him if he was in the Crown Prince’s Palace.

With that thought in mind, I walked out the door, and a faint light leaked out from the door of the closed office across the hallway.

‘Who’s working overtime?’

I cautiously approached and opened the door to the quiet office. A regular lamp, not a magic lamp, illuminated the room with a soft light.

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And there he was, sitting in the Prince’s seat. Great timing. I approached him and said, “Your Hi–”

I stopped when I noticed that he was leaning against the chair with his eyes closed. The sound of regular breathing permeated like the wind in the still silence.

‘Did you fall asleep?’

I muffled my footsteps and walked closer.

He probably didn’t realize how tired he was. Was there no escort around? Wasn’t it dangerous?

He usually wore a robe that was closed to the neck, but now, he had taken off his outerwear and unbuttoned the top button of his shirt.

Enoch didn’t wake up even when I reached him. My gaze went to his collarbone and neckline and stayed on his gently closed lips.

Then I stared at his straight nose, long eyelashes, forehead, and disheveled bangs. I continued staring at the sleeping man, forgetting the purpose of coming here.

He was a really handsome man. And exactly my type. I suddenly wondered. Why was this person being so nice to me?

A few strands of hair covered the top of his eyelids, and it looked uncomfortable. It was probably fine to leave it alone, but it bothered me.

‘Slightly, very slightly.’

Carefully, I stretched my fingers toward his hair. Just as my fingertips touched it, Enoch suddenly opened his eyes and roughly grabbed my wrist.

“Ah!”

At that moment, his body leaned forward against the chair where he sat. I barely held onto the chair’s armrest as my eyes widened, staring at the face in front of me.

“That…”

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Enoch opened his eyes, but slowly blinked his languid eyelids as if still tired.

“What are you doing here, Count Spilet?”

His hoarse voice tickled my earlobe with his breath. It was fortunate that the room was dark, or else he’d see how red I probably was.

“I…I have something to ask you,” I carefully spoke. It felt like we could reach each other if we got even a little closer. As I thought so, a soft sensation passed over my lips.

‘Oh?’

And Enoch pushed me away a little bit and stood up. With a slight smile on his lips, he said, “I see.”

Seeing his casual attitude, I felt flustered, wondering if it was my misunderstanding. But I was sure I felt something…?

Looking back at Enoch, I rubbed the back of my neck with my hand.

“Ah, um. You must be very tired.” 

He stared back. “I hear you have something to ask.”

“Ah, right.”

What did I come to ask again? It took me a while to get myself together because my head just went blank.

Enoch looked at me slowly, without urging me, and took out a bottle from the cupboard. “Would you like a drink?”

I glanced at it and nodded. Then he took out a glass of wine and poured a little bit over it.

I accepted the glass and leaned on the edge of the desk for a while before finally opening my mouth.

“Your Majesty, Billy Gordon…”

“I hoped that the Count would get a divorce sooner rather than later.”

Before I could even speak further, Enoch beat me to it. He admitted that he thought I would choose Billy Gordon from the start. 

But he didn’t look as sorry as when I found out about Lia.

Rather, he looked at me as if he were ready to devour me. It flustered me to see Enoch look at me like that, but I didn’t avoid it and stared back at him.

“Didn’t you want it too?”

“I did, but was it necessary to go through such a series of procedures if that was the case?”

“Would you have believed it if you hadn’t confirmed it yourself?”

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“If your Highness recommends it…” While I was talking, I remembered the contract. Eventually, I sighed and admitted, “Yes, Your Highness always has a reason for what you do. I always realize late.”

As I readily admitted it, Enoch’s expression seemed to soften a little. I didn’t really come here to question him.

“I didn’t mean to be deceitful. However, there will often be things that I won’t be able to tell you honestly in the future. But I’ll never do anything that’s harmful…”

“Okay,” I said, no longer interested in interrogating him. 

By the way, I wonder if I’d gotten drunk from the wine since the atmosphere that didn’t fit the conversation made me unable to take my eyes off him.

I felt relieved after sending the divorce agreement. And I was a little lonely and scared. Why and for what did I come to this world? How should I live now?

“…I sent the divorce agreement to Rupert today.”

I didn’t explain more because it was something he knew anyway. But Enoch seemed to have misunderstood my silence because he asked me coldly, “Do you regret it?”

I shook my head. “Of course not.”

“It probably won’t be over yet.” Enoch, standing in front of me, took a step forward. Again, our distance grew closer.

I continued with a bitter smile, “Right, there’s still more to go.”

If he agreed, some procedures would remain, but if he disagreed with the agreement, it would lead to a tedious litigation process.

But anyway, I gave the final notice. I felt relieved and empty. 

Why? Was it because I lost my goal?

“I was going to wait longer, but seeing you like this makes it hard to bear,” Enoch murmured in a low voice and quietly took one of my hands. His tone was somehow unpleasant, but there was heat in the fingertips he grabbed. 

“Don’t think of Rupert in front of me at a moment like this.”

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I only drank one glass of wine, but it must have been a strong kind. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have done something like this.

“And speaking of which, Count. After the divorce proceedings are over, I…”

I wanted to hear more from him, but I didn’t want to. I didn’t think I could handle it yet. The future with him would never be normal, so I needed more time.

So I pressed my lips over his. Don’t say anything.