Dishes were placed one after another on the dinner table.
The servants who brought the dishes left the parlor and the door was soon closed.
I raised my eyes slightly sharply towards Cedric and opened my mouth.
“... Cedric, do you know how many days you’ve been coming to my mansion every evening?”
However, Cedric just passed around his wine glass and looked the other way.
After the day he ran into Adrian by chance, Cedric came here every evening.
He 'did' go directly to his villa to hand over administrative documents that would have been delivered to Adrian through a servant, or he suddenly showed up and looked for Adrian, saying he was trying to promote harmony among the demon world's noble families.
By making such ridiculous excuses.
The problem was after Adrian's business was over.
Cedric immediately disguised himself as a black cat and arrogantly walked into the house next door to Adrian, which is to say my mansion.
Of course, at first, I felt a strange sense of thrill, just like when I was under the watchful eye of High Priest Diat.
Meeting Cedric is always exciting and happy for me.
But it was true that I was starting to get worried as those days continued for more than a week.
'What if the northern priests find out that we're secretly dating?'
But unlike me, Cedric was carefree.
No, rather than being carefree, he is closer to being impatient.
Cedric acted as if he couldn't stand it if he didn't come here every evening.
Looking at him like that, I let out a small sigh, and he continued speaking as if making an excuse.
“The chef at your mansion must be very good at cooking.”
“Don’t say unnecessary things. If the chef at the Mansion of Light heard this, it would hurt his pride.”
Like Bianca and Cedric, why do you think eating here is the most delicious with a top-notch chef by your side?
It was when I scolded him for no reason and lowered my gaze toward the soup bowl.
“Wook!”
I suddenly felt nauseated.
As I hurriedly covered my mouth, a surprised Cedric came straight to my side.
“What’s wrong, Rebecca? What’s wrong?”
He asked urgently, but I couldn't answer.
This was because the nausea continued.
“Woook!”
“Rebecca!”
Embarrassment flashed in his eyes.
If he was sick from countless wars and battles, he would have been sick of seeing me.
There was no way he could have been surprised by something like this, but right now he looked clearly embarrassed.
“Who is outside? Someone, please call the doctor immediately!”
The workers, startled by this, rushed in with a gasp.
"Ha... No. It's okay now... I think I’m feeling better.”
I patted my chest lightly and barely managed to speak.
It's not that I'm refusing, it's that I really feel like I'm getting better little by little.
But Cedric frowned, examining my face in disbelief.
“You’re not okay, I was nauseous without eating anything.”
“Oh, that’s...”
I hesitated for a moment and then waved at the workers.
And only when they were all finally gone did I cautiously open my mouth.
“The soup... ”
“Soup?”
“...I think it’s spoiled.”
At my words, Cedric immediately picked up the bowl of soup and smelled it.
Then he tilted his head and brought his nose closer again.
How many times did he repeat that action?
Cedric's lips slowly opened.
“...I don’t think so.”
“Is that possible? It definitely smells really bad.”
Although the chef wanted to atone for his mistakes, I have bitten the employees, but it was an unmistakable fact that the soup he made was spoiled.
'Just smelling it makes me vomit.'
I tried putting my nose close to the bowl again, just in case, but I felt the same nausea this time.
“Ugh...! I don’t know if it’s damaged or not, but please clean this up first, Cedric!”
“Oh, I understand.”
Cedric immediately moved the bowl of soup in front of me to the end of the table.
Only then was I able to breathe properly.
I lightly patted my chest and tried to put my vomiting to rest.
“Are you really okay? I think it would be best to send a message to Twins Castle and call the doctor right away.”
I shook my head at Cedric’s words.
"It's okay. I guess I felt sick from what I ate this morning. Anyway, I’m feeling better now, so I’ll finish eating.”
“But Rebecca...”
“It’s really okay. And how far is the Twin's castle from here to get the doctor? If it doesn’t work out, I’ll call a separate doctor from a city hospital later.”
Cedric had a face that still had something to say.
But then he realized how stubborn I was, and he let out a long sigh.
"Okay. Instead, even when I’m not around, if you feel unwell, you should call a doctor right away.”
Cedric's eyes gradually became darker.
“...I can’t take care of you often anymore, so please don’t make me worry.”
“...”
"Please."
It was a mysterious color that seemed to be a mixture of subtle depression and anxiety.
“...All right. Okay."
For a moment, I muttered softly, feeling guilty for no reason.
I changed the topic of conversation to try to brighten up the slightly depressed atmosphere.
“Ah, I’ve found a doorkeeper. Two people each at the front door and two at the back door.”
I smiled and continued speaking as if I was bragging.
“Of course, a strong half-blood demon. Now no one can suddenly show up at my mansion and threaten me, right?”
I told him this in hopes of alleviating his worries.
But for some reason, Cedric's face darkened once again.
“Duke Bold, that human. It is said that the Southern family name has now been vacated.”
“Oh, did you check that?”
“I have to do it. I need to know where he is so I can catch him and warn him...”
I stopped talking and was silent for a while.
'Or we'll just cut something so it can't move around at all.'
He muttered darkly.
What exactly do you want to cut off?
Curiosity arose, but it quickly evaporated due to Cedric's next words.
“Based on the circumstances, it looks like he has been staying in this area since the day he threatened you.”
Cedric's eyes, as he thought of Duke Bold, gradually became harsher.
“...Hide somewhere like a rat.”
***
Meanwhile, at the same time, a mansion on 3rd Road, North Allen.
This was a mansion that was often rented as a temporary villa to nobles from other regions visiting the North.
There was almost a set time each year when this mansion was traded and used.
It was around September, when the Twins Grand Duke family's Thanksgiving banquet was held, or February when hunting competitions were held throughout the northern region.
That means that other than that time, there is no special work for the occupants of this mansion.
During the months when there were no guests at the villa, they had no choice but to spend their days doing odd jobs at taverns or inns.
It was to take responsibility for the family's livelihood while there was no work.
If you ask me whether it would be better for me to resign from my position as the owner of this villa, that is just being ignorant of the situation.
The money I make for a month serving the temporary owner of a villa is much more than the money I make for 6 months doing odd jobs.
Unfortunately, this was the worst off-season of all off-seasons.
While they were doing their usual chores, they heard some good news.
It is said that a Duke from the south has come to rent this villa for the time being.
The workers who heard this news immediately stopped what they were doing and gathered at the mansion.
And it had been about a week since they had served the unknown Duke.
“But why don’t you tell me the family name?”
In response to the chef's question, the old maid who was helping knead the bread next to her shrugged her shoulders.
"Well. From what I heard from Mrs. Redwood, judging from his behavior and attitude when signing the contract, he seemed like someone who urgently needed a place to hide out.”
Then the chef laughed as she put chopped basil into the soup pot.
“Why, did you say he took someone’s money and made a living?”
Of course, this was a rental villa for nobles, but it was not a very prestigious place.
The building was old and had many shabby corners, and the people who used it were not very cultured.
Inside the old kitchen, the two workers were giggling about their temporary owner.
Suddenly, urgent footsteps came from outside and the kitchen door suddenly opened.
"Whiskey... No, whatever, if you have any leftover alcohol, give it to me.”
The man's body, which was barely supported by the arched doorway, stumbled uncontrollably.
It was the same Duke who was said to have come from the South.
The middle-aged man smelled of alcohol.
His bright red eyes slightly lost focus, and his cheeks and tip of his nose were already full of red.
The workers were already accustomed to seeing him drenched in alcohol.
It was like that the whole week he stayed here.
“Oh my, Duke. The sun is still high in the sky, so you're looking for something to drink again...”
The old maid behaved foolishly.
The Duke began to hastily search through the kitchen cupboards as if he didn't care about those words.
And he finally found half a bottle of white wine left in an old wooden cupboard.
Cheap wine is reserved for cooking, with no scent or taste other than alcohol.
The Duke drank it down greedily.
Finally, he roughly wiped the alcohol that had spilled from under his chin and shouted irritably at the old maid.
“Is you losing your memory because you’re old, or is she just lazy and acting like this? Well, don’t look too far away, and if you run out of alcohol, buy it yourself and refill it!”
“Oh my gosh, yes, I wonder if it’s possible. Don’t do that.”
The old maid had been a servant at the temporary villa and had never been tired of seeing the guests behaving indecently.
Befitting her strong bones, she was singing along to the beat of the drunkard's words, pretending to be afraid of his world.
“Ah, Duke. Are you here? I’ve been looking for it for a long time!”
The doorkeeper, who opened the kitchen door and looked inside, saw the Duke, and his eyes lit up.
“A guest came outside.”
“...Guest? Here?”
“Yes, I see you received an invitation.”
The gatekeeper also handed over a secret whisper along with an envelope.
“Duke Bold, is that correct?”
Duke Bold did not respond, but hurriedly took the envelope of the letter.
Eventually, his eyes slowly opened wide as he confirmed the sender's name.
“The person who came as a guest is a young noblewoman, and her name is...”
At that moment, the gatekeeper frowned slightly as he remembered.
“...Lobelia Bart is here, right?”
Duke Bold muttered lowly.
“Oh, that’s right! That's what you said. How do I ask her to come in?”
Then Duke Bold chuckled, wiping his red face from alcohol with the palm of his hand.
“This is a guest who has been waiting so anxiously, so we need to bring her inside right now!”
A mysterious smile soon appeared on the lips that had been shouting arrogantly.
“...Our next Twins Grand Duchess has finally arrived.”
she is defiantly pregnant and the timing is damn wrong
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