"Why? Do you think I'm having a hard time?"
I touched my cheek and glanced at the desk mirror next to me.
I don't look tired at all and am full of energy.
But Carol nodded and continued.
"Yes, he stared at me very fiercely and emphasized it, but I was so scared. But when I think about it, Duke Iels genuinely cared about the Princess."
'He... Did he worry about me?'
I just blinked without saying a word.
"Oops."
I realized that the corners of my mouth had risen without realizing it, so I hurriedly covered my mouth with my hand and turned my head.
"Well, I'm worried, anyone can do it for me."
"Yes... Well, that's right. I decided not to misunderstand what the Princess said."
Indeed, Carol is a loyal maid.
I replied with a bloody smile.
"... Yes."
Still, I was honestly very happy.
That person cares about me.
No matter how kind he is to everyone.
I hid my joy as much as possible from Carol and acted tired.
"Hmm. Well, I think I'm a little tired today."
"I'm worried that the Princess is tired these days. It's very different from before... Are you really okay?"
Carol's eyes stared at me piercingly, and it was kind of hot. I shook my head and deliberately replied bluntly.
"It doesn't hurt. Did you see me hurt? I'm just a human being, so there are days when I'm tired."
"Still, there were a lot of things going on today, so I think it's better to stop."
Carol invited me to rest again with a look that seemed to understand now.
It's a bit of a conflict.
In fact, I wanted to quickly see how effective the spring of the sun was in treating skin diseases, so I wanted to see Eudela's sister right today.
No, that's Important, but we also have to somehow confirm why Carol's earring artifact self-destructed.
"Honestly, I'm tired."
Yvonne's monster stamina didn't matter, but my weak mental strength was sounding the alarm to rest.
"Then, I'll prepare warm water. I'll tell you to wait for the masseuse."
"Yes"
Carol called the other hairdressers, and as I was getting ready for the bath, I suddenly had a question.
Does Rudnine treat the women of the house so kindly every time he visits a guest's house?
How dare you call the woman's maid to worry about her health and warn her?
"It's strange."
The more I got to know him, the more strangely kind, affectionate, and somewhat unusual he was.
Could it be...
I think Rudnine thinks better of me than I imagine.
Because he's a good person.
No matter how weird I am, he doesn't look at me with sunglasses.
That alone made me happy.
But at the same time, I felt a very selfish desire to receive only my own attention from him.
I was running out of jealousy alone, and I sighed and reprimanded myself.
'What the hell. What do you want? You idiot.'
It would be really scary to know that I was so gloomy and jealous in the corner of the room.
He forgave me for throwing the bomb, hid it, and did a good job, but I was a foolish woman who was mistaken and jealous.
'Oh, I don't like it.'
He's not the kind of person who would openly say bad things to me, but it was terrible to imagine Rudnine, who despised me in his heart.
The day I thought it was natural for him to hate me felt like a dream.
Even if everyone finds out, they won't find out that I like him.
Let's just hide it as it is.
***
The night Yvonne made such an oath and fell asleep.
Duke Rudnain, who never dreamed that Yvonne liked him, stayed up all night.
He couldn't sleep because of the heartburn.
He sat on the window frame in the direction of the Argenthoz mansion and looked up at the dawn sky.
A bluish dawn.
Realizing that a lot of time had passed, Rudnine rubbed his tight eyelids.
It wasn't hard at all not to sleep, but it was mentally exhausting.
No matter how much he tried to shake it off his mind, his terrible imagination continued to swell and haunt him.
"... I didn't really spend the night with that maid."
He muttered softly and then closed his mouth.
When he spát out the words he had been thinking about all night, he bit his lower lip tightly because he felt like he was going crazy.
He hated the fox-like maid who held Yvonne's hand, folded her eyes, and flirted with affection.
'Eudela Rognier. The second daughter of the previous Viscount Rognier. As the Viscount passed to someone else, the family tilted and she became a maid of honor in the mansion of Argenthoz.'
Rudnaine's dark eyes, which had already completed the background investigation of Eudela, shone dangerously.
It's one of Yvonne's fish.
When the fox nursed Yvonne, she told her that she loved her, and Yvonne nodded silently and allowed her to sleep, and he hated Yvonne, too.
Yvonne Argenthoz is definitely a bad woman, as Ant said.
Even the maid is put in her fishing ground to manage it.
He didn't want to be like a bad girl like Princess Yvonne Argenthoz, who shared her affection here and there.
... He was going to do that.
He raised his palm that held Yvonne's hand and stared.
The touch that still remained in his hand was vivid.
Even though it was no longer in his hands, just imagining the time when he held Yvonne's hand made his heart pound strongly.
The gentle stroking hand and the seductive voice whispering softly were also clear.
"A lot, is it hard?"
In this way, the resentment that had accumulated towards her melted away like a sugar cube dissolving in hot tea.
"Hah..."
It was as if he were trapped in a labyrinth with no exit in sight.
How did I end up falling in love with it so much?
The desire for her spreads like fire in a dry field.
"Haha."
Rudnine swept his head roughly and laughed helplessly.
It's so hard.
It hurts me to like you.
It didn't matter if Yvonne brutally broke the gift he gave her, the Thiels' bracelet.
He just thought he could withstand even one of her many fish.
He came back this time with a clear realization of how hard and painful it is to share Yvonne's affection with someone.
He was angry and heartbroken, but at the same time, he knew how deeply he was in love with Yvonne.
I can't give up easily.
So he made up his mind.
If Yvonne dares to bring more fish into her fishing ground and raise them with her.
With his cool black eyes, he stared alternately in the direction of the Argenthoz mansion and the imperial palace, and muttered softly.
"I'm going to bite all your other fish and get them out of the fishing grounds, Yvonne."
Rudnine, who was speaking with an expressionless face, thought of Yvonne and touched his chin, pondering.
"Oh no, Yvonne is going to get angry."
It was definitely not a normal decision.
He grew up in a high-ranking aristocratic family and became a noble Duke, but he always valued people's human rights and lives.
He didn't expect himself to act so irrationally. It was the first time he knew that jealousy was such a scary emotion.
He was not interested in anything other than his duty to protect his territory and the safety of the empire.
Rudnine was born with a very gentle disposition, quick to decide, but not cruel.
He wouldn't make such an extreme decision for his own greed.
'Is it okay to do this?'
However, he still heard Yvonne's voice that was sweetly stuck in his ears.
"Rudd."
Her sweet call was repeated vividly in his head again, and Rudnine's brain raced.
The urge to go see her right away made him close his eyes.
Was it a mistake to make her call him by a nickname? Did she tell him not to impulsively kiss the back of her hand?
No, he doesn't regret it.
If he hadn't done that, he wouldn't have felt this ecstatic feeling.
He opened his eyes again.
"First of all, the Crown Prince."
Rudnine narrowed his eyes as he stared in the direction of the imperial palace.
Yesterday evening, he had a deep conversation with Duke Argenthoz about Prince Adrian, who had sobered up.
The Duke of Argenthoz acknowledged his personal ill feelings towards Prince Adrian and carefully confided in Rudnine about any doubts he had before.
It was a question related to the Empress, who was the mastermind and power behind Prince Adrian.
The various situations presented by the Duke of Argenthoz were certainly somewhat annoying and seemed to need to be investigated.
Ambiguous situations with suspicion but no evidence.
Recalling the Duke's troubled expression. Rudnine touched his chin.
'It's going to be more complicated than I thought. But it is something that must be done. To do so, we must connect with the Third Prince as soon as possible.'
To be honest, he was secretly happy that it was an excuse to relieve his ill feelings towards Prince Adrian through public affairs.
He didn't know he was such a poor person.
As soon as the sun fully rose and the surroundings were bright, Rudnine immediately called his lieutenant, Ant.
"Did you call me, Duke?"
To Ant, who quickly rushed to his call, he handed him a letter written in advance and carefully sealed.
"Tell the Third Prince. As discreetly as possible. Especially in the 'red jewel' side, you have to make sure they don't know."
"...Yes, I understand."
Ant was surprised by Rudnine's slang that he didn't use often, and after a short pause, he immediately replied.
"Watch your ears and eyes."
It meant to be extra careful.
"Yes, Duke."
Ant pushed the letter from Rudnine deep into his arms with a stiff motion and hid it.
The 'red jewel' that Rudnine spoke of was a slang term for Empress Giselle of the Bervent Empire.
Empress Giselle was known for her red and luscious hair even before her marriage, and when she became Empress, she was called the "Red Jewel' in honor of her.
However, Empress Giselle, who was known for her gentle personality, did not like the nickname very much.
When she was offended, the nobles never used the nickname Red Jewel.
There was no need to do anything that would be hated by the Empress.
However, Rudnine's use of the slang word 'red jewel' means that the Empress should never find out about this mission.
What the hell is it?
But Ant was a very good and discerning person in handling public affairs, so he didn't ask any more.
'I have to be careful.'
Empress Giselle is said to be very gentle, but she was by no means a formidable opponent.
Ant rolled his head about the steps he had to take to ensure that the Duke of Rudnine's letter to the Third Prince would never reach Empress Giselle's ears.
He then sought various ways to deliver Rudnine's letter to the Third Prince.
When Ant returned at noon, he heard that Rudnine was in the training ground and ran towards him.
"Ugh!"
"Oh, I'm going to die...!"
The groans of the grunting knights echoed from afar.
"What are you doing? Get up."
"Ugh! Oh, Duke! No, I'm serious!"
Rudnine, who did not sweat a single drop even in the midsummer sun, coldly beckoned to the knight who was moaning while his whole body was soaked with sweat.
"It's not over yet."
The knight wept as the sword in Rudnine's hand cut through the wind and made a menacing sound.
Since morning, ten knights who had been marked as Duke Sword Master's sparring opponents had been lying on the floor in a state of almost fainting.
Among them, there was also a knight who was foaming at the mouth.
It was a clear anger.
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