OIAR - Chapter 91

Shioana slowly wiped his head with a towel.

'Since I said I would do anything, this is nothing.'

But it occurred to her that there really are many different ways to torment someone. Having an employee do this kind of work would have been perfectly fine, so why bother standing there dripping water until she returned?

"I'm going out with you tomorrow."

"...Why?"

Her voice was somewhat raised as she was overly surprised by Etienne's sudden words.

"...Why? Because there are a lot of things to prepare for a wedding."

Of course, in a normal marriage, it was normal to have a mountain of things to do.

However, something was wrong with their marriage. Shioana still could not guess his true feelings at all.

“I don’t need anything.”

"Are you planning to enter the wedding hall naked?"

At his mocking voice, Shioana rubbed Etienne's head hard.

"...Ahhh."

"I'm sorry, my hand slipped."

As she muttered softly, the night of the debutante ball came vividly to Shioana's eyes.

The two people who had fallen into the lake had stopped by the hunting shelter. As water dripped onto the ground, the noise played back in her ears, and it felt as if the acrid smoke from burning dry wood was swirling in her nose.

He whispered as he carefully wiped her wet hair.

"If you leave it like this, you'll catch a cold, young lady."

Her ears turned red at the deep, pleasant bass sound, just like now.

But now it is so different from back then.

It was she who washed the hair, and the devoted and loyal slave of the past was gone.

"Listen carefully. From now on, you are going to be Duchess Bernhard. You must absolutely never do anything that would tarnish my reputation."

For some reason, it was similar to what Eli always used to say.

'It’s really strange that Etienne, of all people, is saying something like that.'

As she chuckled softly at the funny thought, Etienne turned slightly. His wet bangs covered his forehead, and his moist lips twitched.

"What are you thinking that makes you so happy?"

“Oh, nothing..."

She didn't want to reveal that she was thinking only of Etienne.

"Seeing how your cheeks are flushed, were you thinking of Raul again?"

"Ha. Why would the boss be interested in dating a woman like me?"

Shioana, gripping the towel tightly, mustered up courage for the first time in a while.

"So, let's call off this marriage."

No matter how much she thought about it, this didn't make sense.

"Someone like me could be Duchess Bernhard. I wouldn't be suited for that role, and I wouldn't be able to pull it off well."

Shioana really had no confidence in things like saving face or formalities.

Not only was she not a noble here, but the mere thought of standing in front of people made her legs tremble. That was a completely different matter from the tenacious life she had lived at District 8 Station.

Also, it was absolutely impossible to face the changed Etienne every day.

"I'll decide that myself."

Etienne, having turned his body completely, reached out and covered the back of Shioana's hand. His fingers slowly dug into hers and intertwined.

"Shioana, you'd better not think about anything else."

"It looks like your hair is roughly dry, so you should go to sleep."

Shioana, who was struggling to pull her hand away from his, avoided Etienne's gaze.

"Are you trying to seduce me?"

"I'm saying this because I have a lot to do tomorrow, including fitting the wedding dress."

He released his hand as he looked at Shioana, who was suddenly bringing up the topic of wedding dresses after having shown such a strong look of dislike just moments ago.

"Okay."

A short while later, the two of them stuck together and closed their eyes, just as always.

Etienne said that he could not even breathe a sigh of relief unless he wrapped his arms around Shioana's waist.

So he had to endure this uncomfortable position every night. Looking at Shioana's stiff back, conscious of him, Etienne let out a long sigh.

'A lot has changed... but...'

His damn body reacted only to Shioana.

In the meantime, women including Diana Vale had approached Duke Bernhard. However, he had never once looked at anyone else.

'What on earth are you talking about?'

Etienne tensed up as he watched Shioana's shoulders trembling slightly. He had been in this state ever since Shioana wiped his head earlier.

As her trembling breath broke against Etienne's neck, his heart pounded.

'Soft and sweet.'

Etienne, completely intoxicated by her touch, almost let out a strange sound.

"...Umm."

At that moment, Shioana, held in his arms, gradually relaxed and soon fell asleep.

"Did she fall asleep again?"

It was the same on the night Etienne first let her hear his voice. Shioana had fallen asleep defenseless, just as she is now.

"Do you know how rebellious my thoughts were back then?"

Like now.

Etienne hugged her a little tighter and buried his face deep into Shioana's neck.

He waited all day for Shioana to return. Because only by holding her like this and smelling her scent could his heart calm.

"When the wedding takes place, then..."

Etienne, having barely managed to compose his unceasing desire, whispered something into her ear for a long time.

***

As soon as she opened her eyes in the morning, four employees surrounded Shioana.

"I will dress you up, Madam."

"...Madam."

Shioana was dragged away by them with her face flushed at the unfamiliar title.

After washing up in warm water first, she showed her the dresses hanging in the closet. Inside, there was a dress made of precious fabric adorned with jewels that would make one's jaw drop just by looking at it.

"Which one would you like to choose?"

"Whose dress is this..."

Shioana asked with an uncomfortable expression. She couldn't just wear such a precious dress when it wasn't even hers.

"Of course, it all belongs to the madam."

The servant took out a dress and roughly held it up to Shioana's body. Surprisingly, the dress fit her perfectly.

"That's really true."

Come to think of it, the clothes Shioana borrowed and wore on the day she first came here and collapsed in the garden were like that too.

Only then did Shioana wonder if these dresses might have been made quite a long time ago.

'But why...'

The two reunited by chance, and Etienne hated her.

While she looked on in confusion, the maid finished dressing Shioana. The modest-looking navy dress had several strands of white lace on the sleeves and hem, and was finished with a pearl embellishment on the bodice.

After trimming her long brown hair into wavy curls and sweeping it back, she put on a lace bonnet and was ready to go out.

"Madam, I will escort you this way."

"...Yes."

Since she was the Duke's guest, no one treated Shioana rudely, but they had never treated her with such deference. She still felt awkward about the change in the maids' attitude.

As she boarded the carriage, Etienne soon appeared. Dressed in a navy suit identical to Shioana's, he wore a white cravat around his neck. At their strangely matching outfits, Shioana blushed and lowered her head.

"...Your Excellency."

“Good morning.”

The carriage door closed, and as the wheels began to move slowly, Shioana kept glancing at him sitting opposite her.

It had been almost a month since he was dressed up like that, and perhaps because he had lost weight due to illness and looked even more handsome, it was hard to take her eyes off Etienne's face.

"You don't seem to get tired of looking at me, even after seeing me like that."

"I was just worried about whether you've fully recovered."

Embarrassed that her gaze had been caught, Shioana quickly turned her head away. Then, Etienne, who had been sighing with his legs crossed, quietly stared at her.

The navy dress with pearl embellishments perfectly highlighted her elegant image.

"Come to think of it, you really liked this face from the start."

She had stared at him persistently like this on the day Etienne taught her to dance as well.

"When, when... besides, that's all in the past."

"So you're saying you've never fallen for me because I'm handsome?"

"...Ha."

She doesn't know why he is so obsessed with his face.

'It's not like you don't know he's handsome.'

Shioana stared out the carriage window with her gloved hands folded. They soon arrived at the dress shop in District 2, and a waiting employee showed Shioana various dresses. However, choosing was not her job.

"I don't think the colors will match."

"The neckline is too low, so it's not very good."

Etienne, who was sitting behind her, kept rejecting it, saying he didn't like it. Eventually, a dress that suited his taste appeared, and Shioana tried it on from behind a screen.

"How can the lady be so beautiful?"

A short while later, a shop employee who came out from behind the curtain made a fuss about Shioana's figure.

Unable to endure this awkward situation, Shioana only fiddled with the gloves that came up to her elbows.

"Your Excellency, how is it? You like it, don't you?"

Etienne curved the corners of his mouth upward at the words of the servant who was looking for a suitable veil.

"Yeah. It suits you quite well."

Shioana's anxious gaze and Etienne's eyes intertwined.

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