The Duke was showing consideration in an uncharacteristic way, as he was dressed in a shirt and trousers instead of a robe even though he had just bathed. The tips of his hair were still damp, so it seemed he had indeed washed. However…
Scáthach stared at the Duke and held out the handcuffs he had attached to the bed headboard earlier.
“I will not run away even if you do not do this…”
That so-called consideration was quite ambiguous and problematic. She had no intention of escaping until she got her necklace back, yet he insisted on cuffing her.
“Well.”
The Duke ignored Scáthach’s resentful gaze and approached leisurely, unlocking the handcuffs attached to the bed headboard with a key.
Having his large frame and solidly built muscles under the shirt right in front of her created an inexplicable tension.
He was also a man difficult to face while wearing an oversized nightgown and a single sheer chemise that revealed everything underneath.
It was Scáthach who broke the unbearable silence first.
“If you are going to release me, why bother in the first place…”
Indeed, personality and appearance were separate realms. The subtly upturned corners of his mouth drew a captivating arc.
“We cannot bathe together, and if you are out of sight, you might run away again.”
He was so blatantly demanding to be remembered. How long could she pretend not to? It would be nice if she could clear her suspicions before that…
“…I am not the culprit.”
“Yes, not the culprit, but a suspect.”
“I was not in any illicit relationship with the lord either.”
She was just methodically refuting the parts he suspected to clear her name, but upon hearing “illicit relationship,” a sneer formed on the Duke’s face.
“Stop. I told you I am tired.”
“…”
The man, who already looked frighteningly cold, saying that made the situation feel a bit scary now.
Anyway, he was a lord with judicial authority who could cut her throat even without a confession.
“That does not mean I want you to look so sullen.”
“…I am not sullen.”
“Yes, you are.”
With a chuckle, he lowered only his red eyes to gaze into the woman’s eyes.
Even without touching a finger, the Duke’s gaze felt like it was caressing her heated eyes.
After locking eyes for a while, regardless of whether Scáthach was flustered or not, he fully settled in beside her and lay down.
“Where should I…”
Scáthach, about to ask a question, looked in bewilderment at the man cuffing his own wrist to the handcuff hanging from the bed headboard.
“Lie down.”
“If you just give me another room…”
Casar stopped pulling the bed cushion and stared straight at the woman.
He genuinely did not think the woman would escape. Unlike the hospital, there were guards here, and the woman’s necklace, a memento from his mother, was in his hands.
However, he was quite too tired to escort her to a guest room, and leaving a woman like that alone might invite other men to pounce on her like in prison.
“What of yours should I trust? You are good at running away.”
Scáthach stared at him in stunned silence.
It was not exactly running away since they did not have any particular relationship, but this man was milking a childhood incident for a long time, whether it was a good memory or what.
Of course, she knew he had carried her to the hospital and willingly given his blood.
But he was Duke Casar de Blachnatt, and moreover, a man. There was no free lunch in the world. That was the life lesson Corbe’s slums and Nemed had taught Scáthach.
Especially men, regardless of age, were always kind to Nanny Etin and her, but at the end of that kindness, they always demanded payment.
When the slum leader’s tyranny demanding to hand over the young Scáthach as his mistress became severe, Nanny Etin took Scáthach and escaped the slums to seek refuge in Payone Abbey.
So, the Duke’s words about sharing a bed with her could not sound pleasant.
“Then what should I trust to sleep in the same bed as Your Grace?”
The Duke chuckled as if Scáthach’s question was amusing.
“Well. My honor?”
“Honor…?”
As the Duke pulled the cuffed hand, Scáthach lost her balance and collapsed into the man’s upper body.
“Yes. I am a Duke of the Farsade Empire, and I have no intention of mixing bodies with a commoner woman like you and creating trouble.”
The man’s face, speaking calmly at a distance where their breaths touched, was breathtakingly handsome, though he was pouring out insulting words with that handsome face.
“So stop worrying unnecessarily and just lie down.”
When she woke from sleep, the Duke had already gone to his office. The handcuffs that had been on until just before falling asleep were gone, and she was alone occupying the vast bed.
As Scáthach groggily sat up, she saw a bundle of bright yellow freesia flowers that had rolled onto her and could not help but snort in disbelief.
If he was going to do one thing, insulting her as a commoner woman, and then giving a flower bundle right upon waking…
Still, the flowers were innocent, and it was a pleasant scent matching the morning, so Scáthach lifted the bundle and deeply inhaled the freesia fragrance into her nose.
Burst.
At that moment, five or six servants rushed in and met eyes with Scáthach.
Most servants in the Lindkoem mansion were from the Lindkoem territory, so some knew the reputation of the diligent nurse living in the abbey and treated Scáthach humanely after she came out of prison. Until last night.
“…Good morning.”
She greeted first to break the awkward and embarrassing atmosphere, but the servants’ expressions were filled with subtle contempt.
Contempt?
Thanks to those eyes, Scáthach objectively saw her own appearance. On the Duke’s bed, wearing only a single sheer chemise, holding a flower bundle given by the Duke.
Anyone would see it as perfectly having slept with that man.
“We… slept separately.”
They were only connected by handcuffs, sleeping at opposite ends.
The servants started cleaning the bedroom without any reply. Thanks to that, Scáthach, chased out to the bathroom, heard them whispering.
Look at her lying without batting an eye. When I brought morning tea, she was lying in the same bed as the lord, right?
That is right.
Goodness. No matter how hard prison life is, how can she act as a mistress…?!
Thus, from this morning, all servants except the butler began blaming Scáthach. They seemed to think she had agreed to become the Duke’s mistress to get out of prison.
At least the butler faithfully carried out the Duke’s instructions without a word, but that was only bringing breakfast or telling her where to go after bathing.
In fact, she had heard that being a mistress was like that—social disdain for those without honor. She never dreamed it would be her own story.
However, the Duke’s purpose wasn’t to make her his mistress. Last night, he even mentioned honor and said he had no intention of mixing bodies.
In conclusion, to the Duke, she was a fugitive who needed handcuffs even in sleep; to the servants, a mistress.
She did not even hope for guest treatment, but mistress treatment right after leaving prison?
In this series of misunderstandings, the one getting cursed wasn’t the noble man from the ten families, but the commoner woman misunderstood as a mistress, Scáthach. So she couldn’t just observe the situation.
From the moment she was dragged to the underground prison of the Lindkoem mansion, none of the situations had even a speck of her own will.
The Duke could just govern his territory well even if misunderstood as having a mistress, but if misunderstood by the mansion servants who were mostly Lindkoem residents, Scáthach would have a hard time living here.
Scáthach came out to the living room and cautiously spoke to the servants organizing the bedding.
“I am not a mistress.”
“?”
“It is not like a mistress… It seems everyone is misunderstanding…”
Two servants exchanged glances and shrugged their shoulders with faces that did not believe a word.
The light pink crinoline dress prepared by the butler was custom-made for someone.
The chest was a bit tight and the waist ample, but most ready-made clothes were like that for Scáthach, so it wasn’t too bothersome.
However, the fact that there was a custom-made women’s dress in the mansion of a man who was the sole heir meant there was a separate lady of the house. That is why the servants used the term “mistress.”
Thinking that way, their contempt for her was somewhat understandable.
Scáthach stood in front of the Duke’s office door, took a breath in slight tension, and exhaled. It wasn’t dressed up for him, yet it felt somehow embarrassing. It had been almost ten years since she wore a dress.
Knock knock.
At the word to enter, Scáthach cracked the door open and carefully stepped in. The Duke, who didn’t look particularly tired even when saying he was tired last night, was sitting in an even more perfect state today.
The Duke, who had tossed documents onto the desk, stared straight at Scáthach entering the office.
You can roughly guess what someone is thinking by looking at their eyes, but this man was hard to read.
“I told them to dress you temporarily, but it does not look bad.”
About the dress. Scáthach looked at the Duke praising her uncharacteristically with fresh eyes.
“Whose clothes are these?”
“Would you know if I told you?”
“I did not ask for a name. I asked if you have a wife…”
At Scáthach’s grumbling, the Duke leaned back in his chair, crossed his arms, and tilted his mouth.
“Are you curious about that?”
“More than that, I am curious if your wife said it is okay to share a bed with me.”
At the rebellious tone, the Duke let out a hollow laugh with a ha and stood up.
“What wife in the world would tell you to share a bed with a woman like you.”
What do you mean a woman like me? Scáthach was about to say but closed her mouth. She already knew from the Duke’s mouth last night.
A commoner woman like you.
Sharing the same bed alone was dishonorable, that’s what it meant, but she didn’t want to be confirmed killed with that cold tone.
Not being executed like other Ebern royals and being able to live as a commoner was something to be grateful for anyway.
“Did you receive the flowers well?”
Asking with a subtly upturned mouth felt like teasing, so Scáthach opened her mouth with a sulky face.
“The people working at the Duke’s residence seem to be misunderstanding.”
“What.”
“That I am Your Grace’s mistress.”
“Do I have to care about what the servants think?”
At his reaction as if he didn’t care, Scáthach shut her mouth. He really was noble to the bone. As he said, he didn’t need to care what misunderstandings the servants had.
Since they lived in different worlds, there was no need to manage reputation.
“Sit.”
Scáthach approached the table the Duke indicated with his eyes. There was a round table in the middle of the office with three chairs. Scáthach hesitated for a moment and sat in the chair diagonally behind the Duke.
“…You have to sit there.”
“You did not say where to sit.”
At the Duke’s displeased voice, Scáthach moved to the chair where she could face him. He had said something about honor for a commoner woman, but couldn’t stand her turning her back.
As Scáthach sat with a still sulky expression, the Duke slowly stood up.
“Are you determined to act annoyingly.”
The emotion she felt toward him now wasn’t positive, but she didn’t particularly want to annoy him. At least until she got the necklace back.
While he walked to the table, Scáthach looked at him steadily, and his red eyes didn’t leave her for a moment.
“Nice eyes. You slept well, I see.”
“You too, Your Grace.”
As Scáthach fought back without losing, a meaningful smile hung on the Duke’s lips.
“No. I could not sleep because you kept touching me.”
“Huh? I… I did? My sleeping habits are decent…?”
As the flustered Scáthach refuted, the Duke snorted.
“Who said that? Anyone would think you were assaulting me.”
“Wh-What nonsense…! Do not lie.”
“Lies. Who kept clinging even when pushed away.”
“No way!”
Scáthach’s face turned bright red, on the verge of exploding, yelling even in informal speech, and he burst into pleasant laughter.
He was a man who mostly maintained a bored expression or frowned as if annoyed, so that laughter was…
Anyway, with a dazzlingly handsome face, anything he did would be impressive, but only after seeing that smile did she realize she had fallen for his prank.
Speaking informally to the sole Duke of the Farsade Empire as a commoner. She was in a position to bow in gratitude that he was still smiling.
“So… sorry. I was flustered…”
“Ha? You really are a fun woman.”
After chuckling for a while enjoying the aftertaste, he took out a cigar and sat across the table.
“I want to play more, but unfortunately, there is someone who wants to meet you.”