DSDD 09

Chapter 9

“R-Run away?”

What? Did he find out?

How did this man know about my perfect plan to go down to my estate and shut myself away there?

Flustered, I quickly shifted my eyes around.

Then, he smiled pleasantly as he calmly drank his tea.

“I was joking. You look so flustered. Surely you weren’t actually planning to do that?”

It was a joke?

That was a relief, but my heart had already taken a beating as though it had been viciously hacked to pieces.

First, calm down. Calm down, Erna.

“……Please speak casually with me.”

“Pardon?”

“We already agreed to treat each other as senior and junior academy acquaintances. And honestly, speaking formally like this feels even stranger.”

“Should I, then?”

What was this? He was far too natural about it.

The casual speech that slipped out as though he had been waiting for permission left me momentarily dumbfounded, but considering that he stood at the very pinnacle of status, I decided to let it go.

“So, why did you come here?”

“Ah, right. The reason I came. I was thinking about it after telling you last time that I would give you some time, and I realized I never set a deadline.”

“A deadline……?”

At my question, the Grand Duke smiled and nodded.

“We should set one properly. Otherwise, you might just keep holding out until this whole thing quietly fades away.”

“…….”

“Of course, you wouldn’t do something like that.”

Gulp.

Feeling unnecessarily guilty, I bit my lip tightly.

Images of the packed luggage bags still sitting in my room flashed through my mind, but I quickly pushed them away.

Now that things had come to this, there was only one way.

“Fine. I’ll just be honest with you. I’m sorry, but I actually don’t remember anything about what happened that day. So, I’m in a rather confusing situation.”

Enough. Whatever. I’ll confront it head-on. Let’s just be honest.

“To be honest, a few days ago I was too overwhelmed to think clearly, so I said I would think about it. But even now, I still have no idea what exactly happened.”

“You can’t just brush it off by saying you don’t remember. I’m at risk of being stripped of my position.”

“Exactly. If you had simply kept your mouth shut as though nothing had happened, we could all have had a happy ending. Why did you have to be so unnecessarily honest……?”

“Aha. So now it’s all my fault?”

“Being honest and sincere is a good thing. Of course it is. It’s one of the greatest virtues, naturally.”

You really are impatient. When did I ever say it was all Your Highness’s fault? Ho ho.

“Of course, I’m not saying that I won’t take responsibility just because I don’t remember. I have that much sense. It’s just that I simply can’t make sense of it.”

“Good. Then we should start by clearing that up.”

“Yes. First of all…… the woman you met that day really was me, right?”

There had been the contents of the letter, and the timing seemed to match, so I had simply assumed it was me and moved on. But I needed to properly confirm it.

He seemed to think for a moment before answering.

“Last Wednesday. I was getting out of my carriage when you approached me and shouted, ‘Huh? Leon Obsidian. It’s Obsidian!’ Oh, now that I think about it, you seemed to have had quite a bit to drink.”

“That must have…… been rather embarrassing for you.”

To drunkenly shout the Grand Duke’s name at the top of one’s lungs.

“Then you grabbed my face like this.”

“Gasp.”

“You said, ‘You’re ridiculously handsome. Did you know that? You’re my ultimate favorite!’”

“…….”

“But what does ‘ultimate favorite’ mean? It was such a strange word I had never heard before that I remembered it.”

At those words, I lowered my head with a thud.

That reckless, completely oblivious behavior. And words like ultimate favorite, whose meaning I had never heard of in my life.

That alone was enough to prove her identity.

“Wait a minute. But how did you end up spending the night together……?”

“You seemed drunk, so I couldn’t just leave you alone. I put you in my carriage. Then, when I tried to take you to the Marquess’s residence, you kept clinging to me, saying you didn’t want to go home.”

“Oh……”

“You even said that if there was ever a chance to spend some quality time with your ultimate favorite, this was it. You told me not to worry about anything because you would take responsibility for everything.”

There it was again. That damn ultimate favorite.

Just what on earth did it mean?

Anyway, Park Sumin, who had taken over my body, had apparently spotted her ‘ultimate favorite’ on the street and immediately latched onto him.

“So I headed to the Grand Duke’s residence. After that, as I told you before……”

“Ahem. I understand. You don’t have to say anything more.”

Right. So apparently they had taken off their clothes, rolled around in bed, and had a wonderful time together.

“Fine. I understand. I’ll admit that we slept together. Then, the second thing.”

Saying there was still more to discuss, I pulled my already loosening tension tight again.

“You said that I took…… your first time from you. But honestly, I don’t think that makes any sense either.”

“……Are you saying you find it hard to believe that I had remained a virgin until now?”

“That’s not what I mean!”

Something about the way his tone suddenly became slightly heavier made me quickly shake my head.

“Just look at our physiques. A skinny woman like me, taking you and just…… like this, and then, like that, and then—well, you know?!”

It was too embarrassing to actually say the words aloud, so I couldn’t bring myself to describe it properly. But when I asked whether something like that had really been possible, the Grand Duke gave a small laugh.

“It doesn’t necessarily have to be forced through physical strength.”

“Then what?”

“I suppose I just need to explain how attractive you were that night, right? Since you said you don’t remember, perhaps I should describe it in more detail……”

“No, no! That’s enough! I understand!”

“Good. Then what else is difficult for you to accept?”

What else is difficult for me to accept?

Obviously, the entire situation.

But judging from the two parties who had caused this mess, the letter that woman had left behind, and the Grand Duke’s consistent claims, I supposed it was finally time to accept reality.

“Surely you still don’t believe it?”

“I believe you. I do. It’s just…… hard to believe.”

“Which part, specifically?”

“That it was me and Your Highness? You could obviously be with a much more suitable and beautiful woman than me. The fact that I’m the one involved…… I think every citizen in the Empire would find it baffling.”

“I’m afraid I can’t agree with that.”

Ah, there it was again.

He frowned as though he were slightly displeased.

Pulling his body back from where he had been leaning forward, he rested against the back of his chair and spoke with that characteristically stubborn expression.

“In my eyes, the Marquess is an extremely attractive woman.”

“What? No…… Are you feeling all right?”

“How did you suddenly get to that conclusion?”

“You couldn’t possibly say something like that while in your right mind.”

It wasn’t because I had been told I was beautiful.

It was because the man saying it was him—Leon Obsidian.

A beauty that would stand out even among hundreds or thousands of people.

An aura that could be felt even from a distance, and the dazzling halo that seemed to surround him.

A person praised as someone chosen by God, to the point that even questions about his birth were overshadowed by his divine favor.

Almost every description attached to him was something that glittered.

He was the sort of man for whom even placing the most beautiful woman of the century beside him would probably make people say she was still not good enough.

And yet, he was entangled with an ordinary person like me?

The high society of Orden would be thrown into complete chaos.

And despite all that, the Grand Duke was telling me that I was beautiful.

As though he actually has feelings for me.

At that presumptuous thought, I quickly shook my head.

Are you crazy, Erna Zacherete? You’re being far too self-conscious.

It’s probably just courtesy toward someone he spent a night with. Or resignation. It has to be one of those two.

I didn’t know why, but the Grand Duke seemed to attach tremendous meaning to his first night. And since the milk had already been spilled, he was probably simply trying to think positively about the situation.

“Fine. I understand. I won’t question what happened that day anymore. So, we definitely had a relationship that night, and Your Highness is asking me to take responsibility, correct?”

“Yes.”

“……And you have absolutely no intention of letting me off the hook? For example, keeping quiet about what happened that night and dating another woman?”

The moment I finished speaking, the Grand Duke’s eyebrow shot upward.

“Again. You’re subtly trying to escape your responsibility……”

“N-No! That’s not what I meant. I just thought there might be a possibility, that’s all. You mentioned marriage, but you might want another woman as your partner, Your Highness. So I thought, just in case……”

His eyes hardened at my question of whether he might regret it later.

Right. So he’s confident he won’t regret it.

No, but still. Isn’t marriage going a little too far? Betting the rest of your life on a single night? The numbers just don’t add up!

As though he had read my thoughts, he said,

“Don’t worry. I have no intention of forcing you into marriage for now.”

“Pardon? Then……”

“But you’ll have to do something else with me instead.”

Something other than marriage?

So there was still room for negotiation after all!

Hope began to bloom.

I stared at him, silently asking what that something was.

The Grand Duke smiled with his eyes and pulled something out from inside his coat.