"…My apologies, Lady Maristella."
Claude took out a handkerchief with an odd look and wiped his mouth.
What? What was wrong with him?
No, more importantly, how could this be—He still looked cool even after spurting out the tea.
"Is there a problem, Duke?" I asked in a confused voice, wondering how someone could remain so good-looking no matter what they did.
"Pardon? No, no, yes!"
What was that about…?
Instead of smiling at his unexpected bungling, I was rather puzzled. Claude was friendly, sly and pleasant, but he wasn't a clumsy fool, and it felt like he had suddenly become one.
"There's a problem?" I repeated.
"No, not a problem, rather…" Claude's voice trailed off as he furrowed his brow. "This was sent by Xa—no, the Crown Prince?"
"I'm not sure," I said, and when I turned to Florinda, putting her in the spotlight, she quickly explained.
"Soon after the Duke came up to your room, My Lady, Sir Dilton arrived from Thurman Palace. When you were invited to Thurman Palace, he thought you liked tea, so he brought a lot that was good for mental and physical stability."
"Ah, I see…"
I didn't know that Sir Dilton was here. If it weren't for Claude, I would have talked to him myself. I felt a pang of guilt.
"So Sir Dilton is gone now?" I asked Florinda.
"The Countess wanted to serve him a cup of tea, but unfortunately he had an urgent matter and left," she replied a little regretfully. "Anyway, it looks like previous tea leaves at a glance, so I brought it for the Duke to taste."
I looked at Claude, who had done a spit-take of the tea earlier, and spoke to him in a worried voice. "Ah, does the tea not suit your taste, Your Grace?"
Claude's face suddenly flushed red in embarrassment. "Th-the tea?" he stammered.
"Yes. You spurted it out as soon as you drank it…" I said with a serious look on my face. I thought the tea was delicious myself, but taste was a matter of personal preference. "If you didn't like it, I can ask for another type of tea."
"Ah…" Claude gave a short sigh and shook his head. "No, My Lady. It's not that the tea didn't taste good. It was just that it was too hot…that's why I spurted it out. Just that."
"Ah, I see." I don't know if that was a good thing or a bad thing, but I was relieved because at least he didn't mean that the tea was bad. Somehow I was glad that I had another comrade who recognized the wonderful taste of this tea.
"Actually, I enjoyed drinking this tea when I was invited to Thurman Palace. Do you like this tea too?" I said excitedly this time.
"…I really like it," Clause said with a beautiful smile, then spoke again, this time more cautiously. "You must be close to the Crown Prince."
It was an 'oops' moment when I heard his remark. Claude might have misunderstood. I shook my head quickly.
"Not at all. I caused him an inconvenience and needed to throw away my handkerchief. He called me to the palace once for that."
Come to think of it, I wondered why the Crown Prince didn't send the handkerchief. He could just pass it to Lord Dilton. Did he change his mind?
"I see."
Claude's face suddenly brightened when he heard that. I thought maybe there was something to be pleased about what I said, but it wasn't that either. What was it?
"You must like tea," he commented.
"I don't like it that much, but if there's something that suits my taste, I only drink that."
"The Escliffe mansion always has excellent tea leaves. I will send it here sometime."
"Ah, thank—"
…No, but why?
"It's fine, Your Grace. Such a gift is too much for me," I declined, somewhat confused.
"It's not a gift, Lady Maristella."
If this is not a gift, then what? A bribe?
"Then?" I asked, feeling bewildered.
"Technically, this is also compensation for mental damage. After your exhaustion from the carriage accident three months ago, I will calm you down with the tea."
"Ah…thank you for your sincerity, but you really don't have to send me the tea. That's too much…" I demurred.
"Pardon…?" Claude's eyes widened with shock when he heard that.
What? What was wrong?
"Are you saying that while the Crown Prince's gift is alright, mine is too much?"
"…"
No, why did it turn out like that?
Flustered, I waved my hands. "No, Your Grace. That's not what I meant. I just—"
"If you hate me because of what happened three months ago, I wouldn't have anything to say against it. I'm a dead sinner…"
"No, what are you talking about?" I squeaked.
Claude's mood was morose. "It's the truth. You must hate me because I dared to injure your precious body for three months."
"No, I think you're misunderstanding something! That's not what I meant when I refused your gift. And that was the first time the Crown Prince sent me a gift like this. He must have sent it because I was just lying in bed in pain."
"So it doesn't matter if I send my gift to you from time to time?"
"Hmm…"
Was it…like that? I was at a loss for words.
Suddenly Claude spoke, his eyes shining. "I understand, Lady Maristella. I will try to do that."
"D-do what?" I sputtered.
"I will send the gift only from time to time. For your mental compensation."
"…"
I worried that his standard for "from time to time" was quite vague, but for now I just nodded. He looked like he would cry if I refused him even just a little bit. His cute face earlier was not from this world, so honestly, I wanted to see it more but… wait, no, that was not it.
Knock knock.
"Who's there?" I said automatically.
"Excuse me, Lady Martistella. I have something to tell the Duke."
When Claude heard that, he quickly got up from his seat and headed towards the door. He went out and spoke to the servant outside, and then after a while came back into the room.
I looked up at him curiously. "Did something urgent happen?"
"I'm afraid so, Lady Maristella. They say there's a small problem with my family's trading group."
Claude said it was a "small" problem, but I instinctively knew it was not "small" at all. If it really was a minor problem, they wouldn't have called Claude, the head of the family, who was meeting with me.
"You should get going, Your Grace," I suggested.
"Thank you for understanding, Lady Maristella." He looked at me with parting regret, then approached my bedside. I thought he was coming close to say goodbye, but my prediction was more right than I expected.
"Oh…"
I was completely taken aback when he suddenly knelt before me. To be exact, I was more taken aback by the fact that he knelt before me rather than the suddenness of it.
Then, as I sat there speechless, he took my hand and kissed it. At that moment, my eyes grew one or two times bigger than usual, and I couldn't tell whether this was real or a dream.
Either this is a dream or I was crazy.
It didn't make sense that I came into this book in the first place. So anything that did not make sense meant that it would make sense here…?
"Lady Maristella," he said.
"…"
"I will see you again tomorrow."
Claude gave his usual dazzling smile and left, and I wildly thought that if there was a camera here, I would have taken his picture even if I have to kneel for it. No, he should be moderately good-looking… Was it possible for someone to shine like this?
"Yes…" I answered stupidly, completely forgetting about what Claude did to me earlier.
Ah, I really need to get rid of this damn lookism.