"Du, Duke, why are you here…?"
She asked him while stroking her tangled hair. Suddenly, he got up and gently brushed off the dirt from his helmet, that had fallen to the ground, with his palms.
"Did you not hear anything from your brother?"
At that time, Eun-woo recalled who she was waiting for in the garden of the imperial palace.
I, myself, had received a letter from Marquis Diego Miller, the brother of Eleanor, the owner of this body, and prepared to enter the palace in a hurry in the morning breeze.
As far as she knew, Diego Miller was a reputed sharp blade of the empire. The place he was sent to before was Genova and this time, after receiving the command that he should join the army, was the battlefield where this man in front of him was the commander-in-chief.
Of course, the imperial family did have enough common sense to not sacrifice the Marquis, who had yet to inherit his title in addition to being an unmarried man, in the war. So it was not until it was the end of the war that he participated in the war silently. It was already after the war leaned towards Hellasium.
And today was the day that my brother returned home from military service.
Tashian asked her, frowning noticeably.
"Didn't your brother write anything in his letter?"
"What….?"
In the letter Anit had handed me, the content was full of complaints saying to meet him in the imperial palace, scrawled in handwriting that was hard to recognize.
Tashian shook his throbbing head with an aching expression.
"D**n it, Diego you bastard. Now I know. He must have ended up slurring his words in a way that only he could only recognize."
Eun-Woo felt guilty inside, because what he said was too accurate.
"What's wrong with my brother…?"
Eun-woo asked nervously.
Of course, she wasn't really worried about Marquis Diego Miller. To Eun-woo, the Marquis was a person whom she didn't even know the face of.
However, it was greatly on her mind that he was the only blood relative of Eleanor and the owner of a family with the right to make decisions who was going to be deeply involved in her marriage in the future.
Tashian, who held the helmet and gauntlet neatly placed next to her, quickly reassured her.
"It's not a big deal. Hellasium won the victory.. But your brother was caught up in a small dispute after the war. Because of that, the return time was delayed a little bit. But soon everything will be resolved and he will come back to Hellasium."
Eun-woo looked at Tashian's face with nervousness.
There was a lack of explanation of all the events so far. But even then he looked eager, hoping that her mouth would open a little more. The Duke's eyebrows slightly wriggled as he looked at her. In the end Tashian continued lukewarmly with a strange sense of defeat.
"…There was a small friction with Genova, the defeated country, in the process of deciding on the hostage. What the imperial family wanted was the prince of Genova, but he was already dead. It was confirmed that many of the remaining royal family members had fled to neighboring countries in the process of searching for hostages. The Crown Prince ordered your brother to take responsibility and find a successor who could succeed, with Genova's orthodox blood in their veins and bring them before his eyes."
Eun-woo nodded. There were many things she couldn't understand, but she was forced to pretend to know for she was now playing the role of Eleanor.
Tashian looked at her with a strange look.
"Then why did your Highness come here…?"
"Tashian."
"Yes…?"
"Call me Tashian."
Eun-woo blinked. Soon, her whole body heated up with shame.
Did she make any mistake? Did Eleanor call him by the friendly title of Tashian, not the Duke?
However, he soon answered her question in a casual tone, perhaps it was of little significance.
"As I explained earlier, your brother's return has been delayed."
"Did you come all the way here to tell me that news?"
To answer, he sat carefully on the bench where Eun-woo sat. And at that moment, in a very familiar manner, his hand gently passed over her shoulder and put away a handful of hairs that had obscured her view.
The touch was so natural that even Eun-woo did not realize how awkwards it was in actuality.
"Did you hear that he had decided to renovate the Marquis Castle?"
Eun-woo blinked like a toad. Due to the continuing unfamiliar situation, she was as nervous as a cat with a lot of its fur standing on its end.
In the garden, where Eun-woo who doesn't know what kind of relationship the two had, a Knight came as the flowers bloomed fully right after the war with the news of victory in front of the woman who would later become his wife. He must have been terrified that he might bring up the marriage proposal.
… But what did he mean by repair work?
"…. Looking at your expression, you really didn't say a word. I'll rip his letter and shake it in front of his eyes next time we meet! What the heck?! Does he not know the significance of that letter?"
Eun-woo bit her lips to suppress the sudden burst of laughter as she saw Tashian shouting in anger.
Indeed, as he said, Marquis Diego Miller's letter was full of all sorts of useless words.
At the same time, Eun-woo was inwardly surprised that they were much closer than expected.
That's why they must have conspired to rebel together. Thinking about it made her mouth dry again.
"…What do you mean by repair work?"
"I heard well that the heavy rain last time caused the huge tree in the garden to collapse over the annex of the marquis."
Of course she didn't know. However, Eun-woo nodded hard.
"So, while building a new annex, he decided to renovate the main building, where the former Marquis couple's bedroom was located, all the way from the front door to the library."
"What?"
Eun-woo opened her mouth wide.
What kind of unexpected occurrence is this? It was also the main building.
"No, then where am I…?"
"The Marquis."
Eun-woo doubted her ears.
"Yes?"
"Your brother asked me to do you a favor."
Tashian continued calmly without blinking. Only Eun-Woo reached a state where she found breathing difficult, feeling as if her eyes were turning white.
There was an unexpected good fortune but she never knew there would be obstacles.
What do you mean, Duke? It was like being stumped by a trusted axe. All she had to do was to avoid the tiger. But she didn't know she would enter the tiger's den herself. Moreover she was pushed by her brother's hand.
Meanwhile, Tashian glanced at the small woman in front of him sitting still as if she was mesmerized with both of her hands linked together. It felt like he wasn't just looking at her, rather he was looking through something beyond those eyes, but Eun-woo, who was deeply troubled, didn't even notice his stare.
At that moment, a low voice rang her ears.
"… I missed you a lot."
Eun-woo looked up at him at the moment, thinking if she had heard wrong.
Even in his sitting position, his face remained far above her. He looked calm enough to believe that he didn't know what he had just said.
"Your brother misses you a lot."
Eun-woo wiped her chest.
That's right. She was ashamed of herself for jumping into conclusion like a sick chicken, thinking that it meant that he missed her.
Tashian's expression referring to Diego Miller quickly rotted. He muttered with a gloomy face for some reason.
"…. My life-span has been reduced by 10 years because I put up with him crying out your name every night."
Eun-woo bit her lips to hold back her laughter once again.
Even if she had never seen it before, she could guess what kind of character Eleanor's older brother had, making his cold face remind her of a tired expression.
On the other hand, she couldn't deny that she was surprised at the thought that the Duke was a kinder person than what she thought.
Tashian in the novel she knew was a heinous, arrogant, and cold-hearted man.
He was a cold-hearted man who did all the cruel things in the world. She never imagined that he had such a grumpy face and knew how to complain.
Eun-woo didn't know whether to be happy or embarrassed, so he just rubbed her lips.
Tashian opened his mouth while looking at Eun-woo.
"…. Diego wants you to know that he's sorry. Such glory. He would probably be the only nobleman who could cry like that after receiving such a prestigious position. Even though there are unmanageable things, he'd still be happy for you but would know his limits".
"Oh, did my brother say that?"
"Yeah. He'll be back before the victory party, so he made a new request."
Eun-woo's heart jumped.
If it was a victory-celebrating banquet, it would be the first time for male protagonist Ikshid and female protagonist Selena to meet.
Based on that point, everything is overturned. Ikshid fell in love with Selena and stayed away from the politics, so that gave her an opportunity to pretend to be with the man in front of her.
"Then, until then, should I stay in the Duke's residence?"
"Please."
Tashian easily raised his body and took his gauntlet and helmet in his hand. His face, standing against the sun, had a deep shadow.
Nevertheless, it was clear who, with his eyes burning like black charcoal, were looking at.
Eun-woo felt her skin turning red up to her neck while receiving his gaze.
Tashian politely extended his hand like a Knight who would serve a Lady. He formally requested.
"Please stay at the duke's office until your brother comes back. Eleanor."
Eun-woo almost stared at him with her mouth open. She came back to her senses and coughed in vain.
"Oh, I…"
She could have insisted on staying in the latter area during the renovation, but she did not want to go against Diego Miller's intentions. In addition, the victory anniversary banquet was just around the corner. In the meantime, if he had proposed, it would have been enough to refuse.
However, Eun-woo could not readily come up with an answer despite his gentlemanly attitude and the clear gains and losses.
It wasn't just because he was the Duke of Tashian Verk. Surprisingly, the name Eleanor from his lips broke Eun-woo's heart. The name seemed to be a sharp red string and tightened her heart.
Eun-woo was shocked by the fact that she felt this way.
Now was not the time to feel guilty about pretending to be a different woman. But the one whom he really wants him to stay with was Eleanor Miller, not Eun-woo.
Nevertheless, does she deserve to hold the hand he's giving to her now?
Suddenly, the hot temperature of another body slightly touched her cheek and went away. Eun-woo was surprised like a caterpillar that had been stabbed by a branch and looked up at him.
His hand, which touched her cheek slightly, was wandering embarrassingly in the air.
Eun-woo couldn't understand his expression. The first cold and insensitive face she saw shook with a certain emotion that she couldn't even understand.
Why does he look like that?
A quiet voice almost whispered.
"Don't go, Eleanor. Stay."
Something cried out from inside of her.
It's a useless idea. What a child-like feeling.
However, Eun-woo had no choice but to put her hand on his hand. Even though she knew that she was walking into the beast's den, she held his hand and slowly raised herself.