"It's okay! I can walk alone now. It's really okay."
Her face turned red as if red dye had been poured over it. The Duke, who looked down at her with such a face, holding back his laughter, said, "Okay, of course. Take a good rest."
"You too."
His hand hesitated and gently brushed the hair off her cheek then tucked it behind her ear. Eun-woo couldn't even move. She was like a person struck by lightning, and barely reached out and pulled the doorknob.
Before entering the room, she turned around once again and looked at him. He stood upright like a huge wall behind Eun-woo's back.
Eun-woo felt pain surging from her heart as if something was clogged. A crazy idea of wanting to hold onto him came to her mind. She didn't want to let him go just like this. She wanted to talk to him a little bit more.
However, her body firmly closed the door like a loyal servant who had already faithfully fulfilled their orders. The heavy door was closed with a bang.
Eun-woo leaned against the closed door, breathed heavily trying to catch her breath, and closed her eyes.
After a brief silence, she heard his footsteps trudging away.
•••
The victory celebration banquet was approaching moment by moment.
The banquet was the first scene where the male and female protagonists in the novel would meet. At that place, Ikshid and Selena will fall in love with each other at first sight and thus their fiery love would begin. It was also the starting point for all incidents to ignite, including the coronation ceremony, and the climax of the novel.
Eun-Woo was also fully prepared for the banquet.
"What do you think about this dress, lady?"
"Doesn't crimson look too old-fashioned? I heard that the apricot color is popular in the Capital these days.."
"Oh my, it's been a while since that trend has passed. Lady, as expected, this is the veil to be worn at the imperial palace banquet."
Each maid was busy putting one dress or another over her body as she stood in front of the mirror, claiming to be her coordinator.
Eun-woo stood in the midst of the maids who were surrounding her and where one was raising her arm like a mannequin. They listened to her order busily, and helped her try on all the dresses.
Just when she thought that the pearls and jewels woven in a row on her neck and arms were heavy, she heard a knock on her door.
"Lady, this is Johannes. I brought a message from the Duke."
A maid put the feathered hat in her hand on the chair and sprinted to open the door. Johannes, wearing a military uniform as usual, with her hair combed like a sword, entered her bedroom with an expressionless face.
Other maids bowed their heads all at once and stepped down from Eun-woo's side. Johannes politely showed courtesy to her at the same time.
"Welcome, Johannes. What's up?"
"His Lordship has invited Miss to for an afternoon refreshment."
Eun-woo saw the faces of the maids supporting her open wide at once. She felt the illusion that their hearts were buzzing and flowing into her head.
These days, their greatest interest was the duke and the daughter of the marquis they served.
No matter how wide the Duke's residence is, this place was also a place where people lived, and rumors and speculations were rampant, and people talked about them like they were meaningless words.
Of course, the hottest issue among them was their owner, the Duke, and an unmarried young noble maiden who he suddenly brought in as a guest.
The news that the Duke, who returned from the battlefield after three years, returned with his friend's biological sister soon spread throughout the territory of the Duke. Even the rumor that the sister was a very beautiful woman and at the right age for marriage, and that the Duke gave the previous Duchess' bedroom to the lady and that she was staying in the office was enough to stimulate the servants' imagination.
Rumors surrounding them were circulating in many mouths, and there was a widespread saying that the Duke would propose to her in the near future.
Of course, all rumors had their roots. People never made up words that didn't exist, even though they might inflate them by attaching arms and legs (adding on more) to the facts.
All of this was due to the Duke.
It hadn't even been a month since the Duke returned to the Capital, yet he seemed to have sorted out all the urgent things, appearing to have no intention of hiding his feelings for her like a determined person. As if trying to prove that even the rain won't stop him from displaying his love to her despite his busy schedule, and furthermore, his work also lessened due to that.
He would walk in the garden with her when he had time 'by accident', had tea with her after meeting 'since just in time for tea', and stopped by during the 'sometimes' free time to ask her about her day.
It was at that moment that the facial expressions of the maid, who had been expressing vigilance and doubt each time, had gradually changed to confidence and joy. Now they were worried as if it was their job, stamping their feet if the Duke didn't come even for a day.
Of course, it was natural that all of this was not welcomed by Eun-woo.
'At times like this, you have to stay alert, Eun-Woo! It's in an instant that rumors became true!'
She was busy constantly shouting this to herself and hitting herself on an iron wall at the Duke's enthusiastic interest.
In addition to running away from his tailing even if he saw only a single strand of her hair, he would react sensitively to the point of, he would trigger a game if he heard her calling his name.
However, the more he did it, the more her behavior was dismissed as the sensitiveness of a Young Lady who was about to get married, and he only bought unnecessary comfort and encouragement from the maids.
"Lord Verk is very meticulous! Last time, he paid attention to your favorite dessert and sent it to you as a gift the next day, right? It would have been impossible to get it without a reservation because it's the most famous bakery in the Capital."
"Where are all the desserts? Last time, he sent you a box of jewelry for this banquet. I'm still very impressed with the Lady's refusal…. It would have been better to be polite and to accept such a gift… The Duke must have been very sorry."
"Lady, what about your hair? Should I put it up and tie it? Last time, when the lady rolled up her hair, the Duke couldn't take his eyes off of her white neck!"
The names of the three maids who constantly bellied all day like sparrows were Jenette, Yuri, and Hanah, respectively. They were Eleanor's dedicated maids, who stuck by her side like triplets and took care of all kinds of things.
"Everyone be quiet! Lady, you have to hurry up and get ready so that you won't be late for your afternoon refreshments.'
The maid Anit closed the maid's mouth with a loud voice.
"Lady Eleanor, do you want a pink dress that you liked last time"?
Eleanor refused at once.
"No."
"Yes? What kind of clothes do you prefer …?"
"I'll go like this."
Anit opened her eyes wide in embarrassment.
The clothes she was wearing now were light dresses that infants usually wore indoors and blue robes.
Of course, they weren't clothes that would make one be subject to embarrassment when going out, but still, there was something about the formality of aristocrats. She had received a refreshment invitation from the owner of the mansion, and so it was right to follow the proper manners.
Jenette, a brown-haired maid, asked, looking at her.
"So. Lady, how about your hair?"
"I'm going to keep my hair like this."
Her maids exchanged gazes with round eyes.
My lady finally seems to have gone crazy.
She seemed to have rolled up her golden hair to practice putting up her hair for the banquet in advance. She had rolled up her hair to the top of her head with all her might so that none of the strands would come out.
It was not enough to enjoy refreshments with someone. Furthermore, if the other party is a noble man who deserves a marriage to a lady.
Anit tried to grab the skirt of the lady she served, intending to stop her.
"Lady, don't do that. Why don't you untie your hair?"
"Should I?"
Anit nodded and was pleased. But at the words of her to-be-married Young Lady, she almost threw her head upside down to the ground.
"Stretch it out and make it messy. Like I just woke up."
"Oh, lady!"
"Is there anything else than this robe? Old, perforated, and all the threads having escaped as if a mouse had eaten them. Hurry up! Yuri, bring the color charcoal black! Bring the charcoal black. Jenette! The leaves, too!"
When she gave them instructions with a passion they had never seen, the four maids soon ran around to the east side of the residence and finished her request with a feeling of biting their tongue.
Eventually, when the promised time approached, her readied appearance was enough to shock the maid and even Johannes.
Anit sweated inside when she saw the cold butler's eyebrows wriggling in shock. It was the moment when the honor of the marquise she had protected with all her heart plummeted to the ground.
Lady Mueller's outfit was like she had stirred around the whole field. Like she was a village maiden who slept deeply under the shade of any tree.
Blonde hair, which shines like wheat, were all tangled up with tree leaves and grass leaves, and the adorning turquoise shawls were torn off and twigs like toothpicks were stuck here and there. Her pale face was painted like a powder coat of charcoal black, making one believe that she had no idea where she had been buried.
"What is this… Lady Miller, what happened to you?"
"No. Nothing happened. I'm all ready. Let's go, Johannes."
Eun-woo winked at Johannes as if to take the lead. Johannes had the experience of losing her words for the first time since working as a servant of the duke.
'I'm sorry, Johannes! This is all to save me and my family members.'
Eun-woo begged for forgiveness from the deacon of the Duke, who had faith in her.
The butler soon regained his reasoning and politely recommended to her.
"Lady Mueller… Is it okay for you to go like this? Not only Sir Verk will be there but also guests from outside are invited to this refreshment."
"Guests from outside?"
"I'm sure Miss knows this well… I think that outfit is a bit…."
The maids opened their mouths as they watched the rare scene of Johannes, the butler, being vague at the end of her speech. However, the attitude of the lady served by the maids was very strong.
"No, I'll just go like this."
Eventually, Johannes led the Marquis's sister to a small terrace in a garden far from the main building.
The terrace, which looked like a small cage fixed with white beams, was located in the middle of a perfectly managed garden, as was the case anywhere in the Duke's mansion. An artificially created small stream was flowing among the flowers.
Eun-woo couldn't help but admire the white hydrangeas and pink dahlias in full bloom wherever she looked.
"There was a place like this."
"It's a flower garden that his Lordship uses to welcome guests who have been discriminated against. It's a place that's hard to find alone."
Between the terraces, two sturdy people were seen sitting.
Eun-woo blushed when she recognized his pitch-black hair that she had discovered countless times. It was Tashian.
She slipped her hand upwards and smoothed her unprepared hair.
"The Young Miss is here."
Johannes announced her arrival.
The white table in the center of the terrace was the first to catch her eyes. And she made eye contact with the Duke sitting with his eyes wide open sitting on the chair facing her.
As he jumped up after seeing her, Eun-woo missed drawing an example of Johannes next to him expressing to the royal family a guest sitting across from the Duke.
"What the hell is this? How did you become like this again?"
In just a few steps, Tashian strode up to her and raised his hands to her face as if he was wrapping her black cheeks. It was a touch that could not reach her body, but her expression was full of anxiety.
It seemed that he was so absent-minded that he did not even recognize that he had spoken informally to her in front of other people.
Eun-woo was blushing incredibly.
When did I ever roll in front of you and with that 'again'…?
"Where did you roll you say… ! I've never rolled around (like this) before!"
"Then what the hell is this? It's like you were fighting with someone!"
He was ready to end the man who made her like this at any moment and hang his head on the wall.
The purpose was to disappoint him with a shabby appearance, but she thought it was useless in the end even after she had buried a lot of worries about doing this.