***
"Miss, do you need anything?"
One of the Duke's maid girls, who had been watching her anxiously, asked her.
The Marquis Miss, who had been staring at the Duke's office for a very long time now, had been a sigh of great concern.
Eun-woo hastily relieved the maid's worries.
"No, it's all right. Please do your work now."
The maid was confused, and Eun-woo found the wooden bucket and the mop the maid was holding, and had to clean the hallway.
Eun-woo took a few steps back in amazement. She apologized with an awkward smile plastered on her face.
"Wait a minute. Just a few minutes will do."
The maid also bowed with a sad smile.
Eun-woo again glanced at the maid standing behind her with the bucket and mop in hand with her head down, and Eun-woo glared at the office with a resolute look.
She dejectedly sighed and Eun-woo could feel the gaze of the maid behind her. Eun-woo then roughly coughed.
She recalled what she did yesterday. She recklessly asked Selena to be her companion in studies, who asked if the Duke had given her permission first.
She didn't know what she was thinking that time. She couldn't believe that she kept increasing the number of guests inside the Mansion when she was in the Duke's residence. The Duke's permission should be the first thing she should've asked for. Considering that she was concentrating on preventing Selena and Ikshid's marriage, she didn't remember what she had to do first.
But more than that, the thoughts she had in secret were more shocking.
'I thought Tashian would allow it....'
In common sense, it was simply ridiculous.
She has been staying at her Brother's friend's house for months now without any promise when she will go out. And not only her, but also the maid who loyally stayed with her knew exactly what the Duke was going through. Sometimes, it's a house where her brother stays in like it was an inn, thus a wonder.
That wasn't the only thing.
Even Johannes, who was in charge of the duke's entertainment, was dedicating a considerable amount of time to her for the sake of class. For that reason, her friend Selena also visited three or four days a week to take classes.
All of which he gave her permission without any cost.
Eun-woo started to recall when Tashian had ever refused her request. But to no avail, no matter how hard she thought about it, she couldn't remember anything. Probably, her, having a tutorial would be in that case.
She felt ashamed of herself. In a way, he was spoiling her naturally.
'It wouldn't work like this all the time…'
Eun-woo sighed heavily. As she sighed, the maid who was waiting behind could hear her sighing pitifully as well. She felt awkward. It was not a good thing for her to keep pacing around the door of Tashian's office. She hurriedly raised her hand and knocked twice on the door of his office.
"Come on in."
Said his clear voice through the door.
Since she was out all day, she didn't get to see him at all. It hadn't been a long time yet his voice made her heart flutter strangely.
Eun-woo hesitantly opened her mouth and didn't adjust her voice to inform him who visited him.
"It's me, Duke."
Afterwards, she heard something hard fall down. Listening outside, she heard a sudden drag of his chair, and things that were bumping into each other. Then after a few seconds of her thinking curiously what was the noise, the door of the office finally burst open.
He was standing by the door.
She was a bit shocked to see his appointment standing right in front of her. As usual, it was always a long distance from their eyes, thus she had to look up, standing near his chest, looking at his eyes.
"What's the matter?"
Eun-Woo blinked at his presence. It was only after a few flashes that she suddenly remembered that there was a maid waiting behind her.
He remained the same. He was courteous in front of her subordinates and those who he was not acquainted with.
Perhaps he hadn't shaved in the morning, but the area around his chin was a bit dark. His rough-looking face seemed like he just woken up. Nevertheless, looking at her, he felt surprisingly good.
He came home late at night yesterday to be honest. When she thought that it might be because of his works' urgency, she noticed that he was still standing by the door.
"You look very tired. Should I just come back later in the afternoon?"
She asked anxiously, and he answered immediately.
"No, I was just closing my eyes for a minute. Please come in."
As if she was about to come in, he slightly stepped aside from the door and made a path for her. Eun-woo went in and what caught her eyes was his office that seemed messy unlike the usual.
The papers which had been placed on the desk were scattered on the floor. It seemed to be the cause of the sound she had heard earlier.
She then heard the door behind her being slammed. She turned around to face him and due to the sound too.
"I'm sorry, isn't it messy here? Sit down for a minute."
When they were alone, he returned to his usual way of speaking to her. Eun-woo then thought in her mind to ask him why he seems to be changing his accent someday.
He bent down in a hurry and organized the documents that had fallen in one swift move. Eun-woo stood by the door, unable to sit down while he cleaned the floor. Tashian, who found her standing figure, finally led her to the sofa in the office.
"What are you doing there? I told you to sit down. Come here."
Eun-woo sat quietly on the seat he led and watched him sit opposite of her. He was not wearing a suit today, but a white shirt and comfortable pants.
"Should I ask the maids for a cup of tea?"
"No, I'm fine."
"What about a meal?"
"I did it a while ago. How about you?"
"I had a simple meal."
Silence fell between them. It was an awkward silence that came after their polite greeting.
Eun-woo hesitated because she didn't know what to say first. Then he asked anxiously.
"What's the matter? You usually wouldn't come looking for me."
She said to herself, 'Did Eun-woo never do that?' And mentioning it, it was the first time for her, since her class with Johannes, that she had asked something to him personally. More importantly, it had been difficult to see each other's faces due to their schedules.
Eun-woo saw Tashian's face after a long time. Except that he looked a little tired, he was just fine as usual. Eun-woo spoke carefully, looking at his bangs, which seemed to be more scarred than usual.
"You look a little tired. Did I probably wake you up from your nap?"
"No, I actually just woke up."
His voice was still a little hoarse. But he was brazen. She appeared like she wanted to pretend that she hadn't woken him up.
Eun-woo picked up the document that had fallen on the ground and glanced at it sideways after putting it on his desk. Despite the clear evidence lying in front of her, she decided not to say anything and praised his efforts.
"I heard you arrived late last night. You must have been in a hurry to return to the estate."
"I wasn't in such a hurry. But the streets were so far away that I had to hurry a little."
Tashian replied.
In fact, the work in the estate was nothing but monotonous work. What really tired him was an all-nighter meeting under the guise of a meal with the senate that lasted until dawn.
As soon as the work finished late in the afternoon, an urgent message from the Crown Prince arrived. It was said that there was an urgent meeting to discuss the death rate related to forklifts in the Normant area. And it was held in the mansion of Count Alperio, a representative pro-inherited faction of the Senate.
After staying up all night, the discussion continued until just before the morning sun rose. Words which felt like spears and words came and went. He thought that it would be good to feel the wind on his face after the meeting, but would be better if he could only close his eyes while on the saddle.
There was no end to the work at the duke's house, who had barely finished his work. When he finally took care of the urgent matter, the early morning air was already heated by the rising morning sunlight.
He glanced briefly at the sofa in his office under the sunlight shining through the curtains. Then the first thing he saw was her face.
"Have you been waiting for me?"
He made great efforts to dispel the expectations from his voice.
"I haven't waited long,"
Eun-woo answered quickly. He asked, leaning towards her a little closer.
"What's the matter? Is there anything wrong with Johannes's lesson?"
"No, Johannes… she's the most passionate teacher I've ever met in my life."
Tashian nodded with satisfaction. Then he raised one eyebrow and asked a fierce question.
"Then probably, what did your brother ask you to do this time?"
Eun-woo opened her eyes wide as she saw Tashian's expression, which looked quite displeased.
"That's not… It."
"I see. That's all right."
Seeing Tashian's expression calm down instantly, Eun-woo became very curious about his brother's reputation in Tashian's head.
She paused to look at the man in front of her.
What could she say to the person who was fully prepared, waiting like a person, who was willing to hear whatever she says?
Eun-woo hesitated and said,
"As expected, this can't be helped."
"What? What's going on?"
Eun-woo stood up from her seat. He sprang from his seat to his feet after her.
"I'm sorry to have taken your time out of your busy schedule. I don't think this is right."
Tashian snatched Eun-woo's hand quickly and stopped her from leaving the office in a hurry. He said with a disgruntled smile.
"What are you talking about? What do you mean taking my time? What on earth are you asking for? You want me to put up a statue of that bastard Diego in front of the main gate?"
"No way."
Eun-woo blushed. Tashian gently shook her hands, and asked her.
"What is it? Tell me. It makes me even more curious."
Eun-woo's hand was trapped in his large hand and was led helplessly. Tashian's deep eyes looked down at her with tenderness which seemed that he would listen to whatever she had to say.
In front of his smiling face, Eun-woo felt that his heart, which she had hardened at the door of the office, was terribly broken. In front of his smiling face, she couldn't even get angry at his mischievous words.
"No, it's fine. I'll go."
Eun-woo brushed off his hand and turned around to leave the office. But he was a second faster. Tashian quickly turned to the door and grabbed her hand again. He was forced to keep her from leaving the office.
"I won't let you go until you tell me."
"You can't do that!"
"You're already here. It's my office."
"You're already not a child! Don't force yourself."
Somehow, as the days went by, she felt that he was only getting more playful to her. Eun-woo tried to pinch Tashian's arm with a flushed face, but when she saw his smiling face, she went speechless.
"Well, let's do this."
At one point, he spoke seriously, except that it came with a laugh. She felt that he had warned her beforehand, as if preparing herself for danger.
"I'll do you a favor, and you'll do me a favor."
He said to her, who was looking at him with doubts.
"Why? It's justifiable. As a favor to ask of you, let's get along well."
Eun-woo closed her mouth and stared at his eyes. He gave a light smile to her, as if enticing her.
She pondered over it. It didn't seem to be a bad idea. In the first place, she wondered if he had anything to ask her for favor.
Eun-woo replied with a haughty look on her face, as if he was a kind-hearted person.
"Very well."