The carriage carrying Clayton arrived at the mansion.
Jason, who had just heard that Clayton had returned from Cavern House, hurriedly went out to greet him.
"Your Grace, I heard you went to Cavern House today..."
Clayton seemed to consider Jason's words as mere mutterings. He lightly ignored the greeting and asked,
"Where is Dahlia?"
"Madam has been in the annex since earlier."
Upon hearing that Dahlia was in the annex where the godmother stayed, Clayton stopped abruptly on the stairs.
"…The annex?"
"Yes. Since you left the mansion earlier, she has been in the annex. She also had her meal there."
"So she hasn't stepped outside the mansion today?"
"Yes."
Clayton's face stiffened at Jason's confident voice.
The realization that Dahlia had secretly sneaked out of the mansion with the godmother made the back of his head tingle.
Seeing the butler confidently asserting that Dahlia was in the annex, without knowing anything, twisted his insides.
"Tsk."
As he let out a hollow laugh, Clayton's previously tense face softened.
Then, he quickly turned to Jason with a sharp gaze.
"How is it that a butler can't even figure out where the mistress is or what she's doing?"
"Eh? What do you mean...?"
"If you're curious about what I'm saying, why not send someone to the annex?"
Finally realizing something was wrong, Jason quickly sent a servant to the annex.
"Tsk."
Ignoring Jason, who had just grasped the situation, he began to climb the stairs again.
Just a while ago, the person who had followed Dahlia into the bookstore was undoubtedly Rose Hertz.
It seemed strange that two people would consecutively visit an old bookstore in a secluded area. This meant...
"Did she secretly sneak out of the mansion to meet Rose Hertz?"
As the thought crossed his mind, his eyebrows twitched.
Before he married Dahlia, when he had done his background check, there was no connection to Rose Hertz whatsoever.
To begin with, Rose Hertz didn't engage in social activities unless it was for a formal event that she couldn't avoid.
And that meant one thing.
The hut.
That day, they had met for the first time at the hut.
The feeling was hard to put into words, and he absentmindedly bit his lip.
It was an unexpected variable, even when he heard that Dahlia had gone there.
Who could have imagined it? That a woman, who had been with her husband late at night, would grow close with his wife.
"How am I supposed to accept that situation to associate with Rose Hertz?"
Generally, if a wife saw her husband with another woman late at night, it was natural to think that her husband was having an affair with her.
Therefore, for Dahlia to become close to Rose Hertz, certain conditions had to be met.
The first condition was that Dahlia must not suspect her relationship with Rose Hertz, and the second was...
"She must not care if I sleep with other women."
Again, his steps halted abruptly. He had clenched his fists without realizing it, and his nails dug into his palm.
"A wife who doesn't mind her husband having a mistress."
"Why does this bother me so much?"
Although it was a contract marriage that started without love, he couldn't shake off the unpleasant feeling.
As an inexplicable irritation started to rise within him, he muttered a curse under his breath.
"Dammit."
"Why are there so many thoughts and strange events today?" As his throat grew hot, Clayton's frustration flared, and he turned to Jason with a sharp look.
Jason, who had guessed that Dahlia wasn't in the mansion, lowered his head.
"I'm sorry, Your Grace. I'll be more careful from now on..."
"From now on, when Dahlia goes out, you must know exactly who she's meeting and where she's going, and even when she's in the mansion, you must know where she is and what she's doing."
"…Yes. Understood."
"You realize this is clearly dereliction of duty, right?"
Jason felt slightly wronged by Clayton's sharp rebuke.
It made sense, as he had once reported on Dahlia's whereabouts and was scolded for it, being told not to report on such things.
As a result, he stopped reporting to Clayton and stopped asking Dahlia about her specific destinations.
But what could he do, even though he felt wronged? It was a clear mistake for the butler to not know the whereabouts of his mistress.
He had nothing to say, even if he had ten mouths.
"I'm sorry. I will be more careful from now on."
However, even after hearing Jason's answer, Clayton's expression didn't soften.
He felt a tightness in his chest, as if something was stuck.
Clayton, lost in thought for a moment, quickly began climbing the stairs again.
As soon as he arrived on the third floor, Clayton headed toward Dahlia's room, not his own.
Jason, noticing that Clayton was heading toward Dahlia's room, was puzzled, but silently followed him, knowing he had made a mistake.
Clayton paused in front of Dahlia's room.
He didn't understand why he suddenly felt so uneasy.
Even though he was engaging in such meaningless actions, he couldn't understand why he was doing it.
Perhaps it was a desperate attempt to do something in his frustration.
Clayton, unable to find an answer for his actions, soon found himself inside Dahlia's room.
The interior, bathed in an orange glow, came into view.
The room was empty, as the owner wasn't there, but it was filled with Dahlia's scent.
He slowly surveyed the room, using the fading sunset as his light.
One step. Another step.
As Clayton looked around Dahlia's room, his brow began to furrow.
No wonder, since this was supposed to be the room of the Duchess of Seyer. Apart from the neatly arranged bedding and furniture, there wasn't even a single luxury item.
There were just some unknown wildflowers, as if picked from the forest, placed in a white vase.
It could be called simple in a good way, but in a bad way, it felt empty.
The funniest thing was that, even though he had been in and out of this room quite a few times, he had only now realized this fact.
"Tsk."
He clicked his tongue again, as if something else displeased him.
Unlike the pitiful characters from the Molden family, she was a woman who didn't know how to ask for anything from him.
She only used jewelry passed down through her family for generations, and her dresses, except for special events like birthdays, were always altered dresses from previous duchesses.
"I don't like it."
Everything about it displeased him.
The fact that she didn't indulge in luxury and had never asked for anything from him—those were all the reasons.
However, Clayton didn't even understand why it bothered him.
On the contrary, she didn't bother him or waste his money, so there should have been no reason to feel bad.
Clayton, having come to Dahlia's room for no reason, now felt even worse. He turned around to leave, and just as he was about to take a step...
Suddenly, something caught his eye.
It was a small gift box placed on the table next to the bed.
It looked like it had been a gift from someone, and without hesitation, he opened the box, even though it wasn't his.
"This is..."
Inside the box was a small glass bottle.
The transparent glass bottle contained a liquid with a faint lavender hue.
It looked like medicine. Though he wasn't sure what kind of effect it had.
Clayton, who had been rolling the small glass bottle in his hand for a while, handed it to Jason to figure out what the medicine was.
"Find out what's in this bottle."
If there was something he was curious about, he would just find the answer.
"Yes. Understood."
Just as Jason took the glass bottle Clayton handed him, a servant, having rushed, came panting and spoke.
"I've been to the annex as you instructed."
"Really? Then where is the mistress? She's in the annex?"
"Yes. The maid in the annex said that after having an early dinner with the godmother, she went to sleep for a while."
Upon hearing that Dahlia was in the annex, Jason let out a sigh of relief.
He realized that Clayton had misunderstood something, and Jason looked at the Duke with a more relaxed expression.
"She must have been very tired after spending time in the forest early in the day. When she wakes up, I'll report to you right away, Your Grace..."
However, the brief peace was shattered once again by Clayton's question.
"Did you see her yourself?"
"Eh?"
"I asked if you saw Dahlia sleeping yourself."
The servant stammered, flustered by Clayton's interrogation.
"Th-that... How could I dare enter the mistress's bedroom? I only conveyed what the godmother said."
"The godmother said it herself?"
"Yes? Yes..."
The atmosphere suddenly became heavy, and the servant nodded vigorously.
"I've noticed it since last time, but my stepmother seems to take a lot of interest in her daughter-in-law."
"Annoying."
Clayton muttered with a harsh smile.