“Adele, what about Anastasia?”
“She’s resting.”
The Duke blinked slowly.
“She must be quite tired from pushing herself too hard to attend the party yesterday. Next time, go and visit her instead.”
It was permission to keep seeing Anastasia.
It seemed that Friedrich Magnus was sincerely trying to uphold his promise to Anastasia. He didn’t expect anything from her. He only wanted to keep her from being disappointed.
Adele replied, somewhat dubious.
“Yes, Father.”
“Then head back up.”
Adele slipped out of the hand that was still holding his shoulder, then excused himself and left.
As soon as he was out of sight, he erased the expression from his face.
Feeling the urge to discard his shirt immediately, Adele went up to his bedroom. His wardrobe had several sets of identical clothing.
Although he never let anyone know about it, whenever he had unwanted contact with someone, he changed his clothes. It had become like a habit. Even the Duke allowed him that much.
Adele detested people who calmly touched him as if it were natural.
Regardless of the reason, unless his permission was requested beforehand, all contact was deceitful and a direct insult to him. For that reason, he tried to maintain as little contact as possible when dealing with other people.
However, he was not allowed to wear gloves or express his displeasure, so he had no choice but to endure it.
At first, he was hesitant to hold Anastasia’s hand. However, Adele suppressed his feelings and pretended to be indifferent.
Sometimes he became embarrassed when she hugged him in a friendly way, but whenever he saw her shy, red-tinged face he couldn’t reject her.
As time went by, it became natural for him to be in close contact with her.
Before he knew it, he wanted a little more. Adele even offered his hand first when Anastasia hesitated.
However, he would never go to this much trouble for anyone other than Anastasia.
Returning to his bedroom, he hastily pulled out a fresh shirt from the wardrobe and began to unbutton his top.
He was in a rush because he wanted to eliminate the feeling of being dirty as quickly as possible, but fortunately, he remembered Anastasia just in time.
Adele hastily turned his head. Anastasia, who had woken up at some point, was blatantly staring at him with a blanket pulled over her head. Her big, silver eyes twinkled.
“I’m sorry. Did I wake you up?”
Adele quickly fixed his attire. Anastasia made a conspicuously disappointed face.
“I-I’m fine. You could’ve kept going without paying attention to me.”
(t/n: skahdkahd she was ready to risk it all lmao)
“I’ll be right back after I change. Excuse me for a moment.”
He went to the next room with his shirt, changed his clothes, and returned. With a voice full of curiosity, Anastasia asked, “Adele, why did you change your shirt?”
“It became dirty.”
“Really?”
Anastasia was almost convinced, but she tilted her head uncertainly. The shirt that Adele was wearing earlier seemed as clean as new to her.
It was a white shirt with no trace of wrinkles, so she would have noticed if there were any stains on it earlier.
As she made eye contact, Adele smiled as usual. Anastasia studied his face.
“Adele, I’m sorry for saying whatever I pleased to the Duke earlier.”
Anastasia blamed herself for nodding off. She looked completely insincere like this.
“You did everything for my sake, right?” he replied politely.
Adele admitted that Anastasia had eased the tension between him and his father.
Ironically, Anastasia was also the one who was about to push him off of a cliff.
She was a terribly sweet temptation to him. He could never resist.
If it weren’t for her, he wouldn’t have thought of disobeying his father.
He was well aware of how many benefits he was enjoying. If he did only what Friedrich Magnus told him to do, he could have everything.
Wealth and power weren’t everything. The most important thing was the trust that he had accumulated.
Even if he committed a murder in front of their eyes, it was likely that people would still blame the victim and readily come forward to prove his innocence. He made fools of everyone around him.
With the exception of the small girl in front of him.
“Are you angry?”
“I’m not.”
“But you’re not making a very good expression.”
Anastasia’s acuity was sharper than necessary.
“… Is that so?”
Adele recalled what she said to his father earlier.
“I have no intention of criticizing the Duke’s education policy, but I think it would be better to have at least one person nearby that Adele can confide in. And the chances are high that I will die before I have my coming-of-age ceremony. My lips will be sealed naturally in time, so wouldn’t it be okay?”
Adele was unhappy that she was treating her life as if it were expendable. He didn’t want her to give up. He wanted her to have a desire to live.
“Use me to test him.”
An unknown emotion welled up inside of him. He managed his expression skillfully, but Anastasia seemed to notice.
“Adele, would you like to come sit next to me?”
Anastasia asked Adele, who was still standing, in a sweet voice. Adele thought she was cunning.
It seemed as if her quiet voice, the way she smiled, and her scent, like a refreshing late spring, had gotten under his skin and had become embedded in his heart.
As she sat next to him, Anastasia’s eyes shone like a pale moon. She opened her mouth.
“Don’t you have anything to say to me?”
“Marquis Claude was here.”
Despite knowing that she wanted a different answer, Adele deliberately changed the topic. Anastasia frowned slightly.
“Was there a scheduled visit today?”
“My father has never invited the Marquis over.”
“So he just thoughtlessly came by?”
Anastasia looked at him in confusion. Adele spoke as if it were trivial.
“It hasn’t been just once or twice…”
“The Duke is tolerating it well.”
Adele smiled slightly.
“The Marquis has taken over Count William’s duties. He’s not very good at it, but I think my father puts up with him because he’s unexpectedly eager and hasn’t gotten into any trouble.”
However, to other people his magnanimity seemed incredibly shallow. At best he only tolerated one or two words.
Anastasia’s eyes widened.
“The Marquis is helping my father?”
“Perhaps he wants my father to owe him later. Also, the Marquis wants to be recognized by my father. Whenever he obtains high-quality information or buys a rare treasure, he comes by to boast to my father about it. It’s the same sort of thing today.”
Anastasia fidgeted with the blanket that she was holding.
“Shouldn’t I go and greet him too? After all, my father…”
Because he had kept her away, she had never met Balthazar Claude, so she didn’t know how incredibly annoying he was.
Adele politely corrected Anastasia’s misconception.
“I’m sure he’s already been kicked out by my father. And you don’t have to feel guilty, Anastasia. The Count personally selected some replacements before he left, but I heard that everyone was threatened by the Marquis and quit. There are no more volunteers because the Marquis is openly pressuring them.”
Adele recalled that Balthazar Claude had once stormed into the Duke’s estate while incredibly drunk and called the Duke his older brother.
It was a memory that he really wanted to forget. The Marquis had a sense of inferiority that made him crazy with admiration and jealousy towards the Duke.
(t/n: oh gosh, why is he like this)
“Huh? If that’s the case, rather than being indebted to him, shouldn’t we ask for him for compensation instead?”
“I think the Count intends to. When he heard the news, the Count sent a long letter to my father. I didn’t know that there were so many types of swear words in the world.”
Anastasia laughed awkwardly.
“Ah, haha.”
She pretended to drink tea and shook her head as if she were trying to chase away her drowsiness. Adele didn’t overlook it.
“Anastasia, if you’re that tired, would you like to sleep for a bit? There is a bedroom that the Count and Countess use whenever they stay over.”
It was a room that other honored guests were not permitted to use. Anastasia shook her head.
“I’m a little sleepy, but I’m not that sleepy. I want to play with you more.”
“Still, rest is important,” Adele said anxiously.
Anastasia sighed quietly. She wrapped her hands around the teacup and muttered.
“Actually Adele, I miss my parents.”
Anastasia closed her eyes slightly.
“When will everyone come back?”
Her transparent eyelashes quivered. Anastasia tried to prevent herself from saying more, but Adele easily guessed what she was thinking. She was hoping that her family would give up searching as soon as possible.
“You’ll see them again soon.”
She smiled slightly as she laughed. It was a fleeting smile.
“I hope they’re not too late.”
When Anastasia dropped her gaze, Adele reached his hand out, but then he hesitated.
Had his comfort ever helped her? Wouldn’t it hurt her more and make her life harder instead?
He didn’t know how to comfort Anastasia. From the beginning she had questioned whether she even needed his reassurance.
All he could do was give her some token consolation or offer to cure her illness at the expense of other people’s lives.
She was terminally ill, but she was strong enough to deal with it.
Other than some mischievous threats commonly exchanged between friends, Anastasia Sinclair didn’t ask Adele for anything in earnest.
It wasn’t because she didn’t trust him. She didn’t know what he could do, or perhaps she knew better than he did.
He didn’t want to make a mistake.
He wouldn’t let her down.
He came to the conclusion that, rather than offering her clumsy encouragement, he had to find some other way to help her in order to continue to be a valuable person to her.
In the end he retracted his hand and quieted his anxious feelings.
“Adele, what about Anastasia?”
“She’s resting.”
The Duke blinked slowly.
“She must be quite tired from pushing herself too hard to attend the party yesterday. Next time, go and visit her instead.”
It was permission to keep seeing Anastasia.
It seemed that Friedrich Magnus was sincerely trying to uphold his promise to Anastasia. He didn’t expect anything from her. He only wanted to keep her from being disappointed.
Adele replied, somewhat dubious.
“Yes, Father.”
“Then head back up.”
Adele slipped out of the hand that was still holding his shoulder, then excused himself and left.
As soon as he was out of sight, he erased the expression from his face.
Feeling the urge to discard his shirt immediately, Adele went up to his bedroom. His wardrobe had several sets of identical clothing.
Although he never let anyone know about it, whenever he had unwanted contact with someone, he changed his clothes. It had become like a habit. Even the Duke allowed him that much.
Adele detested people who calmly touched him as if it were natural.
Regardless of the reason, unless his permission was requested beforehand, all contact was deceitful and a direct insult to him. For that reason, he tried to maintain as little contact as possible when dealing with other people.
However, he was not allowed to wear gloves or express his displeasure, so he had no choice but to endure it.
At first, he was hesitant to hold Anastasia’s hand. However, Adele suppressed his feelings and pretended to be indifferent.
Sometimes he became embarrassed when she hugged him in a friendly way, but whenever he saw her shy, red-tinged face he couldn’t reject her.
As time went by, it became natural for him to be in close contact with her.
Before he knew it, he wanted a little more. Adele even offered his hand first when Anastasia hesitated.
However, he would never go to this much trouble for anyone other than Anastasia.
Returning to his bedroom, he hastily pulled out a fresh shirt from the wardrobe and began to unbutton his top.
He was in a rush because he wanted to eliminate the feeling of being dirty as quickly as possible, but fortunately, he remembered Anastasia just in time.
Adele hastily turned his head. Anastasia, who had woken up at some point, was blatantly staring at him with a blanket pulled over her head. Her big, silver eyes twinkled.
“I’m sorry. Did I wake you up?”
Adele quickly fixed his attire. Anastasia made a conspicuously disappointed face.
“I-I’m fine. You could’ve kept going without paying attention to me.”
(t/n: skahdkahd she was ready to risk it all lmao)
“I’ll be right back after I change. Excuse me for a moment.”
He went to the next room with his shirt, changed his clothes, and returned. With a voice full of curiosity, Anastasia asked, “Adele, why did you change your shirt?”
“It became dirty.”
“Really?”
Anastasia was almost convinced, but she tilted her head uncertainly. The shirt that Adele was wearing earlier seemed as clean as new to her.
It was a white shirt with no trace of wrinkles, so she would have noticed if there were any stains on it earlier.
As she made eye contact, Adele smiled as usual. Anastasia studied his face.
“Adele, I’m sorry for saying whatever I pleased to the Duke earlier.”
Anastasia blamed herself for nodding off. She looked completely insincere like this.
“You did everything for my sake, right?” he replied politely.
Adele admitted that Anastasia had eased the tension between him and his father.
Ironically, Anastasia was also the one who was about to push him off of a cliff.
She was a terribly sweet temptation to him. He could never resist.
If it weren’t for her, he wouldn’t have thought of disobeying his father.
He was well aware of how many benefits he was enjoying. If he did only what Friedrich Magnus told him to do, he could have everything.
Wealth and power weren’t everything. The most important thing was the trust that he had accumulated.
Even if he committed a murder in front of their eyes, it was likely that people would still blame the victim and readily come forward to prove his innocence. He made fools of everyone around him.
With the exception of the small girl in front of him.
“Are you angry?”
“I’m not.”
“But you’re not making a very good expression.”
Anastasia’s acuity was sharper than necessary.
“… Is that so?”
Adele recalled what she said to his father earlier.
“I have no intention of criticizing the Duke’s education policy, but I think it would be better to have at least one person nearby that Adele can confide in. And the chances are high that I will die before I have my coming-of-age ceremony. My lips will be sealed naturally in time, so wouldn’t it be okay?”
Adele was unhappy that she was treating her life as if it were expendable. He didn’t want her to give up. He wanted her to have a desire to live.
“Use me to test him.”
An unknown emotion welled up inside of him. He managed his expression skillfully, but Anastasia seemed to notice.
“Adele, would you like to come sit next to me?”
Anastasia asked Adele, who was still standing, in a sweet voice. Adele thought she was cunning.
It seemed as if her quiet voice, the way she smiled, and her scent, like a refreshing late spring, had gotten under his skin and had become embedded in his heart.
As she sat next to him, Anastasia’s eyes shone like a pale moon. She opened her mouth.
“Don’t you have anything to say to me?”
“Marquis Claude was here.”
Despite knowing that she wanted a different answer, Adele deliberately changed the topic. Anastasia frowned slightly.
“Was there a scheduled visit today?”
“My father has never invited the Marquis over.”
“So he just thoughtlessly came by?”
Anastasia looked at him in confusion. Adele spoke as if it were trivial.
“It hasn’t been just once or twice…”
“The Duke is tolerating it well.”
Adele smiled slightly.
“The Marquis has taken over Count William’s duties. He’s not very good at it, but I think my father puts up with him because he’s unexpectedly eager and hasn’t gotten into any trouble.”
However, to other people his magnanimity seemed incredibly shallow. At best he only tolerated one or two words.
Anastasia’s eyes widened.
“The Marquis is helping my father?”
“Perhaps he wants my father to owe him later. Also, the Marquis wants to be recognized by my father. Whenever he obtains high-quality information or buys a rare treasure, he comes by to boast to my father about it. It’s the same sort of thing today.”
Anastasia fidgeted with the blanket that she was holding.
“Shouldn’t I go and greet him too? After all, my father…”
Because he had kept her away, she had never met Balthazar Claude, so she didn’t know how incredibly annoying he was.
Adele politely corrected Anastasia’s misconception.
“I’m sure he’s already been kicked out by my father. And you don’t have to feel guilty, Anastasia. The Count personally selected some replacements before he left, but I heard that everyone was threatened by the Marquis and quit. There are no more volunteers because the Marquis is openly pressuring them.”
Adele recalled that Balthazar Claude had once stormed into the Duke’s estate while incredibly drunk and called the Duke his older brother.
It was a memory that he really wanted to forget. The Marquis had a sense of inferiority that made him crazy with admiration and jealousy towards the Duke.
(t/n: oh gosh, why is he like this)
“Huh? If that’s the case, rather than being indebted to him, shouldn’t we ask for him for compensation instead?”
“I think the Count intends to. When he heard the news, the Count sent a long letter to my father. I didn’t know that there were so many types of swear words in the world.”
Anastasia laughed awkwardly.
“Ah, haha.”
She pretended to drink tea and shook her head as if she were trying to chase away her drowsiness. Adele didn’t overlook it.
“Anastasia, if you’re that tired, would you like to sleep for a bit? There is a bedroom that the Count and Countess use whenever they stay over.”
It was a room that other honored guests were not permitted to use. Anastasia shook her head.
“I’m a little sleepy, but I’m not that sleepy. I want to play with you more.”
“Still, rest is important,” Adele said anxiously.
Anastasia sighed quietly. She wrapped her hands around the teacup and muttered.
“Actually Adele, I miss my parents.”
Anastasia closed her eyes slightly.
“When will everyone come back?”
Her transparent eyelashes quivered. Anastasia tried to prevent herself from saying more, but Adele easily guessed what she was thinking. She was hoping that her family would give up searching as soon as possible.
“You’ll see them again soon.”
She smiled slightly as she laughed. It was a fleeting smile.
“I hope they’re not too late.”
When Anastasia dropped her gaze, Adele reached his hand out, but then he hesitated.
Had his comfort ever helped her? Wouldn’t it hurt her more and make her life harder instead?
He didn’t know how to comfort Anastasia. From the beginning she had questioned whether she even needed his reassurance.
All he could do was give her some token consolation or offer to cure her illness at the expense of other people’s lives.
She was terminally ill, but she was strong enough to deal with it.
Other than some mischievous threats commonly exchanged between friends, Anastasia Sinclair didn’t ask Adele for anything in earnest.
It wasn’t because she didn’t trust him. She didn’t know what he could do, or perhaps she knew better than he did.
He didn’t want to make a mistake.
He wouldn’t let her down.
He came to the conclusion that, rather than offering her clumsy encouragement, he had to find some other way to help her in order to continue to be a valuable person to her.
In the end he retracted his hand and quieted his anxious feelings.
