Klaus, too, could not understand his own hypersensitive reaction. He didn’t know why, but the moment he saw Antonio with his wrist gripped by the Crown Prince, an inexplicable rage had welled up inside him. He was usually protective of his assets and his own belongings, so he simply assumed he was angry because someone was treating what was his with such blatant disrespect.
Clearing his thoughts to quell his anger, Klaus spoke calmly.
“Do you only listen when your neck is being throttled by the Crown Prince? He is the kind of man who wouldn’t hesitate to take your head the moment you become an eyesore.”
Hmm… I already knew that part well.
That was why the original Roselia had been so pointlessly executed by the Crown Prince’s hand. Though, of course, Klaus had made the greatest contribution to that event.
As Roselia stared at the floor with a chilling, hardened gaze, Klaus seemed to think he had finally gotten through to her, as he continued.
“It will do you no good for His Royal Highness to take an interest in you. Therefore…”
“I thank you for your advice. However, as I said before, this is not just about paying back the Duke’s debt; it is also a promise between Her Royal Highness the Crown Princess and me. I will conduct myself properly so as not to cause you any trouble, Duke.”
I did not want to hear a word from Klaus, who had stood by and watched until the very moment of Roselia’s death. And the biggest reason was, as I had told him, that this was now a matter tied to my promise to the Crown Princess.
The face of the Crown Princess, who had bitterly said she wished a person like me could be in the Imperial Family, came to mind. She was a woman I could trust and feel closer to than any of the men who went around talking about killing people.
With a cold expression, Roselia bowed her head slightly to Klaus, turned around without a moment’s hesitation, and walked away.
* * *
Disguised in women’s clothing, Roselia stood before the door to Klaus’s office and gulped.
Why on earth had I boasted that I would come to pay the next installment of the debt in person while in the state of Roselia… I felt like slapping my past self.
Just as a breathless Roselia was about to knock on the office door, she heard voices from inside.
“So, the Imperial Council’s approval for the school site construction really hasn’t come through yet, I see.”
Behind Alejandro’s calm voice, she heard the sound of Klaus’s voice, seemingly trying to suppress his anger.
“They’re making such a fuss when it only slightly grazes the edge of our land. It’s obvious; they’re trying to use the school construction as an excuse to squeeze money out of me.”
“As I thought… perhaps you should reconsider the school construction project…”
“Ha…! If they want money, I’ll stuff it down their throats and make sure they never utter a sound again. Damn it. That’s what I earned it for.”
“…Then, first, I will compile a list of nobles who own land near the school site.”
As Alejandro said this and opened the door to leave, Roselia instinctively turned her back to hide herself. Alejandro, perhaps distracted, did not notice her and disappeared to the end of the hall.
She stared at the direction where Alejandro had vanished, swallowed a dry gulp, and then cautiously knocked on the office door.
“Do you have more questions?”
At Klaus’s irritable voice, Roselia spoke up carefully.
“It… it’s me, Roselia.”
“…”
After a brief silence, Klaus replied in a low, dropped voice.
“Come in.”
Roselia opened the door carefully and entered. When she saw Klaus standing there, leaning against his desk and staring straight at her, she couldn’t help but avert her gaze.
Glancing at him from the corner of her eye, she saw that he looked incredibly tired and exhausted; his shirt was disheveled, unlike his usual self. It seemed he had pulled at his shirt in agitation, as the top few buttons were missing from view.
“Come over here.”
Roselia approached the table he pointed to, feeling hesitant, and glanced cautiously at his expression.
“You ran away again that day.”
Confused about whether he was talking about what happened at the Imperial Palace or in the back alleys, Roselia quickly gathered her wits and replied calmly.
“That… my colleague who was with me was not feeling well.”
Klaus, who recalled the gaunt woman with the poor complexion who had been with Roselia, twitched an eyebrow and spoke coldly.
“Stop being stubborn and just move into the mansion now.”
“Pardon?”
“Why on earth would you stay there, putting yourself in such dangerous situations?”
It seemed Klaus was under the impression that she was living in the back alleys while being treated that way.
“At that time… it wasn’t my problem, I was just helping my colleague…”
“Whatever the case, aren’t you just as much a victim of those circumstances?”
Unlike his calm voice, an inexplicable rage was etched in Klaus’s eyes. Looking him in the eye, Roselia furrowed her brows and let out a long sigh.
“As I said before, I am more comfortable where I am. I have no desire to enter the Duchy.”
At her firm answer, Klaus irritably swept his hair back.
“The siblings are just as exasperating as each other.”
As Klaus spat out the words and rose, Roselia’s gaze met his. Exhausted and looking genuinely angry, he slowly approached her.
Soon, he was right in front of her. As if to threaten her, he slammed both hands onto the table behind her and leaned in close.
Because of this, Roselia ended up trapped between his arms, sitting on the edge of the table with a wide-eyed expression.
“If you like the work there so much, why don’t you serve me instead?”
At his words, murmured so close that his breath brushed her skin, Roselia’s eyes widened.
Surely… the “service” he was talking about wasn’t… that kind of service she was thinking of, was it?
Watching Roselia’s green eyes tremble in confusion, Klaus let out a self-deprecating smile.
“I’ll deduct it from your debt depending on how well you do.”
Roselia, wondering if she had heard him correctly, frowned and asked back.
“What… did you say…?”
His navy eyes were looking down at her, deeply sunken. Those eyes looked blurry as if he were drunk, but deep within them, an unrecognizable, clear flame was burning toward her.
As Roselia stared into his eyes in confusion, one corner of Klaus’s mouth twisted upward.
“Do I have to be blunt? Let’s sleep together.”
Roselia’s head turned to stone.
Is this man, seriously, drunk? The Klaus I know, even if he were a cold-blooded egoist, would not be such a scoundrel as to say something like this so casually.
But as if to put an end to her confusion, Klaus continued.
“If you are there because of the debt, wouldn’t it be better to pay it off directly to me? Of course, that depends on your performance…”
*Slap—!!!*
Unable to bear it any longer, Roselia’s hand flew to Klaus’s cheek.
Klaus, his head snapped to the side from the force of the blow, did not move for a long time. A chilly silence hung in the air, but Roselia glared at him with sharp eyes. Her breath was ragged with an emotion she couldn’t tell was anger or fear, and her chest heaved violently.
Soon, Klaus, who had blood staining his lip as if it had been split, nonchalantly wiped it with his finger and slowly turned back toward Roselia. In the eyes of Roselia, who was staring into his navy pupils, there was not a hint of regret.
“Even if you are a Duke, you have no right to judge others so recklessly.”
Roselia bit her lip, her eyes burning.
“Even if I were doing such work, you have no right to treat me with such disrespect, either.”
As Roselia landed her cold retort, Klaus’s gaze, unfitting for the atmosphere, drifted to her lips.
How could she be so good at hurling such poisonous words with those small lips…
In truth, he had only intended to frighten her a little and back off. His frustration from things not going his way had manifested in a twisted way, but he never dreamed he would end up being slapped.
What was even more ridiculous was that, despite being slapped by her, he wasn’t angry; instead, his mind became even clearer, and his gaze was tracking her like a broken doll.
It seemed… it was because of the scent of the perfume she had worn.
Because of that strange fragrance, his behavior, which was supposed to be just a warning, had gone beyond his own limits and led him to spout such nonsense.
Klaus calmly withdrew his arms that had been trapping her and stood up.
Finally free to move, Roselia quickly got off the table, took a step away, and glared at him. Klaus, looking at her with a bitter expression, raked a hand through his hair and spoke.
“I apologize for saying something uncharacteristic and useless. I must be exhausted, causing my words to slip.”
Even though Klaus was apologizing, Roselia did not lower her guard. At her gaze, which was mixed with suspicion and even disgust, Klaus frowned and rubbed his face.
“It’s just that you keep insisting on such nonsensical things…”
“Nonsensical?”
A deeper sense of displeasure clouded Roselia’s face.
“The debt I owe is money, not my body. Even if I were a maid of the Duchy, you would have no right to order me around regarding my personal affairs.”
Moreover, to be precise, it wasn’t even a debt she had incurred, but the Barony. Since that wretched Baron Hessink died, she, as his adopted daughter, had simply been left with the entire debt.
Of course, even if she had run away, that ghost of a Duke would have hunted her down like a dog, so she had abandoned the thought of running away in the first place, but now that she thought about it, she felt a surge of unfairness and annoyance.
“And it’s not as if my brother and I aren’t paying back the debt; we bring it to you religiously, so I don’t know what your problem is.”
Klaus sighed heavily as he looked at the agitated Roselia.
“What I meant was… wouldn’t it be less exhausting for both of us if you lived in the Duke’s mansion instead of receiving such rough treatment in a place like that?”
“Exactly! Why is the Duke even worried about how I am treated?”
Roselia, her mood already completely soured, pressed him, and Klaus let out a sigh and nervously messed up his hair.
“Ha… let’s stop. It seems we aren’t speaking the same language.”
“Who exactly is it that isn’t speaking the same language?”
Unable to take it anymore, Klaus slammed his hand against the desk in irritation.
*Bang—!*
Far from being startled, Roselia’s eyes only flashed more intensely.
“I’m tired, so let’s stop here for today.”
At Klaus’s cold tone, Roselia marched toward him, huffing.
As she suddenly lunged forward, Klaus was taken aback and looked down at her with wide eyes. The scent of her that he had momentarily forgotten wafted over him again.
*Bang—!!*
While Klaus was staring at her face as if bewitched, Roselia slammed her hand onto the desk with all her might, just as he had done.
Startled by the sudden noise, Klaus looked at Roselia as if he couldn’t believe it. Roselia snorted at him and spoke.
“As promised, here is part of the debt.”
Only then did Klaus’s gaze shift to the table Roselia had slammed. There, sitting alone, was a pouch that clearly contained money.