Today was another fruitless day.
There was only one teacher seeing off the children. Although he had never seen her face, the Duke intuitively felt that this person was not the one he was looking for.
He hadn’t dreamed of a dramatic reunion, but he didn’t expect to not even catch a glimpse of her.
The Duke sighed, sitting cross-legged inside the carriage.
The unmarked carriage he had deliberately switched to was incredibly uncomfortable.
He had confirmed beforehand that this was the place. He had received reports that she was here just a few days ago.
‘Could I have missed her again?’
It was an excessive thought.
There was no way Carol could have known that the Duke was looking for her.
Even knowing it wasn’t true, he felt uneasy.
“Hah…”
The Duke sighed, holding his forehead. As soon as he arrived in the capital and finished his urgent business, he came to where Carol lived.
He had long known where Carol was from the reports he received. He only received reports on whether she was adapting well to life here.
He only knew her residence and tried not to hear much news about her, fearing that if he knew too little or too much about her life, he might abandon his work and rush to her immediately.
The hope of being able to go to her once he regained his power became a motivation that led to the success of his business in two years.
He had imagined countless times how Carol would react when she saw him.
‘To be so passionate about someone whose face I don’t even know.’
The Duke chuckled. It didn’t matter what she looked like.
He thought his patience had grown from enduring for so long, but it hadn’t.
Knock knock.
“Come in.”
The carriage door opened, and the mother, who had come out of the teaching center with Riel, naturally boarded the carriage.
Usually, he only received reports, but having come up empty-handed in front of the teaching center for days, he needed to know Carol’s whereabouts.
With a clatter, the carriage began to move down the road.
“Your Grace.”
Looking indifferently at the woman who paid her respects as soon as she entered, he urged her to answer.
“So?”
“She hasn’t quit, but she’s gone on vacation.”
“…Vacation?”
“Teacher Bianca doesn’t know the details because she left in a hurry.”
“…I see. It’s just bad timing.”
The Duke muttered, furrowing his brow. Neither her siblings who had become imperial knights, nor the young Viscount Louis Walden working under him showed any strange signs.
“Shall we track her?”
“No, leave it be.”
The Duke pressed his forehead, suppressing his anger. It was as if a great flow was telling him that the two of them were not destined to be together.
‘If that’s destiny, I’ll defy it as much as I can.’
Feeling intense fatigue, the Duke decided to return for now. The carriage stopped once, and the subordinate and her child who had ridden with them got off.
The Duke watched the setting sun through the carriage window as they arrived at the townhouse.
“Duke, you’ve arrived.”
“Yes.”
“…The young master requested to dine with you.”
The Duke raised an eyebrow, looking puzzled. Noah was sharper than the Duke had thought.
Cunningly, he had pretended to be a bit naive when with Carol, but after Carol left, Noah kept his distance as if he knew exactly where he stood.
‘Though his affection is still overwhelming at times.’
Noah knew that when the Duke seemed to be in a bad mood, he preferred to be left alone.
That’s why this time, when they came up from the North, Noah came up separately.
“Did something happen?”
“…Nothing major, Your Grace.”
“I see. Tell him I’ll be there right after I change clothes.”
Come to think of it, he hadn’t been paying much attention to Noah lately.
When he arrived at the dining room, Noah was already seated.
“Good evening, Duke.”
Instead of returning Noah’s evening greeting, the Duke went straight to the point.
“Did something happen while I was away?”
“No, it’s not that. We just haven’t had a meal together since we came up.”
At Noah’s signal, the servants bustled about, and soon one of them began quickly preparing the meal with a trolley.
It seemed they had been waiting for quite a while. The Duke sat across from Noah and said,
“Let’s have meals together more often from now on.”
Noah nodded at the Duke’s words and began eating.
Halfway through the meal, Noah wiped his mouth and broke the ice.
“You taught me something, Duke. Not to meddle unnecessarily in others’ affairs.”
“…That’s right. Why bring that up suddenly?”
“I’ve just been mulling over those words lately.”
“I see.”
“It’s hard to believe that if things go wrong, I’d have to bear the blame.”
“Yes, it’s better that way.”
Noah grinned at the Duke’s affirmation.
Noah’s state was a bit different from usual. But the Duke couldn’t pinpoint exactly what was strange about it. So he kept a close eye on Noah throughout the meal, but nothing noteworthy came up.
‘Am I just being paranoid?’
Thinking he might be more sensitive due to his current state, the Duke finished the meal without saying anything else.
“Now that we’ve finished eating, I’ll be going.”
But before the Duke could stand up, Noah hurriedly stopped him.
“Wait a moment. Won’t you have a cup of tea before you go?”
The Duke began to worry that something really might be wrong.
This was blatantly strange!
“Alright.”
But he couldn’t say Noah was acting suspicious just because he was fine, so the Duke nodded slightly.
Perhaps Noah intended to talk over tea.
“It’s a special tea I brought from the North.”
At Noah’s signal, the servants bustled about again.
“If there really is something wrong, do tell me.”
“Oh, right. There was something I wanted to tell you!”
Noah clapped his hands and looked around. After checking the servant clearing the dishes in front and those standing by the wall, Noah asked the Duke.
“Could you dismiss everyone? Just leave one person to prepare the tea.”
“Alright.”
The Duke thought it was a strange day. He didn’t meet Carol as he had expected, and suddenly Noah intruded, uncharacteristically asking to have tea together.
The servants who cleared the table all left. The servant to brew the tea hadn’t arrived yet, so only the two of them remained in the dining room.
“What did you want to say?”
“Can I take back what I said about continuing to attend the academy in the capital?”
“……”
“You don’t like it when people go back on their word.”
“But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t speak up if you’ve changed your mind.”
“Thank you.”
“You don’t have to decide right away. Think it over carefully.”
“Okay.”
Noah grinned.
Knock knock.
Soon after the knock, Noah looked towards the door and called the servant in.
“Oh, looks like the tea is here. Come in!”
At Noah’s words, the door clicked open. Until now, the Duke had been constantly thinking about where Carol might be and who she might be with.
“Um, I’m really sorry, but I need to use the restroom for a moment.”
“…Suddenly?”
“Yes. I think I drank too much water while waiting before mealtime.”
Noah stood up, saying he’d be right back, and hurriedly left the dining room. Though he thought it was disruptive, a faint smile played on the Duke’s lips.
The Duke concluded that children were indeed unpredictable.
As soon as Noah left, the atmosphere suddenly became heavy.
Trickle.
The servant put tea leaves in the teapot on the trolley and poured hot water.
When the tea had steeped sufficiently, the servant poured it into a cup and placed it in front of the Duke.
“The tea smells nice……”
It was at that moment.
The world began to move in slow motion.
A faint scent caught the Duke’s nose. It was the scent of winter amidst the familiar tea fragrance.
And at its end was the scent of perfume that had lingered on feathers.
It was a scent the Duke had recalled countless times.
The past suddenly invaded the present. The past that covered the present like a tidal wave soon became the present.
It was a very strange thing. Although he had never seen the face before, he couldn’t help but be certain.
He wanted to embrace her right away, to whisper how much he had missed her.
His usually steadfast patience felt like it might crumble like autumn leaves.
‘I was stupid.’
It was too dark under the lamp to think of looking there.
The Duke couldn’t take his eyes off Carol.
‘…She’s even smaller than I thought.’
He was a bit surprised by her small frame, as her presence had seemed so immense when she wasn’t visible.
He tightly gripped the armrest of his chair, trying to suppress the urge to hug her with all his might. The veins on the back of his hand stood out.
Uncharacteristically, he had thought their reunion would be special and romantic.
But in reality, just seeing her was overwhelming, and it was a struggle just to contain the emotions threatening to burst forth.
He gazed at her, as if measuring where his hands had traced when she was invisible.
The Duke’s breath grew hot with a beast-like desire to devour her whole.
I’m. Gonna. Pass. Out.
Yay! 😍
omg