27. Unknown Emotions

Before Klaus could say anything, Roselia cut him off with a firm voice.

“From now on, I will have my brother, Antonio, deliver the money. I hope we won’t have to meet under such unpleasant circumstances again.”

With that, Roselia turned and walked out harshly.

Klaus could only watch her retreating figure, unable to muster the will to stop her.

Bang! The door slammed shut loudly as Roselia disappeared.

Klaus stared at the door she had vanished through for a while before looking down at the pouch of money.

What on earth had he been saying? It was so unlike him.

He absolutely detested the idea of paying for female companionship.

Yet, here he was, having uttered such absurd and ridiculous words about reducing her debt in exchange for service to him.

It must have been the stress from the school construction issues and the incident with Antonio being grabbed by the Crown Prince that had frayed his nerves.

Klaus let out a deep sigh and collapsed onto the sofa, exhausted.

* * *

Back in the guise of Antonio, the servant and confidant of Claucet at the Duke’s household, Roselia stared blankly at the sky.

She had been gazing into space like someone in a trance, and suddenly began to ruffle her short black hair with both hands.

The oppressive and strange atmosphere she had felt when trapped in Klaus’s arms the previous evening kept replaying in her mind, making her head feel like it was about to burst.

‘Sleep with me…!’

She thought incredulously.

How could a duke, who seemed to care only about money, say something like that?

She was oscillating between anger and disbelief, between frustration and astonishment.

She had thought Klaus was only concerned with work and money, and uninterested in women, but was he just another man after all?

As she sat there in a daze, Claucet, who was munching on a cookie, watched her like she was an interesting animal.

“Antonio, do you have any worries?”

Claucet’s sudden question reminded Roselia that she was in the middle of having tea with her, making her smile awkwardly.

“Worries? What worries?”

As Roselia tried to brush off the question, Claucet gave her a suspicious look.

“Last night, you came into the mansion dressed as a woman… Did something happen with Klaus?”

At Claucet’s mention of ‘something happening,’ the memory of her encounter with Klaus suddenly came back, causing Roselia to blush and react with horror.

“Nothing happened! Why would anything happen? The Duke is only interested in money and work!”

Roselia’s overly sensitive reaction made Claucet look at her with wide-eyed surprise.

“I just meant, didn’t Klaus suspect your true identity?”

Realizing she had inadvertently revealed too much, Roselia laughed awkwardly and glanced around.

“Ah… no, nothing happened. I just gave him the money and left immediately.”

For now…

Roselia avoided meeting Claucet’s eyes and forced a smile.

Claucet, who had been staring at her, suddenly stood up.

“Great! Let’s go on a picnic to the lake!”

“What??”

At Claucet’s sudden suggestion, Roselia looked bewildered. Claucet gave a mischievous smile and winked.

“I actually have something to discuss privately with just the two of us.”

But it’s already quiet and just the two of us here…

In fact, Melda, the nanny attending to them, was completely loyal to Claucet, so it was like having a wall around them.

Despite her confusion, Roselia nodded, seeing how excited Claucet seemed.

Arriving at the huge lake within the Duke’s estate, Roselia stood dumbfounded.

Waiting for them was a delicate boat adorned with all sorts of frilly decorations and lace at the lake’s edge.

“What are you doing? Get on!”

As Roselia stared blankly, an excited Claucet lightly stepped onto the boat.

Realizing belatedly that their picnic was going to be on the boat, Roselia asked in alarm.

“Get on, on the boat?”

“Hurry!”

Already seated on the boat, Claucet waved her over.

Just then, Melda quietly approached and handed a picnic basket to Roselia.

It was clear she was meant to bring it aboard.

Resigning herself to the situation, Roselia climbed into the boat with the basket and sat opposite Claucet.

The boat began to glide smoothly across the lake.

“Why the sudden boat ride?”

Roselia asked curiously. Claucet took off the flower-adorned hat she had worn for the occasion and handed it to Roselia.

It was clear she wanted Roselia to hold it.

Smiling faintly, Roselia took the hat and placed it on her lap.

“We need to discuss something in private.”

Claucet, acting as if she were about to share a top-secret piece of information, lowered her voice even in the middle of the lake. Roselia couldn’t help but smile at her dramatic demeanor.

“What is it?”

“Today, the Crown Princess sent a letter.”

“The Crown Princess?”

At this unexpected news, Roselia’s eyes widened in surprise. Claucet put a finger to her lips and frowned.

“Shh!”

Who would hear them in the middle of the lake…?

“The Crown Princess has invited you and me to a dinner tomorrow evening.”

“She invited both of us?”

It was surprising, but not entirely unexpected. So far, Roselia had been meeting the Crown Princess quietly and separately, but given the Crown Prince’s growing suspicions, it was safer to include Claucet.

As Roselia pondered this, Claucet continued speaking.

“Specifically, she invited you as Roselia and me.”

Wait a minute… if it’s me as Roselia…

She meant she had to attend in her female disguise.

“What???”

Roselia was so shocked that her grip loosened, and Claucet’s hat flew off in the wind. Roselia instinctively reached for it, but it fell into the lake beside the boat.

The hat looked quite expensive, so Roselia reached out to retrieve it.

“It’s okay. I can buy another one.”

“Wait a moment, I think I can reach it.”

Roselia leaned over the side of the boat, trying to grasp the hat that was just out of reach.

At that moment, the boat tipped as the center of gravity shifted.

“Ahhh-!!”

It all happened in an instant.

The boat rocked violently, and with Claucet’s scream, Roselia fell overboard.

Splash-!!

“Antonio!!!”

Hearing Claucet’s panicked voice, Roselia remembered that she had never been in water deeper than her waist before.

* * *

Near the Duke of Valtazar’s mansion lay the pristine Hyphris Lake, clean enough for the residents to use as drinking water. The mansion was also flanked by the enormous Beldef Mountain range, often called the Roof of Rugbeljet.

Passing Hyphris Lake would lead to the Beldef Mountain hunting grounds, where Klaus sometimes rode his horse to clear his mind.

That day, he was heading to the entrance of the Beldef Mountain hunting grounds to clear his thoughts.

As he passed the lake to enter the forest, he suddenly heard a scream and stopped his horse, turning toward the source of the sound.

He saw a picnic boat near the shore of the lake with a familiar silhouette on it.

“Claucet?”

Klaus stared in puzzlement at Claucet, who was standing precariously near the edge of the boat. Noticing the commotion at the edge of the lake, he spurred his horse into action without a second thought.

“Claucet!!!”

Hearing Klaus’s voice, Claucet turned with a tearful face and shouted back.

“Antonio! Antonio fell in!!”

Seeing Claucet looking desperate as if she were about to jump in herself, Klaus’s eyes hardened, and he jumped off his horse and ran to the lake.

“Move back!!!”

Warning Claucet not to move, Klaus dived into the lake.

Splash-!!!

Klaus dove smoothly into the water, swimming with all his might toward Antonio, who was struggling on the surface.

Antonio, thrashing like a fish out of water, seemed to have swallowed a lot of water and soon started to sink below the surface.

Not missing a beat, Klaus dove underwater and swam toward him.

Antonio’s blurry eyes stared back at him in a daze.

Klaus swam with all his strength, grabbed the limp Antonio by the waist, and pulled him to the surface.

Pulling someone out of the water often felt like lifting two or three times their weight, but Klaus gritted his teeth and dragged Antonio to the shore.

Laying him down and checking his condition, Klaus slapped his cheeks a few times.

“Hey! Hey!!”

When Antonio didn’t respond, Klaus cursed anxiously.

“Damn it!”

As he was about to perform CPR, gripping Antonio’s jaw and leaning down, Antonio suddenly gasped for air and turned his head, coughing up water.

“Cough! Cough!”

Klaus watched with relief, but suddenly his anger surged, and he grabbed Antonio’s shoulders roughly, pulling him up.

“What the hell were you thinking, jumping into the lake?!”

Roselia, looking dazed and disoriented, tried to speak but her voice barely came out.

“I didn’t jump… I fell…”

“Whatever! Why can’t you stay still for even a moment?!”

Klaus’s voice, scolding her before she could fully recover from the fear of almost drowning, made Roselia feel a surge of sadness.

She thought she was going to die, she was terrified…

Tears started to stream down Roselia’s face, initially mistaken for water droplets.

Realizing they were tears, Klaus froze in confusion.

“I thought… I was going to die…”

Her voice, breaking into sobs, made Klaus’s hands tremble unconsciously.

It was strange, but seeing her cry suddenly made him feel paralyzed.

Roselia, oblivious to Klaus’s turmoil, continued to cry, tears falling in droplets.

Klaus tightened his grip on her shoulders.

He couldn’t understand this strange mix of emotions.

Anger, frustration, anxiety, worry…

And now, oddly, he found it hard to watch her cry.

She was just a servant… why did he feel this strange way about this man?

Despite these thoughts, he couldn’t bring himself to let go of her shoulders.

As Roselia looked up at him with tearful eyes, seeking solace, Klaus’s body tensed up again.