Chase paced the hallway when he heard Casey was chatting with Wilhazelle.
As much as he wanted to see Wilhazelle’s face, he was nervous about what Casey might say about him.
He was worried that Wilhazelle’s image of him, which was already bad, would get even worse.
He walked back and forth down the long hallway, chewing his lip and trying to think of something, anything, he could use as an excuse to naturally visit her room.
He felt ashamed of himself for his chaotic behavior, but what could he do, he was nervous.
After a long moment of pacing the hallway, Rohan appeared before Chase holding a small vial.
“Master. The wizard sent word earlier that he found a sample of the antidote from the last batch.”
“The antidote?”
“Yes. Shall I summon Raphelion and Lady Wilhazelle?”
Chase smiled, eager to learn the truth as soon as possible.
He would finally know if Raphel was really his nephew.
If the child was indeed his nephew, then Wilhazelle never lied to him and he could apologize to her for misunderstanding her.
He would no longer have to worry if she lied to him.
And if he paid the reward according to the terms, Wilhazelle would leave the mansion and depart for her home…
“Wait.”
Chase hastily called out to Rohan.
“Yes, My lord.”
Rohan turned quickly to face Chase.
“Let’s wait to tell them…”
The moment the truth is revealed, she’ll leave this mansion.
All this time he’d misunderstood and doubted her, and now she’d be going back like this? How would he ever get a chance to express his feelings then?
It was clear that if she returned to her home, it would be harder to meet her than it was now, when they were staying in the same place.
He didn’t know if he would see her once she got back home.
He could use Raphel as an excuse, but even that wasn’t a good enough reason to see her more than once or twice.
Chase’s face hardened.
After becoming aware of his feelings, he often had trouble sleeping.
A soft smile would suddenly appear in his thoughts, tormenting his heart and mind.
But should he let her go? If he let her go, would he be okay by himself?
Would he be able to endure this heated feeling he was experiencing for the first time?
“How long until the newly created antidote arrives?”
“They said it would take a month, so now there are less than 5 days left.”
Five days. He needed more time.
Time to make her stay by his side. Time to get her to open up.
“I’ll go and get Raphel.”
“What?”
“The antidote will be delivered here in 5 days. Do you understand?”
“My Lord, what is that…”
“Only you and I know the antidote arrived today.”
It wasn’t a lie.
Originally, the antidote was supposed to arrive after a month, a sample just came a little early.
It shouldn’t matter to Wilhazelle. She already expected that she would be living at the Duke’s residence for a month, so there was no problem.
Rohan gaped at his master’s plan.
He understood what his master was thinking.
He never thought Chase would do something like this, never thought he’d want to hold her here for as long as he could by withholding information.
Rohan could see that his master’s feelings for Lady Wilhazelle were deepening day by day.
“All right.”
Chase told Raphel to prepare a drink and headed to Lizelle’s room.
He quickly arrived in front of the door, cleared his throat and spoke.
“It’s Chase.”
“Come on in.”
After receiving permission, he opened the door and entered the room.
“Uncle!”
Raphel rushed over and hugged Chase’s legs.
He smiled slightly and stroked Raphel’s head with his large, firm hand.
“Duke. What’s going on?”
It was Casey’s voice.
Chase looked up and saw Wilhazelle and Casey. And then he witnessed an unexpected sight.
“A cat…”
The white cat lying on Wilhazelle’s lap had its eyes closed as she patted it. He’d never seen the cat before.
“It must have lost its owner, wandered off and came in through the window.”
“You mean the window in this room?”
“Yes.”
He couldn’t believe it’d jumped this high. Chase examined the cat with narrowed, sharp eyes.
But he didn’t see anything out of the ordinary.
He just didn’t like the way the cat was sprawled out, lazily sleeping while being patted by her.
“It’s probably not owned by anyone in this mansion.”
He’d never heard of anyone raising a cat in the residence.
It seems that it probably lost its owner from outside, wandered around and found its way onto his land.
“Is that so? Should I take care of it while I’m here…?”
“Uh, no. That’s not possible. Rohan is allergic to cats.”
It was a lie. He was just being grumpy because she was too preoccupied with petting the cat to look in his direction.
He hated the cat for stealing all her attention.
Rohan, who was preparing the antidote, unknowingly developed an allergy to cats.
“Huh? Rohan?”
Casey tilted her head; this was the first time she’d heard of Rohan having allergies.
Chase flushed, but didn’t say anything.
“Oh, really? I guess I can’t keep it after all.”
Lizelle sounded a little disappointed.
She liked the soft fur so much that she briefly thought about raising it herself if she couldn’t find the owner, but that seemed like it would be impossible now.
“Nyaa.”
The cat purred and looked up at her with a twinkle in its transparent eyes, which seemed to contain the Milky Way, begging her to take it in.
She originally thought it was a grumpy cat, but it was so cute that it hurt her heart.
“Shall I take you to my home…?”
Chase shouted urgently when he heard Lizelle’s muttering.
“Leave him with Rohan! He’ll find the owner.”
“Didn’t you say the butler was allergic?”
Wilhazelle looked at Chase with puzzled eyes.
“Ah…”
Oops. He’d forgotten about the lie he just told her as he was trying to prevent her from taking the cat home.
Chase hid his embarrassment and spoke naturally.
“It doesn’t matter as long as he doesn’t touch it directly.”
Lizelle nodded at those words.
Chase felt both relieved and guilty that he’d managed to convince her.
‘Now I’m even jealous of a cat…’
He didn’t know how long his pathetic behavior would last.
“I have something to give Raphel, so I’ll take him with me for a moment.”
“Hmm.”
Casey, who was staring at Chase, raised the corners of her mouth. She’d just seen something interesting.
Aside from the whole thing about Rohan being allergic to cats, why would her brother come himself when he could have just called a servant to bring Raphel over?
As her mind wandered, she remembered Chase saying yes to her last comment about Zelly being pretty.
At the time, she thought she’d misheard him, but now she realized she hadn’t.
Casey smirked, feeling like she’d uncovered at least five years’ worth of teasing.
“…”
Chase turned away from the giggling Casey.
Having known her for so long, it was obvious that she’d noticed something. His back felt hot due to embarrassment and shame.
“Raphel, have fun.”
Lizelle waved to Raphel as he was lifted into Chase’s arms.
Her bright smile was directed at Raphel, but he cleared his throat and quickly left the room.
He was afraid Casey might say something unnecessary.
Casey burst out laughing as she watched Chase hurriedly leave the room like he was being chased.
“Puhahahaha!”
“Huh? What’s wrong?”
Casey wiped away her tears as she giggled, holding her belly as if she was dying of laughter.
Wilhazelle looked at Casey with a puzzled look.
Her bright smile reminded her of a cheerful old man rather than an aristocratic woman.
Chase frowned as he heard Casey’s laughter echoing through the hallway.
His ears were bright red.
“Sigh, kekekekekeut…”
Casey, who had been laughing alone for a while, finally seemed to have calmed down and spoke with a smile on her face.
“Zelly, what do you think of the Duke?”
“What do you mean?”
“What kind of person do you think the Duke is?”
What does that question have to do with her laughing her ass off?
Wilhazelle found Casey’s sudden words and actions strange.
She continued to gently pet the cat in her arms and spoke without much thought.
“He’s just a guy with a lot of money.”
She hadn’t given much thought to this man, Chase, until now.
“Is that all?”
“I’ve never thought about it.”
Casey nodded, swallowing back the laughter that was about to burst out in response.
“That’s such a shame.”
She could see her brother’s future; he would face many hardships.
Casey was delighted, and she and Lizelle went back to chatting.
