“I couldn’t come empty-handed, so I prepared something modest.”
But the silence didn’t last as long as expected, because Chase spoke.
He was the type of person who hated standing out.
Though he disliked taking the lead in conversations, this time was different. Normally, he didn’t need to try—conversations naturally revolved around him.
Others always approached him first, leaving him to decide only whether to engage. He never had to try to impress anyone.
But today was an exception.
He wanted to make a good impression on Wilhazelle’s parents.
It was natural to want to look good in front of the parents of the person you like.
For this reason, he was making an effort entirely out of character for him.
“Your sincerity is more than enough…”
“Put it down.”
At his command, the two attendants behind him carefully placed wooden cases on the table.
They opened them, revealing their contents, then quietly exited the room.
“What is this…?”
“…”
“…”
Wilhazelle and her parents stared, stunned, at the contents of the case.
Inside were dozens of sparkling jewels gleaming under the room’s lights.
Wilhazelle immediately recognized them.
As the ‘Wilhazelle’ of the original story had been fond of luxury, the names of each gemstone automatically surfaced in her mind without much effort.
The case contained a blue diamond, known as the Tears of the Sun, a pink diamond called the Celebration of Joy, the Blessing of Chersinia, and the Ideal of Paradise…
Each so precious and rare that it was impossible to put a price on them.
Each said to be the only one in the world.
The case itself was divided into 50 compartments, each holding a jewel, with not a single space left empty.
And there wasn’t just one case—there were two, making 100 jewels in total.
“This is my small gesture of sincerity.”
Chase said with a satisfied expression, clearly pleased with himself as he noticed Wilhazelle’s astonishment.
‘No way…?’
Wilhazelle finally realized the misunderstanding.
Chase had focused solely on the word ‘small’ from her suggestion of a ‘small, heartfelt gift’ and prepared accordingly—but only in terms of size.
* * *
‘Damn duke!’
The cat was running through the mansion, swearing inwardly.
“Kitty!”
Raphel was running hard to chase the cat that was running away so fast that he could almost fly.
The cat ran down the hallway, its long, white fur fluttering like the first snow, and then turned the corner to the right.
When he recalled his memories of patrolling the mansion while serving as a knight, he was sure that Chase Halos’s bedroom would be here.
He couldn’t contact his master because of the magic artifact that damned duke placed on him.
Even if he wanted to return to his original form, it was impossible because of the artifact.
It needed to be removed for him to return to his original form.
Today was the perfect opportunity to find it—while Chase was away.
He had to find the key before he came back.
Hazen, who had been running without rest, soon arrived in front of Chase’s room.
He don’t know where the key was kept, but it’s most likely where Chase spends most of his time.
That left only the office and the bedroom.
He just checked the office, so now all that’s left is the bedroom.
The cat jumped high, stretched out its front paws, and grabbed the door handle.
A ball of white fur dangled there.
He tried to move the handle with his cotton-like paws, but it wouldn’t budge, perhaps because the door was so heavy.
“Kitty!”
Hazen had no choice but to kick his hind legs to add weight.
The handle slowly lowered, and the door opened smoothly.
The cat jumped down and went into the bedroom, then began to search for the key in earnest.
It used its paws like hands to open drawers and peeked under the bed and furniture.
But the key was nowhere to be found.
He went into the bathroom attached to the bedroom and checked the drain hole in the bathtub, but it wasn’t there.
If it’s not in the office or bedroom, then where the hell is it?
“Meowww!”
Hazen was screaming ‘Fuck!’, but only a muffled meow came out of his cute mouth.
Hazen, who was furious, climbed straight onto Chase’s wide bed.
Then he started to roughly scratch the puffy, brand-new white pillow.
Rip. Scratch. Rip.
The pillow’s fabric was torn by his sharp claws, but he scratched at it even harder.
“Meow!”
He felt like he had to vent his anger like this to feel better.
Eventually, the pillow burst apart, unable to withstand his sharp claws.
The duck feathers that had been filling the pillow burst out and fluttered through the air.
“Pfft-choo!”
A sneeze escaped as a feather tickled its nose, and it pawed at its face to wipe away the irritation.
“What in the world…! You, cat! Get out this instant!”
At that moment, a servant who came in to check the room upon seeing the open door shouted.
Hazen, having finished his business, jumped down from the bed.
“Damn cat!”
The servant, who had noticed the mess on the bed, reached out to grab the cat, furious.
“Meow!”
But the cat darted around the room, avoiding the servant’s grasp as if the servant was trying to feed him medicine.
The servant was helpless against his nimble movements.
“You’re in so much trouble when I catch you!”
In the end, the servant wheezed, finally collapsing in exhaustion.
“Meow.”
The cat glanced at the servant and then leisurely slipped out through the open door.
“There it is! I found the kitty!”
Raphel, who had been searching frantically for the cat, shouted when he found the white ball of fur in the hallway.
‘What the hell.’
Hazen ran in the opposite direction of Raphel, his fur standing on end.
“Wait, kitty! Let’s play together!”
Raphel begged and chased the cat with his short legs.
Hazen felt resentment towards his past self, who had momentarily felt pity for the crying child who was all alone.
If he hadn’t projected his childhood self onto that child, he wouldn’t be experiencing such humiliation.
It was already too late to regret his foolish actions.
He quickly ran around the mansion again.
To find the key that damn duke had hidden.
* * *
“If you need anything else, please let me know.”
Chase took off the gloves he was wearing with a relaxed expression.
His ears had been itching for a while, but he paid no mind.
He was under the illusion that the gift he brought would please Lizelle and the Baron couple.
“This is no small gesture…”
“Your Grace, thank you for the gift, but we’ll only accept the sentiment behind it.”
As Lizelle looked at Chase sitting next to her with a shocked expression, Rosalind politely declined, gently pushing a case on the table away.
Then, his composed expression began to crack.
“You don’t like the jewels? Then tell me what you want and I’ll prepare it.”
He had painstakingly selected the rarest and most exquisite jewels for this occasion.
To hear they weren’t satisfactory threw him off balance.
“We may not be wealthy, but we aren’t so poor as to need charity from you, Duke.”
The Baron was furious.
In fact, it was absurd for a mere baron to raise his voice and get angry at Duke Halos.
Because the Halos family, which has existed since the birth of the empire, has been a noble family that has accumulated considerable wealth and power over the past 300 years.
It was extremely rare for anyone to talk back to or confront the head of House Halos, the only ducal family in the Empire and one with more wealth than even the Imperial Family.
Insulting them could lead to execution, or one’s family could disappear without a trace.
But the Baron did not hesitate even though he knew the risks.
To him, the gift felt like an insult, as though his daughter were being sold.
“That wasn’t my intention.”
Chase was flustered. He had simply meant to show his sincerity, but it seemed to have caused a misunderstanding.
Up until now, everyone had bowed their heads in gratitude whenever he had given them something, so he never thought that Wilhazelle’s parents would be upset.
“Father, Mother. The Duke simply thought it would be impolite to come empty-handed, so he showed his sincerity. He had no intention of disrespecting us.”
Lizelle had no choice but to step in. She looked straight at her parents and grabbed Chase’s hand.
His hands were cold, perhaps because he was extremely nervous.
Chase flinched at the warmth of her touch.
But Lizelle thought he was surprised and didn’t think much of it.
“Isn’t that right, Your Grace?”
Lizelle clenched her teeth and met his eyes with the most affectionate smile she could muster.
She was silently urging him to choose his words carefully and salvage the situation.
