Chapter 14 The Duke And Duchess’s Secret Meeting
There was something off about Chloe today. Her uncooperative demeanor, her lack of consideration for Callis, was unmistakable.
It was customary for husbands to enter the ballroom with their wives’ hands lightly clasped.
Chloe, a woman of etiquette, would not have forgotten him, but she was striding past Callis.
Chloe happened to have the invitation, so Callis could only enter after pointing his out to the guards. It was an unseemly affair indeed.
Chloe’s poor behavior didn’t stop there.
Whenever she went to pay her respects to another family, she left Callis out of the equation. Even when he sneaked up next to her, she treated him as if he were invisible.
And when it came time to slow dance, she completely excluded him.
“Chloe, why don’t you join me for the next dance?”
An impatient Callis asked her.
Chloe sat still, but soon turned her head. Callis saw the desolation in her gaze and extended her hand coldly.
‘If I can do this, you’ll be relieved.’
Callis of the Heavens had bent his pride to her enemy. In front of everyone.
But it was not his wife’s hand in his grasp.
The next thing he knew, he had a chilled glass of champagne in his hand.
“If you want to dance like that, you should dance with another woman.”
“… What?”
“Or you could call for Miss Helena right now.”
Callis’s face flushed at Chloe’s words. His hands and legs trembled with shame.
But this was not the Duke’s estate, and he would be shamed out of his mind if he yelled at her as he had done at the Duke’s estate.
Barely able to contain his anger, he led Chloe out onto the terrace.
“Chloe, what’s the matter with you? What’s with your behavior lately?”
Chloe had repeatedly expressed her desire not to go, but he insisted.
Her next question was this.
“Is your highness in a position to say so?”
“In what position is she not? Helena is my…”
Chloe opened her mouth as if to say she was tired at Callis’s next words, completely ignoring his afterthought.
“Yes. She was your first love, and that’s why you couldn’t give her up even after you married me. You’re very much in love with her, by the way.”
“What?”
Callis asked, surprised by Chloe’s sarcasm.
He’d been acting strange lately, but he’d never heard anyone express such dislike for him before.
‘What’s wrong with her?’
If he had his way, she would be forced to give in to him, remembering the guilt she had forgotten. As she had for the past half year.
Once back in the ballroom, she should be busy taking care of Callis as usual. She should have arranged for high-ranking nobles to meet with him, and he told them the stories the world had heard.
But she ruthlessly left Callis behind. She has turned her back on him and is talking to nobles she knows.
This is where she was supposed to find like-minded nobles to invest in her business.
She was supposed to learn a trade, or at least have the value of her ideas evaluated.
But all of the people Callis wants are at Chloe’s side. The attention she receives here is overwhelming for a woman who has been so thoroughly excluded from the ducal court.
Alone in the ballroom, he wanders in a daze.
He found a group that welcomed him, but none of them belonged to the castle.
Zolbu was in a similar predicament. An unheard-of country nobleman who had barely attended after a bombardment of gifts. A nobleman whose reputation has fallen and is falling.
He was surrounded by a group of lousy people who could only tell him tales of heroism.
***
“… What’s with all these newspapers?”
The next morning, Chloe was dumbfounded by the newspaper Jane delivered to her.
“The Secret Affair of the Duke and Duchess.”
The headline was titillating. The bold headline was accompanied by a picture of the two.
It looked like they were on a terrace together.
They were leaning in close to each other, and to the untrained eye, it looked like they were making out.
It was like they were finally starting to fall in love. It’s nice to see a relationship that starts out with a struggle…
She hadn’t heard of it, and it was obviously a third-rate newspaper.
She flipped to the next page in anger, but the next page was also filled with their story.
If they didn’t have anything else to write about, they’d fill the first and second pages with the Duke and Duchess.
Chloe wondered if she should pretend to be anonymous and report the story.
‘At least Helena’s rumors haven’t gotten out yet.’
Judging by the number of romantic scenes between the two of them, it must not have gotten out that the Dukes of Argyll had a new woman in their midst.
She was terribly fond. She suppressed her instincts, even though her mouth was watering.
On second thought, maybe not necessarily for her masters’ sake. Maybe she kept her mouth shut for fear of offending her, who is royalty, and being punished for her neglect.
‘Should I have just left it alone and uprooted it?’
She shuddered at the thought.
Would it have made things better if she’d agreed when Balont offered Helena?
She had felt guilty for Callis then, but now she didn’t give a damn.
Accepting his offer now would be a mistake…
‘If I do, I’ll have to live with him for the rest of my life.’
It was stupid.
What she wants is a divorce from him.
She couldn’t live in the same house as long as she was at his bottom.
Of course, divorce wasn’t going to be easy, either, since the one family member who could have helped her had turned her away.
Moreover, the temple, where she had left a guest book, hadn’t heard from her.
With no hope for Mr. Plan B, she had to move on to Mr. Plan C.
Before they caught on to Chloe’s lies.
“Why don’t you just sue them?”
Jane’s worried voice sounded in my ear.
Chloe raised an eyebrow, and Jane gingerly pointed to the newspaper, which she must have taken to mean something else because she was staring at it with a scowl on her face.
“It’s okay, it doesn’t bother me that much.”
“… Are you sure you’re okay?”
Jane asked, dismissing her answer as an empty gesture.
“Whatever. I’m fine. Some people aren’t really okay.”
Despite her worries, Chloe was fine.
She was uncomfortable with the idea of being shown in public with Callis, but it didn’t bother her too much.
The nobles at the banquet don’t know the truth, and there’s no need for rumors to spread later.
If Chloe is right, this article will be more damaging to others than to her.
***
“Ah, ah, evil!”
A howl echoed through the room. It was Helena’s voice.
Newspapers crunched beneath her as she screamed.
Helena tore at her hair with such force that her scalp was flayed. Pain shot through her at the vicious touch, but not nearly as much as her heart.
She’d gone to the banquet with Chloe instead of herself, and what a terrible thing she’d done.
“Shane!”
The shout brought Shane, who had been waiting outside, running out.
“Yes, ma’am!”
Rushing to Helena’s side, Shane found the torn photograph.
The duke and duchess in the act of having an intimate moment. The duke’s head of state was pissed off. It was easy to see what was going on.
“What kind of banquet was Cal at last night?”
“He went to a banquet hosted by the Marquises.”
“Do they do things like this there?”
“Yes…?”
“Isn’t that where all married couples talk in the first place!”
There was anger in her voice. If she didn’t get through to him one more time, she was going to do something nasty to Shane.
She was worried for Callis if she told the truth, and terrified for Helena if he lied.
‘Uh, what am I gonna do…?’
Helena bit her lip and shuffled her feet. This was a conundrum she couldn’t solve.
“Helena, what’s going on!”
Callis arrived in the room just in time.
He realized the gravity of the situation and scooped Helena into his arms. He patted her back and stroked her hair like a soothing child.
While she was out of sight, he quickly ushered Shane outside. After the maid had left the room, Callis pulled away.
“Cal.”
Helena was no longer angry; instead, tears were dripping down her face like dew. The pitiful sight touched Callis’s heart.
“Yes. Helena.”
“Are you going to abandon me? Are you going to stick with her after all?”
“… What are you talking about.”
Helena picked up a scrap of newspaper from the floor.
Callis’s eyes narrowed as she recognized the photo.
“Explain it. What were you two doing yesterday?”
“It was…”
Callis was stunned.
The two of them had been so wholesome yesterday. They hadn’t held hands, they hadn’t danced. There hadn’t even been a brief conversation in the ballroom.
It was only when Callis, who had been wandering the ballroom like a loner, couldn’t stand the situation and took her away.
“Does the Princess still love you?”
“That’s…”
“Can’t let go of you, can’t stop thinking about you, even when I’m around? Is that why she’s been so mean to us lately?”
But how can you confess that to someone who loves you?
To someone who looks up to you like the sky. To an innocent lover who thinks of him like a prince on a white horse!
“… That’s right.”
So Callis lied.
As usual, he blamed Chloe for everything.
