RVMPT Chapter 39

Chapter 39

While I was focused on reviewing documents, a knock came at the door, and a butler entered the room.

“Madam, it seems it’s time for you to start getting ready to leave.”

“Already? Oh, it is! Time has flown by so quickly!”

At the butler’s words, I set the documents I had been reviewing aside and jumped to my feet.

Today was the day of the long-awaited festival.

Eager to finish my preparations and head out, my steps across the hallway grew more energetic.

That’s when, off in the distance, I saw a zombie… No, it was Evan walking like a zombie.

With hollow eyes, as if he had downed five espressos in one day, Evan staggered along.

Upon noticing me, he still managed to bow politely.

Even in that state, his formality was flawless—this is what a true professional aide must look like.

“Are you going to prepare to attend the festival with His Grace?”

The way he said it made it sound as though Harold and I were going together, just the two of us.

Suddenly, Harold’s suggestion that we attend the festival together flashed through my mind.

At the time, the unexpected proposal had left me stunned.

The fountain’s spray had even felt like my own sweat, my mind spinning in confusion.

<“Um, Harold… Actually… I already have a prior engagement…”>

I couldn’t forget Harold’s deepening smile as soon as I told him about my prior plans with Dante.

After that, I explained everything in detail, feeling like a wife caught cheating, about how I had ended up making those plans.

To my surprise, Harold was the one who suggested that the three of us go together.

Fortunately, Dante also accepted after receiving my letter, which was filled with explanations about the situation.

Looking back on the whole process still gave me goosebumps.

It was a relief that everything had worked out well in the end.

Well, at least it was a happy ending for me…

“Yes, I’m heading off to get ready now. …But Evan, are you okay?”

“Yes, I’m actually—*sniffle*—happy.”

His claim of happiness didn’t sound convincing, especially coming from his soul-drained face that looked as though he’d been worked to death.

‘He’s even crying.’

Panicking, I handed him a handkerchief.

“I’m fine, Madam. If I were to take that… *sniffle*…”

Instead, Evan roughly wiped his face with his sleeves. Between his sniffles, I could hear him muttering something about “His Grace.”

“Harold? What about Harold?”

“…! I only meant to wish you and His Grace an enjoyable date. I’ve been keeping you too long. I’ll take my leave now.”

Evan shuffled past me, tears falling like chicken droppings.

As he walked away, a white envelope slipped from his clothes.

I picked it up and saw the word *”Resignation”* written on the back.

The pressed-down handwriting carried the weight of a weary employee’s struggles.

‘He really does seem overworked…’

Even so, I couldn’t help but remain curious.

Although Harold seemed to trust me more than before, we were still in a contractual relationship.

Regardless of my growing fondness for Harold, I never forgot that fact.

But why would he rearrange his schedule to attend the festival with me?

Harold, who normally adhered strictly to his routine, had gone out of his way for me, and I couldn’t stop thinking about it.

At that moment, Anna appeared in the distance, running toward me and calling out, “Madam!”

“Madam! If you want to be ready before the agreed time, you need to start preparing now.”

“Alright, I’m on my way.”

I quickened my steps and brushed off the thoughts that had been swirling in my head.

‘Hmm, I don’t know. Maybe this is just part of Harold being good to the people on his side.’

If it were something bad, I’d keep worrying about it, but honestly, I was just happy to be going to the festival with Harold.

I decided to simply enjoy the festival.

---

The streets were crowded with people who had come to see the fireworks, held only on the last night of the festival.

Standing in front of the clock tower, I looked around at the bustling crowd.

Taking out a pocket watch, I checked the time and scanned the area again.

“Young Master Dante still isn’t here.”

It had already been thirty minutes past our scheduled meeting time, but Dante still hadn’t arrived.

Could he have gotten lost? But the meeting place we’d chosen was right in front of the clock tower, which was easy to spot from far away.

Harold, showing no irritation or concern at Dante’s tardiness, spoke in a calm voice.

“He must’ve had something urgent come up.”

“…I suppose that’s better than something bad happening.”

Harold covered the pocket watch I had been looking at with his hand.

Only then did I look up at Harold, who had been gazing down at me.

As his eyes blinked slowly, the corners of his lips lifted slightly.

While I was momentarily distracted by how much he resembled a sly fox, Harold spoke up.

“Don’t worry too much. If Young Master Dante went out, the Meyer family probably sent someone to guard him in secret.”

“True, Lady Meyer is meticulous about things like that.”

“Exactly. So let’s go, Diana. Thirty minutes is plenty of time to wait, isn’t it?”

We couldn’t stand here forever. Besides, I wasn’t alone—Harold was with me.

After one last glance around, I nodded.

“A wise choice.”

Harold’s eyes curved even more at my agreement.

His expression looked just like a fox, smiling contentedly after a successful hunt.

‘Harold doesn’t even have fox-like features, so why do I keep thinking of foxes today?’

Had my vision finally gotten worse?

I squinted for a moment but shook my head to clear the silly thought.

Before leaving, I stopped by a merchant near the clock tower and gave him some money to deliver a message to Dante if he showed up.

“Let’s go now!”

Excitedly, I dragged Harold along as we explored the neatly arranged stalls.

Some of the items on display were things I had never seen before, even in Diana’s memories, and they were fun to look at.

Just as we were about to move to the next area, Harold stopped in his tracks.

“Harold?”

What was it? I followed his gaze to see what he was looking at.

A young man working at one of the stalls had his head hanging low, beads of sweat dripping down his face.

When our eyes met, his face flushed red, then quickly turned pale.

“Madam, excuse me for a moment.”

Harold draped the hooded cloak he had been wearing over my shoulders.

Not only that, but he pulled the hood up over my head, lowering it so much that it covered my field of vision.

I pushed the hood back up and asked, “Why are you giving this to me?”

“The night air seems to be getting colder. I was worried you might feel chilly.”

“I’m not cold. I’m already dressed warmly enough.”

I tried to hand the cloak back to him, but Harold held it firmly in place, refusing to let go.

I struggled for a while, pulling at the cloak, but he remained calm and didn’t budge an inch.

“Huff, huff.”

I wasn’t cold—I was practically sweating at this point.

While I was catching my breath, Harold fastened the buttons on the cloak one by one.

When I stared at him, dumbfounded, he smiled shamelessly.

Look at him, using his good looks to brush this off as if nothing had happened.

“Even if you’re not cold now, you might feel differently later. Diana, don’t let me look like a heartless man who lets his wife freeze in front of my knights.”

“…Do I look cold to you guys?”

Hoping they’d back me up, I asked the two knights who had accompanied us as guards.

“Your complexion is pale, and your lips look a bit blue. You seem like you might collapse any minute.”

“Wouldn’t it be better if you wore something even warmer than that cloak?”

“…”

It seemed the shamelessness of the knights matched their master.

In the end, I gave up and walked around wearing the cloak and hood.

Thankfully, the material was light and breezy, so it wasn’t too bad after a while.

Eventually, I forgot I was even wearing it.

After eating the chicken skewers Anna had recommended, we continued walking when I suddenly heard a familiar voice from behind us.

“Young Master Dante?”

“Ah, it really is you two! I thought it might be His Grace, so I rushed over. Good thing I did!”

Dante greeted us with a bright smile and a slight bow.

“I was worried when you weren’t at the meeting spot.”

“We waited for a while but didn’t see you, so we left. Nothing happened, did it?”

When I asked out of concern, Dante blinked in confusion.

“Huh? When I arrived on time, you weren’t there. Were you really waiting at the clock tower?”

“The clock tower? Yes, we stayed there the whole time. That was our agreed meeting spot.”

“That can’t be. I received a letter saying the meeting location had changed…”

“I never sent any letter, Young Master.”

When I firmly denied it, Dante rubbed his chin thoughtfully.

“If it wasn’t the Duchess who sent it…”

After pausing for a moment, his reddish-orange eyes shifted away from me and landed on Harold.

“It seems someone decided to play a prank.”