Chapter 10

Aneta walked down the hallway, supporting Carlos with Linden’s help. The reason she agreed to go inside was because of her curiosity, as she slowly raised her head. She wondered if Carlos slept with her perfume sprayed on his bedding.

Baltimor’s mansion, which she thought she would never set foot in again, was still the same. It had only been a little over a month since she left, so perhaps it was only natural.

As they walked in silence, they came to a fork in the road. Aneta took the obvious left, but Linden’s voice stopped her.

“Your Grace, His Grace is using this bedroom.”

Linden gestured with his hand down the right-hand path.

“Still in the couple’s bedroom?”

The direction Aneta intended to go was to the bedroom that Carlos had used before they were married. Since the study was right next to it, she thought he might be using it for convenience, but it seems it’s not. 

“His Grace said it was the only place he could sleep. He won’t let me touch it except to clean it, including the bedroom, your dressing room, and the office.”

Linden extended his explanation without expecting a response, wanting to convey the message that His Grace hadn’t erased her place and she could return anytime.

Aneta remained silent.

When they reached the bedroom, Aneta threw Carlos onto the bed. Although it wasn’t much help, she felt relieved.

“Now all that’s left is to remove the hem of this dress.”

Should she ask for scissors? She hesitated at the sudden thought but eventually shook her head, as she also didn’t want to ruin a perfectly fine dress.

“I just need to get through this.”

Standing next to the bed, Aneta gently tapped Carlos’s back. His hand flinched in response. She repeated the same action, hoping it would work, and the grip on his hand slowly loosened.

Aneta waited patiently until she could easily adjust the dress hem before attempting to lean back. However, just as she was about to do so, he grabbed her wrist and pulled her towards him. Unaware, Aneta lost her balance, feeling his firm grip on her wrist as she stumbled and ended up collapsing onto him, causing her perspective to shift once again.

Lying on the bed with her back, she stared into the eyes of the man who trapped her beneath his hard body.

“Don’t go.”

He was truly a ghost-like man. 

The familiar scent that enveloped her body along with his was overwhelming. What she had doubted seemed to be true.

Aneta tried to push him away, but it was like a swamp that he was sinking deeper into as she struggled to get out.

“Don’t go, Aneta.”

His drunken breath hit the nape of her neck. The breath brushing against her skin seemed to seep into her at any moment.

“This time, you’re going to leave me. You won’t hold on to me forever. So please don’t go.”

Aneta couldn’t handle him clinging to her desperately, as if she were a lifeline.

“Aneta, my beloved Aneta.”

His sorrowful voice surged in waves. The sad shimmer made Aneta come to realize this.

She had to admit it. The fact that the hurt she’d caused him was so deep that it couldn’t be measured.

“Please stay by my side.”

Her heart ached at his pitiful pleading. If one of them were sober enough to say such words, they could push each other away and leave.

However, Aneta, perhaps due to the alcohol she had consumed, couldn’t utter it either.

“What should I do?” Linden asked softly.

His question contained a faint hope, as he was looking anxiously at his master, begging for Aneta to stay by his side. 

From the beginning, their relationship was based only on pursuing each other’s interests, as no love was involved. It was against the rules to harbor feelings of love in such a relationship.

But Carlos, who was not able to fulfill the said agreement, fell in love with Aneta, so there was no reason to blame Aneta.

But as they say, green is similar to blue, and Linden hoped that Aneta would stay by Carlos’s side.

“Lately, His Grace has been unable to sleep well. But I think he’ll get a better night’s sleep if you stay with him…….”

Aneta was generous to Linden, who reminded her of Isabel. Moreover, he was the one who had helped her in various ways since she became the Duchess.

A request like that from him was not something she could easily refuse. 

Aneta sighed. 

It didn’t seem like she could escape his arms anyway, so she gave up. 

“Instruct the servants properly and inform Isabel.”

*** 

The morning light streamed through the open curtains, gently caressing the edges of Carlos’s eyes. Slowly lifting his eyelids, Carlos faced an unbelievable sight.

Looking at Aneta, who was sleeping in his arms, he thought he must still be dreaming. Otherwise, it wouldn’t be possible for such a thing to happen, considering Aneta’s personality.

Deciding that this couldn’t be happening in real life, he pulled her deeper into his arms, wanting to enjoy his overwhelming happiness even in his dreams.

“Now that you’re awake, take my arm off of you.”

Aneta stirred uncomfortably and woke up from her light sleep as Carlos kept rubbing his face against hers.

As soon as she opened her eyes, Aneta immediately remembered what had happened yesterday.

As a payback for the trouble he caused, Aneta grabbed his hair between her thumb and forefinger and pulled lightly.

Aneta pushed him away. Feeling the pain from holding onto her as he refused to loosen his arms around her waist, Carlos realized it wasn’t a dream.

Fortunately, unlike yesterday, he was easily pushed away.

“But why are you here? ”

“You told me not to leave.”

As the childlike phrase came out of Aneta’s mouth, Carlos recalled what happened yesterday.

He could remember Aneta leaving him for Serce and drinking some alcohol offered to him by Russell and the others, but everything went blank after that.

“What happened?”

“You don’t remember?”

“Not at all.”

Carlos looked at Aneta’s subtle expression and felt puzzled as he observed the changes in his body. After noticing his exposed upper body and the torn shirt, he quickly covered himself with the blanket.

“Why are the shirt buttons…? Wait, did you?”

The tips of his ears turned red, as if imagining something.

“You tore them off. I didn’t do it, so don’t make that face. …Wait, why do you look disappointed?”

“No?”

“Even if you say so.”

Aneta, seeing him have a strange misunderstanding, laid her head back down again. Perhaps because she hadn’t had a good night’s sleep, her whole body felt drowsy.

“I should get back, but I feel lazy.”

As if the laziness that had accumulated from working without rest all this time burst like a dam and poured out.

“You can live here again.”

“No thanks.”

“You’re always welcome here.”

Carlos, who did not yield to rejection, leaned closer to her. His outstretched hands began to caress her limbs as if they were familiar. He did this whenever she struggled to get up.

Feeling her body relax, Aneta quietly accepted his touch.

Suddenly, she remembered the kiss between him and Serce but chose not to mention it.

‘Not knowing is probably good for mental health.’

As he became more caring, his initially casual movements gradually morphed into something more. He didn’t just caress her; he stroked her skin, nudged her, and pressed against her, all with selfless intent.

“Carlos, don’t try to fill your desires sneakily.”

Aneta lightly pushed his hand away.

“Was it too obvious?”

“Yes,”

Aneta pushed herself to her feet, realizing it was time to get back to Adenauer Mansion.

“Are you going?”

“I have to go.”

“Just stay a little longer. Let’s have a meal before you go.”

“I can have breakfast at the mansion.”

The refusal came easily, though she regretted the impulsive choice she’d made in her drunkenness.

“Isabel will be worried.”

Turning away from Carlos’s eyes, filled with regret, someone knocked on the door.

“Your Grace, your garments have been sent from the Adenauer mansion.”

Linden’s words from the other side of the door caused Aneta to glance at her attire. Her dress was crumpled all over from being in Carlos’s arms all night.

“I definitely can’t go back like this.”

“I’ll wait outside while you change here.”

Although they had seen each other n*ked several times before, Aneta didn’t insist on refusing.

“Okay.”

“I’ll be waiting for you at the door.”

Carlos ran a hand through his messy hair and opened the door, revealing a group of servants waiting for them.

Linden gestured for the maids to enter as Carlos stepped out into the hall.

Without a word, Linden closed the door, as if he had anticipated Carlos’s consideration.

“We will be at your service, My Lady.”

“How have you been?”

The maids Linden had ushered in were among the duke’s most famously tight-lipped handmaidens, and they had been assigned to Aneta.

Thanks to them, Aneta could relax and trust herself comfortably.

After completing the dressing, the maids prepared to leave in haste.

Their reluctance upon seeing their former mistress disappeared, but they couldn’t stay for long because Linden had asked them not to disturb the couple’s time together. 

“Well, then, we shall take our leave.”

“Thank you.”

Left alone, Aneta carefully examined the scene of the bedroom that she had not had the chance to explore before due to her hurried dress.

The white furnishings stayed exactly as Linden described, with nothing missing,

However, though nothing was missing, something had changed.

The scent bottle was by the bedside, with a desk nearby. Of the two, the desk appeared the most out of place.

At first, she wondered why anyone would keep a desk in their bedroom, but upon closer inspection, it was something she couldn’t help but notice.

“…….”

Aneta approached the desk and ran her hand over it. As she felt the familiar scratch, she remembered it was a mark she accidentally made on the day she got the desk.

“I wondered where my old one had gone and brought a new one. So it was here all along.”

Aneta leaned against the doorframe, speaking to Carlos, who stood silently nearby.

“You’re quite sneaky, aren’t you?”

Aneta ran her hand over the smooth top. It was the desk she’d used in the imperial office shortly before she left.

“I discovered it had a scratch when I was about to move it, so I bought the same one to replace it.”

Carlos paused as his hands made meaningless motions.

“I thought it was yours and didn’t want to throw it away, so I brought it with me.”

Approaching her closely, he slid his fingertips over the tabletop where her hand was placed.

His fingertips ended in her hand. Gently stroking the back of her hand, he brought it to his cheek.

“Aren’t you going to praise me?”

“Do you want me to?”

Aneta gently touched his cheek, as he had done.

“Will you do it?”

When Carlos looked down with an expectant expression as if he were pleased with the gentle touch, Aneta lightly pinched his cheek.

“Not a chance.”