Chapter 34

“You may not have noticed since you were lying down, Miss, but the Duke personally replaced your towels and even fed you your medicine.”

“The Duke, not you, Sophie?”

“Yes. And every day, he massaged your arms and legs to help the herbs’ effects dissipate faster.”

Sophie’s eyes sparkled as she spoke of Kaiden’s devotion, saying there was no one else like him. Hazel, however, remained confused by the Duke’s sudden change in behavior. His attitude had flipped as easily as turning over a palm.

Hazel found it difficult to treat the Duke the same as before, hesitating in her interactions with him, while Kaiden followed her around like a duckling. It wasn’t the suffocating surveillance she had felt from Evan, but rather, he would stay a step behind and appear like a ghost whenever she needed him.

“Why did this come undone?”

While taking a walk, Hazel’s shoelaces came loose. As she bent down to tie them, Kaiden appeared in front of her as if out of nowhere. He lifted her foot onto his thigh and tied her laces for her. Brown dirt fell onto his black trousers, but he didn’t seem to mind at all.

“You might trip over a rock, so I think you should wear lower shoes when walking. Do you want to change?”

“I’m fine.”

“Then let’s hold hands while we walk, so you don’t fall.”

Kaiden’s large, warm hand enveloped Hazel’s, swaying gently back and forth as they walked. When pollen carried by the wind got into her eyes, causing her to frown slightly, Kaiden immediately noticed.

“Hazel, look at me for a moment.”

“Pardon?”

Kaiden wiped the tears forming at the corners of her eyes with a handkerchief and blew on them gently. Then, as though he had prepared it beforehand, he placed a wide-brimmed white hat on her head.

“Spring is almost over, but there’s still a lot of pollen. You’ll need to be careful.”

“Duke, aren’t you going to training today?”

“No.”

“What about the merchant guild?”

“Philip is handling it.”

“Is that alright?”

Hazel tilted her head, puzzled by how Kaiden had spent the entire day by her side. She appreciated his undivided attention, the way he treated her like a patient by feeding her meals, and how he held her hand to keep her safe while walking through the garden. 

But she couldn’t shake the memory of what Kaiden had said by the Servian River.

‘I’m planning to marry the Princess.’

‘That was just to make the Princess jealous.’

‘Wake up, Hazel. I used you, and you’re just Evan’s sister to me.’

She couldn’t tell where the truth ended and the lies began. She wanted to ask him, but the thought of seeing his troubled expression made her heart ache, so she bit her tongue.

She worried that his kindness was just pity for her brief illness. She feared that once she fully recovered, he would return to the Princess. The thought made her uneasy.

‘I almost wish I could stay sick forever.’

Kaiden had always been by her side, so she had never considered the possibility of losing him. But now, the thought of him standing beside the Princess instead made her tear up. Her feelings for him grew stronger, but her confidence dwindled.

“Duke, I….”

“Yes, Hazel?”

“Were you at the workshop on the day I got hurt?”

“I was.”

Hazel lowered her head, disappointed. She had hoped he would say no.

“My legs hurt.”

She wanted to hide the tears that threatened to spill.

“Should I carry you?”

“…Yes.”

Hazel nodded and wrapped her arms around Kaiden’s neck, resting her upper body against his broad back. As always, he smelled pleasantly of mint, and his back felt warm. She swallowed her tears, feeling as though their seemingly infinite relationship was nearing its end.

If she had known it would come to this, she thought, she wouldn’t have allowed herself to fall for him. She wouldn’t have let herself sleep so peacefully on his back. A tear slid down her round cheek, and she closed her eyes against his comforting warmth.

Later, when Hazel woke from a nap, she reached for the glass of water on the bedside table. Her hand slipped, and the glass shattered on the floor.

Crash!

“Miss! You’re awake? Don’t move—it’s dangerous.”

Sophie hurried to clean up the broken shards, but Kaiden was nowhere to be seen. Just a few hours ago, he would have rushed to her side at the slightest noise. Was it because she had recovered enough to go on walks?

“Where is the Duke?”

“He stepped out to meet a guest.”

“A guest? Who?”

Hazel, feeling uneasy, pressed Sophie for answers, but Sophie merely shrugged, saying she hadn’t been told.

“Do you know where he went?”

“He mentioned heading to the garden near the back gate.”

At Sophie’s words, Hazel quickly left the room. If the Duke who had spoken of marrying the Princess by the Servian River was truly Kaiden, then the guest in the back garden must be the Princess. 

Would they finalize their wedding plans once they confirmed I had fully recovered?

‘I don’t want that….’

Hazel hurried toward the back gate and hid herself when she saw Kaiden standing in the garden with a woman. She felt compelled to approach them but found herself freezing in place. Though she couldn’t clearly see their faces, she crouched within earshot, her heart pounding.

“Are you really going to do this?”

“Lily, just leave.”

“I just want to see her once before I go.”

“Please, just go.”

The woman in the black cape grabbed Kaiden’s arm. His voice, always pleasant to Hazel’s ears, reached her. Upon confirming the guest’s identity, Hazel felt her chest tighten.

She gasped softly and covered her mouth with her hand.

“What would you even do if you met her?”

“I just want to see her once before you marry.”

At the word “marry,” Hazel’s legs gave out beneath her, and she sank to the ground.

“Stop making this harder.”

“What’s wrong with you? Is that all our relationship amounts to? Think about it again.”

“Enough. Just leave.”

Kaiden’s final words were carried away by a strong gust of wind, making it hard to hear the rest of their conversation. However, Hazel saw the Princess hand Kaiden an envelope bearing the Imperial crest.

Could it be wedding documents inside that envelope?

‘No, this can’t happen…. You rejected the Duke, so why now?’

Hazel whispered softly, her voice barely audible. Though Kaiden had never explicitly said he was rejected, Hazel assumed it based on the sadness she had seen in his eyes when he spoke of the Princess.

The conversation in the garden, combined with what he had said by the Servian River, only added to her confusion. Her tangled emotions followed her to her favorite risqué social gathering, where today’s topic of gossip was no less frustrating.

“Did you hear?”

The gossip, which always began like this, usually failed to pique Hazel’s interest. But today was different.

“I heard the Princess broke up with Duke Gray.”

Hazel nearly choked, struggling to calm her racing heart.

“Do you know why?”

“There’s a rumor that the Princess cheated on Duke Gray….”

Hearing this, Hazel clenched her fists under the table. To cheat and then come back asking for marriage—wasn’t that too cruel to Kaiden?

‘Does the Duke know about this?’

Could it be that the Duke, aware of the Princess’s infidelity, had proposed to her out of revenge? And had he been so heartbroken that he had even given himself to her? The situation seemed to fit too perfectly, and Hazel’s expression gradually hardened.

“Seriously, leaving the perfect Duke Gray?”

“Yes. And it wasn’t just one affair—apparently, there were several.”

“Oh my~!” 

The surprised voices of the young ladies were followed by a coughing fit. Lady Rose, wearing a rose-shaped mask, seemed particularly shocked. She lightly tapped her chest with a lace-gloved hand. Hazel, noticing the lady’s discomfort, poured her a cup of warm herbal tea.

“Th-thank you.”

Hazel glanced up cautiously, feeling a strange sense of familiarity with the voice she had heard earlier in the garden. The black hood and mask obscured the person’s identity, making it difficult to recognize them.

“Are you saying the Princess’s private life is scandalous?”

“Well, you could say that.”

“But what kind of extraordinary man could make her leave the Duke?”

Everyone nodded as if entranced by the thought, and Hazel found herself agreeing wholeheartedly. Kaiden wasn’t just handsome—his appearance alone defied description. Even in matters of intimacy, it was nearly impossible to find any flaws in him. Truly, it was difficult not to fall for the Duke.

Even when Kaiden had made that fake proposal out of revenge against the Princess, Hazel had nearly fallen for it and eagerly agreed.

“I thought I heard they were getting married soon….”

“Who knows? Maybe she regretted it and went back to him.”

“So, would the Duke take her back?”

“Probably. After all, she is the Princess.”

The casual remark from one of the young ladies, spoken in a light, high-pitched tone, made Hazel’s heart drop. The documents she had seen in the garden were undoubtedly wedding preparations. Just imagining the Duke walking down the aisle with the Princess brought a lump to her throat and tears to her eyes.

She liked the Duke so much…. She had finally mustered the courage to tell him she wanted to marry him….

Hazel swallowed her tears and gathered what little confidence she had left.

***

The next day.

Kaiden had been in a foul mood since morning, silently cursing to himself.

‘Humohr, that crazy b*stard.’

Humohr, who was currently under investigation in the Imperial Court for forbidden sorcery, had sent an enormous flower basket to Hazel. It was so large that it dwarfed even an adult man. To make matters worse, the card attached to it bore the nauseatingly sweet message: “Miss Hazel, get well soon.”