Chapter 2 (Part 2)

The next day, after their conversation, Earl Plarad once again came to the Duke’s manor, causing a commotion.  

Standing in front of the main gate, he shouted that he had to take his wife home, making an embarrassing scene.  

Through the knights blocking his way, Theodore slowly appeared.  

“The Duke has ordered that no outsiders are allowed entry. What is the meaning of this uproar?!”  

At his weighty voice, George, who had been causing the commotion, stopped and stared at Theodore.  

‘Black hair and red eyes. That fellow the Madame Martin mentioned must be him.’  

Seeing Theodore in his knight’s uniform, the Earl, assuming himself held a much higher position, raised his voice with an air of authority.  

“Outsider? I’ve come here to meet my wife, who is inside! By what right are you detaining my wife and holding her captive?!”  

“Lady Reinis has not married, and yet you call her your wife? To dare insult the Grace ducal manor with such nonsense—clearly, you’ve lost all sense of fear.”  

Theodore sneered at George, who was shouting furiously, and spoke in a solemn tone.  

“What?! Do you not know who I am?! No matter if you are a knight of the Duke’s manor, how dare you speak to a noble like me in such a manner?!”

George pointed a finger at Theodore and shouted.  

Theodore barely managed to suppress a laugh, finding George’s behavior utterly ridiculous. He took a step closer to him and whispered in his ear.  

“It seems you’re helpless without that noble title of yours.”  

“Wha… what?! These fools, unaware of the dangers of the world, are truly reckless! Do you think you’ll survive after such disrespect?! How dare you! A mere knight like you could lose his head with just one order from me! I’ll have your head chopped off this instant!”  

Seeing him lose his composure so easily, it became immediately apparent that all the rumors about his so-called reputation were lies.  

The social circles that buzzed about someone like him being the perfect match for marriage now seemed laughable.  

Just as Theodore was about to deliver a warning to him—  

“Don’t you dare speak ill of him!!”  

Reinis, who must have come out after hearing the commotion, shouted, trembling like a squirrel with its fur bristling.  

Despite being visibly scared and shaking, her tightly clenched lips made her look irresistibly adorable.  

Theodore, barely suppressing his laughter, approached her.  

“This is an unpleasant sight. Please, go back inside.”  

“No! I don’t want to just stand by while you are being insulted because of me, Commander. I… I want to protect you too!”  

‘Protect me? With that delicate frame of yours, who’s protecting whom?’  

That thought crossed his mind, but the determined look in Reinis’s eyes, as she stood firm with her shoulders straight despite trembling, made Theodore yield in the end.  

“I’ll speak to him and make sure he never comes back, so don’t worry about it, Commander!”  

With a resolute voice that sounded as if she were heading into battle, Reinis clenched her fists tightly and declared.  

How could anyone stop such a lovable woman?  

In the end, Theodore decided to watch over her, ready to step in if necessary.  

“Wh… who are you?! I don’t even know who you are! W-wife? Who’s whose wife?!”  

Reinis boldly approached George Plarad and shouted at him.  

Theodore, curious about what Reinis would say as she stepped up to protect him, almost burst out laughing.  

But that didn’t last long.

Reinis glanced back and mouthed, “Trust me!” Seeing this, Theodore couldn’t hold back his laughter any longer.  

Holding his stomach, he silently chuckled, while the knights around him stared at him with surprised expressions.  

“Oh, Lady Reinis. My lovely wife.”  

“W-wife? I don’t even know who you are!”  

“Oh dear, I must apologize for the late introduction. I am George Plarad, Earl of Plarad. I’ve officially received consent for marriage discussions from Baron Martin. Surely, you must have known about the talks surrounding our engagement?”  

“But I don’t even know what the Earl of Plarad looks like! How can I be sure that you’re really the Earl of Plarad? If you keep causing such a commotion, I’ll call the guards!”  

‘The guards? The Duke’s knights are standing right here guarding her….’  

Though her words were a bit odd, the knights couldn’t help but nod in agreement, charmed by her adorable demeanor.  

“Shall we call the guards, Miss?”  

“Yes, please do! I really don’t know who this man is! I’ve never been married before! This is an insult to me!”  

The situation was utterly absurd, but no one could say anything.  

The sight of this petite woman making such outrageous threats was just too endearing and charming.  

It wasn’t just the people from the Duke’s manor who were captivated by her peculiar charm.  

“L-Lady, you’re making me feel hurt. I am to be your future husband. The Martin family has already formally accepted the proposal, and we’re about to submit the marriage approval to His Majesty the Emperor.”  

Even George Plarad, flustered by her reaction, found himself falling under her spell.  

He knew her words were nonsense, but all he could think about was calming her down.  

He was certain this was the same woman he had met at the banquet, but something about her seemed different. The woman standing before him, shouting, exuded an overwhelming charm.  

“I never gave my consent! I don’t even know who you are, and marriage? That’s just… disgusting!”  

“D-disgusting?! L-Lady!”  

“I can’t stand your greasy face either, so don’t ever come back!”  

With those words, she turned confidently and approached Theodore. But as she did, her legs seemed to give out, and she stumbled slightly.

Theodore hurriedly leaped forward, unintentionally ending up holding Reinis in his arms.  

Reinis, trembling slightly in his embrace, looked up at Theodore. When their eyes met, she gave a triumphant smile and said,  

“See? I took care of it!”  

Moved by her daring (?) actions, Theodore couldn’t help but laugh for quite some time afterward, clutching his stomach.  

No matter how much he thought about it, he couldn’t stop laughing.  

The bold words she had spoken as she walked out weren’t threatening at all, yet somehow, they were threatening in a completely different sense.  

His heart had almost stopped.  

From that incident onward, not only the servants but also the knights began calling her “our lovely and adorable Miss,” though Reinis herself remained unaware of this.  

After Elina and the Earl visited, Reinis couldn’t stop thinking.  

She couldn’t shake off the thought that her very presence here might be a burden to Theodore.  

Elina’s attitude toward him, as well as her chaotic behavior demanding to meet the Duke, naturally gave Reinis plenty to worry about.  

Above all, thinking about George Plarad’s disruptive visit to the Duke’s manor was enough to make her feel like a nuisance.  

However, the thought of returning to the Baron’s manor, where she wouldn’t be able to avoid marriage to the Earl, left her feeling conflicted.  

As she lay on the bed, quietly contemplating with her eyes closed, she heard someone chattering as they entered the room.  

“You were there at the time, weren’t you? Is it… really true?”  

“True?”  

“You know, about the Master!”  

“Oh my! Quiet down! What if the Miss wakes up and hears you?”  

It was the maids, mistakenly thinking she was asleep.  

Though Reinis missed the timing to tell them she was awake, her curiosity about their conversation kept her pretending to sleep.  

After cautiously checking if she was still asleep, the maids resumed their conversation.  

“Did the Miss really touch the Master’s cheek?”  

“Not only did she touch it, but she also said he was beautiful.”  

“What?!”  

“Shh!”  

The startled maid raised her voice, but Reinis didn’t move a muscle.  

She had no memory of touching Theodore’s cheek and calling him pretty.  

“I think the Miss did it in her sleep, but you know, the Master looked so embarrassed!”

‘In my sleep?’  

At that moment, a hazy scene flashed through her mind.  

‘Your eyes… are still so beautiful…’  

Reinis, confused by the scene she had no memory of, heard another conversation reach her ears.  

“Then, I guess what the knights said is true!”  

“What did the knights say?”  

“They said the Master fell for the Miss at first sight.”  

With that, the maids cheerfully continued their chatter as they left Reinis’s room.  

Reinis, sitting up with a dazed expression, stared blankly into space as the maids’ laughter faded into the distance.  

Though she couldn’t recall it, the scene that surfaced in her mind was exactly what the maids had described—her touching Theodore’s cheek and calling him beautiful.  

It was utterly confusing.  

But what confused her even more was something else.  

“At first sight… fell for me….”  

Saying those words out loud made her feel so embarrassed that her face turned bright red. Reinis placed her hands on her flushed cheeks and muttered to herself,  

“There’s no way someone would fall for someone like me at first sight.”  

“Miss?”  

“Ah! I’m sorry. What did you say just now?”  

Startled by Emma’s voice, Reinis quickly snapped out of her thoughts and asked.  

“I was asking if you’d like to try a leisure activity that doesn’t require much movement. It might be boring to just lie in bed all day.”  

“Oh… I… sure. Let’s do that.”  

Since overhearing the maids’ conversation, the words had been swirling in her head all day.  

Because of that, Reinis had been unable to focus on anything, appearing half-lost in thought.