Chapter 7 – Progress (Part 12)

After pouring out her words for a while, Elysia paused as if feeling unwell and swayed back and forth. Seeing her precarious state, Cassius tried to support her again. Aaron quietly closed the door to prevent her voice from escaping and whispered to the Duke.

“Sir, should I bring a hangover remedy?”

“Yes. I’ll tell the head maid to tidy up the room myself.”

If the discreet head maid handled the situation, no one would have to know about this. However, as Cassius was about to leave, Elysia suddenly grabbed his arm and pulled him back to his original spot.

“Hey! Where do you think you’re going when someone’s talking? How rude! This is the really important part. From the start, I felt this Duke’s house is doomed.”

Cassius tried to remove Elysia’s hand, but the stubbornness of the drunk kept her grip firm. Elysia, as if she still had much to say, continued.

“Is this a house where people live, or a tomb honoring the ancestors? You, if you want to do everything according to the ancestors, just go into the grave. If a living person lives as they please, what, is a dead person going to come back and take them to the afterlife? Whether you turn right or left, it’s always about the ancestors, the ancestors…”

Aaron was flustered by Elysia’s relentless criticism and glanced at the Duke. Cassius was looking at Elysia with a complex expression he had never shown before.

“What’s the use of being born as the son of the Duke, the second most powerful person after the King? Sometimes, you need to enjoy doing things your way. Don’t live life like that! Even as Duke Grendel, you’re so trivial…”

Finishing her words, Elysia staggered to the bed and collapsed onto it. After a moment of tossing and turning, a soft snoring sound followed.

Cassius felt bewildered as if he had awakened from a noisy dream. It was an absurd drunken spectacle that made him forget the unpleasantness of Earl Kumaran’s gathering. The scene in the room was also something he never imagined seeing in his dignified fiancée’s room.

He should have been angry, but strangely, he felt like laughing. His mouth twitched uncontrollably.

After managing to control his odd state, Cassius set the overturned tea table back in place and began picking up the broken glass shards. Aaron hurriedly went to the Duke’s side and took the shards from him with his handkerchief. The Duke placed the toppled bottles into a nearby basket, picked it up, and stood.

“Aaron, keep what you’ve seen to yourself.”

Cassius dimmed the lights again to a soft glow and left the room with Aaron.

***

Elysia woke up in the middle of the night, thirsty. Conveniently, there was a cup of cold water on the table beside the bed, so she drank it without thinking and went back to sleep.

The next morning, Elysia woke up suffering from a terrible hangover.

Soon, Millie, as bright as ever and unaware of Elysia’s condition, came in and opened the window wide. Just hearing Millie’s footsteps made Elysia feel like her head would split.

Approaching to wake Madam, Millie was startled by the lingering strong smell of alcohol.

“Madam! How much did you drink last night?”

“…Millie, please speak quietly…”

“Oh. I’m sorry, Madam.”

Millie whispered softly.

“But this morning, the Duke is having breakfast at the mansion. Shouldn’t you go down?”

Elysia groaned.

“Even if it were the Duke’s grandfather… No, even if His Majesty the King himself came, I can’t go down. Tell them I’m sick.”

Looking at Elysia with pity, Millie said she would relay the message. As she picked up the water cup on the bedside table, she thought she should bring more water.

***

When the Duke heard from the butler that Elysia was unwell and couldn’t come down, he simply replied that he understood without asking why.

Butler Pedro was puzzled. He was worried sick about what might be wrong with Madam, yet his master seemed strangely amused. Curious about the Duke’s reaction to the news of Madam being unwell, he couldn’t ask.

By lunchtime, Elysia had finally managed to pull herself together, despite still feeling nauseous and having a splitting headache. She thought it was unacceptable for the future mistress of the Ducal household to be bedridden from a hangover until midday, so she gathered all her strength to get up.

‘In the past, Daisy and Mother would have brought a hangover drink and let me rest all day, even if they nagged.’

With Millie’s help, Elysia barely managed to make herself presentable and went down to the dining room to have lunch with the Duke. Not remembering the events of the previous night, Elysia felt it was an unlucky day for the Duke to decide to have all three meals with her at home.

“Elysia, you look very tired. I guess you didn’t get enough rest last night.”

Cassius, who was already in the dining room, spoke with concern when he saw Elysia’s pale face and dark circles under her eyes.

“I was up late thinking about what changes to make to this mansion. Thank you for your concern, Duke.”

Cassius replied to Elysia’s words.

“Cassius.”

Still hungover, Elysia didn’t register that the Duke had called her by name, nor did she grasp the meaning of his response, so she just stared blankly.

“Cassius. Surely you know my name, Elysia. Since I called you by your name, shouldn’t you call me by mine?”

Elysia wondered why this man was acting this way and picked up the glass in front of her to quench her parched throat with a drink made of blended carrots, apples, and tomatoes.

As Elysia drank, not caring how she looked with her pounding head, a memory suddenly flashed through her mind.

‘You have to call each other by name sweetly, share your thoughts comfortably to build affection. What’s the point of marriage if it’s like this? Just marry the butler.’

Elysia froze as if doused with ice water, unable to move. Her already pale face lost all its color.

As she lowered the glass, memories of her disgraceful behavior and the words she had hurled at Cassius the previous night came flooding back like a tidal wave. It was so embarrassing that she thought she would rather drown in the sea.

As the memories returned, Elysia’s face, which had turned pale, gradually turned bright red. Beside her, Cassius was watching with eyes sparkling as if he were witnessing the most entertaining thing in the world, a stark contrast to his usual demeanor.

“I’d like to express my gratitude for providing me with a fresh perspective out of concern for my trivial life, Elysia.”

Now Elysia was certain that Cassius was calling her by name because of the drunken scene she caused last night. However, having committed such a grave offense, she couldn’t even bring herself to look at the Duke, let alone call him by his name. She wanted to apologize, but her mouth only opened and closed without any words coming out. It was a level of rudeness far beyond when Ronan Hass discovered her true self in the warehouse.

“Uh, um… Uh…”

“Ca-ssi-us. Is my name difficult for you?”

Cassius looked gently at Elysia as he spoke. To the servants nearby, his gaze seemed deep and romantic, but to Elysia, it felt like a threat that he wouldn’t let her be unless she pronounced his name correctly.

Elysia squeezed out her voice with difficulty.

“How could I… dare to call Your Grace by name so casually? I would like to maintain the decorum I have always observed.”

Cassius let out an exaggerated sigh.

“Elysia, didn’t we have an experience last night where we no longer needed such formalities? But now it feels like we’ve gone back to the way things were. If you continue like this, as you said, we won’t be able to grow closer, will we? I earnestly ask you, please call me by my name.”

At the Duke’s words, the maid and servant standing by exchanged busy glances. They let their imaginations run wild, wondering if the two had spent a passionate night together without their knowledge. Now, not only Cassius but all the attendants focused intently on Elysia’s lips.

Under that silent pressure, Elysia had no choice but to speak.

“Ca… ss… ius…”

As his name came out of Elysia’s mouth, Cassius slowly smiled at her as if looking at the rising morning sun.

“Yes, my Elysia. Please make sure to call me that from now on.”

In Elysia’s mind, alongside the memory of the previous night’s debacle, only a long funeral dirge marking the end of her life was playing.