Annelie Heich was someone he couldn’t hate no matter how brazen and bold her actions were, and she was also someone who could make him melt just by appearing before him and shedding one tear after making him search for her like that.

He could no longer give up Annelie Heich. That’s how things had already become.

He just felt lost about how to approach her again.

Any other time, he would have tried to soothe her mood by gently stroking or caressing her. Or by buying art supplies, pigments, or books that she might like.

Elroy recalled several days ago when he actually tried that.

He felt concerned about Annelie who had cried so much that night because of him. Then he remembered how her eyes particularly sparkled when looking at books among art pieces.

So he sent word to his main residence to send one of the most valuable books he kept at the Duke’s residence by fastest mail. Additionally, he requested them to send some pigments she could use, along with art supplies and materials that Annelie particularly enjoyed using at the townhouse.

Eventually the requested items arrived in abundance with his secretary. They were all precious and fine things. Among them, Elroy took out a book that still gave off an antique feeling and silently held it out to Annelie. Somewhat expecting that sparkling reaction from before. Hoping the woman would soften her heart and smile shyly with blushing cheeks.

However, what he got in return was a cold response.

“Why are you giving me something like this?”

“What?”

“I asked why you’re giving me such a precious thing.”

At her unexpected response, Elroy rarely felt flustered. Far from smiling, a cold face looked up at him. Though her tone remained bold and brazen like his Annelie Heich, the smile that had seemed innocent existed nowhere.

While he couldn’t answer, a sharp reply came.

“Because I’m your mistress?”

“……”

“And mistresses should smile mindlessly when receiving such things?”

“Miss Heich.”

“Undress when told to undress, dress when told to dress, accept what’s given?”

His chest ached strangely hearing those words.

Though he had been the one to declare she was his mistress, though he had been the one to actually bring her in as a substitute mistress and present her to his grandmother, he wanted to object.

The words flowed out impulsively.

“Don’t misunderstand, Annelie Heich.”

“Misunderstand?”

“Because you’re not even my mistress anymore.”

Annelie flinched hearing those words. He couldn’t properly distinguish whether he felt pleasure or pain seeing that reaction.

“True. You were my mistress once. But……”

“……”

“Even though I took good care of you, you’re the one who kicked away that precious position and left.”

“I did.”

“So aren’t we not even in that kind of relationship anymore?”

While saying those words, Elroy felt freshly wounded. Though they were his own words, they felt cold and stinging, like spitting out glass shards he had been holding in his mouth. Elroy briefly ran his tongue along the inside of his mouth, wondering if he really had cut himself.

Hearing such sharp words, Annelie Heich made an expression unclear whether she wanted to cry or laugh. Anxiety crept up his nape, worried she might end up crying again like last time. Elroy quickly added,

“This is just an extension of compensation.”

“……”

“The compensation I said I’d give if I checked and there wasn’t anything.”

Annelie Heich’s n*ked body shining white under the moonlight flashed through Elroy’s mind again. A clean body that drove him crazy with desire and looked beautiful whenever he saw it, but no longer bore the petal-like marks he had left. The silence when what he had secretly hoped for turned out not to be true. Even the dirty feelings he felt then.

“So do whatever you want with it—keep it, throw it away, sell it. It’s yours.”

Not wanting to be rejected by the woman anymore, Elroy deliberately finished speaking gruffly. He wanted to prevent the book he gifted from returning to him. He didn’t want to see dresses left in the cold townhouse or necklaces that wandered around lost items before returning.

Nelie remained silent for a while. Even feeling upset felt strange now.

‘Right. I should be nothing to you.’

Only then could he return and marry the princess of Lambert. The reason he came looking for her must have been to get the ring back, and additionally to check if there was a useless bastard.

She just wondered why he still wouldn’t leave. Every moment he stayed beside her felt like a test of her heart.

Did her existence mean nothing to him? Was that why he denied her so easily? Or was he enjoying some deviation before returning to Tevant? Because he wouldn’t be able to play like this once he returned there. Because it would be hard to find a stupid toy like her again.

The fact that what the Duke held out was a book particularly troubled her.

She had once thought that if she properly learned art, she wanted to become an excellent illustrator and create books like this.

Though she knew such elaborately crafted books were no longer made. It was an old and worn dream that a small rural printing house daughter, not a glamorous city girl, could have.

The Duke was also the one who so easily shattered that. By arbitrarily awarding her saying he would give her good things. By bringing the dishonor that the Duke’s mistress spread her legs to win an award.

Since the Duke came looking for her, Nelie felt shame every time she drew. She felt like the feeling of becoming someone who couldn’t hold her head high bound even her hands. When such self-loathing grew severe, she couldn’t even draw lines properly.

‘……Taking my body wasn’t enough, you took my dream too.’

Looking at him speak like this now, she must have been quite easy.

When her thoughts reached there, she grew calm instead. Nelie managed to regain her coldness with effort.

When she raised her head again, Annelie’s face had become cold enough to look clean and neat.

Realizing his mistake, Elroy swallowed a sigh and parted his unmoving lips to explain that he had no other intention, that he simply hoped she would use it well. However, as Elroy spoke, Annelie responded with a voice devoid of warmth.

“For someone who says we’re not even that kind of relationship anymore, you’re doing this compensation that should only need to be done once for quite a long time.”

“……”

“It’s fine, just pretend none of this happened.”

“What do you mean?”

“I also damaged your honor once by drawing vulgar illustrations.”

“……You know that well.”

“So in the end it’s the same. Because we both harmed each other.”

“The same? How does that calculation work? I feel like I’m the only one who suffered losses.”

“……I unknowingly became your mistress, your smokescreen.”

“……”

“Since my honor was also damaged by that, isn’t it the same in the end?”

“Ha.”

“Or do you find a country girl’s honor laughable? Do you feel it’s not even comparable to the great Duke of Tevant’s honor?”

“Miss Heich.”

“Don’t worry. Even if you return and marry someone more important than me, I’ll live quietly like a dead mouse. I won’t appear before you.”

Annelie looked up at the Duke. She recalled the past days when she thought she was dating the Duke but was actually being treated like a mistress.

Back then, she had been happy without realizing it. Though it was bitter, she could admit it—that she had been happy, that the time she spent with him had been sweet, like time shared with a lover.

That she liked him very much.

But in reality it was all her misunderstanding. She recalled the passionate love stories between the princess of Lambert and the Duke that the newspapers talked about.

‘Of course not all of it would be true.’

In truth, Annelie vaguely knew. Gossip papers don’t hesitate to tell lies if it makes money. Even if marriage talks were happening with the princess, they might not be as passionate as rumored.

However, even putting that issue aside.

The Duke didn’t stop those articles from being published. Considering how he came to confront her about the illustrations, and how he had blocked articles about her, about his mistress, for quite a while…….

Though he had the power to block gossip articles beforehand, though he knew well that Annelie would see that newspaper, he let articles that would hurt her be published.

That stirred up Annelie’s heart terribly. It felt like her feelings were treated with complete disregard. The Duke’s eyes looked like he wondered what on earth she was talking about. His eyes twisted angrily.

“More important person? What……”

“I read the newspapers too, Duke. Because I work there.”

Eventually the Duke also closed his mouth. Though he seemed about to say something, he ultimately didn’t deny anything. An anxious silence pressed down between them.

Elroy bit his lips. He didn’t even know where to start fixing this misunderstanding. Above all, the woman’s words about never appearing before him again made his blood run dry.