“That would be me.”

Hylus?

Setting aside my bewilderment, I greeted Hylus naturally.

“My greetings to Duke Hylus. I am Eloa Rumania, the daughter of Count Rumania.”

I was not the only one caught off guard.

“Duke Hylus, what do you mean by that?”

“I am saying that I am the one Lady Rumania must take responsibility for. Is that not so, my lady?”

“……”

Is this scoundrel trying to push the responsibility onto me right now?

Before I could say anything, Marquis Ter Giuo’s face flushed red as he raised his voice.

“T-taking your lips?!”

Hylus, is this man trying to make a fool of me right now.

Fine, then I will use him right back. I naturally interlaced my fingers with Hylus’s thick, large hand.

He was wearing gloves, but it was more than enough to feel his body warmth through them.

It seemed Hylus had not anticipated that I would interlace my fingers with his, as his eyes shifted ever so slightly.

But as he soon turned to look at me with a sly smile, I slowly gave him the answer he wanted.

“Responsibility… is indeed… something that needs to be taken.”

Upon hearing my answer, Ter Giuo, as though he had no need to hear anything more, shouted on the spot and stormed off.

“Lady Rumania, I will not let this go!”

After Marquis Ter Giuo left, I released Hylus’s hand as if I had been waiting for that very moment.

“Your Grace, what is the meaning of all this?”

“It seemed as though the young lady was trying to evade her responsibility.”

“My, evade, you say.”

You scoundrel, does it sound like I’m saying this through gritted teeth right now? If it does, then you’re hearing it correctly.

I swallowed the words I could not bring myself to say aloud.

If I stayed here any longer, I felt I would be swept up in him beyond all control. Before he could say anything else, I offered a proper farewell and returned to the party hall.

***

After escaping from Hylus at the imperial palace party the night before, I had no idea what conversations I had with people or how I had managed to make it home. All I could remember was returning in a state of utter exhaustion.

Lady Meyer had caught me just as I was heading toward the carriage, and after that…

And then Summer had talked me out of just going straight to sleep…

“Miss, you can’t do that.”

“Summerrr… skipping a face wash and brushing your teeth for one night won’t kill you.”

“Even so, you can’t. It’ll ruin your lovely skin!”

I ended up surrendering completely to Summer, but thanks to washing up with warm water, I was able to throw myself into bed feeling pleasantly drowsy and refreshed.

Mmm… thank you, Summer.

Having seen my condition the night before, Summer held out a glass of water filled with cold ice. I brought it to my lips without hesitation and drank it down in full, and despite it being cold water, it felt as though heat radiated from my lips all the way down inside me, as if I had drunk something scalding.

A refreshed breath escaped me after drinking the cool water.

“Haah.”

As if to remind me that what I had drunk was ice water, a lingering chill that had not yet dissipated flowed out from within my mouth.

As I roused myself from my hazy state, the first thing that weighed on my mind was, of course, Ter Giuo.

How on earth would Marquis Ter Giuo react. Would he sue me? A lawsuit would actually be a relief. Knowing Ter Giuo, he would surely resort to something underhanded…

Before I could even finish sorting through my thoughts, Summer flung the door open with a great fuss, something in hand.

“Summer?”

“Miss, I’m sorry for not knocking. But it’s because of this…”

In a voice that trailed off to almost nothing, Summer, looking utterly deflated, carefully handed over what turned out to be the town newspaper. A newspaper that mentioned my name.

The headline read: [Duke Hylus Spends a Night of Pleasure with an Engaged Woman, Shattering Her Betrothal!]

“What a headline they’ve pulled together.”

My name was not in the headline, but in the article itself, my name was laid out in full without even the slightest effort to protect my identity.

Since the name of a founding noble family was involved, the entire country would likely be reading this newspaper.

The contents of the article were roughly as follows.

It has come to light that Eden Cler Hylus, of the Hylus ducal house, one of Ermensel’s founding noble families, spent a night with the fiancée of Marquis Ter Giuo.

The fiancée of Marquis Ter Giuo is Eloa Rumania, the daughter of Count Rumania. Lady Eloa Rumania shattered her betrothal to Marquis Ter Giuo on the night of the imperial social party by spending a night of pleasure with Duke Hylus.

When Marquis Ter Giuo attempted to confront him, Duke Hylus instead intimidated the marquis by saying he did not have a great deal of patience.

Of course, there is nothing inaccurate in this article. If one were to nitpick, it was not a night of pleasure but merely a kiss.

“What are we going to do, Miss…”

“……”

“Marquis Ter Giuo will surely see this newspaper too. What do we do?”

Of course he already has, since this was his doing.

“Summer, could you help me get ready to go out?”

“Where are you going?”

In response to Summer’s question, I simply gave her a pretty smile with my eyes.

***

Knock knock.

After two short knocks, the butler opened the door with a thoroughly troubled expression.

His master kept his gaze fixed on the documents atop his desk and asked only a passing question.

“What is it?”

“Well… Lady Rumania has paid an unexpected visit.”

The hand that had been moving busily paused for a brief moment before resuming.

“Tell her I’m not…”

“I know perfectly well that you are in, Duke Hylus.”

At that moment, I stepped past the flustered butler and into his office.

“My greetings to Duke Hylus. I am Eloa Rumania, the daughter of Count Rumania.”

“I apologize, Your Grace. The young lady forced her way in…”

Once I had fully entered the office, he set down the quill he had been holding and gave the butler a slight nod of his head. It was a signal for him to leave.

“Is the young lady fearless, or simply thoughtless?”

Hylus’s tone, which carried a sarcastic edge, did not sit well with me. His attitude was noticeably different from yesterday, enough for anyone to feel it.

Who does he think he is, acting like Jekyll and Hyde. Does his personality flip like turning over a palm.

“Unfortunately, I am both fearful and thoughtful.”

“If you had both, you would not be standing here.”

“Because you would not devour me, Your Grace.”

Hylus rose from his seat and walked toward me slowly, with an utterly composed expression.

“Inside the Hylus ducal estate, where it is said they devour even the living.”

“……”

“Even more so for a young lady alone, without even a knight.”

“I only believe what I have seen with my own eyes. If I ever witness Your Grace devouring someone alive, I shall make sure to come with a knight next time.”

As though he found the situation rather entertaining, the look in his eyes as he watched me was that of a predator.

He was a tiger leisurely deliberating whether or not to devour me, and I was the poor rabbit placed before him.

“So, what is your business?”

“Take responsibility.”

“For what?”

“Because Your Grace said something about taking my lips in front of Marquis Ter Giuo… anyway, because of that, there is now a rumor that I seduced you with my body.”

“So?”

So? So?! Wow, I take back what I said about this man being kinder than I thought. He is the absolute worst!

“Since it is something Your Grace caused, you must take responsibility for it.”

“Was it not you who refused to take responsibility first?”

“Pardon?”

“It is a fact that the young lady took my lips first. So why should I be the one to take responsibility for that rumor?”

At his response, I let out a short sigh.

Eloa, no, I, Jang Hye-a, had a habit of blowing at my bangs with a puff of breath when I was annoyed.

And that habit had just surfaced right now.

“Listen, Your Grace. It seems you have had the facts wrong since last time, so allow me to set them straight.”

“……”

“It is true that I approached you first, but I absolutely did not kiss you. I clearly pressed my lips to my own thumb, and was it not Your Grace who moved my hand away and pressed your lips to mine?”

“……”

“Then it is not I, but Your Grace, who should be taking responsibility. So why should I be the one to take responsibility?”

“I will.”

“That’s right! So… what?”

“I said, I will take responsibility.”

His unhesitating words were an answer that made me question whether I had heard correctly. All I could do in response was blankly ask again.

“Is that how it works?”

“Did the young lady not just tell me to take responsibility?”

“Well, yes, that’s true, but…”

Hylus, who had been tapping the desk with his fingertips, soon rose from his seat and stepped closer to Eloa.

“Then I simply need to make that rumor into fact.”

“Pardon?”

“Oh, shall I change the headline when it runs?”

“……”

“How about, ‘Mad Duke Utterly Smitten with Lady Eloa Rumania First.'”

As Hylus drew ever closer, I found myself instinctively stepping back until I collapsed into the reception chair. If a moment ago his eyes had been like those of a predator, now he was the predator itself.

“Marry me.”