“Does it suit me?”

“How can I tell just by draping it on your shoulder?” he said, reaching out. The fabric suddenly unfurled, turning everything black in front of her.

“Oh?”

Though her vision was briefly blocked, after one spin in Rudfelix’s hands, the fabric wrapped around Elena’s body. The comfortably draped fabric became a fitted mermaid-style dress.

Rudfelix stood protectively behind her as she looked in the mirror. He held her shoulders while looking at her reflection.

Elena’s face flushed under his gaze.

“It’s fine.”

“Then I’ll take this one.”

Embarrassed by his gaze, she wanted to quickly remove the fabric.

Elena wobbled as she turned in the opposite direction from before. The butler covered his eyes and laughed at her attempt to unwrap the fabric.

She could have easily removed it by just letting go, but Elena insisted on turning her body around. The corners of Rudfelix’s eyes wrinkled with amusement.

“I’ll wear it well.”

Elena gathered up the fabric messily. Unlike the Crown Prince’s gift, this one felt welcome.

“So you prefer being given fabric rather than a dress.”

Rudfelix teased her not unkindly, comparing it to the Crown Prince’s gift. Elena responded with a small smile.

She seemed to truly like it, repeatedly looking at and touching the fabric, busily trying to roll it back to its original state.

“Your Highness.”

The butler approached Rudfelix while keeping his eyes on Elena.

“You have such an adorable aide.”

Though the butler had heard about her from Quiet, seeing her in person, he thought such a cute young lady had become an aide. Even in his presence, she spoke freely, reminding him of a chirping chick.

“I didn’t know she would like such things.”

Though it seemed to suggest ‘Is it because she’s an aide rather than a woman?’, the butler interpreted it differently.

“This is the first time you’ve given a gift.”

“How would you know when you’re not by my side all day?”

When the butler spoke as though Elena was special, Rudfelix objected.

“You’ve always avoided giving gifts, saying they might be taken as a favor.”

The butler who had watched Rudfelix since childhood looked at him with kind eyes. He would avoid giving gifts for fear the recipient might misinterpret them as a special favor.

Though it might seem colder than frequently giving gifts, it was his way of avoiding unintended misunderstandings that might hurt others.

“Don’t misunderstand. I simply had no one I wanted to give gifts to.”

“Then this aide must be someone you want to give gifts to.”

After making a statement Rudfelix couldn’t refute, the butler watched contentedly before being slightly surprised.

Elena, who had been busy gathering her fabric, brought another piece of the same material.

“I’ll take this one too.”

Where did that touched expression from receiving the gift go?

Rudfelix looked at her in disbelief as Elena brazenly answered.

“You have one more subordinate who could use a generous gift of clothing.”

She added that she would make his clothes too.

But the same fabric as Elena’s?

Rudfelix’s face went pale at the thought of Quiet in a dress.

* * *

Elena had recently been returning home from the palace in the early afternoon. After accompanying the Grand Duke on official business as his aide, she would leave early to find the tailor waiting for her.

Count Jellisto must have noticed this.

Like any other day, while Elena was focusing on making clothes with the tailor, a shadow fell over her head.

Count Jellisto dismissed the tailor with a gesture and approached her.

“How is work?”

Elena fidgeted with the pencil in her hand.

Her father’s question made her realize she had been staying up late designing clothes without noticing.

“It’s fun.”

She had been deeply immersed in work, assisting her father with the merchant guild. While other young ladies were busy navigating social circles, her father regretted that she had missed that opportunity.

“Is it the Grand Duke’s clothes?”

“Yes.”

Elena’s expression softened as she explained how it came about.

“I’m glad you find it so enjoyable.”

Count Jellisto patted Elena’s head and stood up.

“You were stressed about having the Grand Duke as your superior, but now I can watch with peace of mind.”

Elena looked up at her father. She knew he had been patiently watching even though she hadn’t told him what kind of work she was doing.

‘Really…’

He was a father she couldn’t help but love.

“Father.”

Sitting as she was, she hugged his waist.

“Ho ho. I haven’t been exercising lately so my belly’s gotten bigger, how can you hug me like this?”

Elena nuzzled her face against his protruding belly.

“I like that it’s soft. It’s like freshly baked bread.”

Soft, freshly baked bread.

The novel had very little description of Count Jellisto.

She hadn’t known then that he was such a loving father who worked hard at his job.

The author focused on the protagonist and only paid attention to their circumstances.

‘I want to know Grand Duke Rudfelix better.’

She expected to serve a villainous Grand Duke and engage in all sorts of evil deeds and shady dealings, but now she had doubts.

Was he really such a terrible villain?

“I have something I’m curious about.”

“What is it?”

“There’s something I want to ask the Grand Duke, but I’m not sure if I should.”

She wanted to directly ask ‘How many evil deeds did you do to end up falling by the Crown Prince’s hand?’ but that wasn’t possible.

“Is it related to the Grand Duke?”

“Yes.”

A secret only she knew and he didn’t.

“Could it be disrespectful to His Grace?”

“Yes.”

That’s why she hadn’t asked until now.

“Have you worked hard helping him until now?”

After thinking briefly, the Count asked an unexpected question.

“Yes. I worked very hard.”

She had never cut corners and had been proactive. At Elena’s confident answer, the Count patted her head fondly.

“Then speak.”

“Really?”

Elena’s eyes widened in surprise.

“If you’ve worked hard, he won’t dismiss you no matter what you say.”

“But…”

Could it work like that?

“Just make sure to first explain your position respectfully. State what’s important to you before carefully asking. The Grand Duke is human after all, so he might misunderstand your words.”

Elena took her father’s advice deeply to heart.

“Thank you.”

“This might be a chance to get closer to the Grand Duke by saying what you couldn’t before.”

When Elena nodded slightly, the movement transferred directly to the Count’s belly.

Still hugging her father’s waist, she thought she would speak tomorrow.

“Don’t jump straight to conclusions.”

She pretended not to hear her father’s somewhat worried voice.

* * *

The next day, Elena asked Rudfelix as soon as she saw him.

“You won’t make me hit other people, will you?”

Rudfelix, who had been having a pleasant morning, looked at her incredulously. But this brazen aide crossed her arms and even issued a warning.

“I would rather die than deliver bribes.”

Though taken aback, he found it refreshing. So he decided to play along with Elena who was openly treating him like a villain.

“Are you trying to play with me?”

Rudfelix put down the documents he was holding and stared at Elena. Her slightly rough skin showed signs of recent sleepless nights.

Was she acting like this because she wanted rest?

“I’m just checking.”

Elena persisted without backing down.

She frowned and revealed what she hadn’t said until now.

“I thought you were a very bad person.”

Elena had only seen the Grand Duke as the ultimate villain, just as he was in the novel.

“So I was worried you would do very evil and sinister things.”

“Do I look like a demon to you?”

He had been built up as the epitome of villainy, a demon in human form.

That was why she had kept her distance.

But experiencing it firsthand, he diligently did his work.

He didn’t push things onto others and moved busily according to schedule.

One signature from his hand bloomed like a flower, beautifully decorating the Grand Duchy anew.

“But you work well and you’re kind…”

“Ha.”

Rudfelix found himself bewildered once again after a long time. It was as shocking as when she first called him sensually attractive.

“You even give gifts…”

Elena fidgeted with her fingers pressed together.

“Am I a good person because of that gift?”

“It’s the conclusion I came with from everything combined.”

“So your opinion of me changed from before and after serving me.”

“Yes.”

Rudfelix calmly summarized Elena’s words. Her small head nodded repeatedly in agreement.

“Even when you asked about villains before, it was actually about me.”

“Y-yes.”

The very perceptive Rudfelix understood the reason behind Elena’s previous questions. When he offered to answer one question as a reward for good work, she strangely brought up villains, but it had all been about him.

He tried to remember if any woman had ever spoken to him so directly about what they thought of him.

Aside from moments when someone tried to seduce him, he had never truly been called bad.

In the end, she was the first woman to speak so frankly.

“I’m just checking. I absolutely won’t deliver bribes or commit evil acts on Your Highness’s behalf.”

Quiet, who had entered with reports, was crying with laughter in the corner.

When Rudfelix crossed his arms, Elena slightly backed away. His intimidating presence grew stronger as he raised one eyebrow.

“What made you think that way?”

“Because of rumors. Since I wasn’t someone who met Your Highness directly, I only thought based on what I heard from others.”

Rather than saying this was a novel and the author made him that way, it was better to blame rumors.

Though Elena didn’t know, Quiet nodded in the corner where he was leaning.

There had indeed been bad rumors spread by aides who had run away or people who didn’t get along with Rudfelix.

“When you see a pretty woman, you reach out first and…”

Elena was startled by the large man’s hand that suddenly appeared before her as her voice grew louder.

She squeezed her eyes shut, but his cool, heavy scent remained close.