To Hines’s question about whether she was strange and to be avoided because she was a different kind of creature, Rudfelix closed his eyes, looking drowsy.

“I keep looking at her.”

At his fading voice, the butler brought a blanket.

Left alone, Rudfelix raised his hand to cover his hot breath. The butler covered him with a blanket thinking he was getting sleepy, but that wasn’t it.

A slowly beating heart. Though he tried to act as if it was nothing, a flame that wouldn’t die down bloomed deep in his eyes.

* * *

Elena, going down an increasingly deserted path, gradually reduced her movements as she held the card and notebook.

A quiet space where even the sound of her own rustling seemed burdensome.

It was a signal that she had entered an area where she needed to be careful.

‘Is it okay to give out a card so easily?’

It was an entry card for the royal section of the library. When she first visited, she had toured the library without knowing any better, but later she heard from Quiet.

He said it was a card not easily given even to aides. It was like a privilege exclusive to the imperial family, so giving it out meant giving an aide the opportunity to enjoy his privilege.

Now that she knew, she felt burdened about receiving the card.

‘If I hadn’t said those strange things, I would have refused.’

At his words that he could give her anything, her heart trembled and she couldn’t maintain her composure. After acknowledging that her heart had been shaken by him, she feared she might make another mistake if she spoke like that again. With her face burning hot and afraid of showing an unseemly appearance, she ended up taking the card and leaving.

‘I should check quickly and leave.’

Elena, who had just turned direction, quickly pulled her body back when she spotted two women.

‘What? Why am I hiding?’

She could have just passed by naturally, but it would have openly revealed she was going to the library, so she hid without thinking.

“You submitted a marriage proposal?”

“Yes.”

“But will that person accept it?”

“Many women already surround Prince Suharto, and formidable women have already shown interest in the Prince. With slim chances of standing beside him over Lady Frill and Princess Kayla of the Kingdom of Kamoshian, I should grab a man with even a slight possibility.”

“True. That person is in no way inferior compared to the Prince. I know that, but the problem is he doesn’t easily give in. All the women who’ve approached him so far have been rejected.”

Elena leaned against the wall, waiting for the two women to disappear. In doing so, she unintentionally found herself listening to their conversation.

“I’m going to go directly to him and tell him I want to marry him. Has there been a woman who said that to him before?”

“I’m sure there has been.”

Though unenthusiastic, she cautiously countered, and the woman acted boldly.

“Those women aren’t me. I’m different.”

“That’s true.”

Elena held her breath and minimized her movements.

“But what about after marriage? His Highness won’t love you.”

“I don’t care if he doesn’t love me. I can see that picture-perfect face for the rest of my life, so there’s nothing bad about it.”

“I don’t know. I’ve never seen him treat women well, so would he change if he became a husband?”

The other soft voice mumbled with concern.

Elena backed away against the wall at the increasingly loud conversation. Now if she encountered them, it would reveal she had overheard their conversation, so she tried to avoid them.

‘Ah?’

When something warm touched her back and blocked her, Elena was silently surprised. When she tried to see what was blocking her from behind, hot breath touched her ear.

“Is this the library?”

Elena quickly turned and covered Rudfelix’s mouth with her hand.

As he opened his eyes wide, she mouthed ‘Don’t ask anything!’ while fidgeting with her lips.

“I’ll change him. If we live rubbing skin against skin, won’t his cold heart eventually open?”

She tried to hide her body quickly, but there wasn’t even a single ornament in the open corridor.

‘I’ll get caught at this rate.’

“Come here.”

Rudfelix, sensing the situation, hugged Elena’s back while turning his body. His other hand twisted the doorknob pressing against her waist.

‘A door?’

As her body spun once more, she entered through the door.

Elena quietly stayed in Rudfelix’s arms, listening outside.

“Does the Grand Duke really not have a woman?”

“Could there be a woman who would melt that cold man’s heart?”

“But at the last annual event, who was it? He escorted some count’s daughter.”

Elena raised her head at the woman’s words. When their eyes met, she mouthed, ‘They’re talking about me.’

“She’s an aide. I heard the Grand Duke offered his hand because it would have been awkward for her to go back and change clothes after coming in as an aide.”

‘The awkward part is true, but that’s not why he took my hand.’

She hadn’t known words would spread like this.

The body touching hers shook. Rudfelix was laughing.

“Don’t laugh.”

When she whispered a small threat, his body shook even more.

“How great a woman could she be? When I spoke to her, she was nothing special. Small voice, shy, just an ordinary young lady. How could such a young lady shake the Grand Duke?”

“That’s true.”

The sound of the women’s conversation was gradually fading.

Rudfelix tilted his head and asked Elena.

“Should I call it pretense?”

“It was image management in my own way. Who would show their full personality to someone they’ve just met?”

“You did to me.”

Elena hid her answer with a smile.

‘Who was the one stabbing at a person they just met?’

“Phew.”

A sigh naturally escaped in relief at not being caught.

“This is troublesome.”

The wind entering her ear made his whisper inaudible.

“I was just confused.”

Elena scratched her ticklish earlobe. As she did so, she slightly raised her head to look up at him. As the two women bloomed with stories about Grand Duke Rudfelix, the content resonated more deeply.

“Do I suddenly seem like a decent man to you?”

Rudfelix responded with a smile to Elena’s penetrating gaze. She often acted as if only his face was good but he himself wasn’t, so he must have thought her mind had changed this time.

In line with Rudfelix’s expectations, Elena slightly nodded.

“Relying only on a picture-perfect face, Your Highness is too much of a……”

Having heard part of the women’s conversation, Rudfelix waited for the rest of Elena’s words. His face may be like that, but too what?

“A workaholic.”

Rudfelix’s picture-perfect face crumpled mercilessly.

Rudfelix narrowed his eyes and then repeated Elena’s words with thinly pursed lips.

“Workaholic?”

His atmosphere was freezing. As the surrounding temperature seemed to drop, Elena hastily added,

“I mean, if you take a wife, you should love her and spend time with her, but Your Highness prioritizes work. In that sense, the people of the Grand Duchy are truly blessed. The Grand Duke works hard for the Grand Duchy, right?”

Despite her long rambling, it all came down to one thing:

Do you have time to love a wife? You don’t.

Understanding her meaning, Rudfelix firmly closed his slightly parted lips. He seemed to be biting his molars.

“There’s no need to hide anymore, so let go.”

Saying this, he was the first to move away from Elena. As he created distance by pushing her away, Elena awkwardly straightened her disheveled clothes.

‘He’s upset.’

He even frowned like he’s touching something dirty, but in reality, he was upset because she saw him as a workaholic.

“Grand Duke?”

“If you were going to stray this much, I would have come to keep an eye on you sooner.”

Normally, he wouldn’t be one to get angry even if she returned to the library at sunset. He might scold her a little, but he wouldn’t turn his head away so coldly.

‘I need to appease him.’

If I leave him be, he might torment me all day.

‘He’s definitely that kind of person.’

Elena stood beside him in the corridor, twisting her body to look up at him from below.

How could he be so handsome even when viewed from below? From his smooth facial features that didn’t protrude at all, to his perfectly symmetrical nostrils, to the tip of his nose that curved more elegantly than a woman’s—it was newly amazing.

“I haven’t finished speaking yet.”

“I wonder if there’s anything worth hearing. I’m not curious at all, so let’s end it here.”

‘Oh, really.’

Elena hid her trembling fists and set the tone.

“The focus of my words was that while Your Highness is indeed hardworking, what comes before that is more important—your wife.”

Elena covered her flushed cheeks with both hands and opened her moist eyes.

“The Grand Duke I know would change when he finds a woman he loves. When you have a woman you love, what does work matter? You’re the type who would stay up all night to finish work early for the woman you love. So, under the condition that you have a woman you love.”