That Marriage, I’ll Do It in this Life

Of course, the conversation itself was strange regardless of that.

‘He agreed before to be careful about rumors….’

Hadn’t the Duke agreed? So why was he suddenly acting like this?

Saena examined the Duke with a slightly incredulous expression, but while he appeared indifferent, he strangely wouldn’t look in her direction.

Though she didn’t understand why he was acting this way, she was about to speak up to somehow express her thoughts when a commotion was heard from outside.

“No! This rascal!”

The sound of running (which was rare to hear in a noble house, especially near a reception room with guests) and shouts grew closer.

Everyone’s heads turned toward the door in great curiosity.

“Kyaang!”

A gray blur burst through the reception room door with a beast-like roar. It was Yolly. After pausing briefly, Yolly bared his teeth and then leaped to pounce on Saena.

“Kyaaak! Sa-Saena!”

Evian screamed in surprise and fell backward at the sight. He seemed to think she was being attacked.

But someone easily intercepted Yolly just before he reached Saena.

“Krang!”

It was the Duke. Yolly, now held by the scruff of his neck in the Duke’s hand, squirmed and whined in dissatisfaction.

“Yolly!”

Why does this little one keep barging in unexpectedly and startling people these days?

Saena glared at Yolly with what she hoped were scary eyes. Seeing that look, Yolly neatly folded all four legs and hung quietly in the Duke’s hand.

“Sigh…… I apologize.”

As Saena apologized, the Duke placed Yolly on her lap with practiced ease, and Yolly, as if he had never been aggressive, wagged his tail gently while panting.

“Miss!”

The nanny and two maids ran in from outside, panting and expressing their apologies.

“He suddenly ran downstairs, and we couldn’t stop him. Dear guests, we’re so sorry.”

Though Saena seemed to keep the doors well closed, Yolly somehow managed to slip out. After giving the troublemaker one more glare, Saena apologized to the group again.

“I’m sorry, Your Grace.”

“I don’t mind.”

The Duke seemed unbothered, perhaps due to his previous experience(?).

“Were you scared? I’m sorry. He’s my dog, but he’s quite mischievous.”

After apologizing to the Duke first, she apologized to the others.

“Ah, so this is the one you mentioned?”

“Yes. This is Yolly.”

“Yolly, hoo…. Let me hold him. I want to hug him too.”

“No, I was about to send him back out…”

Since there might be people among them who dislike or fear animals.

“I was startled when he suddenly appeared, but I’m fine with it.”

Kirsten and Evian said they were fine, and Floria seemed okay too, watching Yolly with round eyes. The same went for Kayan.

Saena asked for their understanding and put Yolly down on the floor. All three women then extended their hands downward, trying to entice him to come to them.

Yolly just wagged his tail gently and looked around without moving.

“What’s this, is he shy?”

“He seems to be…”

Since he appeared to be selective about people, though she wasn’t sure of his criteria, Saena agreed. But just as she said that, he leisurely walked over and rubbed his head against Kirsten’s palm.

What a strange guy, whether it’s his whims or whatever.

“Oh my, how cute.”

“Me too, me too.”

“He looks oddly unique for a dog.”

The group of three besides Kirsten were absorbed in watching Yolly. Looking at it now, amusingly enough, it seemed Yolly had appeared at quite a good timing.

Thanks to this, the previous awkward topic naturally faded away. Though it did leave some ambiguous lingering feelings….

“Ahaha. Really, he won’t go to Kayan.”

“I don’t think he dislikes him, but he seems to be grumbling.”

“Oh my, even with Your Grace…. Is this little guy male?”

From Saena’s perspective, Yolly’s attitude toward Kayan was quite friendly(?). Especially compared to how he had initially acted toward the Duke.

Yolly’s attitude toward Duke Kramer was, how to put it… like he really disliked him but was tolerating him?

While she briefly wondered if even animals could recognize people of high status, knock knock. Another knock sounded. It was the butler.

“Miss.”

“…Yes?”

“A guest has arrived.”

A guest? Again? Who could it be this time?

She couldn’t tell if today’s fortune was good or bad.

“Excuse me for a moment.”

While the Duke had come because of news of her injury (though even then, they weren’t close enough for him to rush over to check), people usually don’t visit without notice.

But there was someone who did.

‘…Could it be?’

When she left the reception room and asked the butler, it was exactly as she thought.

“Lady Valdez has arrived.”

Elizabeth had come again without notice.

“Saya!”

Not only that, but she came inside like it was her own home without waiting for proper guidance. Her bright smiling face showed no sign of any wrongdoing.

“I heard you were hurt yesterday! Are you okay?!”

Had rumors spread all over about her spilling tea?

Why did even people who hadn’t attended the Imperial tea party know about it?

“I’m not hurt. I’m fine.”

“Huh? Really?”

“Yes. Where did you hear that?”

“…Oh? Well……”

At Saena’s question, Elizabeth seemed to shrink back slightly, then suddenly smiled brightly and exclaimed.

“Let’s sit and talk!”

Then she forcefully led Saena along. The problem was that she headed toward the naturally open reception room.

Since the door was open and servants were waiting outside, she probably thought it was a reception room prepared for her.

“Ah, Beth! That room…”

Before Saena could stop her, Elizabeth had already reached the entrance.

“Oh……”

It must have been an unexpected sight.

Inside, instead of empty sofas, six people and one animal filled the room. Since none of them had a weak presence, Elizabeth froze momentarily at the doorway.

But true to her nature, Elizabeth, being extroverted, quickly regained her composure and swiftly recognized who these people were.

A bright smile soon spread across her face.

“Oh my, hello. I’m Elizabeth, Saya’s best friend. I came to visit because I heard she was hurt.”

While the fact that she introduced herself as her best friend was one thing, Saena felt awkward.

The people sitting there weren’t the type to overlook such situations just because of overlapping circumstances.

Sitting together because they happened to meet?

No way. They weren’t people who needed to endure uncomfortable feelings.

Elizabeth might not know that her usually effective charm wouldn’t work here.

But then…

Before anyone could voice their rejection…

“Kyaaang!”

Yolly suddenly jumped up like mad and bared his teeth ferociously. Not stopping there, Yolly grabbed her skirt hem in his teeth and whirled around.

“…Kyaaah!”

Elizabeth panicked completely.

A ripping sound came from the fine fabric, and his fiercely glowing eyes scattered killing intent as if wanting to tear not just the fabric but the person apart.

“Yolly!!”

Though she hurriedly tried to stop him, he moved too fast to catch.

As Saena ran around trying to catch him, Yolly spun around and around with the skirt hem in his teeth, causing Elizabeth to become hopelessly trapped in her own wrapped dress.

“Aaaagh! Get it away! Get it away!”

The screaming and crashing commotion brought all the servants, butler, nanny, and others running. Even the knights came running, thinking there had been an accident.

“Hey! You rascal!”

Finally, Saena, the butler, the nanny, and even Rupert joined forces to try to catch Yolly.

When more people gathered, Yolly released the skirt and slipped through the human barrier with a dash. But Elizabeth, unable to move due to her twisted skirts, ended up falling flat.

“Kyaa!”

Thud. A strangely dull sound rang out.

‘Di-did she hit her head?’

Saena grabbed Elizabeth in alarm.

“Beth! Beth! Are you okay?”

Though he was known for causing trouble, this time it went too far. Extremely flustered and sorry about Yolly’s major incident, Saena hurriedly checked on Elizabeth.

Smack!

Elizabeth roughly pushed away her hand and screamed at the top of her lungs.

“Saena! What are you doing?! Who keeps a mad beast inside their house! Are you crazy?!”

“……”

Saena was momentarily speechless at the barrage of words.

“Grrraaang!”

And before Saena could make any retort, Yolly suddenly appeared again and charged at Elizabeth.

“Kyaa! Kyaaaaaa!”

Since she had fallen, the angry fangs seemed to be charging straight at her face, making Elizabeth scream hysterically again.

“Yolly!!”

Horrified that he might actually bite her face, Saena reached out her hand.

Yolly dodged the hands of the people rushing to catch him, grabbed Elizabeth’s hair in his teeth and pulled hard, then disappeared again.