Chapter 45

“If you have nothing more to say, I’ll go to my room now.”

Diane spoke, her head bowed until the end, and quickly turned her body so the Duke couldn’t say anything more, starting up the stairs.

She felt as if the Duke was watching her from behind, but decided that was just her imagination or self-consciousness.

With the high ceilings, the long staircase felt endless.

Finally, she reached the top and turned the corner onto the second floor, out of the Duke’s sight. At that moment, a single tear she’d been holding back since last night slipped down her cheek.

<It would be better to wear your hair down, so your neckline is covered.>

The Duke’s words pierced her heart like a thorn.

The prince who once made her stop crying and laugh was no longer her prince.

That prince now belonged to a world she could never reach—a Duke.

It hurt, painfully so.

❖

Adrian watched Diane, her face flushed red, hurry up the stairs to the end.

He had said he drank too much.

That was a ridiculous lie.

Adrian never got drunk.

He was a man who never crossed the lines he set for himself.

He would never let alcohol overwhelm him.

It was just an excuse for skipping breakfast, and a way to make it seem like their encounter was by chance.

It was so unlike him that, thinking back, he almost blushed at how absurd it was.

He only realized the misunderstanding that Diane was Edward’s Professional Beauty after witnessing Viscount Anton’s behavior.

And he understood that the misunderstanding arose because he brought her into the Royal Box and used Edward as an excuse to convince the Earldom family.

He felt so sorry he couldn’t even bring himself to join breakfast that morning.

But he couldn’t apologize, as that would mean explaining the nobles’ misunderstanding, and he couldn’t bring himself to do it.

He hadn’t meant to mention her hair, either, but the words just slipped out when he saw her turn away, her pale neckline exposed beneath her high ponytail.

Yesterday, she had covered that beautiful neckline, yet still drew the attention of all the noblemen at the opera.

Anyway, it was better to cover it.

So, even when she was visibly flustered by his words, he didn’t add an apology or explanation.

‘The person I’ll love is definitely not the Duke!,’ she had said, but whenever he called her ‘Diane,’ she was so surprised and stiff that her agitation was obvious even to him.

Strangely, seeing her like that made him want to call her ‘Diane’ more and more.

“Ah, I must be out of my mind.”

Thinking about her running away, he gave a self-deprecating smile and muttered to himself.

He tapped her letter, left in his hand, against his other hand and started toward his office.

‘……!’

Suddenly, he stopped dead in his tracks.

His eyes fixed on the envelope he’d just glanced at—specifically, the name of the recipient.

[To my beloved Gale Tertz.]

Hadn’t she said it was for her brother?

How could Diane Lina’s brother be Gale Tertz?

Beloved?

She loved Gale Tertz?

Come to think of it, the envelope was quite heavy.

There must be several pages inside.

‘I don’t love anyone yet,’ was another thing she’d said that night, echoing in his mind.

She said she didn’t love anyone.

But she loved a brother with a different surname, apparently?

He checked the address.

It was the Wale Corporation’s single-occupancy staff residence.

He remembered their conversation in the carriage.

<I just happened to meet the President and got a job offer.>

He hadn’t realized it then.

He’d just assumed Edward had taken a liking to Diane Lina and hired her brother at Wale Corporation.

But if they had different surnames…

Ed hadn’t hired Diane Lina’s brother for her sake.

He could see Edward’s intentions as clearly as if they were written out.

Edward had separated Diane Lina from that man, taking her away to the Wale Duchy.

Of course, Diane herself probably thought she’d come by her own will.

Whatever Edward’s original intentions, Adrian didn’t care.

But if his son’s tutor, who claimed not to love anyone, loved a brother with a different surname, it was unsettling, somehow wrong.

Gale Tertz, working at Wale Corporation.

Wale Corporation…

There was no guarantee the letter would go straight to the staff residence.

If the letter for the staff residence ended up in the President’s office by mistake, a well-run company like Wale Corporation would sort it out in the end.

Once in his office, Adrian tossed the heavy envelope into his desk drawer.

He felt sorry for Diane Lina, but that annoyingly heavy envelope would stay in his desk drawer.

At least for a while.

❖

After arriving in Agris, Edward had been overwhelmingly busy.

Final hiring of hotel staff, contracts with local suppliers for hotel goods, final inspections of rooms—there was a mountain of last-minute tasks before opening, and he was the type who had to check everything himself.

James, who had come down to Agris the day after Edward, grumbled twice about the schedule changing without notice.

He’d complained that a secretary should adjust to his boss, not the other way around, and Edward had shut him up with a single remark.

“Today, we need to finish the contract for the cruise program. Prepare to check the cruise ship and shuttle carriage conditions by this afternoon.”

Edward, inspecting the restaurant menu in the grand hall, gave instructions to James.

He had been tasting every breakfast, lunch, and dinner menu item every day.

His temper was the worst, but when it came to work, he was so thorough that even James, who couldn’t say anything out loud, sighed inwardly.

His work pace was so fast that even James, who was supposed to assist him, was exhausted.

But if he was going to work nonstop, at least he should eat properly.

“Sir, can we talk about something other than work while eating? Just be human for a moment?”

“To eat like a human, you have to work harder. If you lose your job, you won’t have anything to eat, human or not!”

“Right, of course.”

James gave up arguing with a boss who never listened.

He figured that even this small resistance was proof that Edward saw him as a human, not just a secretary machine.

“When are we doing the test fireworks for the hotel opening? Have you picked a date?”

“……!”

But this was way too fast.

Test fireworks were usually done close to the date, since weather mattered.

Why was he rushing something that could wait until late next week?

“Sir, isn’t this hotel opening a bit rushed?”

“I’m busy!”

Of course. When wasn’t he busy?

But this time, he seemed even more hurried.

Sometimes he seemed work-obsessed, and other times he would check how many days he’d been in Agris, as if growing impatient.

What was he so anxious about?

Surely, the Agris Wale Hotel was his top priority.

Edward was all about work, so James was puzzled.

“Sir, I’ll leave the newspaper here.”

The manager, who had transferred from Rettrang to Agris early for the hotel opening, placed a few copies of the Rettrang central paper and a local paper on the table.

Edward flipped through the local paper first, then set it aside and picked up the central paper.

He quickly scanned the Wale Daily, then grabbed another paper and suddenly slammed his knife down on the plate with a loud ‘thunk.’

Startled by the fierce sound, James glanced at the plate to check for cracks, then looked up at Edward’s face, which was glaring at the newspaper as if to burn it.

Danger!

That was a danger level of 8, maybe 9.

What was in the newspaper?!

He needed to figure it out fast.

James craned his neck to see the article Edward was reading.

“James!”

Edward’s shout startled James so much he nearly jumped out of his seat.

It was a voice filled with concentrated anger.

He was sitting in Agris, the southern resort, having breakfast with Edward, but why was Edward yelling at him over the newspaper?

He already felt indigestion from the meal.

“Yes, Sir?”

“What the hell did you do!”

“What do you mean? What are you talking about?”

James’s voice shook with fear and frustration.

“Why did my brother and Diane Lina appear together at the Rettrang Opera House! That’s what I’m asking!”

“What?”

James blinked.

Duke Wale and Miss Diane Lina appeared together at the opera house?

What in the world…?

His eyes shifted to the article Edward was reading.