Chapter 56

“Yes. I see. Anyway, I’m glad you look much better now. It’s almost time for the formal dinner. I’ll go down first.”

“Ah…!”

Suddenly, the Duke ended the conversation and stood up.

“Cookies alone won’t help much with your recovery, so please make sure to come to dinner.”

With those words, the Duke left the study.

Despite his kind reminder, Diane felt as if his attitude had suddenly turned cold.

She couldn’t tell why, or if it was really true.

Her chest felt chilly, and it was an odd sensation.

Suddenly, even the fragrant, sweet cookies and the milk that had felt like rain to her parched body were unappealing.

* * *

Adrian left the study and entered the tea room.

He had written the proposal letter as a way to stop himself from doing things he shouldn’t.

He didn’t want to act out of character, or do petty things, toward a powerless commoner woman who was shaken by every word and smile of his.

He wanted to cut off the temptation to act that way.

But why had she shown up in the study at an unexpected time, determined to teach, even when she was sick and had collapsed in front of him?

And what was that rumbling sound?

If he’d heard it from any other noble lady, he’d have been dumbfounded, but when he heard it from this tutor, it was, absurdly, cute.

He even wanted to tease her just to see her blushing face.

The way she watched him and nibbled cookies, the sound of her gulping milk—none of it failed to catch his attention.

But if the reason she’d always been so conscious of him, and so shaken by his kindness, was because of her memories with Edward from childhood…

If it was because she’d mistaken him for Edward…

<She’s always been a woman, from the very beginning.>

He finally understood what Edward had said long ago.

He’d always thought Edward was strangely obsessed with the teacher.

But if it was Lina Orphanage, and if it was when Kate Jude had come to the Jude Marquisate, then it would have been about fifteen years ago.

So Edward had remembered a girl he met fifteen years ago, and Diane Lina had remembered Edward for fifteen years.

In other words, if she hadn’t mistaken him, it might not have been just Edward’s one-sided feelings.

<No. Precious? Not at all! It wasn’t special, and I was so young I’ve almost forgotten it. It’s really not important at all.>

Her unnaturally strong denial came to mind.

A lie.

If she’d forgotten, why would she ask him about those memories?

She hadn’t forgotten.

What was so precious about a memory of meeting as children, just once?

Edward’s childhood had been chaos. But in the midst of that chaos, he’d met Diane Lina.

A wave of envy toward Edward washed over Adrian again.

Edward was the only person Adrian had ever envied, even if only occasionally. Until now, it was Edward’s wild freedom he’d envied.

But he’d never wished to have Edward’s personality for himself.

That was just Edward’s nature, and Adrian was Adrian.

But now…

Diane Lina.

A woman who shared precious memories with Edward.

“Haa!”

Until just moments ago, he’d tried to avoid her because he knew how much his presence affected her, but…

His abrupt exit from the study earlier wasn’t to protect her from himself.

It was because he realized he was just the object of her mistaken identity, and that Edward was the precious person in her memories. That made him inexplicably angry and unable to control his feelings, so he left.

Adrian Wale, losing control because of the words of a commoner, an orphaned tutor.

“Really, I must be out of my mind.”

With a self-mocking smile, his gaze turned to the piano.

But as soon as he looked at the piano, his thoughts shifted from self-mockery to curiosity.

If Diane Lina hadn’t mistaken him for Edward, would she have been so shy at the piano?

If she hadn’t mistaken him, would she have gone to the opera with Edward instead of him?

“Whew.”

He let out a deep sigh.

This was a situation and emotion he’d never experienced before.

His feelings and thoughts were moving separately, and his thoughts couldn’t control his emotions.

* * *

Leon’s new riding instructor, Selina Dunn, was Edward’s college classmate.

Coincidentally, Edward had graduated early and Selina had dropped out, so they left college around the same time.

During her college days, she was famous for several reasons, but two facts were still remembered by everyone.

First, her exceptional riding skills. At Traum National University’s festival, she became the only woman ever to reach the finals of the equestrian competition, making the whole school buzz. Though she lost to the Crown Prince, a senior, in the finals.

But what made her famous in Rettrang’s social circles wasn’t her riding record, but another fact.

Her scandalous romance and marriage.

Selina, the only daughter of the Marquis of Hague, fell in love with Jonathan Dunn, a lawyer and professor, became pregnant, and was expelled under school rules. This incident rocked both the university and Rettrang’s social scene.

Even though Jonathan Dunn was a lawyer and professor, he was a commoner, so the Marchioness was so shocked she fainted and kicked her daughter out of the house. Selina immediately married Jonathan Dunn and became Selina Dunn instead of Selina Hague.

Still, society expected Jonathan Dunn to drop his surname and become the Marquis’s son-in-law, eventually inheriting the title, since the Marquis had no other children.

But before those predictions could come true, Jonathan died suddenly in a carriage accident while rushing home on the day Selina gave birth.

Even Edward, usually indifferent to others’ misfortune, had sighed at the tragedy.

But Selina, now a widow, defied everyone’s expectations by raising her daughter alone instead of returning to the Marquis’s residence.

Even more surprising, she refused financial support from her parents after her husband’s death.

Society quietly waited for her to give up, but even now, with her daughter Amy already six, Selina hadn’t returned home.

Raising a child alone wasn’t easy for someone who’d grown up as a wealthy noble’s only daughter, but her circumstances weren’t that difficult.

Her husband had left a large life insurance payout that few knew about.

Her talented husband had somehow prepared for such a tragedy, setting up perfect legal protections.

Besides the pension, Selina worked as a visiting tutor for noble families, supporting her daughter with her earnings. Nobles saw her choice as a deviation, and while no one supported her, they didn’t ostracize her either.

Her blood was undeniably noble, and even if the title disappeared, she was sure to inherit the family’s wealth.

Of course, if she kept refusing to return home, she’d only inherit after her parents passed away.

As a noble and college graduate, Selina was a popular visiting tutor. She taught as many subjects and families as her schedule allowed.

Of course, Edward hired her as Leon’s riding instructor not for her background or famous riding skills, but simply because she was a woman.

In fact, Edward was the only college friend Selina had kept.

Other students didn’t dare approach Edward, so they always asked easy-going Selina instead.

<Are you dating Edward Wale?>

Selina always answered, genuinely annoyed, “Do I look crazy?” But still, everyone predicted she’d end up with Edward.

It would have been a good match for both Edward, who only had a title to return, and the Marquis of Hague, who had no son to inherit.

But Selina’s shocking romance and pregnancy proved their predictions completely wrong.

When Selina told Edward she was pregnant, he replied, “Selina Hague, just who did you sleep with?”—showing there was never any romantic feeling between them.

But when Jonathan Dunn was expelled from the university and, thanks to the Marquis’s influence, couldn’t get work as a lawyer, and when the couple couldn’t find anywhere to live, it was Edward who helped them get a house.

At the time, Edward wasn’t yet President of Wale Corporation, just the wild second son of the Dukedom, but unlike penniless Selina, he already had an inheritance from his late mother.

Of course, Edward didn’t help for nothing.

He was about to graduate early and start his business, and he hired Jonathan Dunn as Wale Corporation’s lawyer, paying him an advance that covered the house.

In the end, Jonathan only worked for a short time before his death, and after that, Edward only paid the life pension specified in the contract, making it the worst deal of his life.

But every year, a large pension was deposited from Wale Corporation into Selina Dunn’s account, and beyond that, there was no special connection between Selina and Edward.

They only ran into each other occasionally.

Selina lived her life, and Edward lived his.

He’d only contacted her to hire her as Leon’s riding instructor for the first time in nearly two years.