Chapter 29

Rabiana wished she could crawl into a mouse hole and hide. She was mortified.

Asking to be waited on out of nowhere—it was an outrageous request. But when Alberto thought it over, he realized it wasn’t so unreasonable. Still, it was so unexpectedly bold coming from a woman who always insisted she was fine, that he couldn’t help but chuckle.

“Very well.”

He had never waited on anyone before, but tending to Rabiana didn’t seem like it would be that difficult.

“Only until your ankle heals.”

***

From that day on, Alberto stayed close to Rabiana.

He handled all his work at her side and even went to the library to bring her books when she finished reading.

Her injury was a mild sprain. The doctor said rest was best, so she had no choice but to stay in bed.

The household was in an uproar when they found out that the one caring for her all day wasn’t Julia—but Alberto.

But the two in question were too preoccupied watching each other’s reactions to notice the fuss.

“Ah. Go ahead.”

Alberto held a cookie up to Rabiana’s mouth.

Studded with dark chocolate, it looked delicious, but Rabiana frowned awkwardly.

“I can eat a cookie on my own…”

She had asked for his help, yes—but only with things like light support.

Her hands weren’t injured; she could feed herself. Yet here Alberto was, trying to feed her directly.

She felt a bit guilty, like she was overworking him.

“Mm—”

Ignoring her subtle protest, Alberto slipped the cookie into her slightly parted lips.

Flustered, Rabiana quietly bit into it. As soon as she finished one bite, Alberto held out another.

“I can feed myse—mmph!”

“If you’re going to wait on someone, you should do it properly.”

Alberto set down the half-eaten cookie and picked up a fork. After slicing the fluffy cake into neat pieces, he held it out to Rabiana again.

She gently shook her head. The sudden snack time hadn’t been her idea—it was all his.

He was taking his duties as her attendant very seriously. All it had taken was the faintest rumble from her stomach while reading her Braille book, and he had summoned staff to bring her every dessert imaginable.

“Don’t you have work to do?”

“I am working.”

Left with no choice, Rabiana accepted the cake. Her cheeks were burning with embarrassment, but it seemed she was the only one flustered by this unfamiliar situation.

Alberto, in contrast, was completely at ease—like he’d done this countless times before.

He must’ve… dated before.

Even in the aristocratic world where marriages were mostly political, there were always those who dabbled in romance. Usually, it was driven by the men’s mindset of enjoying life before settling down—but some women participated willingly too.

Rabiana chose not to ask such a trivial question like “Have you ever been in love?”

Instead, she decided to act unbothered.

“Tea.”

“?”

“I’d like some tea.”

Her sudden shift from waving him off to making a request caught Alberto off guard. His eyes widened in surprise, then he burst into laughter.

He, who hated trouble more than anything, found himself catering to someone’s every whim—and somehow enjoying it.

“So now you’re commanding me with your fingertips.”

But he wasn’t annoyed. In fact, it was refreshing—something new.

He lifted the teacup and lightly touched it to her lips.

“Well, it is your job, my lady.”

Sitting there, Rabiana felt like she was on a bed of thorns, but as Alberto said, this is my job. It’s what I’m supposed to do, she repeated in her head like a mantra.

Of course, there was also a trace of satisfaction from having the ever-sharp-tongued duke at her beck and call.

“I-I really can’t eat any more. You should have some, Duke—”

She didn’t get to finish. Alberto’s thumb swept across her damp lower lip, glistening with tea.

Startled, she instinctively parted her lips—and in that moment, his hand lingered for just a second longer, as if teasing, before pulling away.

“Anything else you’d like me to do?”

Alberto gently took hold of Rabiana’s hair, toying with the glossy ends as he waited for her answer.

Rabiana’s mind went blank. There was absolutely nothing she needed. Sure, she’d been the one to ask for his help in the first place, but it wasn’t because she intended to boss him around.

“Nothing…”

“Don’t you need a bath?”

Her lips pressed into a straight line.

Every morning, she bathed with Julia’s assistance—but today was different. She couldn’t possibly ask him to help with that.

“J-just for today, I think I can skip it…”

Flustered, Rabiana seemed ready to forsake personal hygiene altogether.

But just as she finished, Alberto leaned in—close.

He lowered his face to the crook of her neck and inhaled.

Huuuuh…

Rabiana stiffened, holding her breath, spine straight as a rod.

Alberto’s unannounced closeness made her dizzy.

“You definitely need one.”

“…D-do I smell?”

Alberto swept her up into his arms before she could even recoil.

No, she didn’t smell.

In fact, she carried the faint scent of flowers—as if it had settled into her very skin. But he knew she bathed daily. When he arrived and wasn’t asked to assist with it immediately, he had simply washed her face and nothing more. He hadn’t wanted to disrupt her usual routine just because of his presence.

He didn’t tell her she smelled like flowers—because he needed her to stay compliant.

“I’ll remove your clothes now.”

This entire situation felt far too strange for Rabiana.

And yet, she had bathed—with Alberto assisting her—and now sat in his arms again, having her hair dried.

Alberto sat behind her, gently squeezing the water from her hair with a towel.

“I can do this myself…”

“This is a servant’s duty.”

“A servant…?!”

She’d said it before—she never meant to treat him like some attendant.

Shocked, she tried to protest, but Alberto wouldn’t hear of it.

“If I’m the one feeding and bathing you, what else would you call me?”

“Th-that’s enough. You’ve done more than enough. You don’t have to keep going.”

For the first time in her life, Rabiana had been bathed by someone other than a maid.

Worse, a man.

That had never once happened before—not even when Lawrence took care of her. The maids had always handled her baths.

“I’ll be the one to decide that.”

“Why…?”

After thoroughly squeezing the water from her hair, Alberto applied oil.

Then came cream, which he slathered generously onto her face.

Rabiana had to endure every part of his awkward care—the rough way he smeared the cream included.

“Think of it as practice.”

“Practice…?”

“For when my child is born. I’ll have to do it then.”

Rabiana found herself a little awed by his paternal instinct.

Why did he already care so deeply for a child that didn’t even exist yet?

“You could just ask a servant.”

“There are few people in this world worth trusting.”

He gathered her oiled hair together gently.

Rabiana let him. The way his fingers collected her hair made it feel like he was preparing to tie it up, which startled her for a moment—but she reminded herself of what he’d said: practice.

If he had a daughter, he’d probably do this for her too…

It was then that Rabiana realized something she hadn’t considered before.

He wanted an heir.

What if the child turned out to be a girl?

“My Lady, remember this as well.”

“Y-yes?”

Startled from her thoughts, Rabiana quickly turned.

The hair he’d gathered slipped from his hand, scattering.

Though it was only for a fleeting moment, the strands seemed to fall in slow motion through Alberto’s eyes.

They drifted over her pale face, veiling it briefly before floating down.

She faced him fully now.

“Don’t trust people.”

“Oh… okay.”

Replaying their earlier conversation in her head, Rabiana thought—Alberto seemed lonely.

She didn’t want to mock or challenge his claim that trustworthy people were rare, but she still wondered… what had made him think that way in the first place?

She believed that trustworthy people did exist, unlike Alberto. For her, Lawrence was one of them.

However, telling Alberto to try trusting people would be overstepping. Swallowing the words that had risen to her throat, Rabiana chose something else to say.

“By the way, Your Grace.”

“Yes.”

“If… the child I bear is a girl, what will happen then?”