Chapter 14

The nuance felt as if he was offering to buy her something. But the Dyffrin she knew wouldn’t bestow such a favor.

Sensing her questioning gaze, Dyffrin slowly spoke.

“The plague was essentially resolved by you, so I feel uneasy that the credit went to me.”

“…”

“So I want to give you a gift of your choosing.”

Of course he wouldn’t offer her a gift for no reason.

Still, Evelyn was quite pleased with his proposal.

Though their give-and-take relationship sometimes felt rigid, thinking ahead two years, she welcomed this aspect of him with open arms.

‘If he feels deeply indebted to me, the alimony I receive later will be quite generous.’

From Evelyn’s perspective, the more Dyffrin felt in debt to her, the better.

These days, she couldn’t even get massages because he was coming home late. If something else was weighing on his mind, that was truly fortunate.

So Evelyn didn’t want to receive some mediocre thing from him right now.

“I’m fine.”

Evelyn said with a light smile. Dyffrin, as expected, looked puzzled.

“It doesn’t matter how expensive it is, just tell me.”

Evelyn hummed thoughtfully, blinking her eyes slowly.

Just like how she asked him to allow her to play pranks on him after winning their last bet, she pondered what kind of useless but lightweight request she could make to ease his sense of debt, without completely satisfying it.

After some thought, Evelyn spoke up.

“Well then…”

Dyffrin gazed intently at Evelyn. She felt he was focusing on her voice, which gave her a not entirely unpleasant feeling.

“Please allow me to attend social gatherings.”

She was starting to feel bored cooped up in this house, and there were people she needed to meet.

One of those people could provide her with compensation far exceeding what soothing Dyffrin’s headaches could.

Initially, she had planned to earn her alimony by relieving Dyffrin’s headaches alone, but she thought it would be better to have another reason, so she came up with a new method.

‘Hehe.’

While Evelyn was gleefully imagining the enormous alimony that would come her way in two years, Dyffrin furrowed his brows, surprised by her unexpected request.

“Why do you need my permission to attend social gatherings?”

“If I start attending social gatherings, I won’t be going as a Bliverer from the barony, but as a member of the Duke of Liwonoc’s household.”

“So?”

“I’m afraid you might not approve. I’ll be attending social gatherings as part of Liwonok’s family.”

This wasn’t just her own speculation, it was actually mentioned in the original story. Dyffrin did not look favorably upon Evelyn representing herself anywhere as his wife.

So she was making it clear now, to prevent him from saying anything later.

Dyffrin remained silent for some reason.

Evelyn glanced at his face. For some reason, he had a slightly displeased expression.

But it was only for a moment; soon he returned to his usual expression and replied, 

“It’s fine. Whether you go to social gatherings or not, do as you please.”

‘Did he really have to say it so indifferently, even if he was allowing me to go?’

Evelyn thought that next time such an opportunity arose, she should request that he speak more politely.

Hiding her inner displeasure, Evelyn thanked Dyffrin.

“Thank you. Then I can attend the social gatherings more comfortably.”

As the conversation ended, Evelyn got up from her seat, eating the last cookie on her plate.

As she walked up to the second floor alongside Dyffrin, she was about to enter her room when he suddenly stopped.

“Evelyn.”

Turning the doorknob, she turned her head.

“In a few days, there will be a ball at the royal palace. If you’re okay with it…”

She blinked at him. In contrast, Dyffrin’s gaze shifted slightly to the side.

“Come with me.”

Evelyn couldn’t help but be surprised this time. In the original story, Dyffrin had never once invited Evelyn to accompany him to any official event.

But before she could ponder this, Dyffrin added,

“This ball requires spouses to attend together, so I have no choice.”

Evelyn replied, 

“Oh, I see.” 

Then blinked her eyes slowly, drawing a playful smile.

“And if I happen to find it difficult to attend the ball with you?”

Dyffrin’s handsome brow instantly creased.

“It’s okay. If you don’t want to go to the ball and such, that’s fine.”

Evelyn chuckled inwardly. She had teased Dyffrin enough.

“I was just joking. Let’s go together.”

However, Dyffrin still didn’t relax his expression. He seemed to want to say something but was holding back.

Undeterred, Evelyn continued, 

“But there’s something I need your help with.”

Evelyn hesitated for a moment before finally speaking up.

“You see, I’m not a very good dancer.”

“…”

“I was hoping you could teach me how to dance.”

It took quite a while for Dyffrin’s tightly sealed lips to open.

“You can’t dance?”

“I did learn a long time ago, but if you don’t practice, you get rusty. It’s been so long that I can barely remember the basic steps.”

In truth, she didn’t know how to dance at all. While she had diligently studied the culture and etiquette of this world through books, she had limitations when it came to physical activities.

For now, she had to pretend her dancing skills were lacking, lest Dyffrin think it strange.

“If it’s a party at the palace, there will be a lot of people, and I don’t want to embarrass myself with my poor dancing.”

As a mature lady, it would be quite peculiar to hire a dance instructor, and she didn’t have any family who could teach her.

So, although Evelyn didn’t want to make this request to Dyffrin, using him was the easiest way in the current situation.

Dyffrin didn’t immediately respond to the sudden request.  Observing his pensive expression, Evelyn asked, 

“Don’t you want to?”

Given that his attitude had softened a bit lately, Evelyn had thought to cautiously make the request, but it seemed her assumption was mistaken.

Evelyn turned to leave.

“If you don’t want to, that’s fine. I’ll ask Rykal instead…”

“No.”

Dyffrin grabbed Evelyn’s wrist as she started to walk away.

“I’ll teach you.”

She tilted her head.

“If you’re not comfortable with my request, it’s okay to refuse.”

“If you embarrass yourself because you can’t dance, it’ll reflect poorly on me. I’d rather teach you than have that happen.”

The gruff reason he added didn’t sit well with Evelyn, but since he had ultimately agreed to her request, she smiled sweetly.

“Thank you, Dyffrin .”

Despite the conversation ending well, Dyffrin still had an unpleasant expression, as if he had eaten something sour.

“I’ll go to my room now. We can start the practice tomorrow.”

“…”

“Could you please let go of my wrist?”

Realizing that he had been holding onto Evelyn’s wrist, Dyffrin quickly released it.

Only then did Evelyn turn the doorknob and enter her room.

“Good night, Dyffrin .”

***

The next day, Evelyn woke up early and prepared to go out.

Thanks to that, she had breakfast with Dyffrin for the first time.

Thinking that he wouldn’t be interested in her actions, she was surprised when he unexpectedly asked about her plans.

When she mentioned going to the library, Dyffrin nodded without saying much.

Before leaving the mansion, Dyffrin left a message for Evelyn, saying that he would try to come home early in three days to help with her dance practice.

This, too, was unexpected.

Of course, she knew that his cooperation was ultimately for his own benefit, but it still felt strange.

‘…Well, if we can get along well, that’s a good thing.’

After all, even if they end up divorced, it would be better if they could maintain a good relationship during their time together.

Merrilyn, who had finished preparing to go out together, asked Evelyn,

“My Lady, have you already finished reading the book you borrowed before?”

“No. I need to borrow some more books.”

Although Evelyn couldn’t dance at all, she had to pretend to be able to dance to a certain extent in front of Dyffrin. Otherwise, he might find it strange.

There were dance manuals at the mansion, but they were too advanced, so she planned to borrow very basic books with step-by-step instructions and cram for a few days.

“The weather is nice today. It was raining so heavily yesterday.”

Merrilyn said as she got into the carriage.

Evelyn was also thinking the same thing. Yesterday, it had poured rain as if there were holes in the sky, but today it was unexpectedly clear.

“I wonder if that person from yesterday… was okay.”

Thinking back to the rainy weather, Merrilyn naturally recalled the image of the bloodied man who had collapsed the day before.

In fact, Evelyn was also thinking the same thing. His injuries had looked quite serious.

‘…But since the doctors took him, he probably didn’t die.’

Evelyn replied, trying to act nonchalant.

“We’ve done all we can, so don’t worry too much.”

As Evelyn and Merrilyn chatted, they arrived at the library without realizing it.

Evelyn told Merrilyn, pretending to be generous, 

“Merrilyn. You don’t have to follow me, so please see if there are any books you want to borrow as well.”

“But…”

“Maids don’t have many chances to read books. Let’s meet back here in an hour.”

Although Merrilyn seemed reluctant to part from her, Evelyn firmly reiterated her words and left her behind.

Alone, Evelyn approached the librarian.

“Where can I find books on social dance?”

“They were recently moved to the annex, so you should be able to find them there.”

Evelyn thanked the librarian and left the main building. As the librarian had said, there was a small building in a secluded area.

There were hardly any people in the annex.

Evelyn leisurely browsed the books, and found one with a title that seemed suitable for her level.

[The First Steps of Social Dance.]

Pleased with the title, Evelyn quickly pulled the book out. As she did, she noticed an empty space between the books, and through the gap, she saw a man.

‘Ah, there is someone here.’

Evelyn was a bit startled, as the place had seemed so quiet that she thought no one was around.

The man wore an oversized shirt and a wide-brimmed fedora that almost obscured his face, giving off an elegant aura.

Then, black hair flowing out from under the brim caught her eye.

‘Black hair…?’

While not extremely rare, it was not a common hair color, so it caught her attention.

As Evelyn slowly lowered her gaze, she spotted a long scar on the back of the man’s hand holding the book. It was a familiar-looking injury.

Realizing the man’s identity, Evelyn let out a surprised “Ah!” which caused the man to look up.

His features, previously hidden by his black hair, were revealed.

‘Why is he here…!’

The man was none other than Fenris, the second prince whom Evelyn had rescued the day before.