“…Did you hear me? I keep causing trouble without meaning to.”

I answered while carefully avoiding his eyes, worried my words might falter if I became frightened.

I caught a glimpse of him striding toward me.

“Was that meant for me to hear?”

“No, I was talking to myself. You must have very sharp hearing.”

“Even someone hard of hearing could catch it with your loud voice and obvious lip movements.”

“Perhaps your eyes are as sharp as your ears? I was truly talking to myself.”

“Ha! You must have been holding in quite a lot of complaints!”

“How could I dare complain about someone generous enough to save even a passing dog!”

While answering with my eyes fixed on Carlo’s shoes, Violet’s eyes widened as she slowly withdrew her arm from mine and said:

“I, um… suddenly have something to do. No! I just remembered something I needed to do a couple hours ago. Yes… Have a peaceful night, and I’ll see you both tomorrow. I find your relationship truly inspiring for my own views on marriage, yes.”

After briefly biting her dry lips, Violet smiled as brightly as she could and gazed at me sympathetically.

“Oh, have you been fighting without me noticing? You should have told me earlier… I lacked perception. But you both know what everyone expects once you enter that bedroom…?”

How would I know? As if I’d tell this man what everyone thinks.

Violet gave me one more pleading look before hurrying away as if afraid someone might stop her.

I deliberately avoided looking at him and walked quickly to the bedroom door, pretending nothing was wrong.

Though I had blurted out my true feelings in anger, my heart pounded as if something terrible would happen if he caught me.

Still, how dare he treat me however he pleased, look at me as if I were worthless, and compare me to a passing dog!

Of course, I knew I deserved death for trying to assassinate him, but that wasn’t even my doing!

“Th-thank you…!”

When the doorkeepers opened the door, I practically ran inside and headed straight for the bathroom.

I’ll come out to the bedroom once that man falls asleep!

Bang!

But just as I turned the bathroom doorknob, the door closed.

An ominous shadow loomed over my head.

Of course, it was Carlo standing against the door.

“……”

Ugh, I should have held back…

My first thought was self-reproach.

“……”

My second thought was how pathetic I felt for blaming myself.

How many times had he treated me according to his moods?

Why should I always feel intimidated!

Feeling tears well up, I stubbornly stared at the doorknob, then forcibly lifted my chin and pointed to the sofa.

“You’ll sleep there, right?”

“Are you asking the sofa? Usually, you look at the person you’re questioning.”

After hesitating for a moment while staring fixedly at the sofa, I jerked my head up to look at him.

Perhaps because he stood under the light, his bluish gaze looking down at me with an expressionless face seemed even deeper.

With tightly closed lips, I stared at him and spoke again while firmly meeting his eyes.

“You’ll sleep on that sofa, right?”

“Why do you ask?”

“We need to decide where to sleep.”

“Does that mean I should sleep on the sofa?”

He asked calmly, as if trying to provoke me.

“Ha, I did fall into the water and collapse today. Nothing serious, just enough to need artificial respiration? I’m better now, but I’m clearly the patient here. Should I sleep on the sofa?”

“……”

“Well, if that’s what you want, I’ll sleep on the sofa!”

I turned around abruptly, not wanting him to catch me looking anxiously at his sudden silence, but he grabbed my arm.

He was frowning, apparently displeased by something I’d said.

“What’s not serious?”

“…What? The artificial respiration?”

“Is that nothing to you?”

“What significance could it have? You were just trying to save someone who fell into water. You would have done it for anyone who fell in. You said so yourself earlier.”

“……”

“I’m not the type to dwell on such things either. I don’t bother assigning meaning to every little thing.”

After listening quietly to my words, he exhaled something like a sigh and looked down at me.

“…You don’t?”

My heart sank at his seemingly indifferent yet bitter gaze.

But my mouth had already escaped my control and moved on its own.

“I don’t. What’s the big deal? I could do it for anyone who falls in too. Anyone at all!”

“……”

“Well, have a good night!”

In the moment his grip seemed to loosen, I pulled my hand free and walked toward the sofa like I was escaping.

But his reaction was faster, grabbing me and taking me to the bed.

“Sleep on the bed.”

With an unpleasant expression, he placed me there and returned to the sofa.

“Mmm…”

I slowly opened my eyes while stretching.

I had wondered how I would fall asleep with such an uncomfortable feeling, but it seemed I’d dozed off quickly after lying down.

I wonder if that man slept well…

The sofa had looked ridiculously small for Carlo.

I raised myself slightly while looking at the faint sunlight coming through the gaps between the closed curtains.

“Huh?”

He must have already gotten up, as the sofa was empty.

He wasn’t visible anywhere—not at the sofa table, not at the window desk.

I got up completely, pushed aside the blanket, and left the bed.

I tiptoed across the carpet and listened at the bathroom door.

“…He must be washing up.”

I could faintly hear the sound of running water.

Somehow, I felt deeply relieved to know he was still here.

Huh? Why should I feel relieved whether that man is here or not?

I quickly erased the relieved smile that nearly spread across my face and gulped down a glass of water.

“……”

After drinking the water, my mind seemed to clear gradually.

I approached the window and opened one side of the curtain, then pondered what to do first when suddenly an ominous feeling brushed down my spine.

“Ah…!”

Everyone said they would eavesdrop on this room!

I put down the cup and quickly ran like a cat to press my ear against the door.

Instant silence enveloped me, and I held my breath tightly, suppressing any sign of my presence.

“……!”

After concentrating for a while—sure enough!

They must be pressing their ears against the door too, as I began to hear the sound of rustling clothes and whispers saying, “Shh, be quiet.”

Both they and I were trying our best to hear what was happening on the other side of the tightly closed door.

“Still nothing?”

“Perhaps they haven’t woken up yet?”

“No, Baron Winchester who took over earlier definitely heard the sound of slippers dragging.”

Wow, these thorough people!

If I suddenly flung the door open, they would scatter in surprise, right?

“……”

I was about to grab the doorknob but stopped and straightened up.

“If the Grand Duke cherishes the Grand Duchess that much, shouldn’t the Grand Duchess be excluded from the list of suspects?”

“Is that really true? It could just be a strategy to make it appear that way.”

“But as he said earlier, if he truly values the Grand Duchess that much, it seemed like a declaration that the Grand Duke will demonstrate through his actions going forward.”

“He hasn’t been that kind of person until now, so it’s too early to draw conclusions either way.”

The nobles’ conversation, still doubting whether we were a showpiece couple, echoed in my ears.

True, we had pretended to have a good relationship verbally, but there hadn’t been any definitive proof for others to be convinced about our relationship.

Moreover, it would be ideal for me to stay off the list of suspects, at least for a while, to improve public opinion about me.

“……”

I stepped back quietly, holding my breath.

Ha, so this is why I read all those adult novels in my previous life. Everything happens for a reason…

“What if I hadn’t seen this…”

The Grand Duke is washing up anyway, so he won’t hear, and I can just get this over with quickly, right?

I steeled myself and pressed my lips firmly against the back of my hand with all my might.

Mmm-mwa!

After deliberately making a noise and pressing my ear to the door, I heard the sound of clothes and accessories colliding, as if they were pressing their ears closer to the door on the other side.

This is it, this is it…!

“Smooch! Smooch!“

As I randomly kissed the back of my hand and forearm, small, muffled exclamations began to burst from beyond the door.

Encouraged by their reactions, I felt like making it more convincing.

“Haaa…!”

This time, I put my hands together against the door and made a sound like shouting “Yahoo!” from a mountain peak. The small reactions I’d been hearing suddenly disappeared, and everything went dead silent.

That’s right, that’s right! It was proof they were all on high alert.

“Ha! Ah! Ha!”

To drive the point home, I made several small m*ans and then pressed my ear to the door with a broad smile, when suddenly…!

“……”

A man with wet hair, as if he’d stopped in the middle of drying it, stood motionless in front of me with an expressionless face.