#7

About ten minutes earlier. Still unable to understand her parents’ words, Diez stared at them with a blank face. Become Jürgen’s woman? What did that mean?

It was impossible for such words to come from the Schleicher couple, of all people. She had thought her parents would be more delighted than anyone to hear that Jürgen was setting her free.

They didn’t look happy at all about the news that she would soon leave the Duke’s residence. Rather, they seemed anxious. Why? For what reason?

Thinking that perhaps they hadn’t properly understood what she said, Diez explained again.

“I’m not being kicked out of the Duke’s residence. The Duke himself promised me. He said he would forget about the remaining debt and that I could leave the mansion whenever I wanted……”

“Honey, if you speak so abruptly, the child can’t possibly understand, can she? After all, we haven’t told Diez anything.”

“That’s true.”

Mr. Schleicher’s attitude, as he sat facing the confused Diez, was more solemn than ever before. That appearance only intensified Diez’s anxiety.

Father has never shown me such an expression before.

“You’ve sacrificed so much for the family, but it seems we haven’t told you important facts. Please forgive us for only bringing this up now.”

“What…… are you talking about?”

Diez’s voice trembled slightly as she asked.

“You know that the late Duke demanded you in exchange for paying off our family’s debts. That’s all you knew.”

Even though he hadn’t yet revealed the main point, the thought that she didn’t want to hear it suddenly arose. Diez instinctively felt that she had been missing something important. She already sensed that a reality far more painful than what had been weighing her down awaited her.

“As promised, we were able to be freed from enormous debt. It was all thanks to the late Duke. But there’s still an unresolved issue.”

She swallowed hard.

The statement about becoming Jürgen’s woman, could it be……

“He had one more condition for us. That the young master who has now inherited the title of Duke must sincerely desire you.”

“Why……”

She neither understood nor wanted to understand. Why would he set such a condition? What connection did I have with Jürgen in the first place……

“Whatever is between the Duke and me, that has nothing to do with the debt!”

“I’m truly sorry, Diez.”

Mrs. Schleicher, who had been watching, spoke with tears in her eyes.

“I wanted my daughter to live receiving only precious treatment……”

“M-mom.”

“I’m sorry for having to ask you again after you’ve already shouldered such a heavy burden. But without your help, we will truly live a terrible life. I’m so afraid of that reality. I too was raised as a precious daughter. I don’t even want to imagine what a life struggling with debt and poverty would be like……”

The moment she saw Mrs. Schleicher sobbing, Diez’s mind seemed to go completely blank. Words she didn’t mean naturally spilled from her mouth.

“I’m fine. I’m fine…… I won’t say I hate it, so tell me what’s going on. I don’t want Mom and Dad to struggle. So……”

Mr. Schleicher wrapped his hand around Diez’s shoulder and said.

“Most of the debt is still tied up in the bank. The contract can only be finalized by Duke Klaus himself. It means all problems will only be resolved when he personally stamps it.”

“But…… I’m not saying I won’t do it, I just don’t understand. Why did the late Duke……”

Why did he make a contract connecting me with his son?

Before being sold to Duke Klaus’s residence, Diez had never had any connection with Jürgen. It was the same after she entered the ducal mansion. Her first encounter with him was when she showed her face to Jürgen after the late Duke died.

Or was he trying to bind me to the Klaus ducal family forever in this way?

She had thought she wouldn’t be easily released, but this……

“I’ll talk to the Duke. He’s the master of the ducal family now. He might be able to overturn everything.”

“It doesn’t matter that he’s his son, he can’t change the contents of an already concluded contract.”

“Is there really, really no way?”

Diez wanted to save her parents. She absolutely did not want her parents to roll back into the mud because of her choice.

But the one who had to be sacrificed to save the family was Diez herself.

Instead of protecting her parents’ peaceful life, she would never be able to leave the Duke’s residence.

As Jürgen had said, she might have to spend her life crying beneath him until she died. A corner of her heart felt like it was crumbling.

She had been happy thinking she could finally be free.

She had been excited at the thought of living with her parents, spending peaceful days even if not as affluent as before.

But in the end, happiness turned away from her. Was becoming free, regaining a happy life something that didn’t suit her from the beginning?

Despair was surging at her feet. It felt like standing on a steep cliff, looking down at the dark waves opening their mouths to swallow her.

But Diez couldn’t run away.

While she certainly wanted to be free, she loved her family, her parents too much to be selfish.

“……I understand.”

She promised, looking down at her hands clasped on her knees.

“I’ll speak to the Duke. I’ll ask him to let me stay by his side. His woman……”

Mr. Schleicher, who had been looking down at Diez as she couldn’t continue her words, finally seemed to relax a little. He stroked his only daughter’s head, briefly kissed her forehead, and said.

“Just don’t forget that we will always love you.”

Diez silently nodded.

She felt like crying, but she had to hold back.

* * *

And now back to the present. Facing Jürgen across the tea table, Diez lowered her eyes. Though she had made her decision for her family, her fearful heart hadn’t completely settled.

She clasped her hands together on her knees and pressed her lips tightly. She didn’t want Jürgen to detect the turmoil stirring within her. He needed to believe that she had made this decision for herself.

Not for others, not for family, but for Diez herself……

Although she had only spent about two months with Jürgen, she knew well that the Duke who had inherited her was far from dull. It was always difficult to fabricate lies in front of him.

Especially when looking directly into his eyes. When those eyes resembling the deep sea sharpened, she could no longer maintain any falsehood before him.

Perhaps that’s why Diez kept avoiding Jürgen’s gaze.

She hoped he wouldn’t find it strange.

The silence continued. Even as she avoided his eyes, she could feel through her skin that Jürgen was staring at her intently.

Had he already figured it out? She thought that perhaps Jürgen had already noticed that she was actually lying. It seemed like something he would do.

“You said your mind has changed.”

After a long yet brief silence, he asked. Jürgen still maintained his deeply settled composure. Though his voice was calm and composed, Diez still couldn’t feel at ease. Rather, it was the opposite.

Jürgen had always easily read Diez’s inner thoughts. But the problem was that he himself never gave her any clues. It was the same now.

She barely met his gaze by slightly raising her eyes, but she still couldn’t read anything from Jürgen. He was a man resembling a firmly closed door.

I wish I were as skilled at hiding my inner thoughts as he is.

“You said you don’t want to leave my mansion.”

“That’s right.”

“What made your mind change overnight?”

As expected. He was suspicious of Diez. She had the intuition that he wouldn’t back down unless she gave him a reason that Jürgen would find convincing.

“I lost confidence in living away from the Duke’s residence.”

“And you call that an explanation?”

Jürgen slightly sharpened his voice.

“Have you been ignoring everything I’ve said until now?”

“That’s not what I meant. When I say I don’t have confidence, I don’t mean it like that, I mean……”

I have to say it.

I promised my parents too. That I would ask the Duke to accept me……

“I thought a lot overnight. About what I truly want. I’ve always vaguely thought about leaving the Duke’s residence and living freely, but I always felt uneasy, as if something was left unresolved. So before it was too late, I calmly thought about it and……”

“What’s your conclusion?”

“……When you tried to embrace me, I was too surprised to react properly, but I know that you’re still the kindest person I’ve ever met.”

Diez swallowed hard before continuing.

“I thought that if I could live receiving your affection, there couldn’t be anything better. That’s why. That’s why I said I no longer want to leave the mansion.”

Countless thoughts crossed her mind. Had Jürgen noticed that she was fabricating words that weren’t in her heart as if they were sincere?

There was no response from him for some time. That fact made Diez even more anxious.

She knew she should cling to the Duke’s arm, but Diez wasn’t a woman skilled in such tactics. Is he going to scold me for telling such an obvious lie? Perhaps it was only natural that Jürgen wouldn’t be easily deceived.

‘No one would be fooled by someone asking for affection while being this stiff and frozen……’