15. I Told You to Just Call Me Rashid.

“!”

At those words, the Empress was left speechless, her expression frozen.

“It was a joke, Your Majesty,”

Rashid offered a playful clarification, and only then did the Empress’s expression ease.

“But if something like today happens again, I might just follow in the footsteps of our great ancestor.”

“Rashid!”

At the clear threat, the Empress’s face turned pale, and her voice came out in a flustered whisper.

“Until the next time we meet, I wish you good health.”

With that, Rashid lowered his beautifully sculpted face and kissed the back of the Empress’s hand. Then, without hesitation, he turned and strode coldly out of the room.

***

“He’s taking longer than I expected.”

Sitting on a bench in the imperial garden, Evelyn pouted slightly as she waited for Rashid, who had left her with what could barely be called a request.

“He’s not having a fight with his mother or anything, is he?”

Evelyn, who knew Rashid’s aloof demeanor toward the Empress ever since he’d grown up, couldn’t help but feel concerned.

As she restlessly glanced around the garden, her eyes suddenly caught sight of Princess Angelina standing beneath a large apple tree.

Angelina was running in circles under the tree.

Dodo dodo dodo.

Tiny sounds came from her dainty red shoes.

She sprinted toward the apple tree at full speed and then kicked the thick trunk with all her might.

Thunk.

But she was only ten years old. The apple tree, as thick as a grown man’s waist, didn’t so much as flinch from her attack.

“Tch…”

With her arms crossed, Angelina scowled up at the enormous tree.

Finally, Evelyn, who had been quietly watching the scene unfold, stepped closer.

“That tree won’t break from just that, Your Highness.”

“Tch.”

“If that tree displeases you, shall I call the gardener and have it cut down?”

“That’s not it!”

Before Evelyn could even finish speaking, Angelina snapped, her voice raised in frustration. Huffing, she tilted her chin up and pointed to a high branch of the tree.

There, a plump, crimson apple dangled enticingly at the tip of a branch.

“I just wanted to pick that apple!”

“Ah…”

Evelyn barely managed to stifle a laugh.

‘So it wasn’t that she wanted to destroy the tree—she just wanted an apple.’

With a single gesture, any number of palace maids would have gladly picked it and presented it to her, but the noble Princess wanted to pluck it with her own hands.

“Shall I help you, Your Highness?”

Angelina pouted at Evelyn’s offer. A clear sign that she didn’t want help, but Evelyn ignored it and lifted the hem of her dress.

“If the two of us kick it together, even the biggest tree might shake, wouldn’t you say?”

“Eh?”

Before Angelina could respond, Evelyn had already gathered up her dress and kicked the trunk of the apple tree with all her strength.

“There! Your Highness, give it a kick too!”

Angelina stared at Evelyn for a moment, then suddenly her eyes gleamed with mischief. Following Evelyn’s lead, she gave the tree a solid kick of her own.

“Excellent, Your Highness! One more time!”

Evelyn cheered the little princess on as she gleefully kicked the tree.

Thud.

Thunk.

Thud, thud, thud.

After several kicks from the adult and child, the big apple tree began to wobble. Finally, the ripe apple dropped from the branch with a plop.

Evelyn picked up the apple, wiped it clean with her handkerchief, and held it out.

“Here you are, Your Highness. Please enjoy.”

Angelina glared at the apple in Evelyn’s hand for a moment, then opened her mouth sulkily.

“No point in trying to get on my good side.”

“I don’t think I have much reason to get on your good side, Your Highness.”

“Hmph! Who do you think you’re fooling? Everyone knows you have feelings for Lord Rashid! I’ll never approve of it!”

The princess spat out her words with a grumpy tone, then suddenly turned on her heel and dashed off into the distance.

Evelyn was dumbfounded by the baseless accusation, but in the end…

“How adorable.”

She chuckled at the sight of the princess hopping away across the wide palace garden like a little rabbit.

Even then, Angelina was clutching the apple Evelyn had given her tightly in one hand.

It was at that moment—

“What’s so funny?”

There was no need to guess who the owner of that dry voice behind her was.

“Lord Rashid!”

“I told you to just call me Rashid.”

Rashid replied curtly.

Evelyn felt a flicker of irritation at her employer, who was wrinkling his beautiful face just to scold her, but…

‘Fine, I’ll let it slide today. You did come to save me, after all.’

Though the Empress’s summons had been kept secret on purpose, Rashid had rushed all the way to the Imperial Palace for Evelyn, who was in trouble because of him.

‘Yes, I should be grateful for this.’

Evelyn admitted it honestly.

“What did Her Majesty the Empress say?”

When Evelyn asked, displeasure immediately surfaced on Rashid’s face.

“The same dull talk as always.”

“Um, Lord Rashid… I heard earlier that you ascended the main stairs of the palace without permission…”

She had been utterly shocked when she overheard the maids murmuring.

The central staircase of the Imperial Palace’s main hall was a sacred space that symbolized the authority of the Imperial Family for generations.

To hear that Rashid had stepped onto such sacred ground without hesitation had left Evelyn dumbfounded.

“Did you perhaps… come to rescue me…”

“Of course not. That was simply the fastest route to the main hall.”

To the question she had tossed out just in case, a blunt response returned.

“And there’s no reason for me to come to the palace to rescue someone who walked in here on her own two feet.”

Wait, what?

“Now that I think about it… did I interrupt your date with Crown Prince Cairen?”

Rashid twisted his handsome lips and said in a mocking tone.

Evelyn stared blankly at her employer, momentarily at a loss for words. Then, she finally managed to speak.

“Ha… honestly.”

Already twenty-three years old and still acting like this.

“Lady Evelyn. What is that insolent expression toward your employer supposed to mean?”

“It’s nothing. I must’ve had a momentary misunderstanding.”

“What misunderstanding?”

“The silly idea that maybe you came running to the palace, trampling on sacred ground, because you were worried about me.”

“……”

“Of course, I know that couldn’t be true.”

Even after being teased thoroughly, the Duke’s expression did not change.

‘As if he wasn’t actually worried…’

Evelyn turned her head slightly and stuck out her tongue in secret.

“Her Majesty the Empress has forbidden you from entering the palace until the imperial ball.”

“Oh… I see.”

“So you don’t need to come to the palace anymore. Even if someone else summons you—including the Empress—you still don’t have to come.”

“Ah…”

“I’ll take responsibility.”

Though Rashid’s words were filled with sarcasm and coldness, that final sentence alone rang with genuine sincerity. And Evelyn, who had spent so long by Rashid’s side, could recognize that.

“Understood, Your Grace.”

Evelyn answered her employer with a small smile.

Rashid glanced at Evelyn with his usual indifferent expression and then turned on his heel.

“Let’s return to the ducal estate now, Lady Evelyn.”

***

Thud.

Evelyn closed the thick newspaper scrapbook with a loud snap. It had grown quite thick after compiling years’ worth of social news articles.

“Lady Violet of the Duchy of Soden holds her coming-of-age ceremony amidst the blessings of all…”

Evelyn read aloud the headline at the top of the scrapbook. It was an article she had clipped and saved from a gossip magazine a few months ago.

Lady Violet, only daughter of Grand Duke Parma of the Duchy of Soden, was already a socialite celebrity despite not having formally debuted yet.

The Grand Duke, who had amassed a vast fortune through trade, spared no expense for his beloved daughter Violet. From clothing and jewelry to personal tutors summoned from across the Empire, he ensured she received the finest education and upbringing.

“I don’t care about the dresses, but I am jealous of the education…”

Thanks to all this, Lady Violet had grown into a beauty befitting a heroine—graced with both intelligence and charm.

“She’ll be coming to the capital in time for the imperial ball. So finally, the two will meet.”

The two main characters of the original novel 《Duke’s Secret Seduction》: Duke Rashid Egenhart and Lady Violet. They were destined to fall in love at first sight.

“Her Majesty the Empress is worrying for nothing.”

Now, the twisted storyline of the original would surely unfold properly.

But something felt off. This long-anticipated moment—finally achieving a wish she had held for so long—was right before her eyes…

“Why do I feel this way?”

She had waited eagerly for the day she could exit the original story, yet now that it was just around the corner, she felt strangely unsettled.

“Fifteen years is a long time, after all.”

Come to think of it, her days as a secretary were numbered. Once Lady Violet arrived in the capital and fell in love with Rashid, Evelyn would have no reason to remain in the ducal household.

“I really need to find a decent job this time.”

Even if she exited the story, that didn’t mean her worries about livelihood would vanish. In fact, her next job was likely to offer lower pay and worse treatment than this one.

“This is why low-level side characters have it rough.”

The flower-strewn path promised to the protagonists had nothing to do with side characters of her tier. With no influence or power, and constantly caught between high-handed royals and nobles—that was the fate of an extra.

“Ha… of all the stories I could’ve been reborn into…”

Evelyn let out a deep sigh, then pushed aside the scrapbook and reopened the paperwork she had set aside earlier.

***

“This is the chicken steak young master loves. I’ve poured on plenty of special sauce, so please enjoy.”

Vanessa, the only maid in the Berge household, placed the chicken steak plate down on the dining table.

“This is chicken soup. It was simmered with the bones for a long time, so it should have a rich flavor. And dessert is egg tart!”

‘Why is everything chicken?’

Evelyn’s question was quickly answered.

All the chicken dishes on the table were made from the chickens raised in the baron’s garden. Some of them were probably the very ones that crowed loudly every morning, irritating Evelyn’s mood.

Due to various reasons, the financially strained Berge household had no choice but to be self-sufficient with their food.

“You need to eat more too, my lord. If meat feels too heavy, I’ll serve you more chicken soup, so at least have that.”

To the maid’s nagging, Baron Berge replied listlessly.

“No, Vanessa. My stomach doesn’t feel too well, so this is enough. Besides, I haven’t moved around much today, so there’s no need to eat a lot.”

A middle-aged man with a frail-looking face answered in a voice as quiet as an ant’s footsteps. Though only in his fifties, the thin and feeble-looking man was none other than Evelyn’s father, Baron Berge.

“Father, is something bothering you?”

Evelyn asked cautiously, and Baron Berge looked startled as he turned to her. He reacted as if a secret had just been discovered.

‘There’s definitely something going on.’