Chapter 42

I felt a strange distance from Roche’s polite demeanor.

What’s wrong, all of a sudden?

It’s bothering me for no reason.

“I’m going to change my clothes.”

It wasn’t Roche’s usual attitude of reporting first about what training was done today and what achievements were made, striving to receive my praise.

Did something bad happen in training?

I decided to ask Jack Rogers a little later.

Those mercenaries, they’re not giving our Roshe a hard time, are they?

If they are, I’ll give them a good beating.

* * *
Monday, the day of the promised meeting with Duke Lopez, arrived.

With a luxurious ebony cane as a gift, I entrusted it to Roshe, who would be accompanying me.

Roche looked down at the long, wrapped box for a moment with a sullen expression, then handed it to Jack, who stood behind me.

With three guards in tow, we headed towards Duke Lopez’s townhouse.

Duke Lopez’s townhouse was a splendid mansion.

It had a natural, rustic feel for a nobleman’s residence, but age had added a touch of romance and charm to the whole place.

I rang the doorbell and an elderly butler came out to greet me.

“Welcome, Countess Balthus. The Duke is waiting for you with great anticipation.”

I bowed lightly and smiled.

Roche and his bodyguard waited outside.

But today, Roche, who would usually step back naturally, seemed somehow reluctant.

As I was about to turn to look at him with a questioning expression on my face, Roche’s gaze suddenly fixed on something in the air.

It’s hard for me to look anywhere else when I’m right in front of him, so I reflexively turn my gaze in the same direction as him.

The window of the parlor on this floor was open.

Duke Lopez, exuding an air of nobility, leaned against the window frame, looking down at me while smoking a pipe.

There was a satisfied smile on his lips as if he was pleased with something.

When he saw me, he bowed his head slightly.

I hastily returned the gesture.

Now it was really time to go up.

I gently, but firmly, called Roche’s attention to me.

“Roche, you need to step back.”

Roche held on for just a moment longer.

He bent his head down leaned close to my ear and asked.

“Is that the gentleman who sent the flowers?”

For some reason, all the hairs in my auricles stood up. I swallowed the strange feeling and nodded my head slightly.

In an instant, a soft smile appeared on Roche’s lips.

I had simply answered his question, and it felt as if the mystery had been lifted.

“Roche?”

I looked up at him. But Roche said nothing more and took a few steps back.

“Have a good time, Countess. We’ll be waiting right here.”

The inexplicable sense of distance that I felt until just now vanished in an instant.

I blinked in confusion.

Soon, as if blocking our gaze, the door closed.

Still unable to divert my gaze from Roche beyond the lattice door, the butler of Duke Lopez politely called me.

“Countess, I’ll show you to the drawing room.”

“Ah, yes.”

I quickly regained my composure.

Reflexively, I slapped my cheeks together, and as I did so, a low chuckle came from the floor.

Suddenly embarrassed, I couldn’t bring myself to look up at the Duke of Lopez.

The Duke’s butler, who must have seen my flushed face, was unperturbed and escorted me to the drawing room.

I was fortunate that my face cooled quickly during the walk to the drawing room.

My acting background comes in handy in times like this.

I perfected my breathing and my facial expressions, and when the door to the drawing room opened, I greeted them with a polite bow.

“Thank you for the invitation, Duke Lopez.”

“The pleasure is mine. Thank you for accepting the sudden invitation, Countess Balthus. Please, have a seat.”

I sat across from Duke Lopez, with a mild level of tension in my body.

I’d felt it even when I’d met him in a crowd, but His Grace seemed even greater in person.

“I have prepared a small gift.”

I handed the wrapped cane to the Duke of Lopez. Behind his one-eyed spectacles, his sharp eyes softened.

“I didn’t summon the Countess to do this.”

Fearing that the atmosphere would solidify into mutual embarrassment, I asked with a hint of mischief.

“If not for that, what did you invite me for?”

The Duke of Lopez gave me a puzzled look, then sighed.

“I just wanted to express my gratitude, Countess.”

“Did I perhaps unknowingly do a favor for the duke?”

I asked in jest, but the Duke of Lopez laughed softly.

“Yes, it is.”

Uh, really?

I blinked dumbly, unsure of what favor I had done him.

Of course, I didn’t do anything that would make me look stupid to the Duke of Lopez.

I moved with ease and grace, as far as he could see…….

But my head was spinning.

‘What did I do? Did I do something unintentionally?’

When a man of the Duke of Lopez’s caliber can see into the head of a young countess, he explained without me having to ask.

“You brought the veteran actor Anthony Brogo into your troupe, Countess. I wanted to express my admiration for such a wise choice.”

“Ah.”

It felt like a light bulb lit up above my head.

As fragrant tea was served for both Duke Lopez and me, I picked up my teacup and glanced at him.

“Are you close with Mr. Brogo?”

“It’s not well known in society, but… yes, that’s correct.”

A friendship that transcends status, that’s nice to hear.

I moistened my lips with warm tea and waited for the Duke of Lopez’s next words.

He hesitated as if he didn’t know if he should say this, and then he opened his mouth cautiously.

“He left the Crestwell troupe and was in despair and I’m much happier to see him now as a friend.”

The Duke of Lopez was quietly gracious. He doesn’t put Oscar on the spot but speaks as if Anthony left the theater of his own free will.

It’s a very aristocratic way of speaking. A way of speaking that doesn’t make enemies.

But the message is clear: He knows that Oscar fired Anthony, and he doesn’t like it.

Suddenly, I have a flashback to Anthony wandering outside the theater with his audition application.

Come to think of it, his granddaughter, Lydia, had mentioned ‘Your Grace.’

I realized that this gentleman in front of me was the “Your Grace” she was talking about.

Thump, thump, my heart began to race.

I set my teacup down and smiled.

“The moment I first saw Mr. Brogo, I couldn’t contain my amazement. It felt like the god of acting had descended upon the world. If one has a good eye for talent, he was an actor worth cherishing.”

I, too, responded in aristocratic tones.

While praising Antony, I took a stance that I couldn’t understand Oscar’s decision to dismiss such a talent harshly. It was a subtle tone that only the dull would not pick up on.

But the Duke of Lopez understands.

A shade of bitterness crossed the Duke of Lopez’s eyes.

“…… Is that so?”

“Yes, when I saw his audition, I sensed that it was a great stroke of luck to be able to grace the stage with such a person. But now that I think about it…”

I looked warmly and long into the Duke of Lopez’s eyes.

“That stroke of luck was you, Your Grace.”

The shade lifted from the Duke of Lopez’s eyes, and for the briefest of moments, an invisible moisture flashed across them. He was speechless for a moment.

I pretended not to notice his tears.

I didn’t try to break the silence my words had brought about, but instead took another sip of the slowly cooling tea.

A composed attitude would prevent my words from sounding like flattery.

To be honest, I wasn’t lying.

Anthony was exactly what I needed for my troupe, and if it was the Duke of Lopez who sent me such a man, I should be grateful.

After an awkward but not uncomfortable silence, the Duke of Lopez raised his teacup.

“The course of time is truly cruel.”

His voice dropped to a low rumble.

“I couldn’t help but think that Antony’s talent was still unripe, yet the times left him behind.”

There was a deep sense of skepticism.

Anthony and the Duke of Lopez are the same age, so it must have hurt him even more to see Anthony relegated to the back room.

Duke Lopez himself may have been waiting for the right timing to step back.

“Since Oscar Crestwell received his title, everything has changed for the Crestwell Grand Theatre.”

I reiterated my point once more.

Oscar has been erasing Kieran’s legacy piece by piece.

He seemed somehow ashamed of the father who had founded the Crestwell Grand Theatre and raised him.

To the point where he couldn’t even remember the aphorisms, Keiran left about theater.

It’s an inexplicable aloofness unless it’s intentional.

Duke Lopez, who lived in the same era as Keiran and was now seeing Oscar up close, might understand even better than I did.

I guess I was right, Duke Lopez had a look of regret on his face.