Even now, thinking about that moment made her dizzy, but the interest of people constantly prying into it was burdensome to the point of being excessive. 

Considering the women gathered at that place, it was understandable, but the problem was how distorted the rumors had become.

“Evelyn, did the Duke really hit you? You didn’t make it up, did you?”

A sharp tone popped out amid the soothing voices saying she must have been shocked. A very irritating voice she knew well.

Evelyn, who had been about to tell the truth, glared at Caroline, who stood with her arms crossed, seemingly determined to humiliate her. 

She knew full well that Caroline hadn’t rushed over out of concern, but because of her nasty personality, obsessed with the idea that she had to be the center of attention in everything.

There’s a limit to laughing things off.

“Are you saying I’m lying?”

“Well. No matter how you look at it, it’s strange. How could such a kind person, who went to the trouble of giving a lady who can’t even ride a horse a ride, hit you for no reason? It doesn’t make sense. Right?”

At her words seeking agreement with a shrug, the other friends who had been worried about Evelyn exchanged awkward glances. 

Though they were called friends, Evelyn stood up abruptly after observing how they all watched Caroline’s reactions, unable to move at her single word.

“What are you saying? Are you saying I did something to deserve being hit?”

“That sounds more plausible. Something did happen, right? What was it? Why are you hiding that part and not talking? Anyone can see it’s suspicious.”

Unlucky brat. Caroline continued in a confrontational tone, seemingly determined to somehow grab attention by twisting people’s words. 

Caroline, who dominated society after Sheila, enjoyed standing in people’s attention no matter what. Until recently, everyone had been busy praising Caroline’s beauty when they gathered, but these past few days, as people’s interest shifted to Evelyn, it ate at her.

Caroline kept pressing, clearly trying to pin the blame on Evelyn as the one who caused it all.

“Honestly, spill it. Why would that noble Duke hit you? He got angry because you made some mistake.”

“No, it’s not like that. I didn’t make a mistake, he was the one who first—”

Evelyn’s lips shut tight after saying that much. If it were just a trivial argument, that would be better. How could she confess that she’d freaked out over his embarrassing part, burst into tears in a panic, and misspoke?

Under the weight of the focused gazes and not knowing how to explain this, Evelyn’s lips twitched as she mumbled.

“It’s something like that.”

“Then where exactly did he hit you? Show us once. You must have applied medicine or something.”

Evelyn, who flinched, rolled her eyes around. Leaving aside whose fault it was, since she’d never actually been hit, there were no wounds to show.

When Evelyn’s fuming lips suddenly pressed tightly shut, Caroline giggled, seemingly sensing something from that reaction.

“I knew it. I figured you were lying.”

“That’s not it!”

“Stop acting like a child. Do you even know what happened to the Duke’s reputation because of your lie to get some attention?”

“…What?”

Evelyn’s complexion, which had been demanding answers, turned pale.

“Because of you, he became a laughingstock among all the nobles.”

She had no idea. She knew the incident had spread through the capital, but what Elkas was hearing because of it hadn’t reached Evelyn’s ears, as she’d been busy avoiding him.

“How heartbroken he must be with that lofty character of his.”

Caroline, who had been arrogantly fanning herself, lifted the corners of her mouth. That face was annoying enough to make her angry, but unfortunately, she had nothing to say about that point.

The distortion of the rumor was entirely because of her hasty outcry in her confusion.

“The Duke is so pitiful. How did he get tangled up with you and caught up in rumors he didn’t need to hear?”

“If you’re going to keep saying that, leave!”

At that one shouted word, the friends who had been watching the situation all along flinched, but only Caroline continued fanning herself elegantly, like this was the reaction she’d expected.

In the end, Evelyn called the maids to dismiss all the guests. Even if it was rude, she didn’t want to hear more of that right now. 

Left alone, Evelyn sat quietly on the bed before sticking her head out the window to confirm the departing carriages.

“Nasty brat.”

Coming to visit the sick and only making someone’s blood boil before leaving.

Caroline, who had always been good at saying mean things, had been particularly sharp and upsetting since the marriage proposal came from the Duke.

Recalling the Duke’s reaction for a moment, Evelyn thought about how agonizing the situation must be for him, now fallen into all sorts of scandals. 

If he, a valiant knight no less, had his name bandied about under the misunderstanding that he’d hit a woman—contrary to chivalry—it would deal no small blow to his image.

“What should I do? Should I reveal even now that it’s a false rumor?”

Pacing around the drawing room in circles, Evelyn bit her lip.

To come forward and correct it now, there were far too many nobles who had heard what she said at the hunting festival. 

The moment she admitted it was a mistake, she might be punished for insulting the Duke, the head of a prestigious family. When that time came— Evelyn, who got goosebumps, shook her shoulders.

“That absolutely can’t happen. My parents won’t let me off.”

The Count and Countess, still quiet for now, wouldn’t end it with just scolding and house arrest if that matter came to light. Evelyn, knowing they were the type to lock her in the separate building like when she was young and more, trembled.

But it was strange that there was no particular contact from the ducal residence despite such an uproar.

“But why is there no word?”

As the young Duke of a family with incomparably higher prestige than her own, Elkas was in a position to hold her accountable for lying.

Yet for some reason, he didn’t think to correct the false rumor and let himself be subjected to those vulgar gossips—though it must be humiliating, he didn’t send any letter either.

If he just said one word, people would believe him, not her.

When Evelyn, lost in thought, tilted her head, a maid who entered announced another visitor.

“I told you to send them all away.”

She naturally thought it was the friends she assumed had left, but the response was unexpected.

“Well… Duke Berenberg has arrived.”

* * *

At the news that the Duke had come to visit while her parents were out, Evelyn panicked, but she hurriedly tidied her appearance and went out to the entrance. Thanks to the foolish maid, her deliberation over whether to meet him or not didn’t last long.

<Tell him I’m not here.>

<I already told him you’re here.>

Though she didn’t particularly want to see him, avoiding him unconditionally wasn’t the answer. It was hard to keep turning away from a man suffering unintentionally because of her.

When she went out to the back garden, she saw the Duke just receiving a teacup handed to him by a maid. The man sitting among the fresh flower beds, receiving the spring sunlight directly, looked like viewing a masterpiece painting.

‘He looks perfectly fine when you just look at him.’

Watching his fine golden hair sway softly like waves, Evelyn momentarily found herself captivated by his appearance, then shook her head to snap out of it.

“Get it together. Like a lady. Never bring shame to Sheila Windelson’s honor.”

After chewing over the words she’d always heard from her parents, Evelyn walked forward with a resolute face. The Duke, who had been elegantly sipping tea, belatedly discovered Evelyn, stood up, and bowed according to etiquette.

“Thank you for coming out despite my discourtesy of visiting so suddenly without prior notice, my lady.”

“If you knew that, why didn’t you give prior notice?”

Evelyn, who snapped back awkwardly for no reason, sat down primly across from him. At those words, the Duke’s face stiffened ambiguously. 

Seeing the shadow on his handsome face, Evelyn, whose heart softened a bit, spoke first.

“Why… didn’t you say it wasn’t true?”

“If I had, wouldn’t it mean Lady Windelson lied?”

Ah…

So he endured that humiliation for her sake?

Then she had nothing to say again, didn’t she?

At the feeling of her insides tickling for no reason, Evelyn clasped her hands tightly together.

Silence settled across the small table.

In the quietness of birdsong and flowers rustling in the wind, Evelyn only brought her teacup to her lips.

Fortunately, before the awkwardness reached its peak, the Duke continued speaking.

“Actually… I’m the one who should apologize for what happened that day.”

“…”

“If only I hadn’t shown you such a disgraceful sight that day.”

The moment he brought that up, Evelyn’s cheeks flushed hot.

Was he going to explain so directly?

Fortunately, there was no one around except them, but Evelyn, frightened someone might hear, tried to speak, but the Duke was faster.

“Actually… what happened that day wasn’t because I harbored any impure intentions toward you, my lady. To be honest, I have one secret that others don’t know about.”

“A secret…?”

When Evelyn, who had been frantically thinking of all sorts of reasons why a man would get aroused, asked urgently, the Duke nodded heavily.

“It’s that… the male part reacts regardless of my intentions. It’s absolutely not because I harbor strange thoughts.”

In truth, what excited his body was the woman before his eyes.

Even now, just facing her like this, he was surprised at himself by how blood seemed to boil and the heavy feeling concentrated below. His heart churning like boiling over was a bonus.

He swore it wasn’t from lewd thoughts every time he saw her.

But he couldn’t confess this straightforwardly.

Because then those pure eyes would hold contempt.

Therefore, Elkas had no choice but to avoid an answer that would frighten her. But since telling lies to the woman he loved wasn’t a knight’s duty, he decided to express it indirectly.

“My body is a bit more special than others. It just… rises on its own, so that day too, I ended up showing you an unseemly sight.”

“So you’re saying it just does that on its own?”

At the question that omitted precise designation, the Duke nodded as if that was correct.

Evelyn, who had only thought he harbored impure intentions toward her, naturally couldn’t help but be shocked by that explanation. So it reacted on its own without any causal relationship?

Though she had basic education, she was ignorant when it came to s*xual relations between men and women.

Certainly, she’d heard that when men get excited, their reproductive parts undergo changes. Like how women develop br*asts as they age, men’s genitals swell.

Though it was an embarrassing subject matter, the teacher who educated Evelyn told her it was like a sacred preparatory ritual for bearing children.

And Sheila had also mentioned that it was good if that was big.

So it frequently grew on its own more than others, and she happened to catch him in that state twice.

In other words, he was now explaining that day’s events to her while revealing the secret of an intimate body part that shouldn’t be shown to anyone.

As Evelyn thought quietly, something flashed through her mind.

“Then the symptom you showed then… is an illness.”

“…Pardon?”

Unable to see the Duke’s face blinking at the unexpected conclusion, Evelyn nodded to herself.

“I thought it was a bit strange.”

In fact, Evelyn had been bothered by something inwardly. How could such a neat man l*st after her instead of Sheila or Caroline?

Evelyn was a woman who knew her place to some degree. There was no way a man would fall for her at first sight when she was a tomboy far from being a lady.

Her continued thoughts went to the man before her eyes, shrouded in secrecy, known to have secluded himself on his estate for a while. When it came to reasons for high nobility to do that, there was definitely something to hide.

Connecting it with his earlier explanation, it wasn’t difficult to understand.

“That’s what it was. The Duke has an illness unknown to others. And I just happened to find out about it.”

“Wait, my lady—”