Strategy? Does he think I’m seducing him?
But even I have to admit, it could be interpreted as a ‘Come and give me a kiss!’ signal.
His neatly defined jaw tilted, and then a soft, warm lip touched my forehead.
It was just a touch on the forehead, but my whole body tingled.
The gap of skin above his shirt buttoned neatly to the top, and his loosely undone tie felt incredibly sensual.
‘Good thoughts!’
I squeezed my eyes shut and then slowly opened them, and his languidly lowered face was close.
That expression is cheating.
He pulled my body closer, pressing me tightly against him, and whispered.
“May I do this every day?”
“There’s a lot missing from that question.”
Then, he reddened around his eyes and gave a plausible reason.
“When I was young, my father would lightly kiss my mother before setting sail. Once he went out to sea, they wouldn’t see each other for a long time.”
Going to work is just going to the next building over…
I patted his broad back and subtly pulled my upper body away. I was embarrassed to have my rapid breathing and heartbeat discovered.
“Have a good time volunteering today.”
For once, Masera didn’t say he would come along.
“If anyone bothers you, be sure to tell me.”
His added words felt chilling, and I asked very carefully.
“What happens to the person who bothers me?”
“I’ll make them disappear.”
Scary!
* * *
Cynthia, at the orphanage, went straight to Duke Rukanosa.
“Duke, would you mind talking with me in a quiet place?”
“Of course.”
The Duke nodded with a slightly expectant look.
Cynthia went to the empty playroom and approached him closely.
“You know Anna disappeared, right?”
“I am aware.”
The Duke stood up straight, lifted his chin, and replied.
“You’re not hiding her, are you?”
It was a question to confirm whether he knew she was dead.
The Duke looked at her with an awkward expression.
“No. It seems your sister took her. As for where she is… I didn’t ask, so I don’t know.”
‘He doesn’t talk to Helene. They didn’t seem to have a good relationship.’
Cynthia, having grasped the general situation, said.
“Have you been to the house where Anna was staying?”
“No. I only heard about her disappearance from my aide.”
“Why don’t you go take a look?”
The Duke stroked his chin, lost in thought, then slowly nodded.
“I’ll stop by briefly after my morning schedule, on the way to the market.”
After making that promise and leaving the playroom, Makia approached, wearing an apron over a dark navy suit.
“Hello. Are you finished cleaning?”
The Duke, realizing it was a place that needed cleaning, subtly turned his body and slipped away like an eel.
In the end, Cynthia ended up cleaning the playroom with Makia.
‘How cowardly, running away alone? I hope you step on a Lego barefoot.’
“Please, my lady, just organize the toys. I’ll take care of the rest.”
Makia said with a gentle smile.
Cynthia was amazed to see that every place he passed became sparkling clean.
“You’re really good at cleaning?”
At Cynthia’s exclamation, Makia, holding a duster, turned to look at Cynthia.
“I’m also good at cooking.”
“Wow, even domestic.”
“The lady who marries me won’t have to lift a finger.”
But somehow, I feel like she’ll be crying tears of sorrow…
Cynthia mulled over the chilling characteristics of the slit-eyed man.
He covered his mouth and gave a gentle eye smile.
“Of course, noble ladies like you have servants to do everything, so that won’t happen.”
“Still, your future wife will be happy. A husband who personally serves breakfast? I wouldn’t even need to eat to feel full.”
He, who was dusting the cabinet, chuckled softly.
At that moment, Cynthia, who was chatting and moving boxes, stepped on something and her eyes widened.
“Agh!”
The pain of stubbing a toe on a doorframe, it was because she stepped on a small toy block.
“Are you alright?”
Makia hurried over.
Cynthia sat down, tears welling up in her eyes.
“My curse, my curse…”
The curse to step on a Lego came right back to me!
“Does it hurt so much that you’re cursing the world?”
He was already crouching down, examining her closely.
Cynthia quickly backed away. It was a scene that could be easily misunderstood.
Makia chuckled softly.
“I stepped on one recently too.”
“The same one?”
“A worse one.”
Makia picked up an even more vicious triangular block and showed it to her.
It was enough to send shivers down her spine just looking at it.
He openly burst into laughter.
“If I married someone like you, my lady, every day would be enjoyable.”
It was a killer line that could shake the hearts of many women, but Cynthia was lost in other thoughts.
‘Would Masera enjoy being with me too?’
Suddenly, a scale-like pattern appeared and disappeared between Makia’s shirt sleeve and leather glove.
‘A tattoo?’
It was so quick that she couldn’t see it clearly.
But she felt a strange sense of déjà vu again.
“Makia, have we met before? No matter how much I think about it, you seem familiar.”
She finally asked the question she had been holding in all along.
Makia’s golden eyes widened and then narrowed again.
“I wonder. Would there be any point of contact between me and the Princess…”
His gaze, as he swept back his black hair, landed on Cynthia’s necklace.
‘If I get my hands on that Princess, I’ll get the rest of the royal family’s assets.’
It was an appealing prospect for him, who pursued profit.
“We can create them together in the future. Through volunteering.”
Makia still wore the mask of an eye smile.
* * *
At lunchtime, Cynthia and the Duke headed to Anna’s house under the pretext of buying groceries.
The house where Anna had been staying was quiet, and there were no signs of intrusion or resistance.
“It seems she disappeared from another location.”
The Duke said as he looked around the house, but Cynthia’s thoughts were different.
“No. Anna was taken from here. Probably in the evening. There are traces of preparing breakfast for the next morning.”
Cynthia, with her experience as a maid, quickly noticed the dishes dried after dinner and the ingredients prepared.
Cynthia picked up the frozen dishcloth with her fingers and began to speak.
“Helene once misunderstood that I killed the Vicente family.”
The Duke simply nodded without saying anything.
Cynthia continued slowly.
“She recently told me that Anna was dead. She seemed to think that I had killed Anna as well, and threatened me to repay the organization’s money.”
At this, the Duke sighed lowly.
“The maid’s situation is unfortunate. But in my opinion, the Princess doesn’t seem like she could kill even a bug…”
Before the Duke could finish his sentence, a shocking sound rang out.
Clang-!
“Ew, a money spider, disgusting!”
The Duke coughed dryly as he watched Cynthia swat a bug with a frying pan.
Cynthia, holding the frying pan, slowly turned to look at him.
“Perhaps, do you share the same opinion, Duke?”
“No, I do not.”
The Duke quickly shook his head in denial.
“The Duke’s family has no reason to be hostile to the Princess, who is favored by Queen Medea. My mother and Aunts, the most important elders, also like the Princess.”
Then, the Duke noticed something and approached it. A business card had fallen under the bed.
‘Commedia dell’arte, Sales Manager Capitano?’
Wasn’t that a front company for an illegal arms trafficking organization?
‘Could Helene have commissioned them?’
She commissioned them to find and take Anna away, and if she died unavoidably in the process… is that why she suspects Cynthia?
The Duke, holding the business card, hurriedly stood up.
‘If it’s revealed that Helene is involved with an illegal arms trafficking organization, things will escalate.’
They were known for being cunning and cruel, creating tragedies and laughing at them like comedies, so they were called ‘masked comedians’.
This was something that could lead to losing everything.
* * *
Helene stood staring intently at a photograph. A crumpled letter was held in one hand.
“The person she was sincere with wasn’t Anna…”
In the photo received from Capitano, Cynthia and the Duke were together in a house. It was a scene of the two of them sitting side by side on a bed.
