As I blankly stared at Grand Duke Richard, my gaze landed on the red bloodstains that had dyed his sleeves and chest.
‘That’s not the Grand Duke’s blood.’
He looked like hell, but there were no visible wounds bad enough to bleed that much. A chill ran up my spine.
“What is this…”
“It’s late. I’m turning in.”
The Grand Duke sharply turned his head away, as if wanting nothing more to do with me. In the air where he passed lingered the smell of sweat and blood.
‘Butcher.’
The word flashed through my mind. That’s what people here called him. A dark suspicion flickered to life, and I swallowed hard.
“No. There’s no way.”
I muttered to myself as I stared at the Grand Duke’s firmly shut bedroom door.
* * *
I spent the entire night agonizing. At first, I wondered if he had killed someone, and then I worried about what would happen if he was the real culprit behind Devon Hayden’s murder.
…Because then I wouldn’t get my contingency fee.
After tossing and turning all night, I marched straight to the Grand Duke’s room at the crack of dawn.
And struck out completely.
Instead of the Grand Duke, it was Madam Verona who greeted me, bowing deeply.
“He left before sunrise, but he said he’d return shortly.”
“And where did he go?”
“He didn’t say.”
“……”
My eyebrows drooped into an exaggerated frown. Honestly, right around the time the sky started lightening, my thoughts had quietly shifted from ‘my contingency fee’ to ‘is the Grand Duke okay?’ He had come home covered in blood, after all.
‘What if the Crown Prince is tailing him? Or worse… sent an assassin…?’
While I stood there in full-on doomsday mode, Madam Verona cautiously changed the subject.
“Um, Your Highness. Don’t you need to prepare for tomorrow’s ball? You don’t have any suitable dresses…”
She looked quite distressed over the fact that my wardrobe consisted of only plain day dresses. I forced a smile, trying to shake off the spiral of dark thoughts.
“Oh, a friend of mine actually offered to help me with that.”
“A friend…?”
Madam Verona trailed off, clearly skeptical. She didn’t seem to believe that Elena, a commoner, would have a friend who could help her with a ball. But just then, the sharp clatter of hooves rang out from the garden.
“Oh, that must be her now.”
“Good heavens… That carriage—it’s Duchess Bovary’s…!”
Madam Verona slapped a hand over her mouth in shock. Three massive carriages had rolled up in front of the Grand Ducal Residence, each carved with the signature rose emblem of Duchess Bovary. Madam Verona whispered in awe.
“When I worked at the Imperial Palace, I used to dream about seeing that elegant carriage up close. To think I’d be serving such a noblewomen at the Grand Ducal Residence within my lifetime…!”
Madam Verona looked absolutely giddy. After all, a maids’ greatest joy was to admire the glittering glory of noblewomen and assist them, but up until now she hadn’t even seen a single strand of noblewoman’s hair at the Grand Ducal Residence.
So it was little wonder that having the Empire’s iconic Duchess Bovary be the first noblewoman she’d serve here had her practically vibrating with excitement.
“You know she’s not Duchess Bovary anymore, right?”
I chuckled at her starry-eyed wonder and leaned in to whisper.
She had recently divorced Duke Bovary, after all.
As if on cue, the woman herself stepped down from the carriage and, the moment she saw me, got all teary-eyed.
“Elena!”
“Welcome, Claire.”
Claire Zakarias—fresh from her twenty year sentence as ‘Duchess Bovary’—was already glowing with new life.
“Thanks to you, the division of assets wrapped up so smoothly. You have no idea how relieved I feel.”
“I told you to trust me, didn’t I?”
“You did. Oh, and the reporters covering the case published the letter you read, so every single one of the Duke’s former lovers were named in the newspaper! He was absolutely humiliated.”
Claire looked positively pleased with herself. She clasped my hands, eyes brimming with gratitude.
“I owe it all to you, Elena. I never could’ve pulled this off without you.”
“You’re too kind.”
“From now on, if you ever need anything, just leave it to me.”
“Is that why you brought all of that with you?”
I glanced behind Claire and let out a low whistle. The servants she’d brought were unloading an endless stream of stuff from all three carriages. Claire snapped open a lacy fan and chuckled.
“Of course. You may be a legal expert, Elena, but I’m the party expert.”
Claire had brought enough gowns, jewelry, and accessories for several dozen Summer Balls. Before long, the Grand Ducal Residence’s drawing room was overflowing with all things sparkly and gorgeous.
“So this is what it feels like to serve a noblewoman.”
“My eyes are finally getting a reward after all that armor and steel.”
If possible, the servants of the Grand Ducal Residence were even more excited. Their eyes, which had only subsisted on drab soldiers, were now feasting in admiration.
Stroking my chin, I gazed at the rainbow of dresses and said to Claire.
“Picking just one of these is going to be hard.”
“Just one?”
“Huh?”
I blinked at Claire as she stared at me like I’d just grown a second head.
“There’s no need to choose. They’re all for you, Elena. Every last one is a gift.”
“All of them?!”
My eyes went wide. Even at a glance, the haul she brought must’ve been worth a fortune.
“I’m filthy rich now all because of you, Elena. Of course I can do at least this much!”
Claire rolled up her sleeves. One gesture from her, and her servants descended on me like stylists in a makeover montage.
“Now just leave everything ball-related to me.”
A few hours later.
I was a husk of a human being.
I had donned and doffed more dresses and accessories than I had energy to count.
“With your complexion, you could wear a potato sack and still look good. But in this, Grand Duke Richard is guaranteed to fall for you all over again.”
Claire beamed as she admired me in a blush-pink silk gown.
“Y-you really think so?”
I feigned a bashful smile to humor her.
As if that robot of a man would ever fall for me. Please.
“Oh, right! Elena, you said this was your first ball, didn’t you?”
“Yes, it is.”
“Then naturally, your first dance partner will be Grand Duke Richard!”
My hand froze in midair as I adjusted my gown. The contract with Young Marquess Spencer flashed through my mind.
“Uh… do I… have to?”
“Of course! Your first dance partner is incredibly important.”
“It is? Wait, what happens if I don’t dance with His Grace first? Is it some kind of breach of etiquette?”
My heart dropped. What if dancing with the Young Marquess first was so unconventional that it exposed our contract marriage?
Thankfully, Claire shook her head.
“Well… There’s no formal rule that says you have to dance with your husband first.
Even I didn’t always dance with my ex-husband at balls.”
I nodded. Now that I thought about it, if it were such a big breach of etiquette, the Young Marquess probably wouldn’t have suggested it in the first place.
Still, something felt off.
“Then why did you say it was important?”
“There’s an old superstition in the Empire. They say your first dance partner becomes either your first love… or your last.”
“Ah…”
I let out a sigh of relief. Honestly, the Grand Duke didn’t seem like the kind of man who would know—or care—about such superstitions.
“That’s why debutantes get really obsessed over their first dance partners.”
Claire’s eyes softened. She clasped her hands, as if lost in some wistful memory.
“My debutante ball was twenty-five years ago. My partner back then… was my first love.”
“O-oh, I see.”
The conversation had suddenly veered into oddly sentimental territory. I subtly looked away, but Claire took my hand again, her eyes twinkling.
“Since you and Grand Duke Richard are the most talked-about couple in the Empire, I have high hopes for this ball.”
“H-ha… I didn’t realize we were that famous.”
Cold sweat beaded at the back of my neck.
The only reason I was attending this ball was to get close to Crown Prince Lawrence and investigate.
But now, thanks to Claire’s enthusiasm, it looked like I’d be thrust into the spotlight.
Not long after Claire left, I sat alone in the drawing room. I sank into the sofa, replaying her words in my head.
“Your first dance partner is incredibly important.”
Back then, all I’d heard was, Let me pay you a ridiculous amount of money for one dance. It had sounded like easy profit. That’s why I’d accepted the Young Marquess’s offer without a second thought.
“It might not be against etiquette, but it’s still kinda weird…”
Even if my relationship with the Grand Duke was just contractual, something about having my first dance be with the Young Marquess Spencer now felt uncomfortable.
‘People would definitely find it weird.’
My brain helpfully supplied an excuse.
‘So if I just explain things to Young Marquess Spencer he’d get it…’
That was when I sensed someone behind me.
I turned—and saw a man stepping into the drawing room.
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