~Chapter 13~
I just stood there looking dumbfounded, still trying to figure out why Duke Romanov had suddenly shown up like that—but Timothy reacted totally differently.
“Is he… upset?”
His expression was off.
He didn’t even try to hide his feelings and said in a pretty sharp tone:
“I didn’t realize the Duke lacked such basic manners.”
Whoa, Timothy? What’s with the attitude?!
He never acted like this before.
Duke Romanov shot back just as sharply,
“Basic manners, huh.”
“Seems like you showed up without even making an appointment.”
Listening to them argue, I rolled my eyes.
“Uh, Timothy… you came without an appointment too, you know…”
I barely managed to keep that thought from slipping out.
A strange tension hung between the two as the Duke spoke again.
“The Lady and I don’t need appointments to visit each other. In fact, she quite enjoys surprise visits. Don’t you, Lady Hazel?”
At his sudden comment, my already wide eyes grew even wider.
I had no choice but to awkwardly nod, since I’d also dropped in on him unannounced just yesterday.
“Haha… yeah, I guess I do that sometimes?”
At my agreement, Timothy finally relaxed his expression, as if letting it go.
Seeing that, I made a suggestion to him.
“Timothy, how about you go say hi to Duke Lindbergh for a bit? I’ll talk with… that guy for a moment…”
Before I even finished my sentence, Duke Romanoff cut me off like he couldn’t believe what he just heard.
“That guy?”
One of his eyebrows lifted.
“I mean, uh… that gentleman…”
He sighed—a mix of disbelief and something like laughter—and ran his fingers through his hair.
Watching everything, Timothy turned toward me and said gently—completely different from how he talked to the Duke.
“I’ll go greet His Grace. You two talk. I’ll see you later.”
“Ah, sorry—it’s been so long and now this…”
Timothy just smiled and shook his head.
“No need to apologize. It’s not like we need formalities between us.”
Then he turned to glance at the Duke.
The smile on his face from just seconds ago was completely gone, now replaced with a cold expression.
He gave a small nod without saying anything and left the room.
Duke Romanov, who had been squinting at the door, muttered to himself,
“I wonder who should really be talking about manners.”
I couldn’t understand why he was acting this way—showing up uninvited and clearly not happy about Timothy being there.
They weren’t even enemies or anything.
“You seem to know Timothy?” I asked.
“As the head of a noble house, I recognized the Tower Master. But we’re not personally acquainted.”
It made sense that he’d know of him—he was a major figure in the Empire.
I scratched my cheek, thinking maybe I asked something too obvious, but then he locked eyes with me.
“You seem pretty close with the Tower Master, though.”
“We’re friends.”
At my simple reply, he stared at me like I’d just said something shocking.
It’s not like being friends with Timothy was a crime, but the look in his eyes got intense.
To be fair, I could kind of understand why he was surprised.
I was known for not attending social events at all. And being friends with a man? That was rare even for socialites who were out every night.
“Our fathers were close. Timothy used to come over often to spend time with my brothers, and somehow we became the closest.”
I didn’t even realize I was explaining so much until the words were already out of my mouth.
I didn’t know why I felt the need to explain myself, but my mouth wouldn’t stop moving.
Then came something totally unexpected: a low, gentle voice—something I never thought I’d hear from him.
“Hazel.”
Startled, I snapped my head up.
This was not the voice of the cold, blunt man I knew.
He had just called me by name.
I literally felt my hair stand on end.
“Uhhh… what?”
I responded with the weirdest sound and made a super awkward face without meaning to.
Thankfully, he kept talking before I could embarrass myself any further.
“…The Tower Master called you by name, so I figured I should too.”
“Ohhh… right…”
Ah.
So that’s what that was. He was copying Timothy.
Oddly enough, I felt relieved.
My instincts clearly still didn’t trust this man.
“But when I say your name, you look at me like I’m some kind of bug.”
“Not a bug, exactly…”
Maybe… more like the Grim Reaper?
I couldn’t say it out loud, of course. But it felt like the perfect description.
“Something bug-like, though, huh?”
“No. Not at all.”
“…Really?”
“Totally not.”
“Hard to believe that.”
“You wound me. You should believe me. We’re in a business partnership built on trust, remember?”
My cheeky tone made one of his eyebrows twitch.
Then he suddenly got serious, like he needed to make his intentions crystal clear.
“I’m not accusing you and the Tower Master of anything. I’m not trying to twist this into something else.”
“Of course not.”
What kind of weird conversation is this?
I let out a small sigh and looked up at him. No matter how long I stared, I still couldn’t figure out why he was even here.
“So… Your Grace, what did you actually come here for?”
He let out a soft sound and finally spoke in a calmer tone.
“You accepted the proposal to be my partner at the Founding Festival.”
“Yes.”
“So I thought it was only right to come and see you in advance.”
Really?
I barely stopped myself from saying that out loud.
He must’ve caught the irritated look on my face, because he gave me this deadpan expression and said, “You’re acting like I came here just to see you.”
“Didn’t you?”
“I came to speak with Duke Lindbergh. I’ll be showing up at the festival with the royal family, and I wanted to greet him beforehand.”
“…Oh.”
Now it made sense.
“An engaged man who’s never even visited suddenly shows up holding his fiancée’s hand at a grand ball—that wouldn’t sit well with any father. I had to be considerate.”
The Founding Festival in the Bryant Empire includes three days of fancy banquets, followed by a hunting event on the last day.
Each banquet has its own mood, but the first night is the most formal.
The opening event is the entrance of the royal family, accompanied by the three ducal houses.
It’s a huge honor, and even noble children can’t take part unless they’ve already debuted in society.
Come to think of it, I’ve never attended before.
That made sense—after my debut, I never did any socializing.
“Huh… I guess that means I’ll be part of that first entrance this time?”
I blurted out the dumbest question without thinking, then froze as I realized how silly it sounded.
I didn’t need to impress Duke Romanov, but I didn’t want to look like an airhead either.
But he clearly never expected anything from me anyway. He just shrugged and answered casually,
“Not just the entrance. We’ll be walking around the banquet hall together too—as partners.”
Partners.
Just imagining holding his hand and walking around made me feel that same wave of discomfort again.
I couldn’t really explain it.
I could only chalk it up to instincts—pure survival instincts.
“Haah…”
I sighed without even meaning to.
The Duke tilted his head, annoyed by my obvious reaction.
“You sound like being my partner is some kind of nightmare.”
“…Huh?”
“Am I really that unworthy to stand next to you at a banquet?”
