Chapter 23
Vivid blue eyes disappeared beneath his eyelids, then slowly reappeared.
“There’s something you must protect.”
He spoke after exhaling deeply. His voice was strangely cold, and I felt a jolt of fear.
“It’s true that once you become the mistress of the duchy, there are no more spatial restrictions.”
As I stood frozen with tension, unable to even nod, he continued.
“However, I would prefer you not enter the basement.”
“The basement in the west annex?”
Johannes nodded.
Why only the basement?
Suddenly, countless ghost stories involving basements flashed through my mind.
Tales like Bluebeard, and all sorts of folktales passed down orally, swirled in confusion in my head.
I narrowed my eyes.
“…You do realize how suspicious that sounds, right? Is there something in that basement no one’s supposed to see?”
I lowered my voice.
“Like a violent murderer, or a hidden corpse… something like that.”
A slight crack appeared on Johannes’s previously stiff expression. He laughed in disbelief.
“My future wife has quite the imagination. How do you even see me?”
It was the first time I saw such a hearty smile from him.
“Well, someone who always gets what he wants? You even ended up marrying me, after all.”
Johannes raised one eyebrow.
Since he didn’t object, he must have agreed with my assessment.
“Tell me why I can’t go in.”
“There’s no real reason. There are just a lot of important items, it’s dark since no sunlight comes in, and it’s very dusty.”
For all the ominous buildup, it was a pretty bland excuse. Still, it wouldn’t hurt to double-check.
“There’s no other reason?”
“None.”
Just as Johannes firmly answered—
“It’s been a while, Johannes.”
A soft baritone voice came from behind us.
When I turned in the direction of the voice, a man was walking toward us.
He wore a sleek charcoal-gray suit and had dull blonde hair neatly slicked back. He bore a faint resemblance to Johannes, though his features were friendlier.
Johannes’s face immediately hardened when he saw the man. A rare reaction from someone who rarely lost his composure.
“What brings you here?”
His voice was sharp with coldness.
“There’s nothing wrong with attending my only cousin’s wedding, is there?”
The man added, “Though I never expected to reunite with you at your wedding.”
His words clearly carried an undertone of mockery, though his expression remained serious—so subtle that it would be easy to miss without close observation.
A man difficult to read.
I’d only seen him briefly, but I could already understand why Johannes wasn’t happy to see him.
“Johannes Schultz getting married—someone who never showed the slightest interest in women.”
Then the man turned to me with a sly smile. Instinctively, I stepped closer to Johannes.
Unbothered, the man continued.
“So the rumors about you liking men were false, huh? Not that I ever believed them.”
He continued to prod at Johannes.
“If the Schultz family line ended with you, it’d be a national tragedy.”
Johannes glanced at me, then shut his mouth. He was clearly restraining himself in my presence.
“Wait… You’re still misunderstanding me?”
“Unfortunately, I don’t have the energy to think about you.”
The man burst into laughter.
“So cold. Looks like you have no intention of answering me. But judging from that temper of yours, I guess things are as usual.”
He gestured toward his chest and then his head with his index finger as he spoke, as if alluding to both heart and mind.
As the tension in the air grew, the man gave up on getting a response from Johannes and turned to me.
“My apologies for the late introduction. Congratulations on your marriage. I’m Edward Windsor.”
The man then formally introduced himself as Edward Windsor.
I was stunned. I had been trying to figure out who he was, and now I was speechless.
Any citizen of Dochilia would be shocked by that name. Because “Windsor” meant…
“Duchess?”
While I was still processing his identity, Edward addressed me.
“Are you feeling unwell?”
Apparently, I had been frowning without realizing.
“Oh, no. I’m sorry. I should have introduced myself sooner. Then, Your High—”
“No need for formalities,” Johannes interrupted, but Edward, clearly used to these situations, smoothly continued my words.
“—ness. In truth, I have no real royal duties. Please regard me instead as the Chief of Police for Barden.”
He carried himself with the elegance of a royal, though who knew what his true intentions were.
Knowing what he and the royal family had done to Johannes and the Schultz family, I couldn’t see him in a favorable light.
“You look good together, Johannes.”
At Edward’s remark, Johannes tilted his head slightly. There wasn’t the slightest hint of warmth in his icy blue eyes.
“Scary. No need to be so hostile.”
“What do you want?”
“Ah, I just came to apologize in advance. The flowers sent by the royal family to your wedding were entirely the king’s decision.”
“You mean the begonias?”
When a flicker of surprise crossed Edward’s face, Johannes casually added:
“Prince Windsor’s garden is a famous attraction in Dochilia.”
He was implying: “You obviously know those flowers came from your own garden, so why pretend otherwise?”
“Yes, they’re from my garden, but—” Edward paused and looked mildly aggrieved.
“Instead of the family you hate so much, I, who’ve been very busy with police work, came as the royal representative. Aren’t you being a bit harsh?”
“When will you fix that inflated ego of yours?”
Johannes raised an eyebrow with a bored expression. Edward responded cheerfully.
“Johannes, you know I’m… a bit different from the rest of our family. I have no interest in power, I swear. I truly had nothing to do with what happened. I wish you’d believe that.”
He then turned his gaze to me.
“Of course, I was also curious to see what kind of person the next Duchess would be. We are family, after all.”
“In name only.”
“So prickly.”
Edward laughed off Johannes’s comment and added playfully:
“I know you don’t like me, but no one knows each other better than we do. I kept wondering what kind of woman could possibly captivate Johannes Schultz…”
He stepped closer, peering into my face with his murky gray eyes.
After scanning my face thoroughly, he casually stepped back.
“More than I expected. I get it now.”
‘Get it.’ That word visibly irritated Johannes.
“You’ve shown your face, finished your personal business…”
“My, still the same. You really have a way of telling people to get lost politely.”
I couldn’t help letting out a small chuckle.
Edward had a way of getting under people’s skin.
At first, he seemed to be considerate of Johannes, but with a little attention, it was clear how sly his words truly were.
Clearly, he was well-versed in manipulation—what else could be expected from someone who helped frame the former Duke Schultz?
“Duchess?”
“…Yes?”
“What’s with the startled look? Don’t tell me you were just badmouthing me in your head—”
I awkwardly raised the corners of my lips.
“Ha?”
What’s this? Edward looked down at me with amused suspicion. Then he gave a short laugh and raised an eyebrow.
“So you were.”
I really should have managed my expression better.
He is royalty, after all. If word ever got out that I had impolite thoughts about a royal, I could end up in serious trouble.
I couldn’t risk creating problems for Johannes.
Even knowing that, I couldn’t control my expression. It must’ve been the cold—the muscles in my face felt frozen.
As I struggled to lift my stiff lips into a smile, Edward commented in a bored tone:
“Don’t look so gloomy. I’m well aware that I’m unpleasant.”
I stared blankly up at him as he adjusted his cravat and added:
“You have… an interesting look in your eyes.”
