Chapter 8
The silence was broken by an unexpected person.
“Orte. What kind of way is that to speak to your father?”
Clef looked back at the butler.
“Butler, who is Orte’s personal attendant?”
“Ah, yes. The young lady’s assigned maid is Ceff.”
“Ceff, take Orte to her room.”
“Yes, yes!”
Ceff hurriedly approached under Clef’s order and carefully grabbed Orte’s arm.
“Lady. Please go to your room.”
Unlike her earlier attitude, as if she would resist until the end, Orte obediently moved.
She even bowed politely before passing them and going up the stairs.
“Father……”
“Ellen.”
Clef cut off Ellen’s words.
“You also go back.”
Ellen moved his lips, but eventually turned away.
The Duke of Weekend stood still for a moment, then turned around. After confirming that the Duke had gone upstairs to his office, Clef finally sighed in relief.
Later
Besides the punishment order, there was another change.
A personal maid assigned to her 24 hours a day—Ceff.
Her job was to follow Orte everywhere from the moment she left her room.
But because of the one-week confinement order, Orte stayed in her room all day. It was supposed to be punishment, but aside from being boring, it was nothing special.
And on the day the punishment ended, Orte’s door suddenly opened without warning.
“Hey, parasite.”
Orte shifted her gaze from the ceiling to Ellen.
“You’ve been locked up for a week. Feeling better now?”
“……”
“You’re not answering?”
Only then did Orte respond lazily.
“Yes.”
Her emotionless voice, without even annoyance, made Ellen frown.
“You really reflected during the week? Need another week to fix your brain?”
“Yes.”
Orte answered carelessly and looked back at the ceiling.
“Ah, seriously. What is wrong with you?”
Ellen muttered to himself, then cleared his throat.
“Anyway, where were you that day?”
He straightened his shoulders.
The Orte he knew was always desperate for attention. Normally, she would have cried and clung to them when questioned like this.
But her answer completely shattered his expectations.
“I have no obligation to tell you, young master.”
“W-what? Young master?”
Ellen pointed at himself in disbelief.
“Did you just call me young master? Seriously?”
“Yes.”
“Damn. So Clef was right?”
Ellen bent down and looked at her face closely.
“You look normal. So you really changed your method to get attention?”
Orte’s expression hardened as his face came closer. Ellen, not noticing, straightened up again.
“Whatever. Do what you want. I don’t know how long that’ll last. You’re doing stupid things again.”
“……”
“And listen, the Crown Prince is coming today, so behave yourself.”
After Ellen left, Orte continued staring at the ceiling for a long time before finally sitting up.
She had lost track of days, but Ellen’s visit meant the punishment period was probably over.
She put on a shawl and opened the door. Ceff immediately came up behind her.
Orte glanced at her, noticing how closely she followed. Ceff misunderstood the look and spoke.
“I am Ceff, your personal maid, Lady.”
Without responding, Orte walked ahead.
She headed to the library.
After opening the door, she turned back.
“No maid is allowed inside the library. Wait outside.”
“W-what? But I’m supposed to stay with you at all times.”
“I’m not going anywhere. Stay here.”
Orte closed the door.
The maid did not force her way in, probably because she knew the library contained rare books. After confirming that, Orte walked deeper inside.
The librarian stood up when she saw Orte, but Orte waved her hand, and the librarian sat back down awkwardly.
Orte picked out several books.
“I’ll return them tomorrow.”
After confirming they were ordinary books that did not require special permission, the librarian handed them over.
Orte left the library with the books.
While walking down the hallway, she stopped at the entrance of the Duke of Weekend’s estate.
Several luxurious carriages with imperial symbols were parked outside.
The owner was obvious.
Among the people stepping out, Orte saw bright blonde hair and frowned. Before the person could turn his head, she walked away.
“Bring me an apple.”
She said that and closed the door.
Lying on her bed with the book, Orte soon sat up again due to noise outside. She grabbed the window latch to close it—but froze when she saw the face more clearly.
A handsome face, about the same age as Ellen, slightly lowered his head so his expression was partially hidden.
But Orte could clearly picture his face in her mind.
A face she had seen countless times and drawn in her memory.
‘Casey.’
She rolled the name in her mind.
Casey was the Third Prince—and her fiancé. He was also the one who ultimately became Yvonne’s choice after conflict with the Crown Prince.
She had loved him. She had loved him before. But not anymore.
As if sensing her gaze, Casey, who had been standing beside the Crown Prince, turned his head.
Click.
At the same time, Orte closed the window.
They had made eye contact for less than a second, but her heart was already pounding.
“Disgusting……”
She frowned and held her chest.
After closing the curtains tightly, a maid brought her an apple.
“Go out. Don’t come in until I call you.”
Orte bit into the apple and opened her book.
Later
“Casey. What are you looking at?”
The Crown Prince followed Casey’s gaze.
But he only saw the Duke of Weekend’s mansion—no visible person.
“Ah, it’s nothing.”
Casey lowered his head again.
“Everything ready?”
Ellen approached in hunting clothes. The Crown Prince, also dressed for hunting, nodded while stretching.
“Yeah. But the mansion feels a bit quiet.”
“Ah… because of what happened with, uh, Orte recently.”
“Oh?”
The Crown Prince heard Orte’s name but didn’t ask further.
However, Casey listened carefully.
A small girl in pajamas, clearly not servant clothing.
‘Orte.’
Casey repeated the name of the girl he had briefly made eye contact with.
Meanwhile
“Yvonne.”
It was a gentle voice.
Orte stopped walking because the voice was both familiar and unfamiliar.
It was Casey—her fiancé—but he had never spoken in such a sweet tone before.
And yet, Orte liked his voice.
Whenever he spoke softly like that, she felt calm and light. That was why she always tried hard to make him talk more.
Even though it was difficult, she was always happy at his small reactions.
“How long do you plan to avoid me?”
His voice sounded almost desperate.
Orte’s heart pounded with unease.
She peeked into the garden.
Yvonne was standing with her back turned, and Casey was looking at her.
“You already realized it, didn’t you? The one I truly love is… Yvonne.”
Orte trembled.
Yvonne turned around with tears in her eyes.
“No… I don’t know. I know nothing.”
“Yvonne. How long will you keep lying to yourself?”
“I… I can’t betray my sister, Casey!”
Yvonne sobbed in pain.
Casey grabbed her shoulders.
“I am not betraying Lady Orte, Yvonne. I am simply returning to my rightful partner.”
