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I could not believe such a grown man could smile so pure and bright. With that smile, I let go of my worries about whether it would be okay to tell me my name.
Anyone who had seen his smiling face would have done so.
Without any doubts, calculations, or intentions, he just asked out of curiosity. Because of that, it seemed that his innocence was enough to overshadow all my vigilance and made me answer.
In addition, It was the first time I told others my real name after possessing this body. Even though I was called Rowaine all the time, when someone called me by my name after a really long time, it felt rather strange.
I smiled and asked him his name. Of course, I knew his name, but I just did it as a courtesy.
“Can you tell me your name, too?”
At that, he widened his eyes. After that, a smile was painted all over his face, and he was overcome with emotion.
“Are you asking for my name? My name is Cadis. Cadis.”
“Cadis.”
“Eunsoo is the second person to ask for my name.”
I thought I knew who the first was. It would be the Princess, who was the female protagonist. As I asked back with excitement, I stopped myself because I might be in trouble if I suddenly asked him too much.
“Is that so?”
“Yes. Eunsoo is the first person to say that I can say whatever you want to say.”
“I see.”
“It’s the first time I got to eat delicious food like these days.”
“Yeah?”
“Yes.”
He kept smiling over and over again. He was so bright and funny that we laughed out loud together.
It was when we were walking, feeling a strange intimacy with each other more than before that I suddenly felt something black creeping between the two of us. However, before I could feel it, Cadis shuddered as if he had already seen something and tried to back away when that thing flew towards me.
As it wrapped around me as if protecting me, something black raced towards me.
“Euk…!”
At the same time, I was pulled back by a hand wrapped around my waist.
“….!”
My body was buried in someone’s arms. The next moment, Dimitri’s sharp-tempered voice was heard.
“How dare you expose your smelly teeth in front of someone?”
ﾟ･ : * ✧ * :･ ﾟ
Dimitri had been standing in front of the window of the third-floor office for a long time, watching the whole scene. From the moment the Emperor’s hound sneaked closer to Rowaine, who was sitting on the terrace, he was ready to break the hound’s neck at any moment.
‘What’s that bastard up to?’
In his opinion, dog shapeshifters were a very incomprehensible race, and they were beings who acted according to their feelings without being polite or cautious.
‘He even turned into a human and just smiled at Rowaine.’
Dimitri’s eyes narrowed.
Soon, Rowaine suddenly got up and started walking with the hound.
‘…What are they talking about?’
No matter how advanced his hearing was, he could not hear a whisper so far away. At that moment, Rowaine abruptly laughed with the hound.
‘….!’
Dimitri widened his eyes.
‘She’s laughing with the enemy! What kind of trick did he use to bewitch her?’
…Treacherous hound.
He did not know why he was getting so upset.
Dimitri ignited his emotional energy before eventually jumping through the window because he could not stand it.
The moment his body hit the floor, a demon leaped out of his shadow and caught him. He then used the demon to reach Rowaine with just a few jumps and sent the demon away with the aim of separating the hound and her. Was it not that hound’s fault for getting closer to Rowiane?
‘Where…!’
As his eyes flashed, he grabbed Rowaine’s waist and pulled her closer.
“How dare you expose your smelly teeth in front of someone?”
“Dimitri…?”
“Rowaine, that man is perilous and ferocious. You never know when he’s going to rush in and kill you, so stay away from him.”
“Put, put me down.”
When Rowaine grunted and tried to get out of his arms, the hound became wary of Dimitri as if he would attack him if he bothered her. It was a scene that would look like a loyal dog standing up against the enemy to protect his master.
Dimitri burst out laughing and hugged Rowaine tighter and tighter to his body.
“It seems like you don’t know your place. Have you lost your intelligence to become a puppet, living as someone else’s puppet that you can’t understand the situation?”
“Dimitri! Don’t say that.”
At Rowaine’s insistence, he stared at her, trembling as if he had been beaten in the chest.
“Are you on his side now?”
“I wasn’t taking sides with anyone, I was just walking quietly. We were just walking and talking. There was nothing to make Dimitri angry.”
Her reaction was not what he expected.
No, he was not expecting any reaction from her, but at least Dimitri never imagined she would be on the side of the hound. Because of that, he just gazed at Rowaine with her mouth shut, not knowing if it was disappointment or something else.
“There must have been some misunderstanding.”
He did not even like that she was trying to mediate in a good way.
Dimitri gritted his teeth and held a clue* for nothing.
[ T/N: It’s an idiom which means ‘For something to become a pretext for someone to provoke a quarrel.’ ]
“You must be free, Madam.”
“Yes…?”
Rowiane, who had promised to take care of the hounds, was doing her job properly. However, Dimitri was stubborn.
“Your husband was busy reviewing the reports by himself, so he couldn’t even get a meal. Nonetheless, the wife is spending her free time with the prisoner.”
Even thinking about it himself, it was rather foolish. He never even skipped a meal. Dimitri turned his head to block Rowaine’s gaze, who had lunch with him. It was a very shameless look. Meanwhile, inside, he felt like he wanted to rip his hair out.
‘Shut your mouth, Dimitri.’
But, contrary to his heart, his displeased protruding mouth did not stop fluttering.
“Doesn’t the wife also have a job, too? You wouldn’t have time to spend with someone like this. You’ll soon have to take care of the mansion finances and take care of the welfare work from the outside.”
“All of a sudden?”
“Actually, you should have started the day you came to Blois. It’s not all of a sudden, it’s late.”
“I haven’t heard anything…”
“You just heard it now. Come on, come with me.”
At that, Dimitri pushed her on the back and headed towards the mansion. At the same time, Cadis, who remained with the knights behind them, stood vainly looking at Rowaine’s back.
ﾟ･ : * ✧ * :･ ﾟ
Rowaine was really puzzled.
It was because Dimitri brought him to the office, suddenly talking nonsense. After he had taken her, they were cleaning up with the butler Derek and the assistant Viscount Hyle Bilph.
“A desk? Sharing the office…?”
At Dimitri’s sudden order to add another desk to his office, Hyle asked with a face as bewildered as I was. Derek also seemed puzzled.
“I have arranged the Madam’s office in advance, but…”
Hyle then nodded his head before adding his words, “Isn’t there a separate office that the Duchess used for generations?”
At those words, Dimitri stared at Derek and Hyle.
“Is that stipulated by law?”
“Yes?”
“Is the law stipulating that I have to use the office separately from the wife?”
“That’s not it, but…”
“If it’s not like that, then why are you all talking so much? Since when did I say it’s okay to rebuke my orders like that?”
“We, we will correct it.”
“Then, why are you still right in front of me? Why don’t you move?”
“Yes!”
Derek was the first to leave to call the servants, while Hyle, who had been scolded for nothing, left the office as if he was running away. Being left alone with just Dimitri and I, who were left in this situation, I just smiled awkwardly.
“Does… does the Duchess have a separate office?”
“As I said, it is not stipulated by law for a married couple to use a separate office space.”
However, considering that they must be used together, it was not stipulated by law. I did not know why he would bring me a desk to sit with him in his office.
“…Wouldn’t it be uncomfortable if I was with you?”
Was it not more comfortable to be alone than to work with other people all day…?
‘In the first place, don’t dukes like to be alone?’
Still, Dimitri shook his head resolutely.
“Rowaine needs to heal me from time to time. And, now that the enemies are running around the mansion, it makes sense to keep you by my side, even for your safety.”
“Is that so?”
There was nothing I could say when he insisted so strongly. There was no need to disagree with each other as if I did not like it, so I just nodded my head. Then, Dimitri sat with his legs crossed in an arrogant and crooked position. As he leaned his chin forward, he then squinted his eyes and questioned me as I stood.
“By the way, what did you talk about with the hound? I didn’t think there was anything for Rowaine to talk to each other about.”
I could feel a great sense of hostility exuding from Dimitri.
“It was just a general statement. We got to know each other’s names.”
“Name?”
At my words, he smirked and asked back.
“Hounds are just hounds. What name would they have? Forget it.”
“Are you mad?”
“What do you mean?”
“You look angry.”
“Why would I be angry?”
Dimitri’s slanted posture suddenly became straighter. He was pretending to be relaxed, unlike before. the most relaxed he had been before. Far from being angry, he claimed that he was in a very good mood before suddenly leaving the office, stating that he was busy.
“What is this…”