The two, who were hugging each other satisfactorily, left the annex coughing in a somehow heated atmosphere.
Even after returning to the mansion, the awkwardness between them continued.
âHow did we hold hands and kiss before?â
For a while, I felt like we couldnât stay in one space at all.
As I walked a little further away, and reached a familiar place.
I didnât visit Frederick much, but I stopped by this place every time I came.
Merria, who stopped walking in front of Reukisâ room, said,
âItâs because of the rain⊠But could you give me a guest room?â
âWhy?â Reukis asked out of pure curiosity.
âWhy? What do you mean why?â
The history of visiting the Grand Dukeâs residence was small enough to count, but itâs not enough to occupy the ownerâs room every time.
First I took a nap, then for the second time I passed out, and even ran around in the rain like a crazy person today.
Still, Iâm a Dukeâs daughter, but I had no face anymore to show the employees of the Grand Duke.
âAnd⊠I couldnât even take a bath in Reukisâ room.â
Merria also had something called shame.
In this already awkward situation, I didnât have the confidence to take off my clothes and wipe myself in the bathroom Reukis usually uses.
However, it was impossible to reveal all of this in front of him.
She awkwardly averted his gaze and blurred the end of her speech.
âI have a reputationâŠâ
âAll the people of the Grand Duke are tight-lipped people.â
Then Reukis immediately shook his head and answered.
Jane and Harriet looked thrilled at his trustworthy remarks.
Merria also acknowledged that point, but today was already the limit.
If I went further than this, I might not be able to overcome the shame and disappear into powder.
She quickly swept her arms down to break down the situation as soon as possible.
âIâm going to catch a cold at this rate.â
She was currently wrapped in Reukisâ clothes, but she decided to pretend as it was.
It was Reukis who eventually stepped down.
He told Harriet to guide Merria to the guest room.
âLady Merria, please come this way.â
Harriet, who had been waiting next to him, walked hurriedly.
Merria and the attendant Jane followed in his footsteps.
Harriet stood in front of the door calmly.
At the destination they finally arrived, Merria tilted her head.
âIs this really a guest room?â Merria squinted and asked.
Reukisâ room was just around the corner even if I turned my head a little to the right.
Outside Merriaâs sight, Reukis smiled broadly, cheering for Harrietâs move.
Encouraged by his masterâs reaction, Harriet expressed affirmation without a single point of shame.
âItâs very rare for guests to come to our mansion, so this is the only room we have prepared now.â
Seriously, is this the only room prepared in the Grand Dukeâs residence?
Even the annex that was not used often I had visited just now was neat.
Feeling suspicious, Merria suddenly turned her head.
She didnât learn that he was like this, but Reukisâ reaction speed was beyond Merriaâs imagination.
For that reason, when Merria checked Reukisâ face, it had already been equipped with innocence.
âThe guest room is right next to the Grand Dukeâs bedroomâŠ?â
I just turned a blind eye to it and had no other qualms.
This mansion must have been impatient and the employees must be anxious about Merria.
I didnât expect them to make me stay in a room that seems to belong to the Grand Duchess.
There were only two options given to Merria now.
The Grand Dukeâs room and the Grand Duchessâ room.
Princess Rackester, whose status soared overnight, tried to smile dryly struggling to hold back.
Merria eventually chose the Grand Duchessâ bedroom.
Harriet opened the door with his mouth agape.
Merria entered the room first, followed by Jane heading to the bathroom.
Merria spoke to Reukis, who was standing still in front of the door blankly.
âAre you going to keep wearing those clothes?â
Only then did Reukis check his clothes.
The front of his clothes was wet and in the shape of Merria.
It was because he had just embraced the rain-soaked Merria until there was no space between them.
His figure was so bizarre and cute that Merria burst into laughter.
Reukis fiddled with Merriaâs traces for no reason and looked elsewhere.
âLady, the bathtub is full.â
Soon after, Jane, who finished preparing for Merriaâs bath, came out of the bathroom.
After Merria nodded, she dragged Reukis. She personally escorted Reukis to the front of his door and smiled.
âYouâre also going to catch a cold if you keep standing there. So hurry up and go to your room, wash up, and change clothes.â
Merria pushed him in his room without hesitation and gently waved her hand at him.
When the door closed and Merria had disappeared behind it, Reukis was forced to take off his shirt.
In his room the bath was also ready.
Reukis entered the bathroom and washed his face with cold water to calm his unsettled heart.
When I think of what happened just now, even though her back looked hesitant, thinking that Merria was in the next room, my face heated up unknowingly.
In the end, Reukis finished bathing like a thunderbolt as if a knight that was attacked while taking a bath.
I just took a shower, but I already felt tired.
Reukis, who returned to the room powerless, was lost in thought.
He did not tell Merria, but he was somewhat shocked by what she said.
âDidnât she act as if sheâs going to leave after saying something terrifying that she would send me to Shannon?â
I thought Iâve been expressing my feelings generously, all this time.
If itâs shocking to have treated me as a person who struggled over her power.
Nevertheless, the reason why I feel so sorryâŠ
-âIt means that I started to like you.â
-âIâm saying that⊠I started liking you.â
-âI like Reukis the best.â
It was because the joy of knowing her heart with certainty only today was strong enough to transcend all of it.
Reukis pressed down on his eyes with his hands to cool them down. It was ineffective because his hands were hotter, but he didnât seem to care at all.
Reukis, who had been struggling with the joy for a while, jumped up.
Because the subject of his joy was so close, that it was a waste not to face it.
Reukis headed straight to the next room where Merria was.
In response to the obvious answer, Reukis hesitated.
When I was a child, my parents slept side by side in one bed, with me at the center as if I couldnât sleep on my bed.
Most of those times were in my motherâs bedroom.
Daphneâs room was such a warm space.
Because of this, even after his parents died, Reukis occasionally stayed up the night here.
On a rainy night just like today, at dawn when I woke up from a nightmare, on my motherâs birthday, when I suddenly saw my father in the mirror.
The darkness of his childhood was contained here.
As if to soothe Reukisâ heart, Harriet did not change anything in Daphneâs room.
Neither the decorations by the window nor the clock that didnât even miss by a second.
Entering the space that was once his motherâs room, Reukis felt something rising.
A bright light that contrasts with the dark sky outside the window, and Merriaâs smile welcomes him in it.
It was the warmth I had been longing for for a long time.
At the time of Reukis that had stopped like that, Merria stepped closer.
âIf I hadnât met Merria, I would have suffered alone here again.â
Reukis stopped in front of the door and glanced at the scenery for a moment.
Unlike his stiff gaze, the corners of his lips had no choice but to loosen to a smile.