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Chapter 18
‘
..W-Why are you guys laughing?’
It shouldn’t be laughable at all. There was nothing wrong with being the partner of the Duke.
“It’s completely your choice, Miss. We cannot have a say in this.”
“T-That’s true but
..if you just cooperate
..”
“If you can manage to get close to His Excellency, we’ll do our best to help you.”
‘Ah, I see. But why would you do your best?’
There was no way Kalcion had ordered the maids to not serve Selena or any other women. In fact, he shouldn’t have known about this matter at all.
A maid approached the puzzled Selena and playfully whispered to her.
“Our Duke, His Excellency, isn’t very good with women, and if we don’t help him, he might end up losing his title. Then, we will all be left unemployed.”
There was no reason to not understand it, but somehow it lacked validity.
“But isn’t the Duke popular? He must be receiving a lot of marriage proposals throughout the Empire.”
“But there’s no guarantee that they’ll succeed the Renbird family.”
“Huh?”
“If you keep thinking of Renbird’s wealth and riches, you might be wasting your fortune. You could even give birth to another man’s child, right?”
“Gasp
.”
It was too strongly secular.
“Uh, you mean, the Duke

”
“In the capital city, it is common for the nobles to change their children. So, shouldn’t it be here as well?”
There was something crazy about this world. Although the laws of this world were below Selena’s standards, she was worried if there was anyone in this world who wasn’t out of their minds. Her confidence to live in peace, which had once risen beyond her imagination, sharply fell.
“
..”
She felt like she needed to calm herself.
The Renbirds were already at their zenith. They preferred to take risks and maintain the current stability in their kingdom rather than expanding their power.
Since the Renbird family had money, honor, and everything else, no one could just become a Renbird. That’s why they were pushing Selena wholeheartedly.
Selena gazed at the garment with a gloomy look on her face. They might be suspicious of her if she refused it.
What was the point of acting when you’re not even confident from head to toe? What would matter if she wore such a garment? She often had to wear revealing clothes in front of her crew members because of her films.
It was her job, and she was able to do it calmly.
It took more than a day’s resolution for her to sleep wearing that type of a garment on the same bed with Kalcion.
‘I can’t believe I have to stay in this precarious position as long as I have a contract with Kalcion. I should pack a bag of gold when I return to my world.’
***
Kalcion was already prepared for bed and was sitting on the sofa in front of the fireplace, looking at the letters in the box.
“Is that what Rosalyn brought earlier?”
‘Sssst’
The sound of her garment brushing the floor was heard as she approached him.
As Kalcion unconsciously lifted his head, his face hardened at her figure. Selena pressed her facial muscles as hard as she could to avoid having a flushed face.
“
..”
However, Kalcion did not seem to care about her expression. Hot and intense eyes followed her with every step she took.
Due to the nature of the garment, parts of her glowing skin were exposed as the fabric swayed, even when her feet took short steps.
Although he had never dreamed of anything like that, he could not help but stare at her. It wasn’t easy for him.
“My dress is going to get pierced.”
She said as she sat on the sofa next to him. Her eyes dropped to the letters in the box.
His slight reddish earlobes caught her eyes. Sitting by the fireplace for a long time wouldn’t have just made him blush. Selena was embarrassed as well as surprised that Kalcion had really reacted.
“Uh
.they asked me to wear this yesterday, and it would have aroused suspicions if I had refused it today as well. They know I’m here to seduce the Duke, but I have no desire to use these seductive items

”
The excuse lengthened as she tried to hide her embarrassment.
“Don’t feel too pressured. I’ve only worn this to avoid their suspicion.”
“Ahem, hmm

yeah.”
He coughed and turned his gaze back to the letters.
“Are you going to check every one of them?”
Selena quickly changed the subject.
“Well, it’s necessary if you want to live your life without any inconvenience.”
“It’s surprising that even you need to make your life easier.”
Taking his eyes off the letter, he looked at Selena. His blush had faded before long, and a pair of cold dignified eyes stared back at her.
“

.Relax, I was just saying. I almost got indigestion watching you two fighting over your nerves.”
As she whined with a weak voice, Kalcion’s eyes softened a little.
“Are you feeling sick?”
“I would have been if it continued one minute longer. So, from today onwards, don’t step forward.”
“I’ll ask them to bring you medicine.”
“No, it’s fine. It’ll get better if I have a good sleep. By the way, what was wrong with you today? You’ve been avoiding Fionel, but you were very active against Rosalyn.”
Kalcion replied, shifting his eyes back to the letter.
“Rosalyn is easy to deal with. She’s not someone who can officially complain about anything.”
Selena picked up a letter from the box.
‘From Langeon. Dear Duke of Renbird.’
The words were not only automatically translated in front of her, but she could also read the letters.
She leaned forward and picked up a letter from the pile on the floor.
‘There are so many. It’d take a lot of time to check all of them.’
All of these envelopes, which were sealed with different family stamps, were too much for a man to endure.
Rosalyn’s excuse was true. Nevertheless, Kalcion caused the north wind to blow over the table when he faced a formal opponent.
“By the way, what does it mean to be able to deal with it officially?”
“My mother, the Duchess of Legion, was a greedy woman. The reason why she married my father was because she was born as the third daughter of a low-class noble family and tried to change her situation with money.”
She asked her about Rosalyn, but suddenly, he began to portray his past. Her ears pricked up as he continued. There must be a part of his story that had once coincided with Rosalyn’s.
“Whether it was genetic or not, the Renbirds were stuck in the wilderness for generations. However, my mother wanted to get into the central society.”
“Hmm, I see.”
“And she thought that the best way to connect with central aristocrats was through marriage.”
“Even the peripheral aristocracy thought that the estate of Renbird, which was full of gold and riches, deserved to reach out to the family of Toilan. At that time, Toilan was the most famous family, and Rosalyn was famous for being among the most beautiful ladies of the Empire.”
However, no matter how great the Duke of Renbird was, it didn’t work out.
“The result was a refusal based on the phrase ‘being unfit’.”
It was at least five years ago when the Duchess was alive.
“So, you’ve remembered it, and now, you’re avenging her
..”
“I tend to not forget my grudges.”
“Yeah, but rather, is it not a regression?”
“What?”
Kalcion spat back roughly.
“Why would I when I have no relation with them?”
She shrugged.
“No, you said it yourself that she was the most beautiful lady of the most influential family

”
“That was my mother’s assessment.”
“And what was yours?”
“A mysterious but annoying woman.”
“Ah, yes, I can understand.”
Selena confirmed it from the previous episode she had with her.
“Huh, how can you? Today was the first time you met her, right?”
“I was dragged and threatened by her earlier in the morning.”
“Already?”
“It seems faster than the speed of eating, right?”
He nodded in agreement.
“What did she threaten you with?”
“She asked me the price I wanted.”
Kalcion laughed.
Even to him, it was a ridiculous threat. Money was nothing compared to what he had promised Selena. Money couldn’t create a portal between two worlds in the land of the beast.
“How much was she planning to give you?”
“She said she could allow me to afford a hundred of the dress I was wearing.”
Kalcion’s eyebrows slightly crept up.
“I don’t know its market price, but I wouldn’t have let it pass if I didn’t have the hope of returning back to my home.”
Selena said so jokingly, but her laughter soon subsided as Kalcion’s face got even more serious.
“

Why are you so serious?”
“Because the cost is equivalent to Renbird’s budget of twenty-years.”
“

”
‘Maybe, I should have just accepted it.’
“By the way, is she here to be the Duchess of Renbird?”
“It’s even more questionable. There’s no other reason for her to travel this far if she wasn’t aiming for me. The Toilan Marquis’ finances have always been the best.”
The pinnacle of the central society wanted to take the seat of the Duchess of Renbird by any means.
‘Why?’
Selena agonized, shifting her eyes to Kalcion.
“Perhaps she likes the Duke’s face?”
“That can never be possible.”
“Or his physique?”
“That’s not possible either.”
Only
Selena giggled.
“Wow, you have quite the nerve.”
“How dare you act cruelly towards the Duke of Renbird?”
But it wasn’t a threat at all. The way he spoke was quite light.
He continued sorting out the letters.
Selena thought that a butler or a maid would be responsible for sorting them out, but Kalcion did it all by himself. He always had to stay cautious about receiving any threatening letters.
Even a trivial word or action could make him targeted by his enemy. Most of them were disregarded by the authority of the Duke of the North, but it was better for him to be careful at every step.
Kalcion’s hand, which was casually checking the envelopes and throwing them to the floor, stopped at a golden sealed envelope.
“Ah, this is an important one.”