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Chapter 30: The Lady Smiled at the Dress (2)
If the Count were a woman, she would be an unreliable and careless person who would die in a flash—a noble of Crown Prince fraction with a delicate personality.
That’s what people used to say about the Count.
Zed narrowed his eyes. What kind of person is the Count? Zed realized it was time for him to leave.
***
Lucifella rested her chin on her hand and looked out the window. She had heard the news that Khalid was leaving, and her heart was heavy. To make matters worse, when Khalid announced that he was heading back to the capital, Zed said that he would go with him, probably to keep an eye on him and make sure he didn’t cause any trouble.
Khalid was leaving, and she let him go without doing anything. She sighed.
She thought that if she ever reunited with him, it would be in a more dramatic situation where they would have to rely on each other for their lives. Lucifella couldn’t help him in the strange situation they were in.
It can’t be helped, she kept repeating it in her mind.
She still couldn’t catch Khalid, but what could she do to get revenge on him? The only way she could use her body to avenge him in Jansgar was by using Zed, no matter how much she thought about it.
She didn’t know what method Estelle, who had lost her sword, should use. Then she shook her head, realizing that the only way to end her foolishness was to kiss Zed.
At that moment, someone knocked on the door. Lucifella, who had been sitting awkwardly, straightened her skirt and asked the person to come in. It was Royza.
“My lady!”
Royza was gasping for breath.
“What? What’s going on?”
What happened now? Did the enemy attack?
Lucifella’s body tensed with anxiety. The maids followed behind. Each one had a similar expression to Royza’s.
“My lady, please come out.”
They surrounded Lucifella and raised her up.
A strange tension was felt. Lucifella’s body stiffened with tension, wondering if the enemy had really attacked.
“What’s going on?”
“You’ll see when you get there.”
Lucifella’s face twisted in confusion.
The place they led her to was a location she had visited before, the dressing room.
What could be here? As Lucifella stood in front of the door and looked at the maids, they released their tense expressions and burst into laughter.
“What is it?”
“You’ll know when you see it.”
When the maids opened the door to the dressing room, Lucifella entered it with a slight frown on her face.
“Huh?”
She tilted her head.
“I’m sure I’ve sold everything
. no, disposed of them?”
The dressing room was supposed to be empty, but it was filled to the brim with clothes.
“It seems that my father has bought some clothes again.”
Royza chuckled at Lucifella’s murmurs.
“No, it’s not.”
“Then who bought it?”
Royza laughed in response to her question.
“His Grace, the Duke.”
“What?”
Lucifella’s face crumpled in confusion and disgust. Why? She felt a strange sense of discomfort. Why did he give her a “dress” as a gift? It felt like an insult. She was filled with anger.
She walked over and ran her fingers over each dress hanging on the rack, feeling the smoothness of the fabric.
“How did you get these clothes in such a short time? You must have a great talent.”
She didn’t know when he started preparing, but the fact that he could prepare so many clothes in a short period meant that it cost an enormous amount of money.
However, she was not happy at all.
These clothes reminded her of her desperate reality, where she had to wear dresses rather than uniforms.
“You don’t seem to like it, do you?”
She turned quickly to the voice behind her back.
Zed was standing right behind her, but she didn’t know when he came. Looking around, she saw that the maids who had followed her had already left the dressing room.
“Why did you do this?”
Lucifella’s voice was very cold, as she was reminded of the reality she didn’t want to face because of the dress.
“It seems like you’re still not over it.”
“Over what?”
At Lucifella’s words, Zed’s expression subtly changed. He seemed to be hesitating about something.
Lucifella tried to calm herself down. Zed was talking to Lucifella, not Estelle. It was not rude of him to teach her swordsmanship or give her a dress as a gift.
“I didn’t know that the young lady had such affection for the Knights.”
“What?”
The Knights? Was he talking about the Sitora Knights?
Lucifella couldn’t grasp what he was saying for a moment because it was such an unexpected statement.
“To the point of giving up of your dresses.”
“Huh?”
Lucifella’s eyes widened in surprise at the sudden mention of dresses. She wondered what dresses had to do with the Knights. Then she realized that he was talking about the Knights of Count Aydin, not  Sitora Knights.
“It was definitely not a pleasant thing for me to discuss the level of the Knights. It was rude of me, especially when I openly evaluate the level of the knights of the lady.”
Lucifella couldn’t help but wonder why this person was suddenly speaking so reasonably and why he was doing it now.
“Why now?”
Zed looked puzzled and then said.
“Wasn’t the lady because I told you about the level of the Knights of Aydin?”
“No, it’s not.”
There was silence between the two at Lucifella’s reply.
Lucifella looked through the dress in bewilderment and asked to confirm.
“
..So, are you saying this was given as an apology?”
Zed frowned without answering.
“Then why are you mad at me?”
“That’s
..”
Because you said you’d teach me swordsmanship, my pride was hurt.
But Lucifella, unable to answer him, couldn’t help but burst into laughter at the thought of it.
Zed was about to say something in response to her unpredictable mood swings, but he soon closed his mouth.
He didn’t want to interrupt her as she leaned against the wall, laughing. Her face looked so beautiful when it brightened up from the complex and troubled expression she had been wearing earlier.
Zed felt a strange sensation again. It was as if her face was emitting light.
Her thin, aquamarine eyes, which were now creased from laughter, were directed at him.
He felt overwhelmed again, as if blood was rushing to his head.