Chapter 72

It took five full days to reach the capital by the horse-drawn carriage.

While Zagnac looked tired from the long journey, Azela didn’t have a bad time. It was the first time she had traveled this far since her marriage. Even though it was nothing, her excitement was ahead, and even the night sky she had seen countless times looked special and beautiful.

“It has changed a lot since then.”

Azela uttered as she got out of the carriage and stretched her cramped body.

The Capital had changed a lot since she left. There were shops that she had never seen before, and in some places, the streets had changed altogether.

Duke Ferial’s mansion was so large and majestic that it could not be compared with that of Count Todd’s mansion. From the entrance to the front door, it took a couple of minutes, even by carriage. The inside was also great.

Even though the mansion he stayed in on the outskirts was also large and beautiful, she realized that it was really only on the level of the Capital’s parlor. Azela immediately thought that he was a man with financial resources that could be called a symbol of wealth in the present age.

“Your room is right next to my bedroom.”

Zagnac did not just show her around the places in the mansion himself, he opened the door and treated Azela. At the sight, all the employees of the mansion opened their mouths wide in astonishment. Presumably, because he was always cold to others and never showed unnecessary kindness.

Moreover, even though he had so much wealth, he was not interested in the opposite sex, so there were even rumors that he might be an eunuch or was interested in men.

Although rumors spread through social circles that he was dating a woman when he went to the outskirts, everyone thought she was merely a business partner. However, as of today, the rumor has been ultimately settled.

Zagnac’s attitude toward Azela was markedly different from that of a simple business partner.

“…Isn’t this the place for the Duchess to stay?”

“If you insist, yes.”

Azela, who glanced around the lavish and very spacious bedroom, asked with a frown, and Zagnac answered the question indifferently, leaning at an angle to the bedroom door with his arms crossed.

The bedroom was spacious and very nice. The furniture that filled the bedroom, the artworks, and the jewels shining everywhere were the finest things that she could not see when she was in the Todd mansion.

As if fascinated by its beauty, Azela looked around the place. But, she soon shook her head as if she had come to her senses and stepped back.

She uttered, grimacing at Zagnac.

“…It’s not something I should have.”

“It’s all yours. Because I prepared it for you.”

Hearing that, the employees of the mansion standing behind him widened their eyes and exchanged glances with each other. There were expressions that they wondered if their master was someone who could even say such soft words.

However, when Azela heard the words, she was calm.

“There is no reason to get me these things.”

She replied firmly.

Zagnac frowned at her determination. It wasn’t just him. Seeing the two of them from behind and listening to all these conversations, the employees grimaced together. They got anxious as if they were watching a play.

Why would she not accept these good things…?

If they could, they wanted to take part in this play instead and accept them all. The employees shifted their gaze to Zagnac’s lips in anticipation of the following words.

“…There is.”

“Yes?”

He furrowed his eyebrows in dissatisfaction and ruffled his dark, black hair that had been messed up on the arduous journey. He grabbed Azela’s waist, who was a little farther away from him, with one hand and pulled it firmly towards him.

All of the employees had to barely stand their automatic screams after watching them.

Zagnac, pulling Azela towards him, leaned his torso and whispered a small whisper in her ear that she could only hear.

“I told you, humans like wealth. The reason I am giving all of this is, in the end, for my sake.”

“…There’s no way I’ll have any regrets in my life with this, so you don’t even have to do this—”

“It’s me who decides that, not you. We made a deal, and I’m just doing my best for you. Just like you always do your best for me.”

Zagnac smiled and released Azela’s waist, then lifted his bowed torso.

While the employees couldn’t hear them because they whispered softly, they must have thought they were talking to a sweet lover. Because of that, they gazed at the two with a sweet expression as if they were falling in love together.

However, Azela’s expression was still blunt. She pouted her lips in disapproval and didn’t answer. Seeing this, Zagnac stretched out his hand and tidied up her messy outfit while speaking softly.

“I told you.”

“….”

“You will bloom next to me.”

He smiled sweetly.

It was so sweet that it felt bitter… Yes, it was a smile like the “hot chocolate” she took the other day. Azela gazed at that smile and turned her head again to look at the bedroom where she would be staying.

There was no way she could have regrets in life just because he gave this to her. Besides, it was good to keep her distance from him as much as possible in order to control this feeling that kept growing without her realizing it.

…But, to be right next door.

Azela looked complicated.

The thought of another woman entering this bedroom made her feel bad. For example, Princess Livia… Just thinking about Princess Livia, who would be using this bedroom, made her feel so uncomfortable that she couldn’t even think of anything.

In that case, she thought she would use it instead, but on the other hand, she also felt a sense of rejection.

He gave her this bedroom simply to make her feel sorry for her life. There was no other reason… Still, she was unwittingly looking for the reason. It was the anticipation that she thought if ‘Is it possible that he has the same mind as me?’

If left like this, this fiery feeling would eventually grow endlessly and burn to the point that she couldn’t even touch it anymore.

She had to sort it out before that.

“…Yes, all right.”

Azela let out a small sigh and nodded.

As if eagerly waiting for her to nod her head, Zagnac turned back and ordered the employees waiting behind him to make arrangements for her to rest.

“Work starts tomorrow. You must be tired from the arduous journey today, so rest well. I’ll send someone over for dinner later, so until then, rest as much as you want.”

He spoke briefly and turned away.

Closing the bedroom door himself and as he was about to leave, Zagnac briefly exclaimed, “Ah,” as if he thought of something.

“And, since you were a business partner with me at one time, and you said you would take care of my escort for the sake of friendship… You should speak casually with me, understand?”

It was Zagnac’s consideration for her, who had to use respectful words in front of the employees while staying at the mansion.

He gazed at her before nodding his head and smiling.

Seeing him like that, Azela looked at the employees around that were still in ecstasy before nodding her head in response.

“…Yes, I understand.”

With a satisfied face, he closed the bedroom door and left.

On that day, rumors circulated that Duke Ferrial was not a eunuch or was interested in men, instead, there were rumors that he was trying to take a woman and make her the Duchess. In addition, she had been rumored to be ‘Azela Velista’ who was Countess Tood a while ago but got a divorce.

This rumor was so influential that it overturned the social circles, and soon, reached the ears of the Emperor, Princess Livia, and Crown Prince Chises at the Imperial Palace.

* * *

“…You said he took a woman? In the mansion…?”

“Yes, yes.”

“Duke Ferial himself?”

“Yes, as I heard.”

As Princes Livia asked so, the nanny Daran nodded her head twice vigorously.

The nanny couldn’t lie to her.

Livia bowed her head down with a trembling gaze. This morning, Daran had sad eyes as she applied the medicine to the wound from the Princess’ mother, Serena. There was only one thing that could get her out of this caged cage where she was imprisoned. The only thing she could trust was Duke Ferial…

Letting out a deep sigh, she revealed her indescribable disappointment and emptiness, and the sense of betrayal on her face.

She sent him several letters explaining what she was doing. Even without a reply, she pushed her pride and sent several more. When he still didn’t answer her, she even went to him and asked for a favor.

Of course, that day’s request was bluntly rejected, though.

Livia briefly recalled the conversation with Zagnac that day at the party.