Chapter 27 - The Duke Must Be Interested In You (1/2)

Chapter 27 – The Duke Must Be Interested In You

Claude burst into low laughter at my remarks. He then bowed politely and left the room.

When he was gone, I still stared blankly at the spot where he was a moment ago.

What on earth is going on here? What did I just do?

“Marie.”

Then, Martina peeped through the crack in the door and called out to me. I managed to shake myself back to my senses.

“Martina,” I said.

“May I come in?” she asked.

“Of course. Come in.”

Martina trotted into my room and plopped beside my bed, then gave me an expectant stare.

“So, what did you two talk about?”

“Well… He apologized for the carriage accident,” I replied.

“And?” she coaxed.

“Hmm… He said he will compensate me.”

“What kind of compensation?”

“Compensation for financial and mental damage.”

“I understand financial, but what’s with mental damage?”

“…”

Martina looked like she was curious about the ‘mental damage compensation’, but…it was embarrassing for me to be honest about that. How could I tell her that he was going to come see me every day because of that? I could already imagine Martina’s eyes sparkling as she would tease me, ‘Does he have feelings for you?’

My face suddenly hardened.

‘Wait, feelings? Is it really like that?’

It was suspicious enough that he would come visit every day because of ‘mental damage compensation.’ That didn’t make any sense unless he had feelings for me!

But even so…how could he have feelings for me when we just met? We should have met at least once more before he could develop anything for me.

‘Did he fall for Maristella’s face?’

Hmm… But that didn’t seem right. Maristella was attractive-looking, but she wasn’t so beautiful as to cause a man to fall in love at first sight.

And to be honest, Claude was beautiful enough—if there was a male deity, he would look like Claude— that if he dressed up as a woman, he might be even more beautiful than Maristella.

‘Then what is it?’

What hooked him? No, did he even have feelings for me in the first place?

My mind tilted in confusion, and the expression on my face must have made Martina anxious.

“Marie, Marieeee!” she called out to me.

“Huh, yeah? Yes.” I blinked back into awareness. “What’s going on?”

“What’s going on with you? What are you thinking about that you’re not paying attention to me?”

“What?”

Martina pursed her lips. “Something must have happened between you and the Duke. What even is ‘mental damage compensation’?”

No matter how hard I tried to hide it, it was impossible. How could I conceal the fact that he would come to visit when we were living in the same house?

I had no choice but to tell the truth. When I did so, Martina’s jaw dropped.

“Really? Seriously? Truly?” she said.

“Really. Seriously. Truly,” I echoed.

“Oh my, what to do, Marie? The Duke must be interested in you.”

I almost rolled my eyes. “…I already expected you to say that.”

“See, Marie. Doesn’t that mean you also think the same way I do?”

She was annoyingly sharp. I avoided her gaze with a guilty expression. She was right.

“You’re incredible,” she said in enthused awe. “After the Crown Prince, now the Duke…”

“Neither of them. Don’t be so excited, Martina.”

“But if you tell this to anyone else, they will also be excited. What if the two men fight over you? Wow, what to do? You’re incredible!”

What…? I couldn’t understand what she was thinking at all.

“Two men fighting over a woman…?” I asked.

“Isn’t it amazing? It’s romantic! It’s like a romance novel!”

“…”

Technically this was also a romance novel, but Martina, you have read too many novels. That was just fictional. I smirked at her nonsense and shook my head.

“There’s no such thing, Martina,” I explained patiently. “Besides, who am I for such things to happen to me?”

“You have a habit of underestimating yourself too much. What’s wrong with my sister? You’re a beauty with a brain!” she praised.

“…”