When The Cruel Villain Seduces Me - Chapter 122

He answered, a gentle smile plastered his mouth.

 

“I heard that Nelia is visiting.”

 

Sean and Lily’s eyes averted to Nelia. It seemed as if she hadn’t said anything to Duke Hart about it.

 

Fortunately, they didn’t seem to have assumed that he came to pick her up because they were in a special relationship.

 

Nelia greeted the duke belatedly.

 

“I was sure you’d come home late today, Your Grace……”

 

“I wanted to go home early for some reason today. That’s why I roughly finished my work.”

 

Nelia was both embarrassed and glad by the duke’s unexpected appearance.

 

Lily spoke to the duke.

 

“Why don’t you stay if it turns this way? And eat before you leave? We were about to have dinner together.”

 

“Can I?”

 

“Of course! Nelia technically owes you every day for that.”

 

The duke smiled.

 

“I am indebted. However, if the Countess allows me, I will leave after dinner.”

 

“Yes! Come on in.”

 

Lily handed the bouquet in her hand to Dina before leading the duke to the dining room.

 

Nelia, who suddenly was about to have dinner with the duke, still seemed to be in a haze.

 

‘His Grace is visiting my house……’

 

It was very awkward and she didn’t hate his presence here. On the contrary, she felt tickles on one side of her chest.

 

Lily quickly arranged the seat for the duke. She also brought the extra food for the duke.

 

“No wonder I had a pleasant dream today, the duke’s visit must have been a precognitive dream.”

 

Lily’s roaring laughter burst in the dining room.

 

“The food looks very delicious. I’ll eat it gratefully.”

 

The duke replied with a smile.

 

He was originally polite and courteous to others, but he had a particular smile on his face for today.

 

Sean, who was cutting the grilled salmon, asked the duke.

 

“Nelia said she’s currently on vacation…… Did you come to pick her up, Your Grace?”

 

Sean seemed to think it was a bit strange for the duke to come here to pick her up,

 

He was trying to say, ‘Why did you come to pick up the lady-in-waiting who’s currently on vacation…..?’

 

“Yes, I just miss Nelia so much.”

The duke’s tone remained as calm as ever, but there was a momentary silence in the dining room for a brief moment.

 

Even Nelia was surprised and almost spat out the tomato she was chewing in her mouth.

 

‘W-What is he saying……?’

 

“Nelia has been doing her job well, so I tend to rely on her a lot. When Nelia isn’t at the mansion, I miss her presence.”

 

His explanation was a bit vague, but Sean and Lily dropped their stiff expression as if they thought it made sense.

 

“I wanted to thank the Count and the Countess sometimes because I have to thank Nelia for so many things, but thankfully it could be done today.”

 

“Oh, haha, Nelia must be doing her job so well that you’re even willing to come and greet us.”

 

“Both of you are supposed to be proud.”

 

In fact, Nelia wasn’t able to get into the casual conversation.

 

‘I can’t believe I’m making such an embarrassing compliment in front of the person themselves.’

 

She didn’t even know if the compliment was true. The job as a lady-in-waiting that she’s been working in was very different from the ordinary lady-in-waiting did.

 

Well…… He said I did a great job at it, so.

 

“I just remembered it again, Nelia.”

 

Then, Lily spoke to Nelia again. Nelia, who was sipping on her water, put down the glass on the table.

 

“I don’t think I finished what I was talking about earlier.”

 

She wondered what they were talking about earlier.

 

“About Sir Vanerger. Are you thinking of meeting up with him, too?”

 

It was Duke Hart who answered on her behalf.

 

“Sir Vanerger?”

 

“Oh, the second son of the Marquis of Altron, and I thought he was taking interest in Nelia.”

 

Nelia has seen it before. The duke’s expression became cold in an instant after he had been trying to maintain a gentle smile like the lily he had brought earlier.

 

However, Lily spoke, her voice was laced with worries, as if she hadn’t noticed the changes in the duke’s face.

 

“I don’t have any intention to tell you about this, Your Grace, but I think Nelia should get married soon.”

 

“……”

 

“Oh, of course, please don’t worry about it. She will be able to continue working as my lady-in-waiting even after she gets married.”

 

The duke remained motionless with his eyes dropped on the floor, nobody could figure out what he was thinking.

 

Then, he muttered while raising his eyes slowly.

 

“Sir Vanerger……”

 

Lily blinked quickly.

 

“Come to think of it, Sir Vanerger is an imperial knight, so perhaps the duke knows him well. Can you tell me about him?”

 

“Although I don’t know much about Sir Vanerger, I think I can tell you something that I’m certain about.”

 

Lily and Sean listened to the duke.

 

“Nelia and Sir Vanerger will never meet.”

 

“What……?”

 

When Lily and Sean tilted their heads simultaneously at the significant words the duke was about to say, Nelia cut him off.

 

“Uh……! It’s because the duke knows my preferences well. I used to say that I didn’t like knights.”

 

Nelia squeezed her head as hard as she could to get out of this situation.

 

“It’s because…… You never know when the knights will go to war. I don’t want to worry about such things.”

 

“You have a point…..”

 

Lily nodded without asking anything at the plausible excuse.

 

“Then, do you have no intention of meeting Sir Vanerger?”

 

“Yes, I don’t want to get married yet.”

 

Nelia also thought Lily would bring this topic up, so she built a wall in advance by pretending that she wasn’t interested in marriage yet.

 

Lily looked sullen.

 

“Alright then……”

 

Nelia glanced at the duke. His smile didn’t look like the one he had a moment ago, even though the conversation did end well.

 

He was jealous, so I’m sure he didn’t like this story.

Nelia secretly released a sigh,

 

I just wanted this uncomfortable dinner to be over soon.

 

***

 

Contrary to Nelia’s concern, the duke put his sinking energy aside and carried on with the conversation with the warmth he brought in his words as usual.

 

When they ate dessert in a harmonious atmosphere, she heard the sound of rain from the window.

 

“Oh, it must be raining outside.”

 

“I think so. It’s been cloudy for a while, so it’s expected to rain.”

 

Lily and Sean said so while averting their eyes to the window.

 

“It’s been a while since the rain poured a while ago.”

 

Knowing that the duke wasn’t affected by the rain anymore, she didn’t think the rain was a bad thing anymore either.

 

At that time, Dina informed her that there was a guest again. This guest was Sean’s acquaintance.

 

“Your Lord! Everything we took out upstairs is getting wet. I think we’ll have to move things in the fief hurriedly, but the warehouse is currently full, so I don’t know what we can do.”

 

He seemed to be an employee at the fief managed by Sean. Sean jumped out of his seat at the employee’s words who looked like he was in a panic.

 

“Lily, I think I have to go now. You should stay here and make sure to see His Grace and Nelia off.”

 

Lily asked in a worried voice.

 

“Wouldn’t we go together instead?”

 

“We don’t have any customers at the moment.”

 

Sean glanced at Nelia and the duke. The duke spoke calmly.

 

“We should be fine, so you both better go.”

 

Lily and Sean exchanged glances for a brief moment.

 

They eventually left their seats and apologized to Nelia and the duke.

 

Nelia and the duke were the only ones left in the dining room in a blink of an eye.

 

After Sean and Lily disappeared, Nelia was staring at the duke, who seemed to emit a dark energy again.

 

The duke spoke to Nelia first.

 

“Shall we return to the mansion now, Nelia?”

 

***

 

It was quiet when they were in the carriage.

 

However, the duke said she shouldn’t be worried about Sean, who was going to the fief. The rain wouldn’t last for long.

 

Nelia wasn’t surprised at the duke’s ability for meteorological things. It seemed that she somehow had gotten immune to his strange powers.

 

However, she was only worried about one thing. The reason the duke appeared down again.

 

Perhaps, it’s not like he seemed down again, but he only pretended to be fine when there were Sean and Lily.

 

In the end, Nelia didn’t get off the carriage even after it stopped in front of the duke’s mansion, instead she held onto the hem of the duke’s clothes.

 

She has experienced this a few times before, and it was better to be honest at times like this. She’d been doing stupid things such as hastily assuming the reason and misunderstood him.

 

“Your Grace, you must be in a bad mood right now, aren’t you?”

 

The duke laughed helplessly.

 

“Did I look like that?”

 

“Yes.”

 

Nelia replied firmly. She also asked carefully.

 

“Is it because of Sir Vanerger?”

 

The duke shook his head.

 

“That’s right…… but it’s not necessarily because of that.”

 

“Then what is it?”

 

Nelia remained calm despite his vague answer, which looked a lot like a twenty questions game.

 

The duke was always overly considerate and worried about her. Therefore, she couldn’t bring herself to be honest even at times like this.

 

She had to do a careful approach to bring out his true feelings.

 

‘The only time is when the duke feels like an herbivore.’

 

The duke slowly opened his mouth in response to Nelia’s attitude.

 

“I don’t want to get married yet…… because of what Nelia said.”

 

Nelia searched through her mind for a moment while wondering if she really had said that before.

 

‘Yes, I don’t want to get married yet.’

 

When she recalled that, it was what she said to Lily when she asked about what she thought of Sir Vanerger……

 

“You’re not ready yet, Nelia.”

 

The duke went on with his eyes down.

 

“I thought I could wait no matter how long it takes for you to like me, Nelia…… But I think I’m getting nervous without even realizing it.”

 

It took Nelia a while to understand the duke’s words.

 

‘So……’

 

He must’ve misunderstood what he said. He must’ve thought she meant that she didn’t like the duke yet, so she has no intention of getting married to him.

 

Nelia admitted that it could sound like that indirectly.

 

She was glad though.

 

This time, I was able to confirm his feelings earlier than she intended to without going through a misunderstanding.

 

“Your Grace.”

 

Nelia called the duke in a low voice.

 

The duke stared right at her eyes.

 

The intensity of raindrops has been going down compared to a moment ago as they lightly hit the carriage and filled the silence.

 

“I like you, Your Grace.”

 

She kept thinking about how to tell him this, but the timing came up unexpectedly.

 

The duke didn’t react as if he froze in place. His expression looked somewhat dumbfounded.

 

Nelia said once more to the duke in order to overcome her embarrassment.

 

“I like you, Your Grace. It’s enough to make me want to be married to you…… Ukh!”

 

The duke shoved Nelia into his arms. Their bodies were so close that she even heard his frantically beating heart.

 

“Are you serious about that……?”

 

He didn’t seem to know how he was hugging her tightly. Nelia could barely answer him while trying to endure the pressure of his hug.

 

“Why would I lie about this?”

 

“That’s the reason I stayed beside you in many situations, Your Grace.”

 

The duke spoke in a subdued voice.

 

“You’re just too sweet, Nelia.”

 

“I’m not that sweet. I’ve become like this because it’s you, Your Grace.”

 

Nelia realized that she liked the duke, and she realized that she couldn’t pretend to ignore him, and the reason she couldn’t ignore it when it wasn’t her problem in the first place.

 

And she came to realize one more thing.

 

“……Thank you, Nelia.”

 

For making this confession, which would be a very important part of his life.

 

She imagined his warm skin rubbed against him.

 

***