Bianca, leading Luka, came out to the entrance and spoke as they descended the external staircase.

“You must have been surprised when you saw me there earlier, thinking I was a perfumer.”

“I was curious. What happened that day?”

“In fact, I’m a regular customer there. While the perfumer was inside the warehouse packing the goods I purchased, a customer came in. He seemed busy, so I looked for the perfume myself. Oh, by the way, here.”

Bianca handed Luka a small bag.

According to the perfumer, the customer who mistakenly took the cheap perfume that day never came back to exchange it.

It had been bothering her the whole time that she had unintentionally given him the wrong product, but now she felt better.

“I accidentally packed the one next to it. I’m sorry. This is the product the teacher was originally looking for.”

“I thought there might have been a mistake. You don’t have to worry about it….”

Nikolai, who had entrusted the perfume errand to Luka, seemed angry, but, in truth, he didn’t care much about the perfume.

But, Teacher?

Luka realized belatedly that he was called by a new title and blinked in surprise.

Now that he thought about it, she had been using honorifics with him, even though she considered him a commoner.

“Teacher?”

“You are my teacher now. I should respect you as a teacher.”

“Ah….”

“By the way, I’m sorry for the late introduction. I am Bianca Smirnov.”

Bianca gripped the hem of her skirt with both hands and rose to her feet, bending slightly at the knees.

Luka bowed stiffly to her.

“I’m Luka Tranov.”

Descending the stairs, the two strolled briefly along the promenade in front of the building before the carriage arrived.

Even though they were only walking side by side, Luka felt nervous.

He wiped his palms on his pants as his hands seemed to sweat incessantly.

He’d had many women pursue him in the north, but he’d never felt love for anyone before.

But Bianca was different.

Partly because she was beautiful, but there was something indescribable about her that drew him to her like gravity.

It was an intense pull, like being swept away by a storm.

“I…….”

Luka was about to say goodbye when Laika appeared out of nowhere, ears flapping, and leaped toward him.

“Woof!”

As soon as Luka heard the dog bark, he backed away with a pensive look on his face.

Bianca caught it and held up her index finger in warning, stopping the charging dog.

“Laika, no!”

“Whmmm.”

The dejected Laika stood still with a disappointed look on its face. It felt unjust, as it had come running happily, not to chase Luka away. The large, shaggy brown-haired man seemed to be afraid of it.

With those thoughts racing through its mind, Laika suddenly lay down on the ground, its tail gently swaying as it looked up at Luka with big, gleaming eyes.

‘I won’t harm you. Laika is a good dog. Don’t worry. I want to be your friend.’

As if it were saying those words.

To Laika, Luka smelled like Nikolai, Laika’s favorite after the sisters and Duke Smirnov.

Led by the familiar scent, Laika had come all the way here.

Since the incident with Ivan’s thugs, Laika had shown aggression towards men and bared its teeth when seeing them. However, intriguingly, it didn’t show any signs of hostility towards Boris, Nikolai’s aide, or the knights of the duchy. It was because of Nikolai’s scent.

It seemed that Luka, too, was on good terms with the person who emitted that scent. In other words, that person was a good person, according to the data Laika had gathered through its sense of smell.

And the data pointed to this person being someone Laika could trust and like wholeheartedly.

It gave Laika a strong conviction that she had even found the second sister’s fiancé.

“I’m sorry. Normally, he despises men.”

The look on Bianca’s face was apologetic.

Laika’s mouth opened wide in frustration, and drool dripped down her tongue, which hung limply across her chin.

It was strange indeed.

Why was this man so afraid of her, when Nikolai was coddling her?

Laika scratched her head and watched the two of them talk.

“No, it’s because I’m afraid of dogs…….”

“Then I won’t let her go anywhere near my class or where you’ll be staying.”

Luka felt embarrassed at the thought of showing his fear in front of Bianca, when all he wanted to do was look good.

As a man of dignity, he should have been offended by her reaction.

“I’m sorry. I don’t hate dogs, I used to rather like them…….”

Luka said, looking at Bianca with difficulty.

“It’s just that when I was younger, I was bitten by a dog when I went to visit a friend.”

Thirteen years ago, Luka was separated from Nikolai, the boy he grew up with.

No one but himself could find him.

Guards stood guard at the entrance to the tower where Nikolai stayed, and their unleashed dogs wandered the corridors.

Luka managed to sneak past the guards by rolling his eyes, and then climbed to the top of the tower to meet Nikolai.

Unaware that a dog was waiting for him at the final gateway, he caught a glimpse of his long-lost friend’s face, only to have his leg ripped off by a vicious dog.

His calf still bore the scar from that day.

“Why are you apologizing? I get it, I get it, if there are people in the world who love dogs, there are also people who are scared of them, it’s natural.”

Bianca reassured him in a soothing voice.

Her understanding and caring tone made Luka’s heart skip a beat.

As Luka was about to say thank you, Bianca turned her head and coughed softly.

Immediately, Luka reflexively took off his coat and draped it over her shoulders.

“Oh, you don’t have to worry about me. You should go now. I’ll be fine. Just go inside—cough, cough.”

“That’s perfectly fine with me, just give me my coat when I get to work.”

“……Thank you.”

Bianca replied in a whisper, unable to refuse further.

The Duke’s carriage that Bianca had called for arrived in front of the shy young man and woman.

“I’ll see you next week, then.”

Luka kissed the back of her hand and climbed into the carriage.

Bianca watched the carriage disappear toward the gates.

As she turned to leave, she saw Gregory and Olen running toward her, having spotted her in the distance.

“Lady Bianca, so good to see you again!”

“How are you?”

At the sight of the two men leaning forward to kiss Bianca’s hand, Laika growled, blocking their path.

Gregory stumbled backwards in anger at the sight of the snout twitching like a feral animal.

“Haha, this is your Laika, isn’t she cute?”

Unlike Gregory, Olen was both brave and dog-loving, so he put his hand on Laika’s head.

He smiled and petted her, but the dog, offended by the unauthorized touch, bit down hard on his hand.

“Ack!”

“Laika!”

At the sound of Bianca’s voice, Laika spat out the hand that had just bitten her.

With the Smirnov sisters as owners, each of whom were beautiful and kind, it was impossible for the dog to let its guard down.

There was a whole world of people she didn’t like.

Except for two, Nikolai and Luka.

***

That night, Katya pretended to go to bed early and slipped out of the ducal chambers without anyone noticing.

This was possible because Nikolai was staying in the west wing with the Grand Duke’s knights.

Although it bothered her to deceive him, revealing the truth in advance would have made it impossible for her to leave. Thus, she had no choice but to go alone.

Outside, the Duke’s knights were already waiting, having been informed by the butler.

The carriage with Katya in it set off for the Petrozsky estate.

When the carriage reached its destination, traveling in the middle of the night, she led the knights into what had once been an inescapable cage.

As soon as she saw the knights following her into the parlor, Ivan smirked.

“Why are you acting so down? You came to meet your friend, so why are you bringing a baggage?”

“How could I trust you to come alone?”

“This is something we need to talk about in private, do you think they should hear us?”

Katya drew her sword and waved off the knights on guard, telling them it was okay and to wait in the hallway.

She locked eyes with her foe with a steely gaze.

Let’s settle the score today, Petrozsky.

***

Meanwhile. Bianca had changed into her pajamas for the night and was struggling with a cough that wouldn’t subside despite several cups of hot tea.

“I don’t think it working. Do you want me to call the doctor?”

Alyona, who had brought the tea, asked worriedly.

“No, I can’t ask him to come when it’s time to sleep. I’ll go myself. You should go back and rest, Alyona. I think I’ll be fine if I take the medicine.”

After Alyona returned to her quarters, Bianca crossed the room where the physician was staying.

The duke’s physician was not housed with the other servants, but on the same floor as Duke Smirnov’s bedroom in case of emergency.

She knocked on the door, and before she could listen further, she heard the voice of the doctor inside.

“Is that what you’ve come for again? Come in.”

Again? Bianca opened the door, puzzled.

There was no one inside.

From the bustle of activity in the workshop attached to the room, the doctor seemed to be doing something in there.

He was the Duke’s personal physician, but he also ran a private practice in the city center of Padovangrad.

He would spend four days at the clinic and three days at the Duke’s.

“Princess, haven’t I repeatedly told you that there is no way to obtain the medicine that is unavailable? It would be easier for you to give up. I must have said something unnecessary before.”

“Do you think I know what kind of medicine you’re looking for?”

Bianca asked in a restrained voice.

Her sister’s voice was already similar to hers, but due to the cold, it had become so indistinguishable that they could hardly tell them apart.

She knew he was talking about her sister.

“Today, you’re searching for that fertility treatment from the eastern continent, right? As I mentioned before, the Hersen Medical Association has not yet approved its effectiveness, so it cannot be imported…”

Upon hearing that, an agitated Bianca staggered and accidentally knocked over a vase that was on the table.

Crash!

The sharp sound pierced their ears, and the physician rushed out and paled upon seeing her.

“Lady Bianca!”

“What’s going on? Why is my sister looking for a fertility treatment?”

The thought of her beloved sister’s health being in trouble distorted Bianca’s face with despair.