Episode 27

The man, neatly combed and dressed in an elegant suit, shone even through the misty steam.

“It seems the princess talks quite a bit about me in my absence.”

“Oh, no. Thanks to you, I chose my dress well today….” 

I stammered, feeling guilty though I hadn’t spoken ill of him.

Martha respectfully greeted the duke and quickly stepped aside, then sent me a teasing look with a sly smile.

Eventually, I was left alone with the duke.

“I’m glad you chose your dress well. Are you avoiding the rain here?”

“Yes, I was waiting for my carriage. But what brings you here, Duke…?” 

I blinked slowly at him, feeling incredulous. He nodded slightly and responded naturally.

“This building belongs to the Adler duke’s family. I came here for some business in my own building. I didn’t expect to meet you, the princess, by chance.”

I looked at him in disbelief. 

What a coincidence…! 

Reserving my dress at the boutique in his building and then appearing at that time as a coincidence… 

The ominous thought that he might be watching me crossed my mind.

The duke was, after all, still the most likely suspect. He might have been constantly spying on me, looking for an opportunity to kill.

However, I couldn’t afford to reveal my feelings.

“Oh my, is that so? Meeting like this happened by chance. Perhaps we are fated!”

I spoke almost in the tone of reading a textbook, parroting lifeless lines. He was a perceptive man, and I didn’t want to give off the impression that I suspected him.

To my response, there seemed to be a flicker of joy in the duke’s blue eyes.

While I was slightly puzzled by his reaction, a neatly dressed young man in glasses appeared behind the duke.

“Your Grace, it’s time to depart.”

The duke leaned in slightly to introduce him.

“Ah, I see you’re new here. This is Alfred, my secretary.”

“Pleased to meet you, Your Highness.”

Alfred greeted me with proper courtesy. However, despite his ingrained politeness, his gaze shifting between me and the duke seemed somewhat confused.

I stared intently at Alfred, the clean-cut young man exuding an intellectual air. He was an irresistibly interesting person to consider.

Being a personal secretary, he would know his whereabouts, making him a good source to confirm alibis.

If I could coax information out of the man in front of me, it would be of great help in investigating the duke’s every move.

While lost in thought and staring at him, the duke, with a stern expression, suddenly pushed Alfred aside.

“You go and call the carriage.”

“What? Yes! Understood.”

At his chilly command, Alfred quickly left to call the carriage. I watched his departing figure with a sense of regret.

Soon after, a voice tinged with suspicion reached my ears.

“Do you have some business with my secretary? There’s no reason for the princess to be interested.”

“Me? No! Not at all! Surely not!”

I was startled and quickly waved my hands in denial.

“But why do you look at Alfred in such a way?”

He seemed to show discomfort, as if he had read my thoughts of digging into his affairs through the secretary.

Anyway, he was as sharp as if he practiced mind reading. His perception was incredibly quick.

“Duke, I don’t understand what you mean? My gaze is always towards you.”

I looked at the duke with sparkling eyes, hands clasped together, and blinked several times, feigning innocence.

It was an appeal to show that I had not a single other thought in mind.

“Ahem.”

Seemingly burdened by my gaze, he finally averted his suspicious look and cleared his throat.

The duke’s large palm brushed against his nape.

Clatter, clatter-.

Just then, the duke’s carriage arrived in front of the building, cutting through the rain.

He glanced at the carriage, then turned his gaze to me, suddenly handing something over.

“This is…”

I looked at the item the duke placed in my hand, then looked up at him.

“Well, I have another schedule to attend to.”

With those words, the duke strode towards the carriage and left. Raindrops on his luxurious suit created round shadows here and there on his jacket.

Alfred jumped up when he saw the duke walking in the pouring rain.

Alfred, who had run from afar, hurriedly took off his jacket to cover the duke, but it was already too late.

Soon, the duke’s carriage disappeared, creating a rough splash in the water.

*

“Your Grace! Where did you leave the umbrella I gave you? Why did you come in the rain like this?”

Wiping the steam off his glasses, Alfred chided with concern.

“Don’t make a fuss over getting a bit wet in the rain.”

Lennaeus took off his soaking wet jacket and laid it down beside him.

“You have a meeting with the Imperial Bank President soon, how can you not be concerned?”

Alfred complained while continuously wiping Lennaeus’ water-soaked luxury jacket with his handkerchief.

“The business won’t fall apart just because a jacket got wet, so no need for that.”

He replied nonchalantly and suddenly looked at Alfred, whose face looked quite sleek without glasses.

At that moment, Lennaeus’ eyebrow twitched slightly, recalling Charlotte’s gaze towards his secretary.

He chided Alfred with an annoyed expression.

“Aren’t you trying too hard to be stylish these days?”

“Me? Not Your Grace? Didn’t you change clothes twice this morning?”

Alfred pouted his lips, then grumbled as if he had more to say.

“Did you really come here to meet the princess today?”

For Alfred, who had perfectly arranged Lennaeus’ tight schedule, the bombshell had dropped just a few hours ago.

It was a mistake to carelessly mention the princess’s dress shop reservation schedule.

Afterward, Lennaeus insisted on stopping by this building, citing somewhat forced reasons.

Thanks to that, Alfred was almost driven to his wits’ end rearranging the schedule again.

And from the moment Alfred ‘accidentally’ met Charlotte in the building, he was shocked to realize that his boss’s ‘fiery lady’ was indeed Charlotte.

“Alfred. Have you developed a bad habit of assigning meaning to my actions lately?”

Lennaeus scrutinized Alfred with narrowed eyes and a sharp gaze.

“No, not at all, Your Grace.”

Alfred flinched, shrinking his neck at the cold tone.

However, Alfred knew Lennaeus well. The recent softening of Lennaeus’ demeanor meant that getting on edge like that indicated a hit nerve.

“Anyway, you must have handled the boutique matter well.”

The voice was slightly softened again. Alfred quickly answered to not upset Lennaeus’ mood.

“Yes, yes, since the duke’s family will bear the difference, I instructed them to charge only 10% of the actual dress price. I told them to inform the princess that this was the regular price.”

“You also made sure to relay my instructions to reject reservations from other members of the Empire Union, right?”

“Of course. Though it means losing a year’s worth of rent from Emerse.”

No matter how haughty Emerse may be, they couldn’t go against the wishes of a building owner who exists above VIPs.

Of course, it wasn’t a loss since Lennaeus compensated for all the costs.

Satisfied with the response, a faint smile curved on Lennaeus’ lips.

‘After all, I made the princess pay for the dress as she wanted.’

He leaned his chin on his hand, gazing out the foggy carriage window at the pouring rain.

And he recalled Charlotte’s sweet, bird-like voice.

“Oh my, meeting like this by chance. We must be fated!”

The corners of Lennaeus’ mouth curled up slightly.

Seeing this, he realized the princess had a truly naive side, believing they had met by coincidence.

Unaware that it was all his orchestration.

Nonetheless, he was satisfied. Seeing the princess happy as he intended brought him a sense of pride.

‘In the Empire Union, only Princess Charlotte needs to wear Emerse.’

Leaning against the window, Lennaeus hummed a low tune without realizing it.

*

Not long after Duke Adler left, the figure of a man drenched in water appeared from afar.

“Due to the sudden rain, there weren’t many stores offering umbrellas.”

Steam rose from the broad shoulders of John, who was panting from running. He held an umbrella in his hand.

“You’re completely soaked.”

I muttered to John with a slightly dazed expression.

He shrugged nonchalantly, then slightly furrowed his brow upon seeing my hand.

“But… you got an umbrella now?”

I turned my gaze from John’s brown hair, dripping with raindrops, to the black umbrella in my hand.

It was a neatly rolled and meticulously tied umbrella.

“Ah, I just met Duke Adler by chance. He gave me this umbrella! How kind of him.”

In my silence, Martha stepped in.

She explained that we were in the duke’s building for business and happened to meet him by chance. As he was leaving, he handed over his umbrella and got drenched in the rain.

She enthusiastically praised the chivalry of Duke Adler.

John had an odd expression on his face.

“Seems quite kind of him to use ‘chance’ as a pretext.”

Martha seemed to believe the duke’s word about it being a coincidence, but John would have naturally sensed it wasn’t.

Soon, the princess’ palace carriage that John called arrived, splashing water as it stopped in front of the building. The rain was still pouring heavily.

I smiled at John.

“Thank you for the umbrella. You should use it.”

“What’s the use of an umbrella now that I’m already drenched.”

John passed the umbrella he brought to Martha with a bittersweet smile.

Martha quickly accepted the umbrella as if it were an unexpected treat, then reached out her hand to me.

“Princess, if you give me the umbrella, I’ll hold it for you.”

“No, I’ll do it.”

John’s large hand suddenly appeared in front of me.

I quietly observed the kindness Duke Adler had passed on before handing it to John.

John skillfully untied the neatly tied umbrella strap, opened it wide, and held it over my head.

“Be careful not to get wet.”

As I stepped into the rain under the umbrella held by John, the sound of raindrops fell on the umbrella – pitter-patter.

Raindrops continuously fell on John’s shoulders, who did not use the umbrella.

I intently looked at the black umbrella held over me.

For some reason, I felt uneasy.

Because… the knot that tied the umbrella given by Duke Adler was the knot of a serial killer.