26. Only One Bedroom

Adeline returned to the toilette room feeling nauseated.

No matter what she said, the duke was clearly determined to present her at the banquet.

‘To display me wearing such clothes.’

Adeline gripped the hem of her dress with trembling hands, unable to control her emotions.

The toilette room was still full of dresses that Adeline had to try on.

Adeline had no time to check who was in the toilette room. She simply surrendered her body, her spirit drained.

‘Is she disrespecting me?’

Madame Violetta seemed offended by Adeline’s behavior.

Violetta stopped measuring for dress alterations and restrained Adeline’s actions.

“My goodness, Lady. You shouldn’t grip the dress like that. You may not know, but this is delicate fabric that a commoner couldn’t afford in a lifetime.”

The meaning behind her words was clear. She was looking down on Adeline for being a commoner who had become the duke’s mistress and was wearing a dress beyond her station.

However, Adeline couldn’t confront Violetta. After all, she was currently posing as the commoner Del.

“Madame. Could we raise the neckline a bit?”

Adeline requested a design modification from the madame, suppressing her rising anger. Since she couldn’t persuade the mad duke, she thought she might appeal to Madame Violetta instead.

In response to Adeline’s request, Madame Violetta looked her up and down and said:

“Usually, women from noble families would prefer more modest attire. But you’re a mistress, aren’t you?”

Violetta’s folded fan concealed her crooked upturned lip.

“A mistress’s virtue is to please the duke’s eyes. Now, what about this? It’s the most fashionable style in brothels these days.”

Snapping her fan shut, Violetta gestured to her staff to dress Adeline in the indicated outfit.

Far from accommodating Adeline’s request, Madame Violetta was recommending even more revealing clothes.

Adeline couldn’t control her trembling body from the shame.

By the time they were nearing the end of the dress showcase, Adeline was horrified by the final dress, which was even more revealing than the previous ones.

“Isn’t it a wonderful design? This Violetta has never been able to present such designs because I’ve always dealt with noble ladies.”

Violetta presented a design that not only fully exposed the shoulders but also deeply cut away the chest and back.

“From the shoulders to the back and the collarbone line. It’s a dress optimized to reveal a delicate physique.”

It was while Violetta was enthusiastically explaining her dress.

“Ah. This level of exposure is hardly enough.”

The duke, who had naturally entered the toilette room, strode toward Adeline.

Taking his place beside Adeline, the duke ran his hand down her back.

“My Del has a very beautiful waist line extending from this back.”

— Plop.

Each time the duke’s large hand passed from Adeline’s back to her waist, small buttons fell off one by one. Adeline hurriedly grabbed the duke’s hand.

“Your Grace. This is!”

“Shh. Didn’t you agree to please me? If you disappoint me, I might not be able to restrain myself. My Del.”

It was a clear threat.

On the surface, it seemed like an affectionate gesture, but it clearly meant that if she didn’t fulfill her role as a mistress, he would immediately throw her before the Marquis’s family or the crown prince.

There was nothing Adeline could do in this space. She could only watch as the buttons fell and rolled away.

“This much exposure is necessary to highlight my Del’s beauty, isn’t it? Don’t you agree, Madame?”

As if demanding an answer, the duke turned Adeline around and displayed her back to Violetta.

“Excellent. I think it would be better to lower the neckline a bit more to match the back.”

At the duke’s request, Violetta went even further by suggesting more exposure.

Only the duke holding Adeline could feel her trembling with humiliation as she stood motionless like a mannequin.

“Ah. My Del is most beautiful when wearing nothing, but I’ll leave the rest to the madame.”

At the duke’s command, one corner of Madame Violetta’s mouth turned up.

“I will present a new design that won’t disappoint you, Your Grace.”

The duke finally kissed Adeline’s forehead in front of Madame Violetta before leaving the toilette room.

The designer who witnessed this scene was itching to speak.

She wanted to leave the duke’s castle immediately and spread the word about the mistress who had driven the cold-blooded duke mad.

Adeline would later learn that this designer had been selected to enter the duke’s castle precisely because of her loose lips.

⁕⁕⁕

Adeline, exhausted from the dress fitting, was heading to the guest room where she had been staying.

But when she entered her original guest room, an empty room greeted her.

All her belongings and the spare clothes she had hung up had disappeared.

Confused, Adeline stopped a passing maid.

“Where did all my belongings from this room go?”

The maid looked at the empty room and smiled brightly at Adeline.

“Your bedroom has been prepared, so everything was moved there. I’ll guide you.”

Adeline followed the maid, lost in thought.

She had only been here for a few days, yet a bedroom was already prepared.

It was certainly Casis who had pushed for this.

Adeline was sighing when the maid walking ahead stopped.

“This is it.”

Adeline blinked at the bedroom scene unfolding before her.

She then called to the maid who was about to leave after greeting her.

“Wait. This is my bedroom?”

“Yes, His Grace said that the lady will be staying here from now on.”

‘This can’t be happening.’

Adeline couldn’t hide her astonishment.

The reason was that the bedroom the maid had led her to as her future accommodation was none other than the duke’s bedroom.

To think she would have to share a bedroom with Casis.

Even married nobles rarely shared bedrooms.

That was normal for married couples. It was even more unheard of for an unmarried mistress to share a room.

Adeline let out a bitter laugh as she saw her belongings already arranged.

It seemed Casis intended to keep Adeline under surveillance not only during the day but also at night, preventing her from moving freely.

“Ha…… Where is His Grace now?”

Just as she asked the maid with a trembling voice.

“Why are you looking for me?”

A familiar voice came from behind her. Adeline turned around quickly.

“Your Grace, I want a separate bedroom.”

“A separate bedroom? The bed here is spacious enough for us to share. There’s no reason to use separate rooms.”

He showed a nonchalant smile as if he had anticipated Adeline’s fiery reaction.

Such a shameless attitude made Adeline even more upset.

“No! I hate it. How can I share a bedroom with Your Grace?”

“Del, you seem to have forgotten. We already shared a bed at the villa.”

“That, that was……!”

Adeline was suddenly at a loss for words.

“What happened at the villa is beside the point! Anyway, I’m moving back to the guest room where I was staying.”

Just as Adeline was about to gather her belongings, as if she had heard enough.

“Guest room? You should know that’s not a space for you.”

“Then I’ll go to a servant’s room.”

“You’ll use the maids’ room?”

“Yes. Everyone here thinks I’m a commoner anyway, right?”

The duke watching Adeline burst into laughter.

Then he approached Adeline and wrapped his arm around her waist in one swift motion.

“The servants would truly welcome that. And rumors would spread. About the tactless commoner mistress who stayed in the servants’ quarters without any consideration for their discomfort.”

Adeline’s mouth fell open at the duke’s sarcastic words.

Casis with his returned memories didn’t match Mel at all.

He seemed affectionate at times, but then he would corner Adeline with such sharp words.

“What should I do? Should I move your bedroom to the maids’ quarters as you wish?”

Adeline shook off his touch as she watched Casis smiling in an eerie manner.

Then she stepped back from him one step at a time.

“It wouldn’t be bad to directly show the image of a mistress running to the duke’s call every night.”

“You’re cruel! Just how far will you torment me?”

She recalled Casis tormenting her by pretending to be an affectionate lover in front of designer Violetta and the maids.

Adeline shuddered as she observed the duke whose gaze changed when they were alone.

“Cruel? You don’t seem to know what cruelty is, my Del.”

He approached Adeline, lifted her in one breath, and placed her on the bed.

Then he mounted her and bound both her hands.

“If you want to see something more cruel, keep talking.”

“……”

“You are my mistress. And as a mistress, you must fulfill your duties.”

He lowered his head and approached Adeline.

Casis stopped at a distance where they seemed about to touch.

“So you have the duty to warm my bed every day. I look forward to it every night, my Del.”

After whispering to the thoroughly cowering Adeline, he stood up. With those final words, the duke quickly left the bedroom.

Adeline, who had been watching him, exhaled a labored breath.

‘Ha.’

Adeline’s eyes reddened at Mel’s endless coercion.

The tears she had been holding back welled up due to the man who had changed so drastically.

It was painful. She had only wanted to avoid the crown prince.

The duke she encountered here again had become such a different person.

Should she have never come to the Torpeo duchy?

Overcome by belated regret, Adeline buried her face deep in the blanket.

And for a long time, Adeline’s shoulders shook as she quietly swallowed her tears so no one would hear.