32. An Unavoidable Night

Adeline paused while cutting her steak and raised her head.

The end of the long wooden table was empty. The man who should have been sitting at that end was absent.

Perhaps it was fortunate. Even sitting so far apart across from each other, Adeline felt suffocated whenever he looked at her.

But seeing the empty seat made her breathe easier.

The dining room where she sat alone in Casis’s absence felt so peaceful and even spacious.

She newly realized how heavy his presence had been.

When Adeline put a piece of steak in her mouth, the savory aroma of meat spread.

Perhaps because she had been eating sandwiches for days, the food went down smoothly.

Adeline continued eating while glancing around at her surroundings.

The attitude of the servants had changed since hearing about her pregnancy.

Until now, the maids had whispered about how extravagant the mistress was whenever they saw her.

But now, as if they had never done such things, they showed a friendly attitude toward Adeline.

“Lady Del, try this tea. It’s good for morning sickness.”

“How about taking a half-bath in warm water today? It might calm your morning sickness too.”

They probably thought the favored mistress might secure the duchess position at any time.

So they were trying to get on her good side in advance.

Adeline stopped eating and put down her cutlery.

Then she carefully raised her hand and stroked her stomach.

To think that his child was growing in this still-flat stomach.

For a moment, despair shadowed Adeline’s face.

Shouldn’t a child be born amidst everyone’s blessings?

But if the pregnancy was real, no one would welcome this child.

It was obvious how Marquis Credion would react if he learned his daughter, who had run away and hidden, was carrying Duke Torpeo’s child.

Would the duke cherish her for carrying his child?

‘If he was going to do that, he would have done so already.’

Adeline’s mouth twisted as a sneer escaped.

Hopefully, she wasn’t pregnant.

The more she thought about it, the more Adeline lost her appetite.

Just as she was about to pick up the napkin beside her.

“Is today’s meal not to your liking?”

Butler Gwen, who had been waiting by the dining room door, approached and asked.

As Adeline looked at him hesitantly, Gwen turned around. Toward the servants.

“Leave us for a moment.”

At this dismissal, the maids and chef who had been waiting behind withdrew from the dining room.

Only Gwen and Adeline remained in the large dining room.

“If it doesn’t suit your taste, I’ll instruct them to prepare something new.”

He was about to go out and call the chef.

“It’s fine, Gwen. I just don’t have an appetite. It’s because I’m eating a proper meal after so long.”

“Lady Del, you must eat now even if you don’t have an appetite.”

He brought a fruit plate from the trolley and placed it in front of Adeline.

“You know better than anyone that you’re not alone now, don’t you?”

Gwen speaking to Adeline was exceptionally gentle.

This was quite different from when she first came to the ducal mansion and he guided her to meet Duke Torpeo.

“You never spoke to me before, but now you even call me by name, Gwen.”

Until now, Gwen had only addressed Adeline as ‘Lady.’

Being called ‘Lady Del’ by him felt so unfamiliar that it tickled her ears.

His eyes widened at Adeline’s direct words.

“I understand the butler’s feelings. It must have been awkward to be friendly with me, a mistress.”

With the duchess position vacant now, no butler would want to get close to the mistress while not knowing when a duchess might arrive.

So from his position, he had simply made the most natural choice.

Thinking this way, she didn’t feel disappointed.

She had never expected good treatment in this ducal mansion to begin with.

Adeline stared blankly at the plate filled with fruit.

“Do you hate His Grace?”

Adeline raised her gaze at the low voice that reached her ears.

She couldn’t deny that she didn’t hate him. Wasn’t he the duke who had cornered her like this?

But she didn’t just hate him either. Sometimes when that man showed inexplicable kindness, he overlapped with Mel.

Lingering attachment sprouts strange emotions. It was a subtle feeling that was neither affection nor hatred.

‘What am I thinking now……’

Adeline shook her head.

That man was selfish. It was natural to hate a man obsessed with tormenting her.

The butler seemed to read Adeline’s constantly changing expressions and briefly raised the corner of his mouth.

Then, as if he had never smiled, he erased his smile and opened his mouth.

“Still, his feelings for you are sincere. Haven’t you noticed the maids around you changing?”

The words ‘He’s sincere about tormenting me’ rose to her throat.

But Adeline didn’t show it.

Weren’t they just maids who left because they didn’t want to serve the mistress?

“Come to think of it, they have changed.”

“Now there’s no one in the ducal mansion who would dare treat Lady Del carelessly.”

Adeline recalled the servants who had become friendly toward her.

The servants who, unlike before, were now kind.

‘Because of the pregnancy?’

Then would all this kindness disappear if she wasn’t pregnant?

The moment this thought occurred, a shadow fell over Adeline’s face.

Because she thought she might face an even worse situation than before.

Adeline withdrew her hand that was about to take some fruit.

Just as she stood up, wanting to return to the bedroom and rest.

“Lady Del, His Grace the Duke has returned.”

Adeline froze at the maid’s message that the duke, who had left for the banquet, had returned.

It was because the duke had returned home earlier than expected.

Adeline glanced at the plates on the table. They were all new dishes, as if a fresh dinner had been set.

“Oh my, most of the food is left. Lady, if it doesn’t suit your taste, shall I prepare something else?”

“No. It’s fine.”

Adeline hurriedly left the dining room.

She was afraid the duke might capriciously suggest dining together.

⁕⁕⁕

Adeline came straight to the bedroom, dismissing Becky’s offer to help with her bath.

She was anxious about possibly encountering the duke while going up to the second floor where the bedroom was, or that he might hear she had left her meal and take her back to the dining room to continue eating.

Only after entering the bedroom and being alone did Adeline exhale a deep breath.

She immediately walked into the bedroom.

She needed to fall asleep before he returned to the bedroom.

That way, she could avoid the awkward situation of facing each other.

When she approached the center of the bedroom.

Adeline discovered something placed on the table.

‘A scented candle?’

When she entered the bedroom, she thought a subtle fragrance was coming from somewhere……

It seemed to be from this candle burning and spreading its scent.

Adeline picked up the unfamiliar candle, examined it, and tilted her head.

She hadn’t seen it before going to the dining room.

Did a maid place it there?

“……The scent is nice.”

Adeline put it back on the table.

Seeing that it was a seductive fragrance, she recalled what the maids had been gossiping about.

They talked about candles often placed in bedrooms. Candles with scents good for seducing men.

Thinking it might be that kind of candle, Adeline sighed.

She had been avoiding Casis because she felt it would be unbearable to spend the night together.

She would feel the frustration of truly becoming a mistress.

‘But does this mean I can no longer avoid it?’

Though a maid might have placed the candle, this was undoubtedly Casis’s intention.

She wanted to throw it away. Just as Adeline, entertaining bad thoughts, reached her hand toward the table.

The sound of a door opening was heard, followed by footsteps from the bathroom inside the bedroom.

Adeline instinctively turned toward the source of the sound.

There was.

“Have you finished dinner already?”

He was there, shaking his wet hair with a clean face, as if he had arrived without her knowing.

With each step he took toward her, the front of his shower robe opened, revealing his muscles.

The firm muscles, as if sculpted, rose and fell with his movements.

His slow steps stopped in front of Adeline.

He held the towel he had been using to dry his hair in one hand and looked down at her.

His hair color was as dark as the night sky.

His black hair, wet with moisture, looked even darker today.

He raised his hand and swept his wet hair back.

The wet hair followed the direction he swept it, revealing the eyes that had been hidden.

Adeline was reflected in his red eyes, which seemed to contain embers.

She stood frozen, unable to move under his gaze.

Casis looked at her and raised the corner of his mouth with a smirk.

He must have sensed her bewilderment.

He slowly lowered his head toward her.

Adeline tightly closed her eyes as she watched him approach as if he would kiss her at any moment.

Just as her heart constricted, imagining his lips that might touch hers at any moment.

“The scent is nice.”

His low voice and breath pooled in her ear.