“When you go out or attend to business outside the manor—you’ll be moving between locations, yes? So every time you go somewhere, I’d like to know where it was. And if you meet anyone, their name. Things like that—the basic information about who you were with—once a day please!”
“…”
“And one more thing. When you’re getting to know someone, it’s natural to wonder what they eat, isn’t it? That’s part of a person’s day, after all. So I’d like you to tell me what you had for breakfast, lunch, and dinner every day—whether it was good—a brief impression or two. I know you’re busy, but everyone has time set aside for bathing or sleeping, don’t they? If you could set aside a little of that time to reach out to me regularly, I’d be grateful!”
The baby rabbit had thrown a spirited jab.
And with that, Ivelina had rolled headfirst into the duke’s arms.
He was entirely untroubled by any of this. He had already planned to do exactly that.
But then—the baby rabbit misread his composed expression as displeasure, and began waving her hands in alarmed retreat.
“Of—of course, if it’s too much trouble, you don’t have to! I just thought it might be nice to be in touch often—don’t take it to heart, please. You really, truly don’t have to.”
“…”
The duke had a strong impulse to sink his teeth gently into those pale cheeks right then and there—to leave his impression on her the way footprints are pressed into fresh snow, marking everywhere.
Not because he was strange.
“I was only curious about your day. What you eat, where you go… I didn’t mean to be a nuisance or wear out my welcome.”
It was simply because the baby rabbit’s particular brand of cuteness was excessive. Looking into those dewy green eyes made his chest feel like it was slowly dissolving.
“Is there anything else?”
“Pardon?”
“Something else you’d like to ask of me.”
“Ah—yes. Just for now.”
The duke watched her uncertain expression and smiled, privately.
‘I was already looking for an excuse to follow her closely. How convenient.’
He was prepared to give the baby rabbit whatever she asked for. As long as she didn’t ask to break things off.
* * *
‘Cute.’
The duke found himself quietly smiling the entire time he wrote his report for the baby rabbit.
For all her timidity, her maneuvers were unerringly sly.
He wrote his daily schedule and meal record by hand—unhurriedly, thoroughly, leaving nothing out. Having a natural talent for fixation, he also attached a work progress report and a complete list of documents he had processed that day—
‘P.S. Ivelina — for smoother communication, I’ve made an additional arrangement. I’ll be placing a trusted knight as your contact and shadow. Should I need to go out unexpectedly, he’ll relay updates to you in real time.’
And so he also assigned her a shadow. A perfect surveillance measure, dressed as a communications channel.
“Janes. From today, report everything about Ivelina to me. Everything. Without exception. In real time.”
“Understood, Your Grace! Leave it to me!”
True to the skills of a seasoned knight, Janes reported on all things Ivelina—her destinations when she went out, who accompanied her, and considerably more besides.
‘Your Grace! Today the young lady muttered ‘good grief…!’ and ‘I’ll lose the whole day reading this report!’ while hitting her pale, lovely forehead repeatedly. And yet she spent the entire day reviewing the estate management report. What a meticulous and wise person she is! The sense of responsibility alone is exceptional! To be devoting herself to the affairs of the duchy with such passion already—is she not the finest mistress imaginable?!’
Every detail of Ivelina’s daily life was faithfully reported—though more than half of any given dispatch was Janes’s personal commentary.
Regardless. Delivering the documents to Ivelina was Janes’s job; delivering them to Janes was Hugo’s. Hugo sorted the papers the duke handed over in order, and looked up with his mouth open.
The volume today was once again considerable. The daily growing stack earned his genuine admiration.
“Wow… Your Grace! Miss Ivelina must be incredibly fond of you! She really seems to want to know absolutely everything about you!”
The duke smiled slightly at that and replied:
“Oh, she’s absolutely mad about me. Utterly beside herself.”
“Good heavens—Miss Ivelina is completely ‘gone’ on you, Your Grace!”
Hugo’s eyes went wide and bright with emotion.
Hugo was a devoted reader of romance novels. He had no personal experience with love whatsoever, but the accumulated wisdom of a thousand fictional romances had given him a higher romantic sensibility than the clock tower in the capital square.
He had, therefore, a particular romance for the concept of ‘fixation’. To fixate on someone required investment—of time, of emotion. Hugo operated on his own personal theorem: ‘fixation equals love.’
‘Miss Ivelina must be serious about our duke. She’s giving up her precious time to fixate on him!’
This was why Hugo found himself quite charmed by Ivelina.
A woman who fixated on their duke with total dedication. Was that not the mistress of his dreams?
A few days later, Hugo was absolutely certain of Ivelina’s devoted fixation on the duke.
She had arrived at the manor early in the morning—before the appointed time.
“Miss Ivelina? You’re early. The agreed time is still a while away… Goodness, did something happen—”
“Oh! Nothing bad! It’s just…”
“Just…!”
Hugo’s face filled with visible concern.
Ivelina flapped her hands and then made two tight fists.
“I—I just wanted to see the duke sooner! If I come early I can see him for longer…!”
“Ah, I see!”
Hugo was moved.
Coming to her beloved’s home before dawn had fully broken—before the agreed hour of their date—simply to spend a little more time with him. That was remarkable devotion.
“Yes… I’m sorry, Hugo. I hope I haven’t caused you trouble.”
Ivelina immediately drooped, wearing the expression of a very pitiful small rabbit. The sight of the dear, gentle, small, precious prospective mistress thoroughly undid him.
“Not at all! Not even a little. But—the duke is currently still in his room…”
“Oh! In his bedroom? That’s ‘perfect!'”
Miss Ivelina’s devotion exceeded even Hugo’s generous imagination. This was truly extraordinary.
To hear that her boyfriend was in his bedroom and immediately light up with delight—to actually clap her hands together—
The only problem was that it ‘was’ the bedroom. And lately, the duke in the mornings was… rather like an extremely vigorous teenage boy…
“Come to think of it, she might even enjoy it…”
“Hugo! Could you show me to the duke’s bedroom right now?”
“Ah—that might be a bit—it’s morning, and there could be some risk involved…”
“Pardon?”
“Ah—nothing! Right this way!”
Hugo escorted Ivelina to the duke’s bedroom immediately.
When someone was this devoted, rushing to leap through the door herself, there was really nothing to be done.
‘The prospective mistress must know what she can handle, if she’s going in that willingly.’
Clearly they were very well-suited indeed.
“Then I wish you a most pleasant time, Miss Ivelina.”
“Thank you, Hugo!”
Hugo smiled warmly at her and departed down the corridor at speed.
Though he was a little worried, in various ways.
‘Will Miss Ivelina be all right? She looks rather fragile…’
Of late, the duke in the mornings had been vigorous in a way that suggested a very particular kind of excess.
‘But perhaps it’s better for him to resolve matters together with his girlfriend than alone—!’
Hugo walked away from the corridor with a satisfied heart.
* * *
‘At that moment. The duke’s bedroom.’
The duke had been dreaming of the baby rabbit rather often lately.
In the dreams, the baby rabbit danced with her shoulders bouncing in time to his clapping, or slept curled in his arms making soft sounds.
But the dream from last night had been a somewhat different genre.
An unreasonably adorable rabbit had invaded his bedroom and was tugging at his sleeve, begging to be held.
‘”Sweetheart, hurry. Do it already…”‘
‘”Ha. Damn.”‘
Just as he was about to—he woke up.
* * *
