Struggling to keep the corners of their mouths from twitching, the two of them hurriedly exchanged glances.
Who was Cain, after all?
The Duke who had never spared a single glance for any noble young lady who approached him.
It had gotten to the point where one young lady, after sending marriage proposals several times and being turned down, had become a lady’s maid in the residence just to have some point of contact with him.
Jayden’s personal maid, Celia Dorn, was exactly that case.
Of course, she’d gotten nothing for her trouble. He was the Dragon Duke, after all.
And yet that same Duke had lent his coat to Miss Squirrel? Something unusual was in the air.
There’s definitely something between the two of them!
In all their time working in the residence, they’d never imagined a day like this would come. Was spring finally coming to the ducal house, too?
Both Becky and Marie were thrilled, but they didn’t let it show.
Outsiders weren’t supposed to meddle in affairs between a man and a woman. It might sway things for no reason.
Their imaginations were running wild, but the two gave nothing away and calmly went about their duties as maids.
“Would you like us to take the coat to the laundry for you?”
“Could you? I’m sorry to trouble you…”
“Of course!”
Viola, without the faintest idea of what the two were thinking, was simply glad.
I was just wondering how I’d give it back to him.
Unlike Cain, who spent most of his time in the main building, this was the annex. She wouldn’t run into him often. And it would be rude to go looking for him just to return a coat.
She took the jacket out of the wardrobe, folded it deftly, and handed it to the maids.
“Well then, we’ll come to fetch Miss Melody again tomorrow!”
“All right, see you tomorrow.”
“Hehe. Uu!”
When Viola said goodbye, Melody, beside her, waved along with her.
The maids headed straight for the laundry.
Their steps on the way to work were unusually light, and there was no doubt it was because of Viola.
“I was so surprised earlier, I really was. I’ve never seen anyone so beautiful.”
“Me too… Even when I was, slow and awkward… she was so understanding…”
In all her time at the ducal residence, Marie had been through no end of trouble because of her slow ways and her timidity.
But even though they’d only just met today, Viola hadn’t seemed to mind at all.
“What do you think she is to the Duke? A secret lover?”
“I… wonder? I hope so.”
Because then, someday, they might get to serve Viola as their mistress properly.
Marie and Becky were chattering quietly in high spirits when—
The two of them froze at the same moment.
“You there. Stop right there.”
At the shrill voice, like fingernails scraping glass, the maids squeezed their eyes shut.
“What is that coat? Why do the likes of you have our Duke’s clothing?”
Ugh. Of all the people to get caught by.
To run into Celia at a time like this, of all times.
She was a count’s daughter and ranked high above them, but to be honest, neither Becky nor Marie liked her very much. She had a thoroughly tiresome personality.
“Answer me this instant!”
Even with Celia pressing them, the two only exchanged glances and hesitated to answer.
They hadn’t done anything wrong, but they were worried the trouble might splash onto Viola for no reason.
But just then, Celia finally came out with something absolutely absurd.
“I’ve heard there are wicked maids who steal clothes and sell them. Don’t tell me it’s you two?”
With a triumphant look on her face, as if she’d cracked the case, to boot.
Celia Dorn.
She was the only daughter of the Dorn countship, the precious youngest child the count had finally been blessed with after three sons.
Perhaps because of how she was raised…
In society, her willful temper was talked about as much as her striking looks, but she didn’t care.
She’d live comfortably under her father’s protection, marry suitably, and that would be the end of it.
She had been spending her days that way when one day—
After glimpsing Cain from a distance at a banquet, she had fallen head over heels for him.
…So this is why they call them Dragonbloods!
Looks that were unreal even from far away. Celia had immediately begged her father to send several marriage proposals. Unfortunately, every one of them was turned down.
Even so, she simply couldn’t give up.
In the end, Celia asked her father, Count Dorn, to get her into this residence, and she managed it at last.
The ducal house was closed off by nature, but it had been possible thanks to the close friendship between her father and the late Duke.
Her excuse was that she wished to serve a Dragonblood up close, but her real intention was just one thing.
An ambitious plan to seduce Cain, using Jayden as a pretext.
“It’s a shame about the proposals, but this seems like a good opportunity at last, Celia.”
“Do you think so too, Father?”
“Of course! If the Young Duke hadn’t suddenly gone and married some wench from a fallen noble family, you’d have been a duchess long ago.”
That was true.
When Celia was young, there had been talk of a match between her and the Young Duke. Because of the friendship between their fathers.
But when the Young Duke fell in love with some girl, it had all come to nothing.
Cain was the Young Duke’s only younger brother, so the late Duke would surely have welcomed this match too.
Count Dorn explained the history and patted Celia on the back in encouragement.
“This time, you’ll become Duchess for certain, Celia.”
Celia nodded vigorously.
Of course. Who else could possibly be the Duchess but me?
She was as good as the future Duchess herself. With that swelling dream in her heart, Celia had entered the ducal residence.
But reality was a gutter.
Haa. To think I have to nurse this creepy little brat.
Jayden was no ordinary child.
His eyes were as cold as could be. It was so unsettling to be near him that it gave her goosebumps. And he was so hostile toward her, when she might become his future aunt.
Once she became Duchess as planned, she’d have to break him of that habit.
But even after three years, that dream had not come true.
Because even after going to all the trouble of becoming a lady’s maid, she still hadn’t seen so much as a single hair of Cain’s head.
Like today!
She’d heard that Cain had come to Jayden’s room, so she’d put on her finest dress, tailored at a famous boutique, and rushed over.
But he’d left again at some point, and in the end she hadn’t run into him.
Sulking thoroughly, Celia had started wandering the residence.
And then, of all things, she’d run into maids carrying Cain’s jacket, so there was no way she’d be in a good mood.
Celia looked the two of them up and down with suspicious eyes.
“I’ve heard there are wicked maids who steal clothes and sell them. Don’t tell me it’s you two?”
There had been servants like that at the count’s residence now and then, too.
If these two had really done such a thing, it would be the best luck she could ask for.
This might give her a chance to meet Cain!
But that triumphant attitude didn’t last long.
Because the maids’ answer was not what she’d expected.
“We’re only returning a coat His Grace the Duke lent to someone, on her behalf!”
“Th-that’s right.”
Celia’s expression stiffened in an instant. Lent? To whom?
It was unthinkable, given Cain’s usual indifference toward others, which bordered on fastidiousness.
“To whom did he lend it?”
“The pharmacist.”
“The pharmacist?”
Even without hearing a name, a face flashed through her mind.
…Don’t tell me it’s that woman?
Celia remembered the woman she’d run into in Jayden’s bedroom earlier.
Thinking back, that woman seemed to be the new physician she’d heard about.
His Grace lent that woman his jacket himself? Why?
Thanks to her pretty looks, Celia was quite popular in society.
She knew how to play with a man’s heart, so she knew by instinct that a gesture like that meant at least some degree of interest.
But even so—His Grace the Duke, with a lowly commoner?
She hated to admit it, but the woman did have a very pretty face.
Pure, delicate features, and luxuriant pink hair that shone even though it had just been carelessly tied up. And big eyes that looked about to spill over.
Looks that stirred the protective instinct, in short.
But that’s all she has.
That woman had no idea how to make herself up. Anyone who dared aim for a position as high as Duchess had to treat her body like a jewel.
And what about that woman?
Her attitude alone—not even caring when blood was pouring down her arm—was hopeless.
Knocking her body around that roughly, how could she ever become a noble Duchess?
