“Sir… I’ll call you later, I’m hanging up.”
She abruptly stopped the call by hanging up.
“Is the caller Arthur Winston?”
Duke Rufus inquired in a direct tone while scrutinizing the arranged mail.
“Yes. He must’ve heard about the events of yesterday’s imperial ball. I believed he called because he was anxious.”
“It seems like Arthur cares deeply about you.”
“He’s probably more concerned about the Duke than mine.”
Duke Rufus stifled a slight chuckle at her direct response.
“Arthur will endure some pain.”
“Yes?”
“Nothing. Next week, you will accompany me on a business trip, right?”
Ellie gave a bewildered nod in response to his unexpected query.
“Yes. Are you referring to the grand opening of the Luton Hotel?”
“Right.”
“We will prepare without any hitch.”
He responded to her statement with a hesitant nod.
“Then do your best.”
“Ah, Duke. Wait.”
She gently extended to Duke Rufus her shopping bag of accessories, shoes, and a handbag.
“The dress has to be laundered, therefore I believe that I can deliver it in a few days.”
“Right. That’s of no use to me, so it doesn’t need to be returned.”
He grimaced as he examined the contents of the shopping bag.
“But you see—”
“Consider it overtime pay. You may wear that outfit at the hotel’s grand opening ceremony. I had a good time. So, what more have you to say?”
Duke Rufus returned her shopping bag to her desk. Upon seeing his disturbed expression, Ellie was unable to continue speaking.
As he exited the assistant’s office, Raymond exhaled quietly.
I felt oddly irritated. Perhaps it was because he saw her with Arthur smiling and conversing in a relaxed tone on the phone, and the appearance of the lady who visited him every night briefly overlapped.
There are no parallels between the two, thus I do not see why they continue to overlap. Furthermore, Ellie Miller had no possibility of having a crush on him.
She always handled him with professionalism. The same was true when we both attended the promenade.
‘If she likes me, there should be a little fluttering indication, but during the party, just a sign of irritation was visible.’
“Right… definitely not Ellie Miller.”
Even considering it in this manner, he felt a certain sadness. The more he was drawn to the lady who visited him at night, the less he understood why Ellie kept popping into his head. Reimond became more upset with himself.
This irritation resulted in a headache. Even hunger was vanishing as the ache lingered until the dark hours.
“Duke… are you sick?”
Dyuk stared at him with concern as he was about to leave his supper.
“My head aches.”
“I will contact Dr. Brown if you relax in your room.”
Raymond grimaced and nodded before exiting the eating area. It seems that he was not feeling well since he was constantly irritated by small matters.
With a worsening headache, he pinched his temples and crawled into bed, putting his head on his pillow. After some time, Dr. Brown and Dyuk visited his bedroom. Dr. Brown immediately approached him and scanned the area.
“Your throat is a little swollen, that’s why your temperature is a bit high. If you sleep and drink medicine, you should be good.”
He answered with a head nod. Dyuk, who had left the bedroom with Dr. Brown, returned with medication after some time.
“Have you been sleeping poorly recently?”
Dyuk inquired while observing him with concerned eyes.
“No. Currently, I am sleeping really well. Therefore, you should not worry.”
‘Thanks to her nightly visits, I seldom get nightmares these days. As I listened to the sweet, pleasant voice while reading a book, I unknowingly fell asleep.’
“I’m delighted you slept well.”
Raymond gulped the tablet Dyuk had given him and then glanced at the wall clock. Only eight o’clock in the evening remained. She often arrived around 10 p.m.
In addition, she is not around when he gets up in the morning, so she seems to be waking up rather early.
‘I wanted to stay awake till she arrived, but the medication kept making my eyes heavy.’
I didn’t want to sleep like this. He felt as though he were experiencing a dreadful nightmare that had always plagued him.
I disliked it, so I attempted to hang on to it, but since I wasn’t feeling well, the spirit of medication swiftly consumed me.
Ellie awoke in Duke Rufus’ chamber, astonished to discover him lying next to her, as quickly as she fell asleep.
Except for the first time she entered this bedroom, he was usually awake, so it had been quite a while since she had seen him first asleep.
“Were you really weary? Or are you feeling sick?”
Ellie regarded his sleeping face with anxiety as he slept. At that time, his face contorted as he slept.
His rapid breathing indicated that he was experiencing a nightmare.
“No… I don’t want to… please let me out.”
His massive body trembled. The two hands were joined as if pleading and imploring. Ellie hastily extended her hand towards the Duke, whose breathing was becoming harder.
“Duke, Duke.”
She gripped his sturdy shoulders and waved and shouted his name urgently. At that time. His big arms roughly grasped her.
“Please hold on… Just a minute.”
His voice shook slightly, as if he had not yet completely exited the nightmare. Ellie gently nodded as he held her in his arms. His body shook slightly as she stroked his shoulder softly.
“Are you alright?”
He nodded in response to her concern. Then, he gradually freed her from his grasp.
“It has been a very long time since my last nightmare.”
What in the heck is he dreaming about? He seemed really concerned throughout the nightmare. There were several questions Ellie wanted to ask, but was unable to.
Something seemed like it was touching his traumatic memories, so she had to be cautious.
“Seeing you somehow calms my heart.”
His huge palm extended in the direction of her silver hair. Without touching her hair, however, he silently clinched his hands and walked out of bed.
“It’s 10:30.”
Ellie nodded in response to his remarks as he glanced at the clock on the wall and then crawled beneath the bed.
“Today, you must have slept early.”
“I’m not feeling good.”
Her blue eyes widened in response to his response.
“Are you alright now?”
“It’s alright. After taking some medication and getting some rest, I felt much better. I believe I slept for around two hours. Today, I must have slept in.”
After waking up after two hours of sleep, it is normal to find it difficult to fall asleep again.
“Are you able to play chess?”
Ellie was perplexed in response to the unexpected inquiry.
“No.”
She had no one to socialize with and was too busy to appreciate such a luxurious pastime.
“Good. You can learn now.”
He removed the chessboard from the bookcase and informed her.
“Yes?”
“I’m a rigorous teacher, but I’m also an excellent one, so don’t worry.”
Unexpectedly learning chess, she nodded awkwardly.
* * *
She performed better than he anticipated. As if she didn’t want to miss a single word, he grinned slightly as he regarded her focused blue eyes.
Even the chess rules, which were first difficult to comprehend, were surprisingly simple for her to learn. Obviously, knowing the rules was not sufficient to play chess successfully, but when he saw her move her pieces according to the rules he taught, he was once again amazed.
“You must’ve done well in the Academy.”
Concentrating on moving her horse, she exhibited a look of mild bewilderment at his unexpected statements.
“I’m stating this because you have excellent comprehension, focus, and listening skills.”
“Well… I was fine.”
After replying with a somewhat flushed face, she once again displayed brilliant focus as she regarded the chessboard’s pieces.
“Is it your routine to concentrate on something?”
When he saw her rubbing her lips with the thumb and index finger of her left hand, he suppressed a smile.
“Why? Did I do something wrong?”
She questioned with strained eyes as the knight, one of the chess pieces, was being set down.
“It’s not that horrible. Obviously, I cannot call it a good number.”
It was a move that adhered to the norms without exception. Nonetheless, she believed it would be ideal to remember and implement the complex chess rules immediately.
She maneuvered the horse carefully so that her rook might reach his king. To compensate for her inability to understand the whole situation, she attempted to decipher absolutely nonsensical terms.
He extended his hand rapidly with her right hand. As she gazed at him, her blue eyes quiver slightly as he grasped her hand.
He softly grasped her little hand and approached Rook. She approached the rook with a timid expression after realizing it was her cue to do so.
“Checkmate. If I place the rook here, your king is no longer able to move.”
“Ah—”
As if she understood, she lowered her gaze and smiled warmly, and her face became noticeably more beautiful. It was regrettable to release the hand that was holding her.
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