That happened in the morning and now he asked me to have dinner together? 

Is he shameless? Or is he thoughtless?

Maybe both. If it’s Philen, it is possible enough. 

A sigh escaped from the depths of my heart.

As I frowned, Lauren looked at me and asked.

“If you don’t want to, should I tell Master?”

“No. I’ll go.” 

Seeing Philen’s personality, it was obvious that if I refused, he would come and make a fuss about why I refused. Then it would be even more tiring than it was now.

“I will help you get ready.”

The maid brought fancy dresses and accessories, but I refused them all.

“I’ll wear this.”

What I pulled out was a modest dress of light beige with little embellishment.

“Isn’t this too plain, My Lady? It’s a meal with Master, so it would be nice to dress up a little…”

“Don’t make me repeat my words.”

When I cut her off, the maid moved as I told her to, even though she felt it was a pity.

My hair was tied up and I didn’t wear any other accessories other than the spirit stone necklace.

After putting on as little makeup as possible, I put on a shawl and headed to the dining room. 

…is Cecily in the dining room too?

The sudden thought stopped me right in front of the dining room door. 

Lauren, who was following me, asked curiously.

“Is something wrong, My Lady?”

“Did the Duke invite her to dinner too?”

I didn’t want to ask this because it seemed like I was conscious of Cecily, but I couldn’t help but ask. 

Lauren answered with a smile as if she knew what I was worried about.

“No. The Duke only invited you, My Lady.”

“Really?”

Well, I’m glad to hear that, but…

No, it is fortunate that only the huge mountain called Philen remains. 

I took a deep breath and entered the dining room.

“Leila.”

Philen, who was already here, greeted me with a bright smile. His attitude was completely different to the point where I doubted whether he was the same person who spoke rudely to me in the morning.

Philen also showed uncharacteristic kindness. He even pulled out the chair himself.

What is he trying to say to me by doing that?

I paid close attention to Philen, trying to figure out his intentions, but I couldn’t. Because I didn’t have a knack for reading thoughts.

Soon the food came out and the uncomfortable dinner began.

To be precise, I was the only one who felt uncomfortable. Philen ate as if nothing had happened and treated me like before.

Does he think we can go back to the way we used to be?

If that was the case, Philen was clearly mistaken. It was just like broken glass couldn’t be mended again. Even if it was mended, its marks would remain, that’s why we couldn’t go back to the old days.

The food was delicious, but my stomach didn’t accept it.

It was tiring, but it was also because of Philen’s nonsense. Philen kept rambling even if I didn’t answer him.

Was he such a talkative man? I just found out today.

“Come to think of it, it’s your birthday two days later, Leila.”

Did he remember that? It was a little surprising. I thought he wasn’t interested at all.

“Is there anything you want to do on your birthday? Is there anything you want?”

If I didn’t answer him this time, I would be completely ignoring him, so I had no choice but to answer.

“It’s okay.”

“Don’t hesitate, you can say anything.”

I said it’s okay. Why is he so clingy? It’s annoying and tiresome.

“It’s really okay. There is nothing I want.”

Even if there was, I didn’t want to receive it from Philen.

“Well, it’s kind of weird to ask the person for their birthday present.”

Philen, who misinterpreted my answer, fell into thought. He’s probably thinking about what to give me.

It’s pointless.

It was very annoying to have to keep having these unnecessary conversations. I was tired too. I wanted to go back to my room.

“I will refuse whatever you give me.”

So I said it deliberately and firmly, knowing it would hurt his feelings.

“The Duke and I are not in a good enough relationship to exchange birthday gifts after all.”

My words froze the atmosphere in the dining room. The servants, who were attending us, stood stiffly and read Philen’s mood.

Philen twisted his lips as if it was ridiculous.

“You seem to want to confront me until the end, huh?”

“That can’t be.”

“Then why do you keep coming out like this? When I’m trying to cover up your faults and get along!”

“I just want to let you know that you don’t have to do that.”

I answered with a bright smile for the first time since meeting Philen.

“I have done nothing wrong, and I don’t want to be in any relationship with the Duke.”

As I responded coldly, Philen’s face was horribly distorted.

BANG-!

He put down the fork he was holding hard. I didn’t know how hard he put it down, but the place where he put the fork was dented.

Then he glared at me with his fist clenched as if he was going to twist my neck at any moment, but it didn’t impress me at all.

I put down my fork and wiped my mouth with a napkin as if nothing had happened.

“I think we’re done eating. Can I go back to my room?”

The corner of his mouth twitched in displeasure.

“You’ve been wandering around the mansion uselessly all afternoon, haven’t you?”

“It’s not useless. It’s very important to prove my innocence.”

Philen snorted.

“You’re still thinking that you’re innocent, huh?”

“I’m not thinking, I’m really innocent. I never had Misa do that.”

When I answered firmly, Philen stared at me without saying a word.

I met his eyes without averting my gaze.

How long do I have to be like this?

After a moment, Philen crossed his arms and narrowed his eyes.

“Yeah. Even if you didn’t order Misa, how would you explain those vials you were holding?”

Not vial, but vials?

He must have found the remaining vial in my belongings. That’s why he is so sure that the vial was mine, huh? 

But why didn’t the other servants know about this?

I asked many servants today, but none of them told me that the vial was found in my stuff. Even the butler didn’t mention it.

“Why aren’t you answering? Are you thinking of excuses?”

“…I don’t make excuses.”

Because excuses were pathetic things made to cover up a mistake.

“You were right about me having the vial. But I had no intention of using it on that woman, Miss Cecily. If I had intended to use it, I would have used it before I left the mansion.”

“I questioned that too.”

Philen sat crookedly with his chin on his hand.

“Why didn’t you use it earlier, but after you left the mansion? I’ve been thinking a lot about why.” 

“There is only one answer. Because I have no intention of using that drug.”

“Well, is that so?”

Seeing the meaningful smile on his face, he must have been thinking of another reason.

I didn’t wonder what it was. Because it must be an absurd delusion.

“If you want to investigate, feel free to investigate. The result will be the same anyway.”

The fact that he was so confident meant that the evidence was clear.

“But I hope it’s over before the wedding. There are about two weeks left.”

To focus on the Imperial celebration, it was customary to not hold wedding-like events for three months. And now he’s having a wedding? It was somewhat surprising.

Well, it will be possible in two weeks. Because it’s been 3 months since then.

Even so, I couldn’t believe he was getting married right away. I didn’t know who she was, but she was definitely a very high noble. Usually, it took a little more time to observe the Imperial family.

“Who are you getting married to?”

When I asked, Philen smiled and stared at me.

…don’t tell me. 

“Is this the Duke’s wedding with me?”

“Yeah.”

Ha? What kind of nonsense is it? 

No, more than that, it took months to prepare for the wedding, but to hold it in two weeks…

“…even after I told you I’m breaking the engagement, you were still preparing for the wedding?”

“Of course. I know you’ll be back, is there any reason to cancel it?”

How can you be so shameless?

It was so ridiculous that I couldn’t laugh.

“I’m not going to be at that wedding.”

“Then, are you planning to have children without getting married?”

Philen’s breathing became a little rough.

“The child will be illegitimate then. And it still doesn’t matter to you?”

“It doesn’t matter. There’s no reason why I can’t do what Miss Cecily was going to do.”

“Leila!” 

“Once again, I’m not going to be at that wedding.” 

I continued, looking straight into Philen’s eyes that were staring at me furiously.

“At the beginning, you only told me to have children, and marriage was not included in it.”

Philen’s eyes lit up. The atmosphere inside the dining room was so big that it seemed like it was going to explode at any moment.

Philen glared at me as if he was going to eat me, and then let out a long sigh.

“Trying to make a child illegitimate for the sake of your humble self-esteem. I didn’t know you were such a cold-hearted woman.”

“I’m glad you know now.” 

“Always talk back to me.”

Philen shook his head, clicking his tongue.

“We still have time to talk about this, so we’ll talk about it later.”

Does he not have any intention of canceling the wedding in the end?

As if he was thirsty, Philen drank water and then stood up. 

He, a duke, stood up, so I, a baron, couldn’t sit still.

As I was about to stand up, Philen came up behind me and pressed my shoulder.

“You must be tired, so you can sit still.”

Knowing I was tired, he shouldn’t have invited me here from the beginning.

His ridiculous consideration made me feel even worse.

“It’s okay. As the Duke said, I’m tired. I’m going to go back to my room, so I’ll just get up now.”

As if he didn’t like my answer, Philen glared at me, and then he turned around with a big sigh.

“Think carefully about what you want to receive on your birthday. I haven’t been able to take care of you for a long time, so I want to take care of you this birthday.”

When other people heard it, it would sound like he had taken good care of me in the past. 

Ridiculous.

“I’ll think about it.”

“By the way.”

He turned around again after giving a response I didn’t even want to, and he sounded like he was wondering.

What else he wants to talk about? 

I sighed inwardly and turned to him. 

Philen pointed to the necklace I was wearing.

“Is that necklace trendy these days?”

“What do you mean all of a sudden?”

“Cecily used to wear the same necklace you were wearing often.”