Chapter 15
***
Lasha looked at Engel’s hand gestures desperately. As if she would miss something.
It seems that Engel wants me to continue to wear a corsage.
Engel’s handwork was really great.
I couldn’t see it, but it didn’t seem like a skill. I’ve even done once or twice to gently flip my hair without getting tangled.
Engel pulled a sapphire jewel-encrusted corsage from the jewelry box, tucked one behind my ear, and secured it.
I could feel the weight on my left side of the head, which was neither heavy nor light.
I felt strange about the feeling of jewelry as I felt for the first time.
“My Lady, it’s the best!”
Seeing Engel smiling proudly with Lasha’s rapturous praise, it must have looked as he wished.
“My Lady’s hair is so rich and coveted that I thought it would be beautiful to let it loose like this and decorate it with a corsage rather than forcing it up,” He said.
“I’ve only seen it for a while, but it’s amazing.”
“Sapphires and diamonds go well with black, so it won’t look awkward in the dress you are wearing today.
I nodded, remembering the obsidian about the size of a little nail adorning the dress.
I went into the dressing room and changed the dress with the help of Lasha and my maids, and I could confirm that his words were not wrong.
There was a rich sound of the dress hem and the black rhinestone colliding.
When I left the dressing room, Engel was waiting for me while having a light conversation with Noiran.
“My Lady, really… I…!”
As if he was seeing his great work, Engel took a handkerchief from his arms and wiped his tears.
He was similar to Halbert, who often gets touched by simple things and complains that he was having a difficult time because of Edlade.
“You are so beautiful.”
Hearing Noiran’s words of praise and pure admiration, I felt really embarrassed. The light gray dress was wrapped around with a belt of obsidian stones connected from side to side. Thanks to it, my waist was emphasized and I looked very pretty.
“I don’t think I am.”
“You’re beautiful.”
“You’re pretty.”
“What are you talking about?”
Lasha jumped as if she had heard a strange sound.
I stretched out my hand slowly, looking at my reflection in the mirror.
It was pretty.
The dress and accessories were made for me.
Everything was for me. It was something I had never felt before my regression
“Your Excellency has an excellent eye. He seems to know what suits you the best.”
Engel said in an envious tone.
“What do you mean by he knows?”
As my gaze shifted from the mirror, Engel kept his mouth shut with a sigh.
Noiran, who was standing still, said to Engel with a doubtful look.
“What’s that suspicious attitude? Is there anything you’re hiding from My Lady?”
Noiran, who was united with loyalty, questioned fiercely.
Engel rolled his eyes with an ‘Oops’ expression.
“Ah, Engel.”
“Yes… My Lady.”
“I know you can’t lie.”
“Yeah, it could be.”
“Tell me if you have anything to hide. I won’t scold you.”
Engel wept at my words as if an appeasing child. “It’d be better not to know if possible.”
“Who?”
“My Lady, the duchess.”
“……What should I not know?”
A beating heart reminded me of Edlade talking to Engel at the salon a month ago.
“Your Excellency… asked me to make a corsage that suits My Lady.”
“….”
It feels pretty good to confirm that something I had only vaguely predicted was true.
But now, it was somewhat uncomfortable that that expectation came true.
“I told him that you would be very happy to know that it is a gift from Your Excellency, but he said I don’t have to say it.”
He will say it.
He’ll forget the memories he gave me anyway. Even though he knew it so clearly, why did he order me a gift to receive in a month or so?
Come to think of it, Edlade was a little strange that day.
He has no memory of it, but on a rainy day, he came to me with an umbrella.
Even when he saw me crying, he didn’t ask me anything and he listened to my words that were difficult to understand.
“I knew that you would come by making an appointment for the visit that day, but I was really surprised because I didn’t know that he would come with you. In addition, he even ordered a surprise gift in this way, so I was so excited.”
He doesn’t like to be in contact with other people, yet he took my hand, escorted me, and ordered a gift that he will forget.
It all happened on a rainy day.
“Nevertheless, he asked me to keep it a secret… Maybe he was embarrassed. So, he must have told me to keep the secret…”
Engel looked at me with troubled eyes. It seems that he was afraid of Edlade for confessing the secret to me.
Edlade can’t even remember anyway, so there’s nothing to be worried about.
“It’s okay, I’ll pretend like I don’t know.”
“Thank you, My Lady.”
Engel breathed a sigh of relief and he left saying he had finished his business.
I looked into the mirror and looked at the corsage in my hair.
“Why did he prepare such a gift for me?”
The desire to ask was high, but I can’t ask. Engel opened his mouth so that I shouldn’t be embarrassed when he could have turned away, saying he doesn’t remember.
“Your Excellency must be concerned about My Lady!”
Lasha and Noiran, who are aware of the Edlade condition, spoke awkwardly so that I would not be hurt.
“Maybe he is,” I smiled and made sure that their comforting words were not unnecessarily wasted.
When the attendant said that the carriage was ready, I slowly headed towards the lobby.
***
As Engel left the Duchess’s room, he wondered if he made a mistake.
There are surprisingly some men who give surprise gifts to their wives.
Considering the face of the nobility, most of the cases were made by an attendant, but there were also some people who talked directly like Duke Philemon.
He never expected that the ‘Duke Philemon’ would make such a gift for his recently married wife.
For Engel, who thought it had been a long time since he had run a salon, Duke Philemon was like an unsolved mystery.
Although he was in charge of designing and manufacturing his clothes, he had never been acquainted with Edlade personally.
A ferocious beast that is as cold as ice and has an atmosphere that can’t be easily approached by a soft-hearted person.
Engel was a man. He thought it must be that woman’s blush and her unique wild beauty.
Of course, the Duke of Philemon was such a beautiful man that even a man would swallow his saliva.
‘I want you to make an accessory that goes well with her dress.’
‘You mean to say jewelry…’
‘It would be nice to be able to decorate her hair.’
‘Are you talking about something like a corsage?’
‘…… Yeah, that’s better.’
The duke’s attitude when he saw his wife going into the dressing room and called Engel out was somewhat strange.
Even though Duke didn’t seem to be in a good mood, he said he was giving a gift for his wife.
‘You already feel so much for your wife! I’m sure she’ll be delighted with your gift!’
‘No.’
‘Yes?’
‘I don’t want her to know.’
‘Do you mean the gift?’
‘Yes, it would be better if she doesn’t get to know.’
The Duke’s expression looked quite unpleasant.
Engel shrugged his shoulders, remembering the duke who had come to visit him a month ago.
It is extremely rare for hearts to join in an arranged marriage.
Moreover, there were many questions about the marriage between these two people, who were forced to do so by the emperor’s order.
Engel, who recalled the rumors that flowed secretly in the social world, vowed to keep his mouth shut in the future.
‘First of all… I couldn’t keep the secret, so I’ll have to apologize when I meet the duke.’
It was difficult to believe the words that came out without them knowing about the duchess. He had heard that she was the illegitimate daughter of Marquis Rayburn, but she looked so innocent that it was hard to believe that she was raised by the marquis family.
“Those of high ranking people….”
Shaking his head, Engel ran into the duke while going down into the lobby.
“Your Excellency, the Duke.”
After putting off his nervous feelings, he greeted Edlade awkwardly, the duke lightly nodded his head with an indifferent look.
He was dazzling in the spring flower ball outfit.
Engel could be sure that no one else would ever be able to pull off the outfit he had made so perfectly.
His beauty, exuding decadent sexiness, seemed to reach out even to the devil’s temptation.
“I, Your Excellency the Duke……”
However, Engel had to resist the temptation of fear and speak up.
It would be a bigger problem if it was later revealed that he couldn’t keep the secret.
“I couldn’t keep the secret you told me before. I will take the punishment…”
“Secret?”
“About telling your wife that you gave the gift…”
“Gift?”
“Yes, you asked me to make a corsage for My Lady, and the gift was delivered well, but she did not know that you gave it to her……”
Engel glanced into his eyes.
The duke hates those who break promises. So when an order came from the duke, Engel clenched his teeth and stayed up all night to meet the deadline.
Of course, he did not reject his request because his desire for creativity was welling up and he took pride in making clothes for the duke.
Failing to keep the secret was the first mistake Engel made.
“….Did I give a gift?”
“Yes? Oh……… You did.”
Engel tilted his head seeing the duke questioning about the gift rather than focusing on the mistake he made.
Wasn’t he thinking about his wife enough to tell him to make a corsage?
“Ah!”
When Engel felt strange, his aide hurriedly approached him and said,
“Ah… You did!”
The Duke frowned even more at the actions of his assistant Halbert, who spoke in embarrassment.
“Engel, you may leave now. Your Excellency will be generous this time.”
“Thank you.”
Engel greeted with an uncomfortable feeling and slowly exited the mansion.
Even though it was an arranged marriage, he thought that the duke had a little bit of heart, so it must have been a gift that made him conscious of people.
He felt a little bit bitter.
“My Lady really liked it.”
Wouldn’t the wife be hurt if she gets to know the duke didn’t even remember what he gave her as a gift?
Engel sighed without being able to understand the arranged marriages of high-ranking people.