# 10
### Chapter Ten
Garcia Palace, Ella's room.
In her luxuriously furnished room, Ella buried herself in her covers, wiping away her tears.
“Breathe in, breathe out.”
Even when Ella called out to him, Kayden didn't notice, his gaze fixed on Diana until she left the room. That moment kept repeating in her mind, like a burn that wouldn't go away.
“I was just starting to be happy... Diana... how could you...!”
It was just a look, but it was enough to make her uneasy. The way Kayden stared after Diana was unlike anything she had ever seen before, and Ella hated Diana for tormenting her.
Ella's trembling fingers gripped the cover tightly.
'This is not the time to sit and cry.'
She had to make sure that Kayden wouldn't care about Diana anymore.
Ella got out of bed and wrapped a shawl around her.
She put on her slippers and walked down the dark hallway, arriving in front of Vincent's room—brother
Diana's step-sister.
Ella pressed her knuckles to her eyes, blinking with her big eyes. A single transparent tear fell down her cheek.
*Knock, knock.*
."Who's knocking at this hour? Ella?!"
“Where... cent... brother...”
Ella fell into Vincent's arms, crying pitifully.
With beautiful Ella crying in his arms, Vincent's ears reddened, and he patted her back in embarrassment.
"Ella, calm down. I noticed something was strange when we got back from the wedding, but what happened?"
“Sniffle, sniffle, I wasn't going to say anything, but I'm so upset...”
"Tell me. Who are you going to talk to if not me? We'll be a family soon."
“Brother… Diana secretly tried to seduce Kaiden.”
"What?"
Vincent's face contorted in anger at her words.
“Huh, even after her failure, she still did it? Ella, don’t worry. Prince Caiden won’t even blink at her.”
Ella just looked at him. Her golden eyes, red from crying, shook so pitifully that any man's heart would have skipped a beat.
“Kayden won't fall in love with her, I know, but just thinking about what Diana did...it tears me up, gasp.”
She bit her plump lower lip slightly before burying her face in his chest again, crying even more sadly.
“Damn it, don’t cry over that little bastard. What can I do to stop your tears? Shall we teach her a lesson together, huh?”
“Gasp, really…?”
This is what I was waiting for.
Very easy.
Ella smiled weakly into his embrace.
* * *
The sunlight poured onto her face, and she buried her face in the pillow.
I felt like it was time to get up, but I wanted to sleep more.
After idling for a while, I moved the pillow away from my face, but the sunlight penetrated my eyelashes, making my eyes hurt.
It's so bright...
I closed my eyes and scrunched my nose as a large hand blocked the sunlight.
Oh. Much better.
Still half asleep, I smiled, but something felt wrong.
Those long, thick, perfectly formed fingers were not mine. So, whose hand was it?
I turned my head in the direction of the hand.
Harold was lying next to me, his arm under his head, watching me. His robe was slightly undone, revealing his chiseled chest. I noticed it before when I took a look, but wow, his body was truly a work of art.
But if Harold was awake, there was no way he could stay in bed, right? So, is this a dream?
'Am I dreaming?'
Curious about experiencing my first lucid dream, I stared cheekily at Harold.
I never thought Harold would appear in my dream. It's like a walking work of art, so even if it's weird, it's not too bad.
I extended my hand to him as if I was admiring a great job. I stroked his cheek gently, and his eyebrow twitched in response.
"What do you do?"
“I touch your cheek. How can it be so sharp?”
“Sharp…what?”
"But wow, this lucid dream feels so real. It's even warm, just like reality."
“...You really think this is a dream?”
“Wow, you're even saying things Harold would say in real life.”
“Huh.”
Harold raised the corner of his lips as if amused, his dark blue eyes narrowing in thought for a moment.
Then he grabbed my wrist, and in no time, he was on top of me.
“H-Harold?!”
No matter how much I loved this dream, I was not hoping for ‘this’…!
How will I face him in real life now?!
“Harold, get down!”
“…”
No matter how much I repeated it, Harold did not move. Even imagining him getting off didn't work.
Wait, if this was really a lucid dream, I would be able to control everything... right?
As I looked at him, finally realizing that something was wrong, Harold gave me an evil smile.
“Diana, you still think this is a dream?”
“...I'm sorry. I don't think it is.”
My face flushed bright red, I admitted defeat, and finally Harold got off me.
“But why are you still here? Did I wake up too early?”
“You woke up late.”
So why are you still here? I thought Harold would leave right away since he's always busy. We are not even a couple in love waiting for the other to wake up...
Oh.
“If I leave right after the wedding night, what do you think people will think?”
"…correct."
“Thanks for starting my day so silly.”
“…”
I had nothing to say.
“Go wash up. We should have breakfast. The bathroom is over there.”
"Good."
I stood up in embarrassment, confirming the direction he pointed.
“And don't think about me while you're there.”
Harold adjusted his robe and smiled that perfect annoying smile, the kind that clearly said he was kidding me.
“I won't!”
I couldn't respond properly, I felt guilty, and I ran to the bathroom. I could almost hear his sarcastic laugh behind me.
When I came out, breakfast was already ready. We had a simple meal, and as we finished, Harold spoke to me.
“Diana, soon a doctor will come to see you. You can trust him.”
After returning to the Duchess's room and changing my clothes, as Harold had said, the doctor arrived.
The doctor, with thick glasses, unkempt hair, and dark circles under his eyes, handed me a check and some medications.
“The Duchess told me to give this to you.”
“What is this medicine?”
The doctor answered in a tired voice, “You told me to say it is to prevent pregnancy, but in reality it is a medicine that will make a woman sterile.”
This was exactly the kind of thing Amanda, who made me sign documents to prevent me from taking her inheritance, would do.
Harold won't die, and this kind of medicine won't work on me anyway.
“You shouldn't eat it.”
The doctor put the medicine back in his pocket, leaving only the check on the table in front of me.
“Is this appropriate?”
“Yes. If the Duchess asks, just say you were taking it.”
With that, the doctor left the room.
'So the doctor works for Harold.'
He must have only been pretending to listen to Amanda. Now that I think about it, in the novel, after Harold died, all his skilled assistants, including the doctor, left Beysen. Kayden had difficulty filling their positions.
Anyway, I was relieved that I didn't have to lie to the doctor about Harold's health.
I hid the check and smiled brightly.
I've been making easy money lately, and I feel like I'm walking on air.
“Money really is the best.”
From today, I will start learning the duties of a duchess from a servant, so I will be busy for a while.
Since we publicly acted like a smitten couple, I had to watch out for appearances.
'Once things stabilize, I will start preparing for investments.'
My plan was to heal Harold and save enough money for a possible escape abroad.
So I'll have to invest secretly, without Harold knowing. So, I needed someone to manage investments on my behalf.
'I'll have to use 'that' place.'
I thought of 'that place' from the novel *The fallen noblewoman captures the duke*, I welcomed the servant who had come to teach me.
* * *
Anis Guild, which mostly deals with information and various missions.
The head of the Anis Guild was waiting for a guest, his feet raised on the desk. But when the guest entered, he quickly straightened up.
“The Duchess...!?”
“You recognized me right away?”
“Haha! Is that even a question? If I don’t know Duchess Basin, I might as well close my shop.”
No wonder he was confused.
‘…Should I tell Duke Harold about this visit?’
After all, the Anais Guild was funded by Harold.