A leisurely afternoon.
In a garden blooming with lush trees and various flowers, I sat across from Adele at a tea table positioned at the center.
It was a time we had because Adele had suggested tea time first. Yet, she was just savoring the tea that the maid brought in, without saying a word.
After waiting patiently for a while for Adele to speak up, I couldn’t hold it in anymore and asked her, “Why did you call me?”
“Does a reason need to be given to summon your fiancé?” she replied.
“Hmm… That’s a valid point.”
Her tone, laced with a hint of sharpness, likely stemmed from yesterday’s ambush.
Yesterday’s attack had indeed been more threatening compared to past attempts—assassins had even stormed into my office!
It made sense that she felt more at ease around me now; after all, I was the one who had put her in danger of assassination.
I thought this as I took a sip of tea. Adele looked at me and slowly opened her mouth.
“Duke Hardenberg.”
“Hmm? What is it that you need?”
“I want to ask about our contract.”
“What about it?”
“Who knows about the contract?”
“Only Evan, Allen, and me. Just the three of us.”
“Are you sure?”
“Does it matter?”
“Of course it does.”
“If it’s not certain, we just need to make it certain.”
“..What?”
“Is that a sufficient answer?”
The mention of silencing people if necessary made Adele’s face momentarily stiffen.
Does she not understand my way of thinking?
Well, given that she still held onto modern thinking, my perspective would likely feel quite foreign to her.
There’s a significant gap between someone who hesitates to kill and me, who wouldn’t think twice about it if necessary.
I grimaced slightly at the bitter taste of the tea.
She hurriedly relaxed her stiff expression and redirected the conversation.
“..I see. Then let’s go through the finer details.”
“What do you mean by finer details?”
“Things like the reason we got engaged. Duke Hardenberg knows about my notoriety, right?”
“Of course. I know it well.”
Adele Este.
Originally the daughter of the House of Este, she became the Countess Este after her family fell to the status of count.
When the reason behind the duke suddenly becoming a count wasn’t revealed, rumors circulated that it was due to her misdeeds that the Este family’s title was downgraded.
“That can’t be true.”
No one with a functioning brain would believe that.
A duke, especially one from the well-known trading House of Este, would fall to a count just because of one young lady.
Moreover, those rumors were completely reversed in terms of the timeline.
It wasn’t that Adele committed her misdeeds after their title was lowered; rather, she began her misdeeds after their title was already lowered.
“Of course, that isn’t the crucial fact.”
What matters is that Adele’s notoriety is substantial enough for such rumors to circulate.
After becoming a countess, Adele’s engagement to the Crown Prince was broken. She thought the cause was the original protagonist being close to him, and she repeatedly crossed lines in her attempts to torment her.
It was a series of wrongdoings rooted in slight misunderstandings, but they crossed the line. Because of this, Adele gained an infamous reputation.
And of course, I was referring to the Adele before my reincarnation.
“So you need a fitting reason then?”
“Yes. Otherwise, it would cause significant trouble for the House of Hardenberg.”
I frowned slightly at her words.
Is she seriously thinking that my engagement to her would cause damage to the duke’s family? Was she underestimating the House of Hardenberg that much?
I opened my mouth, still frowning.
“That’s an unpleasant thing to say.”
“..What?”
“Why do you think there would be any trouble for the House of Hardenberg?”
“But… didn’t you say you care about public perception?”
She remembered something I said before. Given her tendency to be sensitive to even the slightest piece of information as a returnee, it wouldn’t be strange for her to recall it.
Yet, Adele seems to have misunderstood what I meant.
“It seems you’re misinterpreting something.”
I continued to correct her misunderstanding.
“I’m concerned about public perception, but I have no intention of being bound by it.”
Certainly, when I first became a duke, I started paying attention to public gossip after getting bad press.
But that doesn’t mean I intend to be ensnared by those rumors.
Whether it was in the past or not, I am now the head of the House of Hardenberg. And I’m one out of only four dukes in the Empire of Arye.
Which means, the time when I could be swayed by such rumors is long gone.
“Still, we should at least set a reason for our engagement, shouldn’t we?”
“That’s true.”
That was certainly a valid point. At the very least, a semblance of a reason would help prevent strange rumors from circulating.
Even though I didn’t plan on getting caught up in gossip, I saw no reason to leave the way open for it either.
However, I had no ideas popping into my head… perhaps it would be better to leave it to her. Thinking that, I said to Adele,
“Why don’t we do it the way you want?”
“..Really?”
“Yeah. I don’t speak empty words.”
Looking at her pondering for a moment while I brought the tea to my lips, the rose fragrance mixed with slight bitterness came up. It seems tea just doesn’t suit me.
“How about this idea?”
“What is it?”
“You, Duke, met me by chance while traveling and fell in love with me at first sight.”
“Hmmm… that’s quite an intriguing romantic story.”
My bland response seemed to fluster Adele a bit as she tilted her head. Did she really think I would be startled by such a tale?
If she thinks of me as a character in a romantic fantasy, then I could see why she would think that. It’s a classic cliche for the male lead to get flustered by such bold claims.
But having heard all sorts of romantic stories since childhood from my dedicated maid, Laura, I found that tale to be utterly cliché—even if I was the target of it.
“Then how about this?”
Despite my unexpectedly nonchalant response, it seemed to ignite a spark in Adele, and she began to throw various scenarios at me. Clearly, she wanted to see me flustered; however, I doubted that would happen.
If I had been caught off guard by such stories, I would have changed my dedicated maid from Laura to someone else ages ago.
“If that’s the case, then how about this…”
I interrupted her again as she was about to present another scenario.
“Let’s stop there. We should stick to the story we first talked about. While it may be cliché, it seems to be better suited for palatable consumption.”
“I suppose… that would be sufficient.”
I couldn’t help but smile at her look of slight frustration. It seemed she still retained some innocence, given that we were at the midpoint in the original story.
In the latter stages, Adele turns into a cold-hearted woman without an ounce of compassion—a psychopath who only thinks about Abel.
Thus, her occasional displays of innocence reassure me. It affirms that I’m changing the course of this world’s future.
“Then let’s settle the titles as well.”
“Titles?”
“Yes. You can’t keep calling me Lady Adele, can you? Since we’ve fallen in love at first sight, it would seem odd for others to hear that.”
“That’s a fair point. So how do you want to address me?”
“Call me Adele.”
Her confident tone made me chuckle. She definitely hasn’t given up yet. She seems determined to fluster me with titles.
Should I call this perseverance or an unnecessary gamble?
“Adele.”
“..Yes?”
Seeing her blankly stare at me when I called her name without hesitation, it was clear she didn’t expect me to do that.
I’m not some innocent child, after all. Being flustered by just calling someone’s name is beneath me. If anything, it would be better to turn the tables on her and break her unnecessary ambitions.
“Now that I think of it, I find it unfair for me to call you Adele alone.”
“Eh?”
I continued speaking while observing her flustered expression.
“I mean, why don’t you call me Abel as well? My lovely Adele.”
Adele momentarily went silent at my words. She certainly didn’t see that coming.
This is a fantastic opportunity to put her on the spot.
“I certainly referred to you as Adele. Do you mean to say you cannot call me Abel?”
Shutting her eyes for a moment, Adele finally began to slowly speak up.
“A, Ab…”
“I can’t hear you.”
She opened her eyes and glared at me as if I were a nuisance. Well, what can I say? She started this game.
“..Abel.”
“Isn’t that a bit too quiet?”
“Ugh….”
After a moment’s pause, Adele finally spoke again.
“Abel!”
She nearly shouted my name in embarrassment, lowering her head.
It almost felt like I hadn’t heard my own name in nearly ten years.
“Very well. Let’s keep calling each other those names from now on.”
Feeling a sense of satisfaction, I smiled at her. As she lifted her head, her face flushed slightly.
Finally, she fell silent again, sipping her tea. It seemed that turning the tables and catching her off guard was the right strategy after all.
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