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☾ thirty - five ☾

Freesia was inwardly groaning about her lord's thin patience when Max spoke again.

"You said you were making a deal with the Duke of Floyen under the pretext of information, right?"

"Ah, yes."

Freesia swallowed in nervousness.

It was because the deal with the Duke was also supposed to be a top-secret from the Crown Prince.

'It's for the benefit of His Highness as well...so it would have been better if he didn't know.'

"Ask him to meet." Max said, interrupting her thoughts.

"Pardon? But there isn't really anything to report..."

"Then you can make something up."

His chilling words alerted Freesia of his true intentions.

'It seems he's using me as bait to lure the Duke away from the mansion.'

_

A week had passed since I was confined to my room.

"I think it'll be all right for you to go out for walks now."

I let out a smile at Allen's words, declaring that I no longer had to be confined, but that smile was lost when my gaze shifted to the porcelain rabbit on the bedside table.

'Father is most likely in the middle of going through with plans to have me engaged to the Crown prince.'

A sigh naturally slipped from my lips.

I had been brainstorming for the past few days, but no matter how hard I tried to think, I couldn't come up with a way to avoid the engagement.

'If only I had a man, someone even my father would acknowledge, to be in a fake relationship with.'

But it was also true that I couldn't think of a man among the people I knew that would qualify.

Maybe if it was someone like Frederick Elios, the son of the Prime Minister, or Mikhail, the main character of this novel.

However, someone as distinguished as Frederick wouldn't possibly agree to be my fake lover.

'Then, the remaining option is to cling to Mikhail like in the original novel...But whether I date Mikhail or date the Crown Prince, I'll die either way.

As I was sighing, resenting my pitiful life, I suddenly heard a tapping sound.

Startled, I looked back in surprise at the sound that seemed to have come from the direction of the balcony.

Sure enough, I saw a familiar face.

'Father's apprentice is here again.'

Letting out another sigh, I walked towards the window.

'Why is this man always coming to me instead of to my father? If someone were to see, they might misunderstand...'

At that moment, I suddenly recalled the recent scandal that involved myself–the one where I thought he was the other party involved.

'Ah, yes, that's right. That's it!'

I hurried over to open the window, wearing a wide smile on my face as I tightly grasped his hand.

"Welcome!"

"What the hell is this all of a sudden?" He said with a serious voice and hardened face.

Well, even if his temper was a bit nasty, this man was the solution to my problem.

I opened my mouth, my smile unwavering.