Furthermore…….
Even if she was thrown out of the castle after the fifteen days were over, it seemed she was preparing things so that he would still be able to take care of his meals…….
At least, that was how it appeared on the surface.
‘……A hypocrite.’
What was she really after?
Her inability to understand what was going on in his mind only irritated him more.
Edwin, who had been watching Ludville from the side, cautiously spoke up.
“Are you suspicious of her?”
“Isn’t that obvious?”
“It’s just that I’ve never seen you care this much about someone else before.”
“…….”
“Why don’t you go see her yourself?”
Ludville’s gaze snapped toward him.
Edwin casually shrugged and continued.
“Why wait for the young lady to come to you? Is there anywhere in this castle that you can’t go?”
“……Who says I’m waiting?”
“You’re doing it again. Showing interest first doesn’t mean you lose. When it comes to men and women, you can’t always push. Sometimes you have to pull…….”
“Shut up.”
“Yes.”
Sorry. I got a little carried away, didn’t I?
Edwin politely folded his hands and quietly took a step back.
Ludville turned his gaze away from him and picked up the teacup, steam rising from it.
He had been told that this tea was good for sleep and helped calm the nerves.
‘She must have heard about my insomnia somewhere.’
He casually took a sip, then slowly set the teacup down.
His insomnia was not something a single cup of tea could cure.
‘It’s pointless.’
And yet, strangely enough, the warmth of the teacup lingered on his fingertips for a long time.
Ludville rubbed his fingertips together with a displeased expression.
***
“……She hasn’t come to see me even once.”
In a space that was almost embarrassing to call a drawing room, he looked around at the peeling walls and old furniture that creaked with every movement.
His brows were deeply furrowed.
His expression seemed to say, You really chose a place like this?
“You told me to entertain you for fifteen days. Surely you knew that meant I was allowed to do whatever I wanted in front of you…….”
Ludville slowly shifted his gaze toward Odely and added,
“Have you already given up?”
Leona nervously set the teacup down in front of him with trembling hands, then quickly ran behind Odely and hid there.
‘Of course not.’
Instead of answering, Odely calmly picked up the teacup in front of her.
She had never been more sincere than she was now, knowing the whole truth.
She had simply decided that if she wanted to ‘entertain’ him, it would be better not to attract his attention.
Pleading, flattery, seduction, tears…… none of them would have worked.
Wouldn’t he be sick of all that by now?
He had lost his memories, yet he obsessively searched for blue eyes while simultaneously suspecting and pushing away anyone who approached him because he was tired of all the fake ones who kept appearing.
So she had made him come to her himself.
“……After seeing hundreds of blue eyes, I’ve come to realize just how common that color really is.”
Ludville continued, deliberately provoking her when she showed no reaction.
“Most of them weren’t even worth remembering. So just because you’re a Cardel, or because you happened to suit my taste, doesn’t make you special.”
It was as if he were asking whether she really thought she could afford to be this relaxed.
But…….
“And yet, you came here in the end.”
Odely calmly shot back.
Without showing any sign of being shaken or letting her emotions show.
The winner of this little battle was obvious.
Ludville had been the one to make the first move, and he was also the one acting emotional, as though he was dissatisfied with that fact.
Whether it was curiosity, irritation, or interest…… whatever he was feeling, the fact that she had managed to make him feel something meant she had done well enough.
“You said I could do whatever I wanted for fifteen days. So I simply did what I wanted to do.”
One of his eyebrows rose in displeasure.
“……Are you satisfied? I took the bait just as you wanted.”
Even though Ludville knew he was being lured in, he must have had no choice but to come here in the end.
He must have been curious.
She had somehow managed to perfectly match a taste that even the head chef—and Ludville himself—didn’t understand.
“So how did you know?”
Odely lightly shrugged.
‘……Because I was your wife thousands of times.’
What he liked.
What he hated.
She could guess most things about him with her eyes closed.
‘And compared to how much you knew about me, this is actually pretty harmless.’
He had known everything about Odely.
Her preferences, her little habits, the sound of her breathing, the way she walked, the subtle changes in her voice, even her thoughts.
In fact, there were probably only a handful of things he didn’t know about her.
With nothing more than a fleeting expression, he could tell what she was thinking, what she would do next, and what kind of reaction would make her happy.
He analyzed her almost down to the second.
Every time he regressed, he used every means possible to win her over.
That was why it was so ridiculous—and almost funny.
The man who had once calculated every look and every word to seduce her was now suspicious of her and demanding answers.
Of course, he had lost his memories, so it couldn’t be helped.
“It was just a feeling.”
Odely brushed it off with that vague answer.
Ludville was said to be the illegitimate son of the fallen Elbrecht family, which had declined decades ago.
‘The fact that he used to be a slave was a closely guarded secret.’
But even if his true identity was hidden, the fact remained that he had risen from the very bottom to become a Grand Duke.
“I thought you might have eaten barley porridge before. I thought it might remind you of your childhood.”
Even if she assumed he had come from a fallen noble family with nothing left, it was easy enough to imagine that there had been a time when he ate barley porridge.
“That wasn’t the taste of ordinary barley porridge.”
“If you combine sweet and salty flavors, most people find it easier to eat. It’s a little trick.”
Ludville narrowed his eyes.
The fact that a Cardel noblewoman, who should have grown up eating only the finest delicacies, knew such a commoner’s cooking trick seemed impossible for him to accept.
“So I suppose the head chef simply lacked this ‘feeling’ and couldn’t figure out my taste?”
“…….”
How did he manage to turn that into this?
“A head chef without any feeling…… He hardly seems fit to work in the Grand Duke’s castle. I should dismiss him immediately and hire someone new.”
“…….”
“Hmm, I wonder who would be suitable. Should I bribe the imperial palace chef? Or perhaps…… the Cardel family’s chef, who taught you that ‘special cooking method’?”
Ludville’s eyes curved playfully.
His tone sounded like a joke, but there was an unmistakable threat hidden beneath it.
‘Is he serious?’
Caught off guard, Odely stared directly into his eyes.
Into those eyes that gleamed with madness.
‘……He is serious.’
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