# 5 -
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“I'll prepare dinner.”
When Yuan closed the documents he was reviewing, his assistant got up from his seat and spoke.
At his words, Yuan turned his gaze to the window. The world was bathed in the setting sun, dyed orange.
Realizing that it was time for dinner, Yuan nodded to his assistant.
As soon as the assistant left the private cabin, Yuan rubbed his temple as a mild headache had been going on for some time.
Then he suddenly noticed how quiet the room was. He got up from his seat. On the long sofa, Seret was sitting alone, fast asleep. Her maid was nowhere to be found.
Yuan rushed towards her. Her head kept falling forward, so he gently caught it with his hand before it fell.
He rested her head and cheek in his palm. The soft, tickling sensation was unfamiliar, and for a brief moment, Yuan's gray eyes wavered.
While still holding her head, he slowly examined her sleeping face.
Her curly blonde hair looked like it had the best scent in the world. Her closed eyes, when open, always shine like sapphires.
Whenever Yuan saw blue gemstones, Seret Inohater was the first person to come to his mind. Her eyes were so beautiful—like jewels.
Beautiful woman.
A good and innocent woman.
This was the Seret he knew. But today, she showed him aspects of herself that surprised him.
The way she waved a vase, the way she cursed and spat, the way she softly criticized him—he had never seen any of that before.
Even this sight of her sleeping deeply, breathing softly, seemed refreshing and strangely aroused his curiosity.
At that moment, Seret moaned and began talking in her sleep.
“For you...what am I?”
Her long eyelashes were quickly wet with tears. She looked tortured, as if she was trapped in a nightmare. Her lips trembled.
“Miss Enohater?”
Yuan called out to her, confused. But her sleep talking deepened.
“I loved you.”
Her mumbled words, mixed with sobs, sounded so miserable that they hurt the ear. Yuan frowned at this sight.
He hated the sadness on her face. He hated her saying she loved someone.
The words she had spoken during their meal echoed in his mind:
'So are you going to call off the engagement?'
‘To take a crazy woman who loves someone else as your wife.’
Could she be serious? Yuan's face stiffened.
“Miss Enohater.”
She shrugged. He didn't like the thought of his fiancée dreaming about another man.
"…millimeter."
Her jaw trembled, and she finally opened her eyes.
Perhaps still caught up in the sadness of her dream, her expression remained shadowy as she pulled her face away from his hand.
“It looks like you had a nightmare.”
“Yuan…”
Her blue eyes filled with tears as she looked at him. They shone so brilliantly that he felt blind for a moment.
But then those eyes quickly filled with hatred, resentment, and anger. And it was all directed at him.
A sharp pain stabbed Yuan's chest. This look—he felt like he'd seen her before.
"yuan."
Her voice, heavy with reproach, called his name. Tears in her eyes slid down her cheeks.
Why are you looking at me like that? For what reason? Subconsciously, Yuan grabbed her shoulders.
But Seret wiped away her tears and pushed his arms aside. She got up and looked for her maid.
“Hannah.”
“It looks like she's out.”
Yuan saw her turning around looking for Hana, so he spoke. At his words, Sererite quickly left the cabin.
Yuan was left alone, staring at the hand that had just grabbed her shoulders.
Her slender frame, the slight warmth of her body… Now that she was gone from his hand, he felt strangely uneasy.
A mixture of regret, emptiness, and anxiety scratched his nerves.
That a woman who was no more than his fiancée would arouse such feelings surprised him.
With a quiet sigh, he returned to the table. He tried to calm his troubled mind by reading the newspaper, when his assistant returned with Seret and her maid.
She glanced at Yuan before sitting down on the sofa again. The assistant and train attendant arranged the food, while Hannah carried a tray.
“I ordered something light; sandwiches. Would you like tea or juice?”
“Tea.”
Yuan answered curtly, glancing at Seret as she took a sandwich from Hana.
Her eyes were no longer wet. Although it gave him some relief, it also left him strangely upset. And so their meal began, each in his place.
The assistant suggested that she sit at the table, but Seret refused.
She chose the inconvenience of eating on the sofa without a table, and this also upset Yuan.
Even while eating, he found himself giving her furtive glances.
It was confusing. Yuan Freaktwister, who had never cared about anyone else's opinion in his life, was now monitoring his fiancée's every reaction.
To him, Seret had always been a woman of no importance.
He needed someone to be his fiancée, and she happened to come to mind. It was appropriate. So he got engaged to her.
Like a pen or paper—something used when needed. Just one of the countless things that surround it.
Something that can be easily replaced. However, here he was, watching her every move. He couldn't understand himself.
When the meal was almost over, Seret got up from the sofa and approached him with calm steps.
Yuan looked up in surprise. His assistant moved away to give her space.
“Sit down, Miss Enohater.”
He pointed to the chair opposite him.
I sat down and talked.
“I have a request, Your Highness.”
"Yes."
He tilted his head, urging her to continue.
"Order me a dress. And some jewelry too. I also need shoes. I would like you to assign me a special maid to serve me."
“A rather unexpected request.”
Yuan looked at her, surprised.
Yuan never thought that Sererite would ever ask such a thing. Her clothing was always modest—modest even compared to what her family's financial resources could provide.
The dresses she wore were mostly old, inherited from her mother.
Even on the day he proposed to her, she was wearing an old brown dress. On his visits to Mushilier, she always wore outdated styles that no young woman would choose.
From what Yuan knew, the Enohater family could afford at least one or two new dresses a year without trouble.
Surely her loving father would not refuse her a decent dress. Therefore, it was always assumed that it was Seret's choice to wear such old things.
Even now, her clothes and shoes seemed very simple for a noblewoman. Middle class families dressed better these days.
He had considered ordering a dress for her for the Emperor's ball, but backed out. Preparing such a thing without her request was considered inappropriate, and he doubted that she would accept the gesture.
But here she was, asking him first. This made him happy and curious at the same time. She was not the type of woman to make such requests.
“Don't you like my request?”
“Absolutely not. I'll give the order.”
"Thank you."
With a faint, aloof smile, she thanked him, then rose and returned to her maid with light steps.
Yuan watched her figure retreat, and his brows frowned slightly.
His change of fiancée was unusual. If it had happened because of another man, this was something he couldn't bear.
Even if Seret was as replaceable as pen and paper, it was a different matter if another man dared to touch what belonged to him.
Whether throwing away what someone else's hand had touched, or cutting off the hand that reached out to him—he had to think carefully.
"The dress is wrinkled, but don't worry, madam. The Duke's Palace will have better irons. The creases will be ironed out in no time."
Hanna babbled as she took the dress out of the box.
Maybe it was her residual excitement from the train ride, or maybe it was the excitement of arriving in the capital for the first time, but she remained cheerful.
“No need to iron it, Hannah.”
Leaning back on the sofa, Seret muttered weakly. Unlike her maid, she was exhausted from the long train journey.
“But you can't wear a wrinkled dress.”
Hannah jumped, startled, as if Seret had said something outrageous.
"I'm going to order a new dress. I'm not going to wear that dress."
Siret's voice was heavy with sleep. In her previous life, she had worn that very dress to the party.
It had been modified from one of her mother's old dresses, and its design was hopelessly outdated compared to the capital's fashions. To the central nobility, he seemed unbearably rural.
To her face, they called it “vintage” or “classic,” but the moment she turned her back, they made fun of her, saying it looked like her grandmother’s dress.
And of course, they said she was no match for Duke Freaktwister.
“I will never hear those words again.”
She muttered, fighting the weight of her eyelids.
No matter what happened with Yuan, she couldn't bear the insult of being known as the village Miss Innohater.
Hannah, in the middle of hanging the dress, turned around in shock.
“A new dress, ma’am? Suddenly?”
“His Highness agreed to this.”
“How wonderfully considerate!”
Hannah clasped her hands, her eyes shining with emotion.
Considerate, isn't it? Another gesture like that, and he might shower her with poison. Seret laughed a little bitter laugh.
At that moment, there was a knock on the door. Siret sat down and motioned for Hana to open it.
When the door opened, a familiar face entered. She was May Lindsay, the head maid of the Duke's Palace in the capital.
In her previous life, Mai opposed her at every turn. She ignored Seret's words, but she hung on Lydia's every word.
For May Lindsay, the true mistress of the Freaktwister house was not Seret, but Lydia.
Seret raised her chin, meeting the woman's eyes.
Let me hear then—what words will you use this time to put yourself above me?
A faint, sharp smile appeared on her lips.
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