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Rubica was quite surprised to hear herself lying like that. The man then stared at her with his bright brown eyes.
She thought it was her last chance to convince him and didn't avoid his gaze. So, Rubica looked back at him as well.
'... oh, I see. '
Even though the man was wearing a mask, his nose was quite sharp and high.
His two eyes looked deep with double eyelids. Moreover, his bright brown irises had a blue hue at the center, so they felt strange. And what about the shadows created by the long and thick eyelashes?
'You're handsome. '
Rubica forgot that she needed to fool him and stared into his eyes in a daze. The man eventually burst into laughter at that blank expression.
"You should have not lowered your guard and tried harder to fool me." Then, he forcefully took Rubica's leather bag and said, "This bag is too good to belong to a maid."
He mercilessly opened it and had the things inside fall to the ground. Some old clothes fell down, but he didn't miss what he had to find among them.
He carefully grabbed a wrapped cloth and quickly opened it.
Then, ruby accessories and a few silver coins fell into his hand.
"You even stole, how shameless. Whose accessories are these? Do they belong to the future duchess?"
The man was right. However, the problem was that the future duchess was Rubica.
But would the man believe her if she said so? Her dress was way too shabby. He had gotten mad when Rubica had tried to tell him who she was earlier. So, Rubica couldn't do anything. Then, a light came to their direction. As it got closer, the man got slightly nervous and stood up straight. He acted like a soldier waiting for his general. Rubica was surprised and looked at where he was looking at.
'... a carriage? No horse. Does it work with mana stones?'
There were some splendid carriages, with bright lamps on both sides, coming to the Berner Mansion without making any clopping sound of hooves and the neighing of horses. A carriage that worked with mana stones was expensive, most nobles couldn't even dream of owning one. And now, there were at least three mana stone carriages coming.
It had to be at least a marquis for it to be that rich, and a bad feeling rushed over Rubica. She was hoping her feeling was wrong, but then the man sealed her fate.
"The duke will decide what to do with you."
There was a black eagle holding an ax drawn on one of the carriages' door. If Rubica's memory was right, it was from the Claymore Family.
Before Rubica could blink twice in surprise, the carriage quietly arrived at the door. The man grabbed Rubica's hand tight so that she would not be able to run away and took a step back.
"Your Grace, it's Stephen. I was going around the mansion to see if there was anyone suspicious before your arrival and caught a maid running away with the Berners' treasures."
Then, he put enough pressure on Rubica's shoulder to make her kneel.
"Please decide on her punishment."
Nobles, who were counts or at a higher rank, had the rights to punish commoners. Rubica wasn't a commoner but a lady. However, her dress was too shabby.
'Punishment for a maid running away with the master's objects is... yes, cutting one of her wrists. '
The kingdom of Seritos had strict rules. Rubica sadly looked down at her wrists as she didn't think the duke would mercifully listen to a maid and decide.
He was going to give the order in his carriage, and Stephen was going to immediately cut her wrist with his sword. She couldn't help but think negatively.
'If he cuts my wrist, he would not be able to have me marry him, as long as he has a heart. '
Rubica was so overwhelmed by the situation that she couldn't think of a scenario where the duke would promise to take care of her for all eternity for cutting her hand. She felt like she could happily give up an arm to get away from the horrible duke. She tightly closed her eyes to endure the pain.
Creak.
However, what she heard wasn't the duke's cold voice ordering her punishment. It was the sound of the carriage's door opening. Soon, a man came out and walked to Rubica. Then, Stephen showed him the accessories and started to explain the details.
Rubica's fear grew. She cringed and looked down.
'Is he going to watch my arm get cut right at my side?'
Sadist! Rubica's opinion of the duke went down even more. She was shaking in fear, but then she heard an unexpected question.
"For what reasons were you trying to run away?"
Rubica's closed eyes snapped open. The voice wasn't kind at all, it was cold. His tone was also extremely formal.
"Tell me a good reason why you were stealing from your masters."
Even courts tended to take care of such cases without listening to the criminal's story. However, the duke asked Rubica why. She was relieved to know he was not as bad as she had expected.
'Erne, god of honesty, please forgive me for lying, but this is the only chance I have to run away. Kirne, god of lies, please help me. '
Rubica wet her lips and looked up at Duke Claymore. Then, her eyes widened at seeing the man in front of her.
Black silky hair that looked like a piece of the night sky, skin as white as marble, and two blue eyes that contrasted with the black hair were shining like two jewels underneath it. Tightly shut lips over a sharp chin made his face bear a little impulsiveness but sensitive energy. His tall body was thin just to the right extent with the right amount of muscles. It looked masculine enough even under the clothing. Stephen, who Rubica had found handsome earlier, now looked like an ugly fish commonly seen in the river next to the duke.
Rubica was sure. She had never seen such a handsome man before, and she wasn't going to see another again.
"Ah!"
Rubica felt her heart beat fast. It was her nasty habit again. She prayed in her heart that would stop and bit her lips hard.
Rubica, the reserved woman who was kind, calm, and always did what she was supposed to do.
That was how people spoke of her from her birth to her death.
However, she had a secret that didn't match that compliment at all... she greatly liked beauty.
No, the word like wasn't enough to describe her passion about beauty.
She would forget all the pain the moment she touched Angela's beautiful hair, no matter how hard she was on her. She loved beauty that much. She didn't just go after the beauty that could be plainly seen. She could even see the beauty within the ugliness and could see how a plain and thin girl could become a beautiful lady in the future.
That passion and habit didn't leave her till the year she turned seventy.
Rubica's heart would always beat faster at seeing beautiful people, especially young and handsome men. That was why Arman had been so special to Rubica. He had been an old man who had lost his beauty of the past long ago, but her heart still beat fast when looking at him.
That beating of the heart was slightly different from when she saw beautiful people. She realized that only about a year after she started to like him. Till then, she thought she just tended to fall in love easily, but after she started to love Arman, she understood that it had only been an instinctive reaction to beauty.
And that instinct was now working. She quickly looked down to hide her reddening face.
'Stop, please stop! He will misunderstand me. '
Rubica was worried that the duke would think she liked him. Stephen's gaze was getting strange at seeing her change. The two bright mana stone lamps on both sides of the carriage were not like ordinary candles, they were bright like the sunlight. So, the darkness couldn't hide Rubica's face.
"I guess you don't even have any excuses."
Rubica heard the duke's cold voice. She was relieved to know the duke wasn't interested in her attitude.
No, it wasn't the time to be relieved. She realized she had missed her chance to make excuses while dealing with her beating heart. She looked up again. Then...
"Rubica! Rubica!"
"Ms. Rubica, where are you?"
They had found out that Rubica was missing only then. Voices looking for her were heard from the mansion. The duke thought for a moment and then lowered his head to look at Rubica. His clear blue eyes looked at her from up and down.
Those eyes were beautiful, just looking into them made her heart feel like stopping.
"Brown hair, auburn eyes. Rubica Berner, is that you?"
The voice was cold, without any affection to the woman he had proposed to. However, Rubica couldn't deny it anymore.
"... yes."
Stephen's face turned pale in an instant. He immediately knelt down next to Rubica and said, "Your Grace, please punish me for failing to recognize your fiancé!"
"You should apologize to her, not me."
The duke didn't even look at Stephen and fixed his gaze on Rubica while giving his cold answer. 'Her'. Rubica bit her lips to hear him call her so coldly.
He was a beautiful man, but his expression was as cold and hard as that of a marble sculpture. She couldn't find any emotion in his face as he stared at her.
"I apologize, my lady."
Rubica couldn't look at the duke anymore. She turned to Stephen who was dropping his head low enough to touch the ground.
"I don't have any intention of becoming the duchess, so there's no need to apologize to..."
Before she could finish her sentence, the duke grabbed her chin and lifted it.
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