I Slept with the Villain Holding My Hand

“Master. The reply came from the Duke of Rackester.”

As soon as the tired Reukis got off the wagon, the good news welcomed him.

After finishing the slow march like a turtle, I felt as if the tiredness of hearing the Emperor’s long reign went away at once.

He turned his step toward the bedroom and headed for his office.

A pile of letters neatly piled up on one side of the wide desk greeted him.

There were various kinds of invitations from ordinary banquets to secret social clubs.

The invitation, which had been stopped when he left the war, had arrived overflowing with news that Duke had returned.

“Here it is.”

The butler was the only one who picked up two separate letters.

One was stamped by the Imperial emblem, and the other was the Rackester family emblem.

He only received a letter to the right of the ash, he did not even look at the Imperial emblem.

Reukis, who cut the envelope neatly with a letter knife, checked the inside without hesitation.

The Duke’s handwritten letter stated that he would invite him to lunch at the mansion on Saturday.

“What’s the date today?”

Reukis asked without taking his gaze away from the letter.

“It’s Wednesday.’’

“Wednesday… “

It was regrettable that it was not the next day, but I knew that it was a consideration of my own to give me enough time to rest, who had just returned from the war.

There’s no way Themis would know he was in the capital earlier.

Now, after three days, I could check if the woman I met at the party was Serinia.

Reukis became impatient for no reason.

“Send me a reply that I’m going to visit.”

“Yes, what should I do about the other letter?”

“I have to go to the victory banquet anyway, so that’s enough, and reject all the rest.”

When the maid said that the bath was ready, Reukis got up from his seat.

Harriet the butler quietly left the room, sweeping the invitations from his desk into a large basket.

There was a lot of work to be done to reply to all the numerous rejections and one consent.

* * *

Merria, who got up and finished a simple meal, thought she would spend time in her study after a long time.

As she walked down the corridor leisurely, she saw some cluttered servants.

Just in time, a young maid carrying food ingredients walked from the other side.

When the maid found Merria, she smiled and greeted her.

“Hello, miss.”

“Yes, you look busy, what’s going on?”

“Today, a valuable guest was coming to eat. So Uncle Hans was particularly nervous.”

Hans was the chef of the Rackester family.

Seeing that she was calling such a chef friendly, she seemed to be a kitchen maid.

It was common for a Duke family to have guests.

Seeing that it was a precious guest, it must have been invited by my father or mother.

‘Are you thinking of having a meal with a friend after a long time?’

Solving her curiosity, Merria headed back to her study with a light step.

She read a few days ago on the sofa on one side, but Merria, who was reading the next volume of the novel, suddenly remembered what had happened at dinner last time.

I’m sure the butler said this that day,

“In a few days, the Knights, including His Highness the Crown Prince and His Majesty the Grand Duke, will arrive in the capital, and they want to be invited at any time thereafter of their arrival.”

Merria got up at once and started running, throwing the book she had been reading on her desk.

The servants looked at her with puzzled eyes, but they didn’t have time to care about her, as they were busy preparing for a precious guest.

She quickly entered her room, and she opened her wardrobe and pulled out a dark robe.

Sometimes, Lexie and I wore it to sneak around comfortably when we went to the shopping district together.

“Lexie!”

Merria hurriedly looked for Lexie, but she didn’t get an answer.

It seemed that she wasn’t close by and went to do other things.

Instead of revising her plan to go out with Lexie, Merria decided to leave a short note.

She scribbled on the notepad on the desk and hurried to the back door of the mansion.

If she ran into her family while trying to go out to the main gate for no reason, it might take her time.

The knight guarding the back gate saw her as if she was being chased by something, and he approached her in amazement.

“My lady, what’s going on?”

“Would you please get my horse quickly?”

With a puzzled look on his face, the knight brought a light brown horse from a nearby stable.

Merria, who had just finished catching her breath, got on the horse and wore the robe.

“My lady…?”

She spoke in a small voice to the knight wondering about Merria’s suspicious outing.

“I’m on my way to catch the scene because my friend’s fiancé was having an affair. So if my father or mother asks about me, please tell them that I went to the shopping district.’’

“Oh, yes. Show that shameless person what you’ve seen!”

The innocent knight cheered Merria with determined eyes.

Having escaped safely by selling her friend’s fiancé, who didn’t even exist, Merria quickly fell far from their mansion.

As she slowed down her horse, thinking that she needed to take a breath, she saw a carriage approaching from a distance.

She avoided the side road without hesitation.

When I hid myself behind the tree and watched them pass, the carriage got close in an instant.

On the black, unpatterned wagon, two crossed swords and a wolf’s glaring golden eyes were engraved..

It was the carriage of the Grand Duke of Frederick.

‘As expected… something didn’t feel right. Either Reukis or Altheon will be in there.’

Merria clicked her tongue and waited until the carriage was out of sight.