The Reason Why Raeliana Ended Up at the Duke's Mansion

Chapter 10

“I don’t need to see to know.”

Noah’s golden eyes scanned her up and down as if to evaluate.

Raeliana stepped back to avoid the gaze.

“S…stop that. That’s sexual harassment.”

“As you wish.”

Noah flashed a smile.

Ugh, Raeliana swallowed what felt like defeat.

Noah pulled out a watch from his pocket, checked the time, and stood up.

“That will be it for our joyful meeting. I’ll be heading out now.”

Joyful for whom? Perhaps you enjoyed it by yourself.

Pouting, Raeliana nodded and followed Noah to the door.

As he turned the handle, he suddenly looked back as if he thought of something.

“Oh, if you ever need anything, ask without hesitation, Raeliana. There’s nothing you can’t find in this mansion.”

Was he saying ‘We have things that you don’t have back at your home?’ What was he, Jeomsoon from the classic novel?

Of course she did not have anything like national treasure. She was coming to a painful realization that there were many things in this world that couldn’t be bought with money.

Raeliana took back the bravo she had sent the social caste system moments ago.

“I am touched to the point of tears to hear that you care so much about me, Your Highness. If I were to ask without hesitation, ‘a place I can be alone’ is what I need right now.”

Noah twisted his lips into a smile.

“Beloved Raeliana, you should call your fiance ‘Noah’, not Your Highness.”

He emphasized ‘Raeliana’ and glared at her with a heavy gaze.

“Ugh.”

Come to think of it… she now had to act like a young maiden in love with the duke.

Acting friendly and calling that man by his name would be a difficult ordeal.

“You don’t want to call me Noah? What about a pet name then?”

“No. Absolutely not. I’ll call you by your name.”

Raeliana straightened her face. “Well, go on then.”

“I will call you by th …that, when necessary.”

“Unless you get your mouth familiarized with it, you won’t be able to when you need it.”

Noah took Raeliana by her chin and raised her face to meet his eyes.

Before she could ask ‘what are you doing?’ he opened his mouth.

“What is my name?”

The simple sentence dragged as if in slow motion. He was needlessly handsome during moments like this.

She felt overwhelmed by the golden eyes as deep as the sea.

“No, No……”

Why do I have to do this right now? And, why is his face so close?!

Her vision was blurry and it became hard for her to breathe.

“Come on…”

His face came closer. Close enough that they could feel each other’s breath.

“No…ah…”

“Again.”

Bastard. Raeliana clenched her teeth.

“Noah…”

“Good job.”

Noah praised her in low tones and curved his eyes into a joyful smile.

It was not a seasoned smile of a politician with a gentleman’s mask but a natural one out of true joy.

As Raeliana was caught in the moment of surprise, his face moved away in a second.

“I’ll be going then.”

Back to being the usual Duke Wynknight, Noah grabbed the door handle.

That man, is he a sadist?

Raeliana rubbed her clammy hands on her waist and, without seeing Noah off as he left the room, she strode straight back to her bed.

She was going to pretend the pillow was Noah’s face and give it a beating.

As Noah closed the door, he saw Raeliana hugging the pillow as if to burst it.

Click.

The sight of her completely disappeared as the door shut. Beyond the closed door, he leaned his head against it.

“Pfft…”

In that position, Noah began to silently laugh.

Noah broke out in laughter as he recalled the thought of her bewildered face when she froze facing him and slid her eyes far to her side to avoid his gaze.

Raeliana McMillan was truly a creature of wonder.

How many times had her expression changed during that short time… from insolence to nervousness and to pouting.

He felt like he would never tire of the colorful variations.

Adam, Raeliana’s watcher and guard, broke into a rare expression seeing Noah from across the door.

“Adam.”

“…?”

“What kind of woman is she?”

The red eyes blinked rapidly a couple of times.

Adam’s hand unconsciously came in contact with the chocolate pouch Raeliana had gifted him.

From his observation so far, Raeliana McMillan was… a woman who was angry for him, a woman who smiled while giving him chocolates, and….

“A strange woman…”

“That so?”

Does Adam like her? Noah looked at Adam with slightly surprised eyes.

For Adam who instinctively registered others as either enemies or allies, this was a very favorable and extraordinary evaluation.

A strange woman… Noah covered his lips that rose up in delight.

“Watch her carefully.”

Noah left after saying those words.

Adam stared at Noah’s back, thinking that he should notify the advisor in case Noah was ill due to his strange behavior.

***

As she entered the estate as the duchess-to-be, renowned tutors from basic intermediary academics to etiquettes lined up to visit the mansion.

With subjects she had never dared to try such as tea ceremony, dance, needlepoint, and manners, Raeliana was a little taken aback.

Would I be okay?

Despite her reservations, her body naturally began to move once she began the task.

It was similar to when she went shooting.

Raeliana McMillan was a young lady from a rich family who was taught fancy subjects befitting her status and what that body remembered helped her through these unfamiliar challenges.

The ladies often broke into praise, saying what a well-educated lady she was, how she was chosen by the duke for a reason, and how she needed no further teaching.

But being cultured was not the only thing about Raeliana that surprised the tutors.

The former body of the current Kingdom of Chamers that Raeliana lived in was the Leige Empire that almost encompassed the whole continent.

Leige Empire adopted a social caste system more sophisticated than the current kingdom’s. The classes were divided with Kamillan on the top, the current top royals and nobles, followed by the lower class Estoda, then Vaita that became the current class for commoners, and Chamillan the slaves.

As the empire became the kingdom, the former social system was effectively nullified, but some traditions regardless of the law remained. One of them was the difference in the range of education.

Women of Estoda class did not learn basic subjects such as science or mathematics and many in the kingdom did not favorably view lower caste women touching on such subjects.

The social prejudice did not improve much and Raeliana McMillan, like other regular Estoda women, was far from being experienced in such subjects.

That was why the tutors who visited the duke’s estate were worried.

Could an Estoda woman follow the lessons?

Looking at the questions brought by these concerned tutors, Raeliana narrowed her eyes.

Though she may be in the body of Raeliana McMillan, her soul was from another world.

That soul took mock exams every three months, took College Scholastic Ability Test, and was preparing for college admissions in study halls right before coming to this world.

She could solve basic junior high level problems in a breeze.

When the mathematics tutor with glasses hanging on the tip of her nose asked her if she knew fundamental arithmetic, Raeliana pondered, Did Rosemary’s tutor come here by mistake? When she showed her a linear equation, saying that it may be difficult, she even thought, Did Noah hire this person to humiliate me?

Raeliana squashed all the worries of the tutors and made stellar achievements.

“My lady, you’re perfect as usual today.”

“You flatter me too much. It’s all thanks to your teaching. I’m still a student with much to learn.”

After the lesson, the tutor began praising her as usual. Raeliana hid her joy and expressed humility.

Pleased, the tutor uttered a few more praises and exited the room.

As soon as the tutor left, Raeliana opened the introductory book on history to perfect the subject she could not cover with knowledge from her former life.

When she was still ‘Park Eunha’ the first composition she wrote was titled I don’t want to lose.

What brought her up for twenty years was eighty-percent competitiveness and pride.

The needless competitive spirit and the professional habit of a former high school student, who was more familiar with sitting at a desk combined with efforts without goal, moved her like an automaton.

Leafing through and highlighting the history book almost 1000 pages long, Raeliana suddenly looked up.

Wait, am I working too hard?

Drunk on her own competence, she had forgotten… that she was doing way too well.

Just two weeks ago, she had told herself that she will do just enough to get by the bridal lessons and whatnot.

If this somehow misled other people… Raeliana shuddered, feeling nervous.

No, no. I need to stop.

Shaking her head, Raeliana stretched her tired body.

The introductory history book was too thick with tiny letters and just reading it for a moment quickly exhausted her. She grabbed the book, flicked through the pages, and burst into laughter.

Before, just the thought of studying would have exasperated her…

She had never liked studying itself. She just simply wanted to do well. Who would have known that she’d be clutching onto books in a different world?

Raeliana left the book there and sat by the window.

Autumn was deeply blooming outside the window. Even in a fictional world located who-knows­ where, seasons changed and leaves fell. She felt strange, like a dot of gray in a colorful world.

With her back against the window frame, Raeliana leaned on her elbow and faced the autumn breeze. The smell of leaves on the breeze left a waft of aroma on her nose.

It had already been two weeks since she came to the duke’s estate.

Confused and busy settling into an unfamiliar life, she had forgotten the time.

The atmosphere at the House of Wynknight was definitely different from that at the House of McMillan.

If the servants at the House of McMillan were all energetic and lively, those at the House of Wynknight stifled footsteps everywhere and had a pale presence even when nearby.

Because of that, when she walked around the mansion at night, she almost screamed or froze in shock at the maids walking by silently.

The maids all bowed deeply when they saw her and she noticed how some of them were strangely pale and ghostly.

Since the mansion had a long history, there may be one or two ghosts among them. After her conclusion, she decided to never set foot outside the room at night.

As the bridal lessons were way easier than she had expected, she found nothing else inconvenient.

Adam continued to watch over her, but once she got used to it, it did not bother her any longer. And the duke, who she worried that she would meet too often, was away at the Royal Palace for the two weeks, perhaps due to work pileup.

“So sleepy…”

Raeliana leaned her head to the side and mumbled.

The sun softly settled on her head and the breeze played with her hair.

As she felt the breeze sitting at the windowsill and swinging her legs, a dark shadow suddenly covered her entire body.

“Huh…?”