Chapter Four

Duke Alexander was known for his sharp tongue. Surprisingly, he was being gentle with Alessandra. She suspected it was because he wanted to marry her. Even so, Alexander was pretty honest.  

“I see,” she nodded. “As the duke can see, my fiancé is pretty reluctant to annul our engagement. It is an obstacle for the duke and me to get married.” 

“If the young duchess wants, I can take care of the matter,” he said.  

“The duke can easily give permission, I understand. Even if the duke doesn’t care about his image, I do greatly and if Lord Hayden’s and my engagement is annulled this way, I will be labeled as a whore, which is not a pleasant thing to be called. Given the duke’s brother’s personality, which the duke is perfectly aware of, he will spread rumors about me cheating on him. Since I am a woman, due to peoples’ strange understanding, my image will go down even though Lord Hayden was the one who was cheating on his fiancé openly,” she said. “I guess I can think the duke understands my situation.” 

“I do understand the young duchess’s situation. Since it seems like I cannot use my power in this matter, I wonder what the young duchess thinks of doing,” he said.  

“Well, this is something Duke Albert and I agreed on- It might come out harsh since I cannot choose elegant words for this, but please think of this thoroughly,” she said. “Duke Alexander might need to leave the Terrence duchy for one month.” 

“... And hand over the power of the duke temporarily to my brother?”  

“The duke is quick to understand, it seems,” she smiled. “Yes, that’s exactly right. Lord Hayden will handle the duke’s position for a month at the most, but I will try to take care of everything as soon as possible. I talked to Duke Albert and he agreed to let Duke Alexander stay in the Maximillan duchy for a month, and of course, no one outside the duchy would find out about it. If the duke agrees, we can proceed with the plan. And if the duke doesn’t want to cooperate, then I will have no choice but to look for another man.” 

Alessandra was famous, but she was not famous for her nice personality. Like Duke Albert, upper-class nobles knew the Maximillan duchy could do anything they wanted, even without the imperial palace knowing. Among the four duchies, the most powerful one was the Terrence duchy and then the Maximillan duchy. Duke Alexander was young but handled the work well. He was called the mad duke as he killed his own family to be the duke. It was said that Hayden Terrence was away at a relative’s place, so he was not killed by Alexander.  

Alessandra gave Duke Alexander no choice but to accept. He did not want to marry any other noblewoman since, among them, only Young Duchess Alessandra Maximillan was worthy. Moreover, he was a bit curious about the Maximillan duchy as well.  

Among the four duchies, the North Maximillan duchy was the most secretive one. No one knew what went on inside the duchy residence. Their private lives were unknown as well.  

“I agree to the young duchess’s proposal,” Alexander said.  

“Perfect,” she said and clapped her palms together. “Then we shall proceed with the plan.” 

Alexander knew what the young duchess was planning. Due to his experience, he was quite familiar with the types of moves that should be used in different situations. He was also sure that the Maximillan duchy would not try to betray him, since they had the perfect idea that Duke Alexander held more power than them, even if it was the slightest.  

“Ah, the coffee and refreshments are here. Please help yourselves,” Alexander said.  

It was the first time he had been friendly with someone. Matt did not notice much, but the servants and the butler in the duke’s residence and Alessandra understood it very well.  

Well, he is very good, though it’s his first time being polite. Even I was almost fooled. If I hadn’t read the book, perhaps I would have been fooled as well. 

Alexander had flat white. For someone as tough-looking as him, Alessandra expected him to have something too bitter, like black coffee. She was slightly amused to see that side of him.  

“Are these to the young duchess’s liking?” Alexander asked. 

“Ah, yes,” she smiled.  

Holy hell, the macarons are too good, especially the chocolate filling is really dreamy. The ones in our residence are not this good. 

She glanced at Matt, who looked back at her. Both of them had the same feeling and exchanged their approval through eye contact to find out the recipe somehow.  

Another one of Alessandra’s hobbies was eating food. She liked to taste different types of foods, though not many people knew about this.  

Alessandra’s personal guard, Matt Dorian, liked to eat as well, but not as much as the young duchess. He liked to follow her lead.  

“Thank you for the refreshments, Duke Alexander,” she said. “Now, as I mentioned, the duke will stay at the Maximillan duchy residence for one month and it would be great if the duke can manage everything within seven days. Please send me a letter when the duke handles everything. I will make all the necessary preparations in the duchy as well.” 

“Yes, Young Duchess,” he said. Alexander was surprised to see how much Duke Albert supported his daughter. It was as if no matter what she did, the duke would always accept.   

Suddenly, there was a loud thud outside. It had started thundering. All of a sudden, the cheerful weather seemed to wither away, turning into a beast.  

What the hell? I understand it happens all the time in a novel to make sure the protagonists are forced to stay together. But why now? I am not the female lead, nor is Alexander the male lead. What the actual fuck? 

“My lady...,” Matt looked at Alessandra.  

“Seems like the weather has gotten bad all of a sudden,” Alexander said. “I cannot let the young duchess leave in such dangerous weather. If the young duchess wants, the south duchy is always open for the young duchess.” 

“Thank you very much, Duke. I have to accept the generous offer,” she said. Alessandra had the feeling that it was completely artificial as if someone was trying to force them to stay at Terrence duchy.  

If it was somewhere else other than the south duchy, she would not decide to stay. The magic barrier around the south duchy could not be broken without the help of Terrence's descendants or magicians. And because of the storm, the magic barrier had only gotten stronger, so she decided to give up trying to leave.  

“The butler will show you to your rooms,” Alexander said. “Please rest well.” 

“Of course. Thank you again, Duke,” she said as she stood up.  

Cornelius led them to their rooms. Alexander smirked as the young duchess and her guard left the room. He had lighted a cigar and started smoking again. He was not in a hurry to marry and if he was going to marry someone, he would rather observe them first for a while.  

“I will watch you for a while now, Young Duchess. I don’t know why, but I feel like you’re hiding something big,” he chuckled.  

Alexander had enough experience to get a glimpse of a person’s personality through their behavior. He had noticed the shallowness in Alessandra’s behavior and the coldness in her voice. The more he observed her, the more similarities he found between them and the more interested he became.  

It had been two years since he had been the duke of the south. In those two years, he was busy retrieving his power. He had never been interested in meeting with nobles much. Thus, he had not even met the duke of the north, Alessandra’s father, yet.  

And just like the whole North Maximillan duchy, Duke Albert was a person whose real self was hidden behind the veils.  

“I can’t wait to see more of this Maximillan duchy,” Alexander muttered to himself with a sly grin.