Chapter 72

The social season, which had lasted a month, was drawing to a close.

At a time when other nobles were enthusiastically engaging in social life, the Eclipse Ducal Family, despite drawing a lot of attention early on, concluded their social activities quietly, without much further movement.

“Hey! You need to load this onto the carriage too!”

“Finally, we’re going home! The splendid capital is nice, but our home is still the best.”

The townhouse was bustling with preparations for the return to the North. However, since Annie and I knew we wouldn’t be returning to the North with them, we only packed the luggage for our return to the Blueberry Count’s family.

And finally, the day for the teatime with Nine arrived.

“Hoo.”

Having firmly settled my mind, I headed to the dining room.

I had only expected to meet him for teatime, but Nine had sent Van to invite me to dinner first.

Upon arriving at the dining room, I saw Nine already waiting.

‘Hmm?’

But… he looked somewhat different than usual.

‘He seems subtly more luminous.’

He was handsome to begin with, but he shone even brighter today.

That wasn’t the only strange thing.

Even with other servants present, Nine stood up and personally pulled out the chair for me to sit in.

As I sat down, bewildered, the servants around me were completely nonchalant, as if this were a matter of course, unlike me.

‘What is it? It seems like all the servants have become strange lately…’

I recalled the servants’ changed attitudes and behavior in recent days.

Since I hadn’t left the townhouse, I’d gotten tired of just lying down and often took walks inside the mansion.

However, the servants, who had been busy worrying about me because of the kidnapping incident, started showing subtle, incomprehensible smiles from a certain day.

The excessive concern that had been unusually remarkable before was now nowhere to be found.

‘Even when I ask Annie and Laura, they say they don’t know why.’

It was a little—no, honestly, quite bothersome—but since they weren’t being rude, I left it alone, but I didn’t expect it to continue even in the dining room.

I tried to ignore the servants’ subtle smiles and ate my dinner.

“……”

“……”

There wasn’t much conversation, but the silence wasn’t uncomfortable.

When I lifted my head while eating, my eyes would meet his, so there was an appropriate exchange.

But at some point, I noticed the servants’ smiles changing into expressions that seemed to be holding back a sigh.

“……?”

For some reason, the servants were staring intently at Nine, whom they had previously feared so much.

Nine, however, acted as if he didn’t feel their gazes, maintaining complete indifference.

Thinking that something was indeed strange, I finished my meal.

‘The chef seems to have put in a lot of effort today.’

I was pleased with the meal, which was unusually full of my favorite dishes.

I quenched my thirst and looked up, meeting Nine’s eyes exactly.

‘It seems like our eyes meet frequently today.’

I tilted my head, gazing fixedly at Nine, who was looking elsewhere.

Our eyes met unusually often today, but he consistently avoided my gaze whenever our eyes met during the meal.

‘What is it?’

It was a series of strange occurrences.

***

Having finished our meal, Nine and I left the mansion and walked in the garden.

‘Weren’t we supposed to have teatime?’

I followed him as he led the way, but I was puzzled.

Unlike the North, the capital’s April was quite warm, so having teatime in the garden wasn’t a bad idea.

The garden was subtly lit only by the light of the lamps beneath the pitch-black, star-studded night sky.

‘Maybe he plans to have teatime after a walk.’

However, Nine’s footsteps were gradually heading towards a corner of the garden.

‘What is it?’

I glanced at Nine, but he still said nothing.

I followed him without a word and subtly looked at Annie. Annie nodded and slightly showed the box in her arms.

‘Yes, it will end soon, so let’s appreciate this time we have together.’

This would likely be the last time I walked side by side with him in the garden.

As I followed Nine, I suddenly noticed a structure I had never seen before in the direction we were heading.

‘Was there a place like that?’

I often walked in the garden, but due to the extreme worry from those around me, I hadn’t ventured into this corner of the garden recently.

But one thing was certain…

“Excuse me, Duke.”

“Yes.”

“Didn’t the townhouse not have a greenhouse?”

Standing in front of the structure, I looked up at the transparent greenhouse with a surprised expression.

Of course, I hadn’t been living in the townhouse for long, nor had I personally checked every nook and cranny, but one thing was certain:

There had been no greenhouse in this townhouse originally.

“C-Can something like this just appear suddenly?”

When I unconsciously muttered to myself, the expression of Nine, who was standing next to me, subtly brightened.

“This way.”

He gently took my hand and led me into the greenhouse.

“……Wow.”

Inside the greenhouse, which I faced, was completely in bloom with pink flowers.

So many varieties of flowers were filled inside that I was quite taken aback, as every place my eyes touched held a new pink flower.

While I stood there, eyes wide, blankly looking around, Nine led me towards the center.

There, a small, young tree and a modest tea table were set.

On the table were my favorite teafoods and a beautiful teaset of my preference. The sweet scent of my favorite fruit tea wafted from the teapot.

“Please sit.”

“Oh, oh, yes…”

I sat down, somewhat bewildered, in the chair Nine pulled out for me, and stared blankly at him.

However, seeing the tea table in front of me reminded me of today’s purpose. I quickly collected myself and slightly turned my head to signal Annie.

“Lady Chacha.”

“Thank you.”

Annie handed me the box and retreated out of the greenhouse with the other servants.

The departing servants looked somewhat regretful, but feeling the touch of the box in my hand, I immediately dismissed them from my mind.

‘Now is the time to worry about myself.’

In the warm, pink-filled greenhouse, only Nine and I remained.

Feeling both nervous and bitter, I briefly pretended to adjust the teacup to manage my expression. Until my gaze reflected in the tea water no longer wavered.

I gathered my courage and raised my head again.

“Duke…”

Just as I was about to call Nine, I paused at his expression.

Nine, who was always expressionless, wore a face I had never seen before.

He was subtly biting his lower lip, and soon a sigh escaped his mouth.

Watching him close and slowly open his eyes a few times without looking at me, even I, who had prepared my heart, instinctively felt tense.

I missed my chance to speak and quietly waited for him to calm down, fiddling with the box.

‘Never mind me, why is Nine so nervous?’

Nine being nervous. I thought it was a very mismatched combination, but even as I looked up and glanced at him, his behavior was that of a typically nervous person.

I waited for him without a word, just as I had done from dinner to the walk in the garden.

I felt that he wouldn’t properly hear what I had to say right now, and there must be a reason for him to be like this.

‘No, perhaps I’m the one who wants to postpone it.’

Just as I was scoffing inwardly, Nine stood up from his seat.

He slowly approached me and pulled something out of his pocket.

“I know. Our start and our order were all a mess.”

The words were clearly directed at me, but I couldn’t understand what he meant at all.

What did we start? What order was he talking about?

However, his subsequent action immediately made me understand the meaning of his words.

“Chacha.”

The man, dressed entirely in deep black, quietly knelt on one knee in the greenhouse filled with pink.

At that moment, a pink flower gently settled on his shoulder.

The pink flower, which I thought would not suit him, just as I stood beside him, now made his appearance look like a framed painting.

I heard the voice I truly loved.

“Would you give me one more chance?”

As I stared at him, covering my mouth with both hands in shock, Nine, his fair face flushed, opened the small box he had taken from his pocket.

A pair of rings made of pink diamonds glittered inside the box.

“Miss Chacha Blueberry.”

Nine said in a trembling voice, unlike himself.

“I love you. Will you marry me again?”