Secret Wardrobe of the Duchess

Chapter 9

Rubica wanted to get her head out of the duke’s hand, but his white and long fingers were stronger than they looked, so she couldn’t.

Unlike before, the duke looked down at Rubica with his eyes full of anger. She thought that expression looked better as it was livelier than the early face which resembled a marble sculpture.

“You don’t have any intentions of becoming the duchess. What does that mean? You don’t want to marry me?”

“Yes,” Rubica answered plainly, trying to soothe her inner anxiety. Soon, the anger grew bigger. Duke Claymore wasn’t used to getting rejected. He trembled in anger and lifted his hand.
Was he going to hit her?

Rubica instinctively closed her eyes and raised her hands to cover her face. However, she didn’t feel the pain. She slowly opened her eyes and looked at the duke through her fingers. He was looking down at her, dumbfounded.

He had lifted his hand not to hit her but to call his servant. He came to his senses when his gaze met Rubica’s.
He muttered, “Carl.”

The voice was low, but it was enough. An old man, who seemed to be his butler, immediately came to his side.

“Where’s the messenger?”

“I’m sorry, Your Grace. He is not here right now.”

“I thought he said Ms. Rubica Berner has agreed to this marriage.”

“… it must have been a misunderstanding.”

Butler Carl bowed his head, and the atmosphere felt like freezing. Nevertheless, Rubica found hope in the situation. Judging from their conversation, the duke seemed to think she had accepted his proposal.
Wouldn’t he cancel it if she told him her story?

Even though the man’s face seemed merciless, apart from its beauty, Rubica found the courage and was about to speak.

“Oh my, Rubica!”

Unfortunately, Mrs. Berner found her before that. She was coming out of the main gate herself with the servants to find the missing Rubica. The moment she spotted her, she ran to her to grab her hair.

However, her merciless hand couldn’t find its target.

“What are you doing?”

Stephen, who had been kneeling next to Rubica, quickly stood up to grab that hand. Mrs. Berner saw the splendid mana stone carriage only then.

She thought she had seen that emblem before, but she couldn’t recall to whom it belonged to.

And although the man who was tightly holding her hand was wearing a mask, he seemed to be noble. She immediately realized that things were going wrong.

Was it a nobleman of a high rank who had happened to be passing by the mansion? She feared that Duke Claymore would get to hear the rumor of her grabbing Rubica’s hair.

“Oh, um, it’s, I was just so surprised and worried.”

“I guess it is a merchant’s manner to grab a person’s hair when surprised and worried.”

The man was most certainly scolding her, and Mrs. Berner could feel her face heating up. She then turned her head to see the face of the man who spoke so rudely. First, she could see that he was extremely handsome. But differently from Rubica, it didn’t give her any thrill at all. What moved her heart were the clothes he was wearing.

The Berners were not rich enough to live on the revenue their land gave them, so as the wife of a merchant, she had seen all kinds of precious goods. His clothes were made of invaluable fabric. Additionally, the buttons on his sleeves were clearly diamonds.