Secret Wardrobe of the Duchess

Chapter 10

“It’s Edgar.”

The duke pressed his temple and looked at her, clearly irritated. Rubica looked straight back at him while her heart pounded in fear.

She couldn’t believe she was openly opposing such a great man with a high rank.

‘… Arman.’

However, thinking of the name of her loved one gave her strength. She could feel her heart beating differently when thinking about him. No matter how beautiful and great the man in front of her was, she loved Arman.

Yes, it would be better to explain it properly to the duke. How unfortunate it would be for him to marry a woman who loved another man? She clenched her two hands tightly and spoke firmly to Edgar.

“I am in love with someone else.”

Silence. Edgar stared at her without any change of expression. She felt like her face was melting at his hard gaze, but she had already thrown the dice. She couldn’t say anything else.

She silently prayed Edgar wouldn’t think she had just said that to avoid the marriage. After a long time, his eyes twinkled for a second and soon turned back to normal. He sighed and put his head on his hand. Then, he asked, “Who is he?”

“Excuse me?”

“I hope you would at least tell me who he is to make me understand, chéri.”

Chéri. That word was used for lovers.
Rubica realized he was gracefully criticizing her and bit her lips hard.

Duke Claymore had great power and wealth. She did fear that anything could happen if she told him about Arman, but she was sure that he wasn’t that kind of man who would harm her or Arman in any way, even after finding out the truth.

Even when she had been caught as a maid who was running away after stealing from the Berners, he had first tried to listen to her before deciding on her punishment.

She still hated him, in spite of his beauty, but he didn’t appear to be a man without principles.

“His name is Arman.”

“That name is quite common. Where does he live?” Edgar calmly asked another question, but Rubica was dumbfounded.

Arman, where did he live before the war? She had never asked that. As Hue’s Abbey had been full of people from many different countries, that kind of question was practically forbidden.

However, she couldn’t bring herself to lie to the duke. For some reason, Rubica had this feeling that he would immediately know if she lied. In fact, Rubica was not good at lying. Because of that, Stephen hadn’t believed a single word she spoke even when she was telling the truth.

“I don’t know.”

“How old he is?”

“… about 25 years old.”

“So, he is my peer. Good, and what is his status?”

“He is a nobleman, probably.”

Edgar’s lips trembled. Rubica could barely stop herself from avoiding his gaze. As Arman had clearly been highly educated, she couldn’t think of him as an ordinary commoner. Even if he had been a commoner, a man with such knowledge would have been given at least a baronet title.

Rubica wasn’t lying, so she thought she had nothing to be afraid of.

“Probably, probably, probably. You’ve been guessing since the beginning. Very well. My fiancé who is in love with someone else, how tall is he? What is the color of his hair? And of his eyes? Does he have a domain? Does he have any degree? What is his family name?”