“Nobert, I’m coming in.”
Ariella carefully opened the drawing room door and entered. Immediately, a man who looked as if he had stepped out of a painting came into view, as always.
“You’ve arrived. Please, sit here.”
Nobert stood up from his seat and guided her with a kind voice. His neatly combed hair, his perfectly neat clothes, everything seemed perfect as usual, but his eyes looked strangely dark.
He said he had a lot of work, so maybe he didn’t sleep well.
Ariella glanced at his complexion and sat down on the sofa.
Two cups of coffee were placed on the table in front of the sofa. One was for her, and the other seemed to be the one he had been drinking, as it was about half empty.
Judging by the faint steam still rising from it, he hadn’t been waiting for too long.
“I heard you came to have a dress made for the Hunting Festival today. Are you attending this year’s Hunting Festival?”
Fortunately, he didn’t seem angry. He even started the conversation first without any awkwardness. Relieved, Ariella took a deep breath and replied.
“Ah, yes. I’m planning to participate this time.”
“That’s unusual. I thought you didn’t like the Hunting Festival. Ah, now that I think about it, you said in your letter that you had something to ask me. What is it?”
Oh dear. Her eyebrows twitched briefly as if she was in trouble.
As he said, she had sent him a letter asking for help. It was right before she went to visit Aaron in the hospital.
As a result, the letter reached him after their awkward meeting at the Imperial Palace, and Ariella had forgotten about it in her confusion.
What would Nobert think of her for breaking her promise to him and shamelessly asking for help? She opened her mouth, hoping that he would realize that the letter had been sent before that point.
“It’s just that… I’d like you to meet my father.”
“The Duke of Bedford?”
“Yes. I’d like you to meet him in person and propose a contract. In exchange for me becoming your mistress, I’d like you to pay the money I mentioned back then. It would be good to draw up a certificate and have it notarized.”
Ariella knew how absurd her request sounded even as she said it. That’s why she quickly added an explanation.
“Of course, there’s no way I’m actually going to give that money to my father. I’m planning to include a clause that invalidates the contract. So you don’t have to worry about that, but if you’re concerned, I’ll draw up a separate contract with you-”
“No. I’ll do as you said. There’s no need to draw up a separate contract.”
He hadn’t even explained the details properly yet?
Ariella’s face contorted in disbelief. She had been worried that he would be taken aback, but the person who was actually taken aback and didn’t know what to do was her.
What kind of clauses would be included, how she planned to invalidate the certificate. She hadn’t explained any of it, but Nobert nodded without hesitation.
She was grateful that he trusted her, but she was worried that he would get scammed somewhere if he was so naive.
“…Nobert. I’ve said this before, but you should never do business. Make sure you ask your secretaries about everything.”
“Yes. I will.”
He answered too quickly, so she didn’t trust him at all. Because she was worried, Ariella added again.
“You have to be careful when meeting women too. It would be a disaster if you got caught by a strange woman.”
But this was something she shouldn’t have said. Especially since she was in a position to be confessed to by him.
The lips that had been drawing a curve hardened. The affectionate gaze also suddenly turned cold.
“…As I said before, that won’t happen. Ariella, it seems you don’t believe me.”
Nobert took his eyes off her for the first time since she had entered the drawing room and took a sip of coffee.
The way he crossed his long legs and drank coffee was elegant, but somehow it also gave off a fierce feeling.
“No, that’s… I’m sorry. I misspoke.”
Ariella apologized quickly. Even she thought there was nothing more to explain.
“It’s alright. It’s not something you need to apologize for.”
Clang. Nobert put the coffee cup down on the table and met her gaze again. It wasn’t as affectionate as before, but his eyes still had affection in them.
“More than that. Is there anything else I can help you with? Please, feel free to tell me anything.”
Despite his kind offer, Ariella hesitated and couldn’t open her mouth right away.
There was one more thing she wanted to ask. But given the atmosphere just now, and the fact that it was related to what happened at the Imperial Palace, it wasn’t easy to bring it up.
After a not-so-short hesitation, she opened her mouth.
“Nobert, I’d like you to attend this year’s Hunting Festival too. Would that be alright?”
“Yes. I was planning to attend anyway from the moment I knew you were attending, but is there any other reason?”
“I think you have to attend to get my father to come to the Hunting Festival. And…”
Gulp, Ariella swallowed hard.
