Hopefully, at Your Mercy - Chapter 38

Chapter 20.1

Delinda felt a wave of relief after saying her piece, in a voice low enough that the duke couldn’t hear.

Count Duwell, on the other hand, was far from relieved. His food suddenly felt difficult to swallow. He couldn’t quite figure out what she was thinking.

Right now, Delinda was building a massive wall between them. Her words made it clear. This was nothing more than a formal arrangement between their families, and they should stick strictly to that agreement. It was completely unlike her.

Then again, her words weren’t foolish, either.

In fact, nothing about Lady Delinda Schultz resembled the woman he thought he knew.

‘Why…? What’s with the sudden change…?’

Thinking back, she’d been acting strange from the moment he arrived. Usually, she would be clinging to him, pestering him, doing everything she could to get his attention. But today, nothing.

If this had been any other day, she’d be sneaking glances his way, blushing like a fool. But now, she wouldn’t even look at him, deciding to focus entirely on her meal instead.

And for some reason, that bothered him.

‘Is she angry with me about something?’

After mulling it over, Count Duwell came to a realization.

‘Is it because I didn’t get her any gifts?’

Ah-ha!

At last, Count Duwell had cracked the mystery. Lady Delinda must be sulking because he hadn’t brought her anything.

He should have greeted her with sweet words about how much he missed her and handed her an expensive gift from abroad. But he hadn’t, and that must be why she was upset.

Now that he had “figured it out,” Count Duwell felt relieved.

‘As expected of a noble lady. I’ll visit her later and bring a gift.’

Decision made, the count returned to his meal, slicing into his steak. The thought of Delinda soon returning to her old self, tail wagging and all, filled him with satisfaction.

Just then, a gentle nudge brushed against his ankle. It was Rose, seated diagonally across from him, tapping him with the tip of her shoe.

Count Duwell responded with a playful nudge of his own and smiled. With his worries about Lady Delinda out of the way, even this little game felt amusing.

Under the table, the playful teasing continued. For a while.

Until it abruptly ended with a sharp yelp from Count Duwell.

“Ow!”

Delinda had figured out exactly what was going on and kicked him. Hard.

“Are you alright, my lord? I felt something under my foot and thought it was a rat. I panicked.”

Delinda’s face was the picture of innocence and concern. She acted as though she had no idea what had happened. Count Duwell forced a composed smile.

“I’m fine, my lady.”

His ankle still throbbed from the hard kick she had landed.

“Oh, I’m so glad to hear that. You made such a fuss, I almost thought you’d broken a bone.”

“What?”

Count Duwell blinked in confusion, but Delinda had already returned calmly to her meal.

Her movements were graceful and poised. At least she still remembered the table manners she had learned during her first possession.

‘Hmph. Playing footsie under the table? How crude. You’re lucky I didn’t break your ankle.’

* * *

After finishing her meal, Delinda took a stroll through the garden with Duke Schultz to help the food go down.

By the time she returned to the guest room Lord Cavila had provided, the world outside was cloaked in darkness.

As soon as she stepped inside, she rang a small bell. Shortly after, Rose entered.

“Yes, my lady.”

“Prepare some water for a bath.”

“Understood.”

Rose called for a servant to bring warm water and a nightgown. Then she helped Delinda up from where she had been lounging and began combing her hair with a horsehair brush.

But before she could get a few strokes in, a disturbance arose outside the door.

— It’s quite late. Wouldn’t it be better to return tomorrow?

— How dare someone like you block my way? Lady Delinda will surely welcome me. Go inform her of my arrival at once.

— But…

— Now.

Delinda frowned at the commotion, glancing from the darkened window to the door. Who could possibly be making all that noise at this hour?

“Hans. Who’s here?”

Who’s giving you trouble out there?

— It’s Count Duwell, my lady. He says he has something important to discuss and a gift for you.

“Let him in.”

The sooner she heard him out, the sooner she could send him away.

With her permission granted, Count Duwell strode in, wearing a smug smile as if her acceptance proved something.

Delinda felt an odd sense of déjà vu as she looked at him.

“Someone like you.” “How dare you.” His tone carried the same smug superiority as Rose’s once did. People like that always seemed to fall the hardest when their pride was bruised.

“It’s quite late. What brings you here?”

“I’ve brought a gift for you, my lady.”

Without preamble, Count Duwell handed her a small box.

Inside, nestled in velvet, was a jeweled hairpin. A ruby glinted between the amber wings of a butterfly.

“Thank you, my lord. But this could have waited until tomorrow…”

“I wanted to give it to you right away. It’s been bothering me all evening that I didn’t do so earlier.”

Delinda held the pin up the lamp, examining its golden glow.

Then, out of the corner of her eye, something else caught her attention. Rose’s hairpin. It was new. Amber, like hers, but shaped like a yellow rose.

‘Aha.’

Delinda felt like she had just solved a riddle. Count Duwell must have purchased both pins from the same jeweler.

One for his fiancée and one for his fiancée’s maid. And, apparently, the mistress had received hers first…

‘To think he had the actual nerve to insult me like this.’

Delinda turned toward the mirror, casually pinning the accessory in her hair. Then, as if offhandedly, she asked, “By the way, Rose, where did you get that hairpin?”