ASPB 8

Chapter 8

“Otillie von Falkenberg.”

That voice, which sounded as though it were echoing from inside a cave, slowly called her name.

Rather than calling out to her, it sounded more like he was muttering to himself.

Now, there was barely a step between them.

Otillie stopped pretending to admire the scenery in the park and slowly turned her head to face him.

She had to tilt her head back so far that her neck almost hurt before she could finally see his face.

‘He… called my name? Why?’

They had crossed paths a few times at official events, but they were certainly not close enough for him to call her by name.

Until now, they had never even exchanged a single word.

At least, that was how things had been between them at this point in time.

A shiver ran down Otillie’s entire body beneath her thick coat.

Could it be… that he had also…?

“The name you just mentioned is indeed mine, but… may I ask who you are?”

Otillie looked up at him cautiously.

Her green eyes were wide and round like those of a frightened young girl, and even her voice trembled faintly.

Any gentleman, or even any ordinary man, would surely have felt the urge to protect her upon seeing such a sight.

However, the man standing before her was none other than Duke Altenbrik.

He stood upright for a moment before casually relaxing his posture. Then he shifted his weight onto one leg like a street thug, tilted his head to the side, and gave a mocking smirk.

It was such a rude and frivolous attitude that even a common thug would hesitate to display it.

“If you saw someone like me, with a large build and black hair, in the park right in front of the Altenbrik Ducal Estate, even a three-year-old wandering around the streets would know who I was.”

The Duke was now openly looking Otillie up and down with a mocking expression.

“But I suppose the young lady of the Falkenberg Ducal Family isn’t particularly quick on the uptake.”

Otillie was almost certain now.

This man had not returned to the past.

He was simply the same as he had always been.

He was still that rude man who had no interest in anyone.

No, wait.

In her previous life, they had been seeing each other with marriage in mind, so at least on the surface, he had tried to treat her more kindly.

But Otillie knew.

This was the true nature of Duke Rotbin de Altenbrik.

Arrogant and vulgar toward everyone, always speaking as though he were picking a fight, and behaving without even the slightest bit of courtesy.

His reputation in high society was exactly as she had always heard.

“……Ah, you are Duke Altenbrik. It is an honor to meet you.”

Otillie forced up the corners of her mouth, which refused to rise, and greeted him with a gentle smile.

Rotbin looked at her with an indifferent expression before giving a careless nod.

“I suppose there aren’t any decent parks in the Falkenberg Duchy. Otherwise, why would you come all the way here for a walk in the middle of winter, even bringing a puppy with you?”

Rotbin stared at the puppy nestled tightly in her arms.

He didn’t even spare Otillie a glance. Instead, he turned his head and stared intently at the puppy hidden beneath her shawl, as though it were the only thing in the world that existed.

Otillie smiled faintly to herself.

‘As I thought, he really does like puppies.’

“The parks in the Falkenberg Duchy are places I’ve visited far too often. I wanted to show my puppy somewhere new, too.”

Otillie answered as kindly as she could and gently turned the puppy toward Rotbin so he could see it better.

He even bent down to get a closer look at the puppy.

“What’s its name?”

It was an unexpected question.

Otillie was momentarily at a loss for words.

The truth was, she hadn’t thought of a name for it yet.

“……Um, Choco. Its name is Choco.”

A word that suddenly came to mind slipped out of her mouth.

Choco. The food she had eaten before dying in her previous life.

As she said the name, Otillie watched Rotbin’s reaction.

She wondered if there might be even the slightest sign of agitation.

The moment he heard the word ‘Choco’ while looking down at the puppy, he immediately lifted his head.

His right eyebrow shot up, clearly showing his displeasure.

“Choco?”

“Yes. ‘Choco,’ as in chocolate.”

Otillie met his gaze directly and spoke each word clearly, putting emphasis on every syllable.

“I suppose the young lady of the Falkenberg Ducal Family isn’t very talented at naming things, either.”

He clicked his tongue.

“Just look at it. How is something this white supposed to be called Choco?”

Rotbin shook his head and let out a disbelieving snort.

Otillie felt her brows naturally knitting together, but she held back and forced herself to smile once more.

The corners of her mouth were practically twitching.

Good heavens… Was he always this rude?

She must have put up with an awful lot in her previous life.

Now she finally understood why her family had been so worried.

The stories about his behavior circulating in high society must have actually been sugarcoated.

Suppressing her anger, Otillie held the puppy out toward Rotbin.

“That’s true. I suppose I’m not very good at naming things. Would you like to pet it?”

Rotbin awkwardly straightened his back and stared at the puppy for a moment before slowly pulling his hand out of his coat pocket.

His large hand moved toward the puppy at an incredibly slow pace.

After what seemed like forever, his hand finally reached the puppy and stopped right in front of it.

With both hands awkwardly held out, he looked back and forth between the puppy and his own hands, wearing an expression as though he were struggling with some difficult decision.

‘What? Why is he acting like that?’

Her arm was starting to ache from holding the puppy out.

“This thing… It’s so small that I feel like it’ll burst if I touch it.”

Rotbin said something so absurd with an unbelievably serious expression.

His low voice sounded strangely weak.

“Your Grace, surely not. It’s not going to burst that easily, is it?”

Otillie smiled at him, hoping he would hurry up and take the puppy because her arm was beginning to hurt.

His hesitant arm suddenly dropped.

“But… I did burst one once when I was little.”

His usually cold expression instantly turned gloomy as he muttered quietly.

Oh, my goodness.

Flustered, Otillie quickly pulled the puppy back into her arms.

Now she finally understood why Rotbin didn’t keep a puppy.

When he was young, he had actually, horribly enough, once ‘burst’ a puppy!

“Ah… I see. You… with a puppy…”

She was so startled that, unlike her usual self, she couldn’t even finish her sentence.

Rotbin stared longingly at the puppy in Otillie’s arms.

His hands, which had fallen limply at his sides, slowly opened and closed into fists. Thick veins stood out across the backs of his hands.

After swallowing nervously, Otillie cautiously broke the awkward silence.

“Your Grace, do you… actually want to pet the puppy?”

At those words, Rotbin quickly lifted his head away from the puppy and glared at Otillie.

“Of course I do. You’re asking something pointless, young lady.”

‘Ha… It seems that man really never had a manners tutor.’

Otillie swallowed a sigh.

“In that case, I’ll help you hold it. How does that sound?”

Otillie put all her effort into giving him a smile.

However, Rotbin narrowed his eyes and looked her up and down.

He was probably the only person in the entire world who could look at her with such blatant rudeness.

Otillie stood still, maintaining the most harmless expression she could manage.

She also remembered to subtly turn the puppy so he could see its face better.

Then Rotbin asked in a low voice.

“How are you going to help me? And why do you want to help?”

He looked at Otillie with undisguised suspicion, but he really did seem to want to pet the puppy. Even as he spoke, he kept sneaking glances at ‘Choco.’

“How about becoming friends with me, Duke Altenbrik?”

“……Friends?”

Rotbin took a step backward, looking as though he had just heard the strangest thing imaginable.

For such a huge man to be this wary of a woman who was barely half his height…

Otillie chuckled inwardly and discreetly looked him over.

‘Well, I suppose it does sound strange even to you. Why would I go out of my way to become friends with you?’

“Just because, Your Grace.”

Keeping her true thoughts firmly to herself, Otillie smiled sweetly and took another step toward him, closing the distance he had just created.

“I… don’t have many friends in high society whom I can speak openly with because of His Highness the Crown Prince.”

That was true.

Before becoming engaged to Arno, she had been on fairly friendly terms with many young ladies and gentlemen in high society.

However, the Crown Prince’s obsession with her had grown worse with each passing day, making others hesitant even to approach her.

In the end, she had become completely isolated.

So, in truth, she didn’t have a single friend in high society with whom she could feel completely at ease.

Otillie did her best to put on a sorrowful expression.

Thanks to the naturally gentle droop of her eyes, she could easily make that expression without even trying.

Whenever she made that face, no one could refuse her requests.

Even when she didn’t ask for anything, people would often try to understand what she wanted and offer it to her first, as though presenting her with a gift.

But this man—

He was different.

That expression of hers didn’t seem to work on him at all.

Rotbin silently took another step backward and stared at Otillie without saying a word.