“Have you… looked into the matter?”

Edgar flicked his hand and the servant who had been serving him immediately left.

“Open the right pocket of my jacket.”

“Oh, it is the ring.”

Carl exclaimed happily while Edgar nodded.

“This is great, now we just have to tell her.”

“No, don’t do that.”

“What? But Your Grace, we must break your curse as quickly as possible.”

“Oh…”

Edgar had completely forgotten about it. He was just glad that he was the man Rubica loved and had forgotten about his curse. It was a mistake that wasn’t like him.

“But we still have some time. Plus, Rubica seems to know nothing about it yet. If she knew something, she would have told me on the day we first met.”

“But…”

“If we rush, we will fail to get any lead and just confuse her. It would be better to make a plan and take the time to look into it. Just have a maid put the ring back to where it was.”

It made sense, so Carl nodded.

“I see. Then I will keep my mouth shut in the meantime. Please tell me if you want anything else done.”

“Just use a few drops of that and go.”

Edgar pointed at the oil bottle the servant had left. It was oil made with musk, sage, and wood that he liked to use. It meant he wanted to rest, and Carl should leave. The butler did as he was ordered and went out.

“A plan…”

The oil’s scent filled the room, and Edgar took a deep breath to clear his mind a little.

“Of course, I should make a plan.”

However, the plan he was going to make wasn’t about how to find a lead to break his curse from Rubica. Instead, he worked on a way to win her heart.

‘I tried to be kind to her based on what she told me, and it’s been working a little.’

He recalled how she had talked about Arman to him. She had been so passionate about it that it had almost driven him mad with jealousy at the time.

‘But she was talking about me, after all.’

He couldn’t help but laugh like crazy. Rubica had looked so lovely as she described him with sparkling eyes. She had nodded hard with her cute, little chin when Edgar said that Arman sounded smart.

‘Well, I am quite smart.’

-He studied hard and invented it, just for me. So many people benefited from it.

Thinking about how she looked as she said those words made Edgar’s heart beat hard. Oh, he wished he could run to her now, tell her the truth, kiss her cute lips and pinch her soft cheeks. He was worried if he was just postponing the happy time only to fight against himself.

‘No, no, no. I’ve been tortured so much till now!’

Days of cursing and being jealous of Arman, without knowing he was him. Even just thinking about it made him blush hard. He had been a little out of his mind and had confessed his love to a doctor. And now, he was worried the doctor might spread words about it and those words might reach Rubica’s ears.

‘If she finds out about it, she will make fun of me. Of course, there’s no way she would miss such a chance.’

For a second, he wondered if he should have the doctor assassinated. He had never had thoughts like those when it came to ordinary and good citizens. He could only barely manage to calm down his brain that lost its control over emotions again.

‘Carl gave him enough money, so he won’t talk in public about it. The doctors also have a duty to keep the secret of their patients.’

However, that vow applied to the doctor, but not to his apprentice. Sadly, the apprentice, who had recorded Edgar’s symptoms in detail, had an extremely light mouth and a lot of friends. Everyone in the capital already thought Duke Claymore was passionately in love with his wife. The apprentice didn’t even forget what Carl said about the duchess being cold to the lovesick duke.

It was just that the capital was too far from Edgar’s mansion and he didn’t know it yet.

‘From now on, she is going to be confused, just like I have been till now.’

The incident about mana quartz had hurt both of them, but it had shaken her heart. Edgar could feel her looking at him so warmly after that. If his future self could win her heart, he could also do it now.

He was even richer, younger, and more handsome. He didn’t have any other advantages, but he was going to win.

Should it be Arman or Edgar?

Should it be the man who was at her side during the hard times but couldn’t be found now, or the man who was with her right now?

Rubica was going to think about it again and again. There was no reason to be chaste for a love that had never been confessed, but Rubica was just too good. She was going to wonder if she was betraying her love or not, when actually the two men were one same man.

“Haha!”

Edgar couldn’t help but laugh. Of course, he thought he was being a little evil, but he was feeling pleasant.

‘I’ve been tortured for so long, she can suffer at least this much.”

She was going to be confused, and he was going to comfort her and hug her, pretending to know nothing.

“It’s okay that you still love Arman. If you like me at least a little, that is enough for me.”

He was going to say such things and deceive her, then she would feel so sorry to him. He was going to use her guilt like that and make her choose the him of the present, not of the future. In the end, she was going to be in love with the same man, but to Edgar, it was totally different.

‘Future me, I’m sorry, but I’m going to take her love.’

He announced so as he looked into the mirror after a bath. He didn’t want to share her love with anyone, not even with himself. Rubica’s heart had to be his and his only this time.

***

The singing of the birds woke Rubica up. It was already morning. Sadly, the nightdress Ann had prepared with such determination was never used for its purpose. No, she was not supposed to be sad about it.

‘I wore this thing for him, and he didn’t even come.’

That was what she had hoped for. Meeting him in such a nightdress was going to be extremely embarrassing. But then, why was she feeling disappointed? Or was she expecting that…

‘Oh please, he’ll just laugh at me if he ever sees me in this.’

Edgar was one of the most handsome men on the continent. On the other hand, she was kind of plain-looking. She could look pretty but, when standing with Edgar, she had to look more like a sea creature than a human being. If Edgar had seen her wearing such a nightdress, he would have asked seriously if she was under some kind of punishment.

‘Yes, I’m not disappointed. It’s rather good.’

“Your Grace, have you woken up?

Then a maid spoke from the outside. The room’s door was thick, so how did she find out that Rubica was awake? She almost said, ‘come in,’ but then she shut her mouth when remembering what she was wearing.

‘I can’t let anyone see me in this.’

She hadn’t known last night as it had been dark, but under the bright daylight, the nightdress was too sexy. She hadn’t known Khanna was capable of making such sexy dresses, and it was even worse than being naked.

She quickly got changed into a linen nightdress, which she normally wore, and put that lingerie-like nightdress in the wardrobe.

“You may come in.”

As soon as she said that, Elise and a few maids came in.

“Ohh.”

The maids exclaimed at seeing Rubica wearing a different nightdress than the night before. Rubica just smiled embarrassingly. Even though Ann had prepared a sexy nightdress for her, her husband, Edgar, didn’t even come. They had to be pitying her.

However, unlike Rubica who had slept soundly, the maids knew that Edgar had come at night. They must have spent a really good time together that she was now wearing a different nightdress. Moreover, her embarrassing smile only confirmed what they were thinking.

“Your Grace, you wanted to go to the training ground this afternoon.”

Elise quickly spoke to stop the maids murmuring among themselves.

“Oh, yes, right.”

That cleared Rubica’s mind. She had no time to waste and had to prepare. After breakfast, she decided on a white dress with daffodil patterns and used a matching hair accessory.

Elise packed a mat, a picnic basket, and two pairs of binoculars.

“You are always so pretty.”

The girl said so as she looked at Rubica. She looked ordinary at first glance, but she knew how to highlight her own beauty when she wanted. She wasn’t dazzling, but she drew attention and had a smile that was pleasant to look at.