# Chapter 6
At some point, Diego woke from sleep. The first thing he saw as soon as he sat up was the red curtains draped like a wall. He was momentarily flustered by the unfamiliar scenery, but soon remembered that he had come to find Roman last night.
The spot beside him was empty. He hurriedly pulled back the curtains and called out, “Roman?” but there was no answer.
‘…When did I fall asleep?’
Sitting on the edge of the bed, he recalled last night once more. Amidst the mounting pleasure, he had placed his fingers in Roman’s mouth, and after one final thrust, swaying his hips, he had climaxed inside him. And then…
Since he had no memory after that, it seemed he had intended to catch his breath for a moment but ended up falling asleep just like that.
What he realized next was that he was currently completely naked, without a thread on him. When he pulled back the curtains and emerged, he saw clothes neatly folded on the nightstand. Discovering a small note on top, he hurriedly unfolded it.
I had something to attend to, so I left first.
Eat breakfast when you wake up.
Also, I sent someone to Martin,
so don’t go to the dress shop today—rest and take care of yourself.
Be careful with your shoulder for the time being.
“Haah…”
A long sigh escaped him. He had completely forgotten that he needed to go to the viscount’s residence today as well. Moreover, thinking that he had continued to sleep sprawled out without even knowing Roman had left made him feel utterly pathetic.
After getting dressed, he slowly moved his right arm back and forth. Though it felt slightly tight, it didn’t hurt as much as he’d thought, and Diego soon opened the door and went outside.
The hallway was quiet. A butler who had just come up the stairs spotted Diego and approached with quick steps.
“Are you awake?”
“Yes. …I apologize for the trouble last night.”
“Trouble? Not at all. Let me change your bandages first.”
“It’s fine. I can ask my younger sister to do it when I get home.”
“The master asked me to make sure to tend to it. I may not look it, but I’m quite skilled, so please don’t worry and leave it to me.”
Though his face wore a kind smile, somehow Diego strongly felt an air that would not permit refusal. Moreover, since Roman had asked him to do it… Not wanting to put the butler in a difficult position, Diego quietly said he would appreciate it and followed behind him.
What the butler said about being quite skilled was true. He gently wiped away the dried herbal juice and blood with a water-dampened towel, applied some unidentifiable cream to the wound, and skillfully wrapped fresh bandages with practiced hands.
“All done.”
“Thank you.”
After putting back on the clothes he had briefly removed to show the affected area, Diego looked at the butler and asked.
“When did Roman leave?”
“About an hour ago. Then I’ll guide you to the dining room.”
At these words—also the master’s orders—Diego followed the butler once more with a stiff expression. The sky visible through the windows in the hallway was extremely gloomy, as if it might rain soon.
“Um…”
“What is it?”
“…No. It’s nothing.”
There were words that had risen to the tip of his tongue, but Diego quietly swallowed them down.
‘Does Roman usually bring his partners home?’
From the beginning, the two of them had been intimate at Roman’s mansion. He had thought it was because there might be people who would recognize them if they met outside… But seeing the butler treat him without any awkwardness even though the master was absent, the thought briefly occurred to him that perhaps this situation was familiar to the butler.
However, asking the butler a question he couldn’t bring himself to ask Roman would be cowardly. Moreover, if the butler somehow figured out his feelings from it, that would be terribly troublesome.
The butler’s loyalty to Roman was extraordinary. Roman had probably told the butler that he was a partner, but if that partner turned out to have romantic feelings, he would undoubtedly inform Roman.
The outcome after that was obvious. Not wanting his feelings to be discovered this way, nor wanting the relationship to break because of it, Diego had no choice but to remain silent.
“It’s raining.”
Emerging from his thoughts and raising his head, he could see raindrops actually falling. Thinking it was gloomy weather matching his mood, Diego walked on with a heavy heart.
***
One of the guild members had gone missing.
Roman learned of this fact yesterday afternoon. After having lunch outside with the guild members on standby and returning to start afternoon work, he was untying a heavy money pouch and quickly counting gold coins when an unexpected guest visited the guild. It was Grand Duke Kailton.
The reason why someone whose backside was quite heavy would walk all the way here was obvious. Since he would be returning to his territory soon, it must be to firmly establish Ruth’s whereabouts. As expected, the name Ruth Hales came up as the topic, and at the end, the Grand Duke asked leisurely with a smile:
‘Is Ruth still sleeping?’
Roman’s expression changed subtly for a moment. Right now, Ruth was in the middle of performing guard duty for Grand Duke Kailton. So naturally he had assumed Ruth would be waiting outside the door or had gone to see the dogs the guild kept, but hearing the question of whether he was sleeping was strange.
The Grand Duke was smiling, but it didn’t look like he was joking. Roman soon answered his words in a serious tone.
‘Wasn’t he with you? I saw him briefly around lunchtime yesterday, and haven’t seen him since.’
The smile gradually faded from the Grand Duke’s face. Roman instinctively sensed that something had happened, and immediately sent out guild members to search for Ruth.
After inquiries, it was confirmed that Ruth had boarded some carriage in front of the guild, but his whereabouts after that were a mystery. Telling himself that there must have been some unavoidable circumstances, that he would return soon, Roman spent the entire night wide awake in the master’s office.
But even the next day, Ruth didn’t appear. After much deliberation, Roman picked up his pen and wrote a letter saying he would be going to Morif, the eastern territory. This was because the person suspected of being the kidnapper lived there.
He was sealing the envelope and stamping his seal when the office door opened and Isabel came in. She too had witnessed yesterday’s urgent situation with her own eyes, so as soon as she saw Roman, she asked in a worried voice:
“What happened with Ruth?”
“Still no news whatsoever.”
Roman soon took out two crystal orbs from the secret safe under his desk.
Even if he rode continuously without rest, it would take a considerable amount of time to reach Morif at the far end of the east. Since it would be troublesome to handle any problems that arose during his long absence, Roman handed one crystal orb to Isabel and added:
“I’m going to be away for a few days. Handle the settlements as you always do, and discuss request distribution with Hubert and allocate them appropriately. And if anything happens, contact me with this. However, the usage time isn’t long, so only use it when absolutely necessary.”
“Understood.”
Instead of touching the master’s mood with unnecessary curiosity, Isabel answered briefly and reliably. It was no exaggeration to say that this was precisely why he had kept her as his personal secretary for several years.
“And later, give this to a trustworthy person. The destination is Grand Duke Kailton’s residence.”
The letter he had just scrawled passed into Isabel’s hands. After adding various instructions, Roman immediately left the office.
***
The rain that he’d thought would stop soon continued for several days. Was it because of the foul weather? After an elderly lady visited in the afternoon, the stream of customers visiting the dress shop completely stopped. Since staying longer would be pointless, Grace sent the employees home earlier than usual and approached where Diego was.
“Can we talk for a moment?”
“Of course.”
If his memory was correct, today was the last day of work, so it wouldn’t be strange to meet with the client face-to-face. Soon, words delivered in a calm tone reached his ears.
“Thank you for your hard work.”
“Not at all.”
Despite doing his best, he ultimately failed to catch the suspicious person who was spying on the young lady. He had successfully carried out the request given to him—to safely protect the viscount’s daughter—but he did feel regret that he wished he could have caught the culprit as well.
“There’s one thing I’d like to ask.”
“Yes. Please go ahead.”
“I’d like to extend the request period by one more month.”
“…Extend it?”
A look of surprise appeared on Diego’s face.
‘There probably won’t be any particular incidents going forward either.’
That’s what Martin had said a few days ago. Of course, they shouldn’t let their guard down until the end, but at his words that it would probably conclude uneventfully like this, Diego had nodded, saying he thought the same.
