episode_0084

“Ellie.”

The bedroom door slid shut softly.

As the boundary between the room and the outside world turned transparent, Dominique walked in from the study, finally letting that name he had been holding back linger on his lips.

“Hmm? Yes?”

“Do you have feelings for Dmitri?”

Walking down the corridor amidst other people’s gazes, Dominique’s eyes, which had calmly settled until now, began to sparkle once again.

“Yes? Wait, D-Dmitri?”

Caught off guard by the name that slipped past Dominique’s crimson lips, Eleanor stumbled over her words, flustered.

“Oh my! Look at this, really! Already calling each other by name. Earlier, Dmitri called you Ellie too. I sensed something was going on!”

“It’s not like that… Dmitri and I, well, we’re just acquaintances.”

“Hmm?”

Dominique, with golden eyes gleaming, gazed at Eleanor. She took a step back from him, feeling both beautiful and uneasy under his gaze.

“Oh… no, it’s not like that…”

With Eleanor’s disjointed response, Dominique, wearing a mysteriously gentle smile, tilted his head slightly.

Underneath neatly arranged dark hair, rose gold earrings swayed, matching the slow blush creeping onto Eleanor’s face.

Eleanor, unsure how to respond to such an overt gaze, tried to avoid eye contact. Just then, a tender voice approached from behind her.

“Miss.”

“O-Ojenny!”

Turning around to see the welcoming face of her savior, Eleanor realized Ojenny wasn’t entirely on her side as she had hoped.

“Miss, have you made up your mind?”

Although they had agreed to address each other as “miss” in public, due to those words, Eleanor found the term particularly irksome at that moment.

However, her discomfort didn’t last long. Soon enough, Eleanor could feel an overwhelming energy reaching out to her from behind.

“What’s this, what’s this! A decision of the heart! Really? Truly?”

Excitedly, Dominique spun around on his heel. His face was filled with excitement.

In the vast golden palace, Dominique had always been alone. Despite being surrounded by many, he was an elusive presence to them.

Whether suffering from a lump in his chest or enduring his first menstrual cycle, there was no one by his side to confide in.

Naturally, such a conversation, stirring his heart, was also a first for him.

“Miss, wouldn’t it be alright to speak to Her Highness about this? You two are friends, after all.”

Even the word “friend” that came from the maid’s mouth had a certain resonance when heard from someone else’s lips.

Dominique embraced his pounding heart and looked at Eleanor.

Despite Ojenny’s calm voice, Eleanor bowed her head deeply.

There was nothing left unsaid. They had agreed to acknowledge it the night before. That the feelings towards Dmitri were none other than her own.

To admit loving the man named Dmitri,

But it would take great courage to voice that truth.

She had only nodded in response to Ojenny’s probing the night before, yet she hadn’t properly confessed to herself or anyone else.

Taking a deep breath, Eleanor felt an energy she couldn’t ignore extending towards her.

Breathing in deeply, her chest rose and fell gently against her beige blouse.

With determination, Eleanor lifted her head to face Dominique and Ojenny.

“Yes, Domi. And foreigner. I… like Grand Duke Dimitri.”

“Ah.”

A sigh escaped.

At the sound of a new voice flowing past her lips, Dominique was startled and quickly raised her hand to cover her mouth.

Dominique, too, had expected herself to make such sounds like any ordinary woman, wearing a slightly surprised expression.

The sigh did not stem from Eleanor liking Dimitri but rather from the regret of someone else catching her eye, a story for another time.

Eleanor’s face turned as red as a ripe beet.

As she placed her feelings on her lips for the first time, the words uttered were not entirely true.

The emotion she harbored was more complex than a simple declaration of affection.

She was merely restraining the memories of being a man, unable to let them go completely.

Even just saying she liked him felt like her heart would burst. Revealing the words she had secretly held in her heart made her chest pound with anticipation.

Ah.

I truly love Dimitri.

Realizing this heavy emotion in her mind, Eleanor lowered her head deeply, overwhelmed.

“As expected. I knew it. Something seemed off between you two since the mine.”

Dominique smiled broadly at Eleanor’s confession. The mischievousness that was present moments ago had vanished from her face.

Contrary to the innocent smile on her lips, Dominique approached Eleanor with a serious gaze, taking her hands gently.

Grasping Eleanor’s trembling hand, Dominique felt the warmth enveloping their intertwined fingers, causing Eleanor to cautiously raise her heavy head.

“D-Domi.”

Eleanor’s flushed face was already moist with tears. Her voice calling out desperately seemed on the verge of breaking down.

Overwhelmed by her emotions, her breath grew ragged, and her slender shoulders trembled.

Dominique took in Eleanor’s appearance at a glance.

She looked so adorable.

It was said that women in love become more beautiful, but that statement was undoubtedly false. It wasn’t about becoming prettier; it was about becoming this adorable…

She truly wanted to possess everything about this lovely woman…

While fervently concealing the sticky emotions invading her heart beneath her expression, Dominique tenderly embraced the tearful Eleanor.

“Yes, yes. Eleanor.”

“Are you sure? Will it really be okay?”

What those words meant.

What the worried platinum blonde lady in her arms was so concerned about.

Dominique couldn’t tell.

No, she didn’t want to know.

Seeing her precious friend so anxious.

Feeling Eleanor’s tremors in her embrace.

Dominique pulled the hand resting behind Eleanor’s waist closer. Holding her tightly, feeling the pounding of her own heart, Dominique reassured Eleanor.

“Don’t worry. It’ll be fine, Elli. You and Dimitri, you two really suit each other.”

Embraced in her arms, Eleanor was delicate and soft. She almost seemed to match Dominique’s gender.

Having mingled in high society as a princess, observing many women, this adorable creature was truly a first for Dominique.

“Will it be okay? Between me and Dimitri?”

“Yes. It will be! I, Princess Dominique, guarantee it.”

Listening to her quivering voice, Dominique, for the first time in her life, resented her birth.

‘Why was I born as a woman? If I were born a man, I would have claimed this adorable woman in my hands.’

Dominic, who somewhat understood the despicable Louis Edmund’s heart, wondered if that sinister intention would surface. Embracing Eleanor, who was sobbing even harder, Dominic held her tightly.

#.

It took quite a long time for Eleanor’s emotions to settle.

Initially finding Eleanor’s tearful appearance incredibly cute and wanting to watch a little longer, Dominic had to hide his disappointment at Eleanor struggling with overwhelming emotions and calm her down with Eugenie.

She really likes Dmitri a lot…

“Um… Domi, I’ll be heading down south for a while.”

Eleanor calmly conveyed those words with a composed voice. Dominic nodded slightly as he raised his hand to his teacup.

“Oh… I see. The Baron and Baroness of Beaumont must be quite worried.”

If it were the Baron’s temperament, he would have immediately brought the army up and turned the once peaceful territory of Edmund and now a fairy tale into chaos.

“So you’re going to the south and spending the summer in the north?”

“Eh, eh!”

As Eleanor calmly brought the teacup to her lips, she was startled by Dominic’s casual remark and coughed unexpectedly. Eugenie, standing behind her, hurriedly pulled out a handkerchief.

“Miss, are you okay?”

“W-what are you saying! The north!”

“Why? I haven’t been to the south, but I guess it’s not particularly cool in the summer either, right? Don’t people go on vacations?”

“Oh…”

Dominic’s eyebrows softened.

“I heard that the furniture shops in the city are extremely busy. The Duke of Verbris is ordering large quantities of furniture for a new ducal residence.”

Continuing with his observations, Dominic gently placed his finger on Eleanor’s hand.

“So whose could that be?”

“D-Domi!”

Eleanor burst into tears again. However, her current demeanor while crying in Dominic’s arms was slightly different from before.

“We’re not at that stage yet….”

‘Our stage,’ look at this one talking!

Suppressing the urge to tease further, Dominic continued speaking.

“So what? Dmitri seems to have feelings for you too.”

“Don’t tease me. Wait, Domi! What do you mean?”

Blushing once more, Eleanor widened her eyes in surprise.

Shy and excited, oh, this busy young lady, really.

Finding her embarrassed yet excited expression very cute, Dominic unknowingly smiled.

“Dmitri also seems to have feelings for you, Ellie.”

“R-really? Dmitri? Seriously?”

Excitedly questioning the truth with gleaming eyes, Eleanor. Dominic looked at her with a slightly jealous tone mixed in.

“Hehe… Maybe I should spend this summer in the north too?”

“D-Domi!”