It was a question devoid of the usual laughter, unlike the typical Robert.

What if Dietrich was homosexual?

Since there was no way he could be, I never really thought about it.

‘But what if Dietrich really likes men?’

Even so, Dietrich being Dietrich wouldn’t change.

Imagining hearing directly from him that he likes men did make my head feel blank, but that was solely from my perspective.

I have no right to make a fuss about Dietrich’s preferences.

Feeling the pleasant early summer evening breeze, I scratched my cheek.

“Well. I’ve never thought about it.”

“…Really? You don’t like having someone like that around you?”

Why the sudden question?

Curious about the abrupt inquiry, I asked Robert, who was walking beside me.

He was still staring straight ahead, not looking in my direction.

Robert’s light wheat-colored hair swayed gently in the blowing wind.

This might seem out of the blue, but Robert had an objectively pretty appearance.

Overshadowed by his talkative and tactless personality, it usually went unnoticed, but when he was silent, he was undoubtedly a beauty.

“Just curious! Seeing everyone talk about it so intently made me wonder. Is liking men that surprising?”

He grinned exaggeratedly, brushing his hair back and muttering.

“Liking someone isn’t something you can control.”

For some reason, Robert looked bitter and melancholic as he said those words.

I quietly empathized with what he said.

How nice would it be if we could control who we like?

It’s my heart, but the reality is that I can’t properly handle it.

‘Is it like how I like Nocturne Frey but can’t see him?’

I tried to come up with a situation that best captures the feeling Robert described, but it didn’t seem quite right.

‘This isn’t it.’

Liking Nocturne but not being able to see him was due to my current circumstances.

As a maid of the Delgado family, there were few chances to meet the young master of the Frey Duchy, let alone such a great mage from the 6th Circle.

Then let me try to give a more appropriate example.

I slowly retraced the most recent event where my heart differed from my mind.

As expected, that annoyingly handsome face came to mind first.

‘Ah, not wanting to be curious about what Dietrich is doing, but always being concerned about it.’

Yes, this is the most fitting.

I didn’t want to be curious about Dietrich, who never shows his face, but whenever I heard news about him, I couldn’t help but perk up my ears.

This is what it means to not have control over my heart.

Now that I say it, I completely understand Robert’s feelings.

Thinking about it again still infuriates me.

It would be so refreshing if my heart moved according to my will.

“So you would understand if Young Master Dietrich was like that?”

At the question thrown back at me, Robert abruptly stopped.

On the way back to the kitchen, under the faint orange glow of the streetlights, Robert’s shadow stretched as long as his silence.

However, Robert soon hung his head low. Glancing at me as if to gauge my reaction, he dejectedly dropped his shoulders.

“What about you?”

“Robert, I asked first.”

“Still, answer me first! I’m a coward, you know.”

I have no idea what Robert’s courage has to do with Dietrich being homosexual, but I nonchalantly raised an eyebrow.

“It doesn’t matter at all. If that’s the young master’s preference, we should respect it.”

“It’s not disgusting?”

This guy?

So is he saying Dietrich is disgusting?

I raised my fist, glaring at him with narrowed eyes.

Perhaps intimidated by my fierce threat, Robert waved his hands and hastily explained.

“I didn’t mean the young master is disgusting!”

He seemed to be worried that I might report this to Dietrich, sweating profusely.

‘Hmph! You think I would tell Dietrich about this?’

If Dietrich heard about this rumor, he would probably respond with a blank face, saying, ‘So what?’

He would brush it off nonchalantly, but I couldn’t guarantee he wouldn’t be hurt.

Not knowing his true feelings, I couldn’t say more.

Besides, Robert is also my friend, so there was no need to purposely convey words that would provoke Dietrich.

“I won’t tell, so don’t be scared. So? Do you find it disgusting?”

“Of course not! No matter who you like, the feeling is the same.”

“Then isn’t that enough? I don’t care about those secret conversations earlier either. No one has the right to judge who someone likes.”

“I see.”

“So if I ever catch anyone else spreading rumors about Young Master Dietrich being homosexual or whatever, I’ll punch them right away!”

As I raised my solid fist towards the sky, Robert burst into laughter.

“As expected! Heidi, you’re the best!”

“I know!”

Robert, who had his arm around my shoulder, began walking vigorously again.

It looked like Robert, who was half a head taller than me, was dragging me along, but I didn’t mind.

It was much better than seeing him looking so lifeless earlier.

Moreover, I was in a great mood too.

Perhaps it was because I was on my way to give a proper beating to those who misunderstood Dietrich.

‘It’s not like I’m trying to look out for him.’

I simply can’t stay quiet and listen to wrong rumors, and it would also help Dietrich’s position as the duke-to-be.

Those are the only reasons.

With that thought, I tightly grasped Robert’s hand resting on my shoulder.

“Great! Since we’re in a good mood, how about we go back and have a cold beer?”

“You mean secretly steal from the warehouse?”

“No one will know! We’re the ones closing the kitchen tonight anyway!”

“Good idea!”

The path back to the kitchen, playfully pushing and pulling Robert as he tried to put his arm around my neck, wasn’t long.

Perhaps it was because a sense of pride dominated my entire mind.

I failed to notice the turquoise eyes watching us.

[This is the timeline separator]

“…Ha, unbelievable.”

He hasn’t been seen for days, no, weeks, and it turns out he was fooling around with another guy?

Dietrich coldly looked down at the laughing couple who had just made eye contact under the darkening evening sky.

Does the fact that they are boldly laughing like that on the garden path, fully visible from the second floor of the mansion, mean they are that close?

The first sight he saw upon returning from his outing was truly infuriating.

‘Their smiles are so wide, their lips might tear.’

Heidi was laughing brightly, narrowing her large eyes in half.

Her clear smile seemed to slightly brighten the gradually darkening garden.

Glaring at that smile with displeasure, he bit his lip.

There was no reason to keep watching.

It was pure coincidence that he even saw the two of them being affectionate.

The cause of this was approaching the window to turn on the lights and draw the curtains in the always empty room.

He grabbed the white curtain to carry out his original purpose.

However, the soft fabric crumpled mercilessly in his large hand.

“Who the hell is that bastard?”

About to draw the curtain, he turned his gaze to the man chattering next to Heidi.

A man with wheat-colored hair, black eyes, and a pretty appearance.

‘Is he a servant of the mansion?’

Of course he must be. There’s no way a guest visiting the mansion would be dressed like that at this hour.

Dietrich slightly frowned upon noticing Heidi and the man’s attire.

Now that he looked closely, they were wearing pristine white aprons around their waists.

Come to think of it, he hadn’t seen Heidi in the mansion since he left for the Northern Subjugation Expedition.

‘She wasn’t there even when I waited during her work hours,’ he muttered to himself, then suddenly paused.

Did I just say I waited for that girl Heidi?

Surprised by his own thoughts, he averted his gaze from them.

Right next to the neatly arranged bed, Heidi gleamed, flaunting its presence.

Seeing the deep green gemstone embedded in the center of Heidi, he naturally thought of her eyes.

Those green eyes that looked at him straight, without fear or dread.

She seemed like someone who had never heard the rumors of Dietrich Delgado, the one who brings fear and death.

A genius swordsman, the next head candidate of the Delgado family.

There were many titles that described him. But among them, the most well-known was ‘cold-blooded without blood or tears.’

Dietrich had no particular objection to that title.

Although it was a petty title given by idiots who had barely exchanged a few words with him, it wasn’t wrong either.

He was aware of the terrifying rumors circulating about him.

Cutting off a maid’s wrist and tongue and driving her out, or slaying a servant on the spot for poisoning his food.

They weren’t all true, but while he remained silent, lies became the truth and ran rampant.

Rumors that were impossible not to know if you lived in the Delgado mansion.

He thought Heidi’s attitude towards him would naturally change upon hearing those rumors.

But Heidi remained the same.

[Young Master! Young Master Dietrich! Where are you going?]

She would ask where he was going in a friendly manner, regardless of whether there were other maids around.

She even urged him to come when there was a delicious meal.

She seemed oblivious to the fact that he had nearly died from eating poisoned food in the mansion.

So she could be that innocent, but he didn’t know why it didn’t annoy him.

‘Did she become a kitchen assistant?’

He quietly observed Heidi, who had raised her fist towards the sky.

Judging from her attire, it seemed so.

He couldn’t understand why a maid working in the main building suddenly moved to the kitchen.

Dietrich clicked his tongue briefly and this time put some force into drawing the curtain.

However, the moment he saw that annoying wheat-colored bastard casually placing his hand on Heidi’s shoulder, his mind changed.

‘…Where do you think you’re putting your hand?’

Glaring at Robert with a look that seemed ready to throw a sword at any moment, he ground his teeth.

Then he immediately stormed out of the bedroom and headed to the head maid.

It was the second time Dietrich, who had never shown any interest in the mansion’s servants, sought out the head maid.