“You've changed a lot since I last saw you,” I looked away from Nicholas, pretending to ignore him.
“I realized my feelings too late.”
"This is annoying. As I told you before, I…"
“I understand your situation, but this is precisely why I cannot stand idly by.”
“What do you mean by that…?”
"Forgive me if I overstep my bounds, but I can't bear to see you like this. He doesn't give you what you need, and yet he doesn't even allow you to seek comfort elsewhere... I can't just watch him treat you so cruelly," Nicholas said in a low, hot voice.
Wow, it's good.
His dialogues, his tone – everything was almost perfect.
Even the angle of filming and the proximity of him as he leaned down to whisper near my ear were spot on.
If I were a true noble woman who was dissatisfied with my husband, I would certainly be affected by his words.
If I were still Camille before I reincarnated into her, I would have fallen in love with him one hundred percent.
As expected of Nicholas...it's hard to believe he's just turned 20.
In the original story, Nicholas was said to have trained for years in the art of seduction, honing his handsome looks for Gerard's intelligence agency.
By the time he approached Elodie in the original story, he had already become a master of seduction, adept at every trick and charm. Seeing him now made me wonder if his innate talent wasn't the reason.
Sorry, this is not the time to admire him.
Feigning confusion, I lowered my head and quickly weighed my options.
I had two choices: either to reject him outright, or to pretend to be affected and try to extract information from him.
If you only take Nicholas and Gerard into account, the latter was the better choice.
I still had no idea why Nicholas came back or if his actions were his own or if there was something from Marlon behind it.
Understanding his motivations was crucial to planning my next move.
Moreover, it made sense for me to show some hesitation – I had already acted this way in front of Nicholas before.
The problem was that if I played with him, Ethan might suspect me again, just like what happened with Liam.
'Honestly, I don't want him to doubt me about something like this…'
After everything I had gone through immediately after my incarnation, I had developed an instinctive aversion to such doubts.
If so, the choice I have to make is...
“Ma’am?”
Nicholas called me again, and I slowly opened my mouth.
“I...”
***
Through the window, Ethan saw the carriage stop in front of the main building.
He confirmed that Camille was leaving, then let go of the curtain he was holding.
This was her first evening outing in about a month. Considering the time she had spent abroad, she had returned earlier than he expected.
Of course, it was not unusual for Camille to return at this time from a social gathering.
Although she had recently almost stopped attending such parties, she often returned home at dawn. This was the nature of the evening gatherings.
Yes, this should be it.
However, for some reason, he couldn't shake the feeling that something was bothering him. Ever since Camille had left the estate previously, the matter had been on his mind.
What are you doing now? When will you come back?
Thoughts like this kept coming to him, even while he was working.
They had no plans to do anything together when she returned.
By now, Camille was heading straight to her room and getting ready for bed. Ethan clicked his tongue in annoyance.
Maybe it was because they hadn't spoken at all since their awkward conversation in the carriage a few days ago.
Ethan hated leaving things unresolved.
There is no doubt that this constant discomfort was due to him.
He returned to his desk and sat down, picking up the documents that had been left untouched for a while.
While he was doing this, someone knocked on the office door.
“This is me”
It was Camille's voice.
Ethan's hand, which was turning the page, subconsciously stopped.
“...Come in.”
The door opened.
Camille was wearing a dark wine-colored dress.
It was an unusual choice for her recently – a striking color, but not as garish as it used to be. Rather, it was elegant, eye-catching without exaggeration.
“Sorry to bother you so late. Are you free now?”
“It's okay. What's going on?”
“I have something important to discuss”
“……”
Ethan narrowed his eyes slightly.
Whenever Camille spoke like this, it usually meant that she wanted to say something really important. For some reason, instead of curiosity, he was overcome by a strange feeling of anxiety.
“Sit down”
Ethan got up from his desk and headed to the couch.
They sat facing each other, with a low table between them.
“You always suspected that I had a personal informant, didn't you?”
“……”
The unexpected topic and her direct manner made Ethan speechless for a moment. But Camille continued her speech without waiting for a response, as if her answer did not matter.
“You're right. I have an informant. Thanks to him I learned about Baron Bernard's connection to Duke Gerard.”
“…Why did you suddenly become so frank?”
Ethan was very surprised, even confused. As for Camille, her features were calm, as if she was discussing a trivial matter.
“...You've been hiding it all this time. Why are you suddenly bringing it up now?” Ethan asked, eyeing Camille with a wary look.
“I received new information today, and I wanted to share it with you.”
“……”
It felt like I was being hit with a hammer over and over again.
However, the person who made these statements seemed completely unfazed, and his demeanor was steady.
He always suspected an informant, and even assigned someone to follow Camille in case she met him.
And now, suddenly, she admitted that she had an informant and that she had just met him.
...Did Jack know this?
Was Camille telling him before Jack had a chance to report it?
At that moment, as if she was reading his thoughts, Camille went back to saying: “The party I attended today was a masquerade party. I don’t know if your spy followed me into the hall in disguise, but many people were coming and going around me. I doubt he was able to identify my informant.”
“……”
Once again, Camille struck with an indifferent expression.
Ethan frowned as he looked at her.
'What's wrong with this woman...'
“Anyway, that's not the point. As I said, I received new information today.”
Ethan shook his head lightly. His mind was still fuzzy, but he needed to focus.
“Is it about Gerard again?”
"Yes."
“Tell me.”
“One of Gerrard’s agents started contacting me again.”
Upon hearing that, Ethan frowned his eyebrows deeply, “Is it safe? Are you hurt?”
His voice rose unintentionally, and Camille blinked in surprise, “Excuse me? No, nothing serious happened. Don’t worry.”
“Are you sure?”
"Sure. Look, I'm totally fine," Camille spread her arms wide as she spoke.
“There is no need to worry,” I continued. “They don’t seem to intend to harm me. They are approaching me in the same way as Baron Bernard did earlier.”
“Do you mean...”
“Yes, they are trying to seduce me again,” Camille spoke with a slightly uncomfortable expression.
“They've already failed once, and here they are trying the same tactic again?”
Honestly, it was hard to believe. He didn't look like Gerard, who was known to be crazy and cautious.
“I thought it was strange too. But according to my informant, he is definitely one of Gerard’s clients.”
“Do you recognize the person?”
“Yes. He was in disguise, but my informant was sure. The man even took off his mask in front of me today. My informant wasn’t completely sure at that moment, but after tracking him down later, he confirmed it.”
“What did he know about him?”
“Not much. Just that he's still a trainee, not a full agent yet, and that his name is Nicholas Sadon.”
“……”
It wasn't a lot of information, but it was more than they knew about Gerard's agents before. Despite all their efforts to gather information, they found nothing – and now Camille has easily revealed it.
Ethan looked at her suspiciously, “Who does your informant work for? Is he also one of Gerard’s agents?”
“I can't say”
“How did you meet this informant? What would he gain from your help?”
“I'm sorry. I can't answer that question either.”
“……”
Ethan slowly clasped his hands together, never taking his eyes off Camille.
“If you still intend to keep your mouth shut, why are you bringing this up now?”
“Because I don't want you to doubt me.”
Ethan looked at her in disbelief.
“Isn’t it a contradiction when you say you don’t want me to doubt you while you’re keeping secrets from me?”
“That's not what I meant. I don't want you to think I'm having an affair again.”
“……”
Ethan narrowed his eyes unconsciously.