She continued to talk so fast that she was almost out of breath while the hostility that had burned so fiercely in her mind slowly faded away. When she saw that he wasn’t responsive, she took a deep breath, then let out an exhausted sigh and decided to end the conversation.

“If your curiosity is satisfied, may I leave now?”

It was not a question she wanted an answer for. His eyes were still closed; he did not show any sign of moving, so she knew it was time to turn around and leave this room.

“I’m thinking of getting a dog.”

“…… yes?”

Rowena furrowed her brow at the words, which sounded like a foreign language.

“It’s almost fox hunting season. A hound that listens well to what you say would be adequate. If we bring a cub and raise it, it will be obedient even when it grows up.”

“What is it that you are saying now …….”

Why in the world would he tell her that? This topic sounds like something he would tell Genok or Benedict, absolutely not her. His word came out of the blue, and she just stood there frozen, not knowing what to do.

“Let’s go look at dogs together tomorrow. You can bring the kid with you.”

“But that-“

“Of course, the child would stay with his nanny, from a distance out of my field of vision.”

“Then why do you insist on taking Damian with you?”

When Rowena, who breathed a sigh of relief inside, asked, a more vague answer came back at her.

“Animals recognize children better than adults.”

* * *

The department store was bustling with people over the weekend. This was thanks to the opening of a series of new ports and the reduction of import duties and standards.

After lowering the customs fees, department stores imported a wider range of foreign goods. Thus, the luxury goods market was booming like never before. The upper and middle classes all went on shopping sprees accompanied by errand boys carrying their bags.

The pet store was located on the third floor, one of the most spacious of them all. When the three of them, accompanied by servants, entered the stores, it seemed to cause an emergency signal to go off to all employees within the store. It wasn’t every day that they would be blessed by the presence of the Duke of Devonshire within their store.

“This dog is the most popular breed these days. It has a pedigree and is very well trained. They are fierce, like hounds, and will jump on an opponent ten times their size. It’s so popular that The Queen got one lately! It’s a dog approved by royalty! it won’t fail you, my lord.”

The store manager smiled and explained to Killian as he showed him a puppy that had been under his special care. He smiled in the kindest possible way, full of anticipation, but what came back was a question that smacked him on the back of the head.

“Isn’t it stupid, not fierce, to run at someone who’s more than ten times its size?”

“No… That’s… If you look at it that way …… it might seem that way…”

He was fully prepared since the other party was the Duke of Devonshire, but the Duke turned out to be a more demanding customer than he had anticipated.

It brought tears to his eyes to see how mercilessly his preciouses dog was rejected, and he had to push it aside. However, he can’t have the Duke leave his store just yet; he demonstrated three more puppies, to which the Duke rejected them all without batting an eye. His pride as a store manager made him brush away the humility of rejection; it would be impossible to run this business if he didn’t please the Duke , so he resorted to his last card.

“Is there anything you are looking for specifically…? …or…”

The store manager mumbled in a gloomy tone while his gaze swarmed around before he finally noticed the woman standing next to the Duke . She was a goddess, beautifully dressed as a doll and with her arms crossed with the Duke’s ; this can’t be anyone but the famous Rowena Philone. In terms of the number of years, the mistress has already occupied the seat next to his Excellency for four entire years.

At the same time, a realization hit him. Convinced of something, the manager suddenly brought another puppy from the exact opposite side and asked.

“How about this one, My lady?”

“Eh?”

Surprised by the sudden question, Rowena blinked her big eyes.

“What do you think about this puppy, my lady? Isn’t he very cute and adorable?”

The manager placed the puppy on her lap as his eyes twinkled in desperation. It was foolish of him to realize this only now; they said they were looking for a dog, but the dog’s master wasn’t the Duke of Devonshire.

In this country, if you are a high aristocrat, having one or two mistresses is not that big of a deal, but whether it is the mistress or the wife, it was a place where it was considered a disgrace to reveal their deep love for women.

So, in conclusion, the Duke was not here to find a hound. It was a way to hide the fact that he came to buy a pet for his mistress.