Not long after we arrived in the room, the door opened and there was someone who was dressed in expensive clothing that walked in.
This person had an aura that just exudes power.
No matter how one looked at it, it was clear that this person was the duke.
When the duke came in, I immediately stood up to greet him, but I was stopped by the duke.
The duke waved his hand and said, "Don't mind it, don't mind it. Just sit down and let's have a talk."
On his face was a friendly smile, almost as if he was talking to an old friend.
But that was strange since I didn't know the duke at all.
As far as I could remember, I had never met the duke in my life. So why was this person who I had never met before treating me like this?
I couldn't help becoming more and more suspicious and tried looking around to see if anything would suddenly appear.
But nothing happened in the end as the duke came over to where I was sitting and sat down on the couch opposite of me.
Seeing that I was just standing there in a daze, the duke didn't mind as he said with a smile, "There's no need for this kind of courtesy, you can just sit down and talk to me normally."
My lips twitched when I heard this, but I still sat down in front of the duke as he instructed.
After sitting down, there was a silence that filled the room.
After all, I had no idea what was going on, so I had no idea what to say to the duke.
I looked at him to try to figure out any clues that I could from his expression, but he was like a stone wall. I wasn't able to figure out a single thing from just the expression on his face.
After that long silence, the duke finally said, "So you are Baron Zwein. I have long heard of your fame, but it really is something else to meet you in person. It seems that you are just as young as they say, but I won't hold that against you. I know that eventually, the younger generation will take over when the older generation can't keep going, so I hope that you will carry on our legacy and continue to protect the kingdom."
All while saying this, he had a smile on his face as if he was a senior looking at a junior.
But once again, that surprised me since I was certain that I didn't have this kind of relationship with the duke.
Still, since the duke said all this, I had to say something, "Your grace, thank you for your kind words, but I'm undeserving of them. I have long admired your grace and everything that you have done for the kingdom. Someone like me would never be able to match the achievements of your grace."
The duke gave an appreciative nod when he heard this, but he didn't say anything else in return.
Just like this, there was another silence that settled in this room.
Eventually, I couldn't take it anymore and said, "I would like to offer your grace my greatest admiration for the warm welcome that you have shown me."
Though it could be considered sincere gratitude, there was a hint of a question in my voice.
After all, it didn't make sense that the duke treated me like this.
The duke just had that same warm smile on his face as he said, "As soon as I heard that it was Baron Zwein who wanted to visit, I immediately knew that I had to properly roll out the red carpet. I had long heard of your fame, but I never had the chance to meet you."
Hearing this, I was even more confused about all of this.
Heard of me?
From who?
I was someone that was completely unknown and had no achievements at all, other than inheriting a title because I had married someone with one.
Someone like me should have been considered trash in the eyes of most people.
But this duke was treating me like I was an honoured guest…
After a twitch of my lips, I said, "Your grace, your compliments are just too much. I am unworthy of them."
The duke's expression didn't change as that same warm smile remained on his face.
Finally, after another pause, the duke said, "I would like to welcome you today with a banquet, but unfortunately, things haven't been prepared yet."
I let out a secret sigh of relief when I heard this since this seemed more normal.
I was just a baron and he was a duke, so being sent away with an excuse like this was nothing strange.
It meant that I had at least gotten over the strange situation that I had found myself in and I shouldn't be in any more danger with the duke.
But then…the duke said, "So how about you come back tomorrow when I have had time to prepare a proper feast? How about you have dinner with my family tomorrow night?"
My chin dropped when I heard this.
The esteemed duke was inviting me to a private dinner with his family?
This was far beyond the treatment that a normal baron should receive from a duke.
One was at the very top of the noble hierarchy while the other one was at the very bottom…
They shouldn't be dining at the same table at all.
But since this was an invitation from the duke, as a baron, I couldn't refuse.
So in the end, I had no choice but to accept.
The duke gave a clap before saying with a happy smile, "Very good. I'll prepare everything, so you can just show up when the time comes. I have already prepared an inn for you to stay in, so I'll have one of my men take you there. I hope that you will have a good rest tonight."
I just gave a defeated nod without saying a thing before following the butler out again.
I had no idea just what the duke was thinking and I had no idea why the duke was acting this way. No matter how I thought about it, all I hit was a blank on what this treatment was.
So I decided to throw it out of my head and think about it later.
Once we had walked out of the room, the smile on the duke's face suddenly disappeared and it was replaced with a stern look.
The duke just sat there on the couch with knitted brows as if he was thinking about something. The longer that he sat on this couch, the more his brows seemed to knit.
Until he finally couldn't take it anymore and stood up to walk out of this room as well.
The duke walked through the halls of the manor until he came to a certain room.
Before going in, the duke knocked on the door first.
Only when he heard the voice calling from inside did he push open the door and walk in.
But the moment that he did, there was a pile of papers that fell down on him.