CH 7

“Did you think that you could completely capture Delian with such an unusual trick?”

“…What do you mean?”

“Pretending you don’t know…”

The Duke twisted his lips up and brought his face closer to her.

“You’d better stop acting; that doesn’t work, Elia Lawton. Do you think I’m not aware of your true nature?”

“What are you talking about, ah!”

Her mouth hung open at the excruciating pain. The Duke gripped both of her shoulders tightly, and her eyes shone.

“There is no human corrupt enough or greedy for money enough to save Delian without any purpose. Isn’t it?”

She couldn’t figure out what the hell the Duke was talking about.

“If you thought I wouldn’t know that you messed with that bug, you’re mistaken.”

Gradually, the swelling was dense. Because she really wanted to see the little boy…

“So you’re asking what am I talking about? I don’t have to explain for you to understand. Or are you still going to pretend you don’t know the curse placed on you? Falling down in front of me must have been a calculated act.”

“I beg your pardon?”

What kind of bullshit was this? What was he talking about, what calculated action? Whether or not he was aware of her state of panic, the Duke continued to speak incomprehensible words.

“Was it nice to pretend to be a benefactor while pretending to save Delian? But you won’t be able to fool me as easily as Deluan.”

The Duke, with his face back, stared at her coldly.

“Delian firmly believes that you saved him. He doesn’t even know that it was an act pretending to be a coincidence.”

“…You can believe that I did not save Delian, but you really don’t think that it was all an act made with that man, right?”

“So you’re saying it is not?”

“Of course not…?

She suddenly shut his mouth at the gaze of the Duke. She was sure when she saw those eyes that he now wouldn’t believe anything she said. If he misinterpreted her words and decided not to believe her, she didn’t think he would properly listen to any explanation.

It wasn’t that she didn’t understand. The Duke still had a strong misunderstanding of her and thought that she was the gangster who carried out the kidnapping of the child. However, when she remembered that point again, she felt that all her will to fight had been lost.

She was just frustrated. To the point where it would be ridiculous to bring up the idea of repaying kindness with an enemy. It’s not that she was out of luck, it’s just that her luck was shit. 

Poop.

“Why, why don’t you make more excuses?”

“…That’s okay. Think whatever you want to believe, Duke. I don’t even want to explain any more.”

She did not know. She was so tired that she just wanted to let it be.

“Now I admit the charges. You don’t have to waste your time looking for physical evidence. But do you know what? If you live your whole life in such a state of distrust, everything will go away.”

“…”

“In the end, you will die alone and lonely in the end. Like a fading light.”

It was as if she wanted to be what he wanted, but it was inevitable that she felt unfair. Unknowingly, the words came out. So, of course, she thought that the Duke would be angry, that’s why she waited with her eyes tightly closed, but somehow it was quiet.

‘Hmm?’

It was when she slightly opened her eyes to a strange feeling.

“Why…?”

Why was he making that face? It was to the point where she wondered if what she was seeing was correct. His expression, which had been cool until just a moment ago, had collapsed. Yes, he had an expression as if he had collapsed. Other than that, it seemed to her that he couldn’t think of anything else to say. It was quite different from the appearance of the Duke she had seen so far.

“Du-Duke?”

Instead of answering, the Duke began to slowly back away. Then he turned abruptly and stormed out of the room.

Bang!

She stared blankly at the violently closed door.

“What the heck…?”

Did what she just said shocked him so much? Wait, nothing special. She took a deep breath at the moment that flashed through her mind. What she said to the Duke a moment ago was very similar to what the lady, Ladiana, said to the Duke whom she met at the Emperor’s birthday banquet.

Dump.

She just sat down on the floor.

“…Ha.”

As usual, the Duke should be obsessed with it after hearing about it from the female lead at the Emperor’s birthday banquet. Could it be that the subject of the Duke’s obsession would change from the female lead to her?

“…No way, it could be.”

Even though she made a big mistake, she was just a supporting character. A minor extra person with a remarkably low proportion.

Yeah, thinking that way made her feel a little relieved. Even if what she said was what the Duke’s sister, Berka Nathan, said to him before. She unintentionally brought forward a situation that hadn’t even happened yet, but it would be okay. Because the Duke now thought of her as the wicked kidnapper of the world.

“That too…”

On one hand she was relieved, and on the other… it was on the mind.

Curse… She was just bewildered at the first word she had ever heard. What the hell did the Duke think she was cursed with? Before that, he hadn’t said anything like cursing, so he must have had something to do with being knocked out this time.

But could there have been circumstances that would have put her under a curse? …Wait. Come to think of it, it must have been the time when the kidnapper man appeared in front of the house. That man did something to her while she was trying to save the child.

At that time, the pain was intense for a while, but the man was embarrassed and said nonsense about why it didn’t work. Was it actually cursed? If so, the situation was understandable. The man cursed her, but for some reason it didn’t seem to work properly at the time. Then, belatedly, the curse effect appeared and reached this point.

When all her thoughts were organized, her mind instantly calmed down. She decided to ask the Duke later what kind of curse it was, and she should wash her body first.

She got out of bed and stood on the floor. She got a little dizzy and then went away. When she entered the bathroom, the bathtub was full of water. It seemed to always be filled. After taking off her clothes, she slowly entered the bathtub. The water was strangely warm, not cold.

That’s interesting. What the hell was that? It just looks like a normal bathtub. After all, there were wizards, but there was nothing new about it. See, they must have cast some kind of magic there as well. As she splashed water on her shoulder, she frowned at the pain.

“…I’m sorry.”

When she got off, both of her shoulders, which the Duke had grabbed earlier, were bruised.

“…It said he was good at swordsmanship. Is that why you’re so ignorantly strong?”

She was rubbing her shoulder gently, but for some reason it was noisy outside. What else was going on? At first, she thought about ignoring it, but decided to bet that the Duke came back. It might be possible, so she got out of the bathtub, wiped off the water with a cloth, and put on her clothes. She checked her face through the mirror hanging on the wall.

It’s not bad except for the bad complexion. She shook her head and opened the door and went out.

“Huh?”

As soon as she left, her eyes widened at the sight she saw. There was a small peak on top of the bed she was lying on just a moment ago, and around it were two ladies-in-waiting.

She was restless

“What’s going on?”

The faces of the ladies-in-waiting who saw her became contemplative. Seeing them do that even though she hadn’t done anything made her feel weird. She knew she was not well-received by the public. She didn’t know where to start misunderstanding this. What the original Elia Lawton did has not gone away, so their reaction was understandable.

“Lord Delian ran out before he could even get a thorough examination, and he’s holding on saying he won’t go if he comes here…”

At the maid’s words, she turned her gaze to the top of the bed. No wonder… Did he come back already? He jumped out before being bought and ran away to the dark place. Upon closer inspection, one small foot was sticking out of the blanket. It seemed that he was hiding behind her. She laughed silently at how cute he was.

“Don’t worry. I’ll take care of it.”

“Ha, but…”

“Isn’t it okay to take the inspection later even if it’s not now?

However, the ladies-in-waiting did not go and showed only an embarrassed expression of the order given by the Duke.

“If the Duke insists on anything, just say that I’m overbearing.”

He’s someone who hated her anyway, so even if he hated her even more, it wouldn’t show.

The ladies-in-waiting seemed to hesitate for a moment, then answered that they would understand and left. As they went out, the top of the futon wriggled in the middle of the quiet. As she watched, the child came out of the blanket with only his face sticking out.

He looked and said.

“…did they went out?”

“Yes. You can come out now.”

Instead of coming out, the child grabbed her collar and pulled her.

“Elia is still sick, so she needs to rest. Lay with me.”

She immediately sensed the child’s intentions. It was clear that he was half worried and half wanted to sleep with her. She almost laughed, but she held it in and cried that Lian was waiting for her on the bed.

“Let’s sleep.”

“Yes.”

Shortly thereafter, the sound of breathing came. She was sure it’s because he’s a kid, so he fell asleep quickly. She carefully stroked the small, round crown of his head. His soft hair flowed through her fingers.

…At least she was fortunate that she had the child on her side. If it wasn’t for that, she would have rotted or been tortured in prison long ago. Her heart trembled just thinking about the situation. Still, seeing that the Duke never returned to this place, how could she escape? She moved her body slightly as if she had passed it, and then she frowned at the pain that was engulfing her.

She guessed it would be better to treat it. She touched her shoulder and looked around her. Not far away, she found a rope hanging from the ceiling. As she stretched her arms as far as she could and pulled the rope, the door opened and a maid entered.

Her lady-in-waiting approached and asked in a low voice.

“Do you need anything?”

“Is there a medicine that can be applied to the bruised area? I need it.”

“Yes, there is. I will bring it right away.”

The lady-in-waiting went out and returned to the room within a few minutes. Everything was in her hand. The little box was lifted

“Here it is. You have to apply it twice a day in the affected area.”

She accepted the box the lady-in-waiting presented. When she opened it, a white, opaque kite, was halfway inside.

“Thank you.”

“Yes. Then we will go out.”

Turning her body with her head down, she tried to go. At that moment, something flickered in her vision. What was that?

“Wait.”

“…What do you want?”

“Would you like to come closer?”

Although the maid was puzzled, she came closer to her.

“Your left ankle. Looks like a black stain or something?”

Was she hurt?

“…Ah, nothing.”

The maid hurriedly pulled the stocking on her left ankle up to the top. She just asked, why was the maid so flustered?

“Aren’t you hurt?”

“It’s just a bruise, so the lady doesn’t have to worry about it.”

A hand that was simply bruised or… she held out the medicine she was holding in her hand.

“Then would you like to use it? I don’t think I’ll be able to use it anyway.”

She prayed, but the lady-in-waiting waved her hand and refused.

“No. It’s okay. You don’t have to worry about it because you can treat it separately.”

“…is it so? All right.”

“If you don’t need anything more, may I leave?”

She stared at her lady-in-waiting and asked.

“What’s your name?”

“…Is that what you want?”

“Yes. I think we will see each other often in the future and it would be good to know your name.”

She hesitated for a moment, then spoke up.

“My name is Anne.”

“Then can I call you Anne from now on?”

“Yes. It doesn’t matter.”

“Then you can go out.”

“Yes. I’ll go out.”

After the maid went outside, she lifted the box of ointment. She wondered if she was feeling a little strange. It seemed that the pupils of the maid just before her were shaken badly, was it her imagination? It could have been that she acted suspicious because she wanted to do something bad, but it didn’t feel like that. Rather like… She looked like someone who had done something wrong and was caught.