TSHLWTL Chapter 32

Chapter 32

“We still don’t know exactly where the ‘Philothes’ came from… but it seems the Duchess—no, Rachel—passed it on to Lady Catherine.”

“…”

“And Rachel seems to have stepped away from this. She’s claiming she knows nothing about it.”

August remembered the desperate crying of Lady Eleanor he had heard a few days ago.

Her sudden plea for help had thrown the Duke’s household into chaos.

The Duke had immediately ordered August and the rest of his shadow knights to investigate.

And Catherine—his little lady—was locked away in the secret prison under the Duke’s estate, both to protect her and as punishment.

The reason?

She had been found in possession of ‘Philothes’, a substance banned by the royal family long ago.

August had no choice but to watch her being carried away unconscious, unable to say or do anything.

“Rachel seems to have completely given up on Catherine. 

She told the Duke she’d leave her fate in his hands without hesitation.”

Duke Hereis’s face didn’t look pleased as he listened to the report.

His deep violet eyes, colder and sharper than usual, said everything.

But August couldn’t argue. He’d made mistakes too.

Even though he had been ordered to guard and report on Catherine, he hadn’t told the Duke everything.

He had made promises to Catherine and trusted her.

And that trust had grown into something more.

‘Damn it… if only I hadn’t been so careless!’

He couldn’t pinpoint when it had all gone wrong.

When he had started caring too much.

When her words had started affecting him.

“Forget everything you saw here today.”

“Please don’t tell the Duke… just for now. I’ll explain everything to him later. I just need time.”

Maybe it was sympathy for the weight she carried alone.

Maybe it was because he saw his younger self in her anxious eyes.

Whatever it was, none of it mattered now. It had been a foolish mistake.

He should’ve reported it all to the Duke right then.

He had failed in every way.

“So, you were playing secret friends with her, huh? Must’ve been fun, August.”

“I-I didn’t mean to—”

“I assigned you to guard and watch her. Not to get emotionally involved.”

The Duke’s cold words hit hard. They mirrored August’s regrets.

He had failed not only as a knight but as a shadow.

“Did she ask you to hide it for her? Did you pity her?”

“N-no! I judged she posed no harm to Lady Eleanor, and—”

“You believe that?”

“What do you mean…?”

August looked up sharply.

The Duke’s words suggested Catherine might be the threat, not Rachel.

But that made no sense—Rachel had always been the one manipulating Catherine.

Catherine was just a 15-year-old girl.

Ordinary, except for her striking looks.

The Catherine he knew was kind, if a little clumsy.

Sure, this incident showed she was capable of taking orders from her mother, even dangerous ones…

But she never tried to harm Eleanor. She tried to protect her.

August had discovered that the root of a certain blue flower could dilute the effects of Philothes.

Catherine had been searching for it, probably trying to create an antidote.

And Eleanor herself had testified:

“Catherine drank it instead of me—to protect me!”

There was no way she was trying to hurt Eleanor.

So then why? Why had the Duke allowed Catherine, if he thought she was dangerous, to live in the same house as Eleanor?

“Why did you assign her to me, Duke? Was it just for surveillance?”

“…”

“Thanks to you, I got to see who Catherine is. She’s not just the girl the rumors paint her to be.”

“The cruel stepsister who bullies Eleanor.”

“Just as greedy as her mother.”

“Treats servants like dirt.”

Yes, some of it was true. But it wasn’t the full story.

“What are you doing?”

“Oh, Sir August. Lady Catherine is baking cookies—for Lady Eleanor.”

She tried to show kindness, though awkwardly.

“You’re not buying that?”

“We already have something like it at home. No point in wasting money.”

“But it’s a trending item among noble ladies!”

“Trends come and go. Just a waste.”

She wasn’t obsessed with luxury like her mother.

Except for food.

“Ah! That’s the new chocolate-glazed donut! We have to get it! August, run!”

Compared to Eleanor, she might have seemed rude to servants, but she wasn’t worse than other noble girls.

Rumors were easy to exaggerate—especially the bad ones.

“Why have you kept her here this whole time?”

August thought of Catherine locked underground.

That prison wasn’t easy to escape—but it was also the safest place to hide someone.

So was she a criminal? Or being protected?

“You ask too many questions.”

“With respect, I think I have the right to ask. I am her guard, after all.”

If the Duke truly disliked Catherine and her family, why hadn’t he exiled her or worse?

He didn’t treat her like a daughter, nor did he seem to care for her.

And yet, he let her stay.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

The Duke tapped his pen against the desk in silence for a while before finally speaking.

“Her eyes.”

“What?”

“They’re the only ones of their kind. In the whole world.”

August fell silent as he recalled Catherine’s eyes—clear, sky-blue.

Only one other person had ever had such eyes.

“…No way. Don’t tell me—”

“…”

“Duke, this is too cruel… for both you and Catherine.”

“Doesn’t matter.”

“You’re using her! That’s not fair!”

“If it helps me remember her… I’ll keep her close. I don’t want to forget. I don’t want the memory to fade.”

The Duke’s eyes looked black. Burned out.

What was left in them was not love—but obsession.

“You’re using Catherine like a replacement. You’ll regret this someday.”

August realized just how cruel a man in love could become.

“…Maybe.”

It had been six years since the woman he loved died.

And still, the Duke was madly, painfully in love.