Chapter 14
“…….”
“…….”
The Grand Duke fell silent, and the aide beside him, who was looking at the cards with him, was in shock.
The master he served was absolutely not someone children would want to see again.
His cruel temperament never spared even children, and his occasional extreme mischief made that all the more true.
‘The child didn’t run away screaming in terror but came here on her own? What kind of life has this young lady lived…’
Dwayne was looking at Aria with a gaze full of sympathy at that moment.
[It’s nice to see you again.]
Aria held the card tightly with both hands and smiled brightly.
Smiling didn’t come naturally to her yet. But thinking of Dana, Betty, and the other servants who had cared for her made her lips bloom into a smile.
It was a completely new experience.
‘Amazing.’
Even just recalling their warm presence made her heart feel soft and fuzzy.
Seeing Aria smile so innocently, the Grand Duke let out a dry laugh in disbelief.
“You came riding the hunting dog just to see me?”
Aria nodded.
After all, she hadn’t seen the Grand Duke even once since the first day.
She had occasionally wondered where he was and what he was doing, though not to the point of real curiosity.
“I see.”
Hearing that, the Grand Duke twisted the corners of his mouth.
He had never heard such words from even his own son, yet it didn’t sound unpleasant.
“So… do you want me to play with you?”
“…….”
“What are we doing?”
Asked that way, she had no answer.
‘Come to think of it, if she came all this way, she must have a purpose.’
They both stared at each other intently.
The Grand Duke had never played with a child before.
Aria had never experienced proper play in her childhood either.
The Grand Duke pondered briefly, pressing his red lips with a finger, then asked:
“Should I play with you like I would my son?”
“Absolutely not! That’s definitely not ordinary play!”
At that moment, Dwayne, who had been stiff as a stone all along, stepped in with a serious look.
“Milady came from outside the barrier. And I heard you’ve been suffering from a fever for several days.”
Aria wondered what kind of “play” Lloyd and the Grand Duke usually engaged in that made them so contemplative and serious.
She briefly thought about it.
‘Playing happily like a normal family isn’t even imaginable.’
If she had to imagine it, it would probably be some devilish, bloody game.
“You must have fallen ill as soon as you arrived in the duchy. You looked weaker than a bug.”
Finally, the Grand Duke let go of the back of her neck and stared at her as if marveling that she was alive.
It was a look Aria had seen from Lloyd before.
And also from Dana and Betty…
“Are you fully recovered now?”
Aria nodded without hesitation at the Grand Duke’s question.
[Here, I want to play with the wolf.]
The Grand Duke clicked his tongue in displeasure.
“If all you want to do after coming here is play with the wolf, then why did you even come to see me? Kids are impossible to understand.”
Of course, she hadn’t come to see him at all.
Aria couldn’t find an answer, so she fumbled for words and wrote a plausible response on a card.
[I’m fine just staying quietly by Father’s side.]
At that moment, she hurriedly covered her mouth with her small hands.
The room was filled with thick smoke that made her cough.
For some reason, even coughing in front of the Grand Duke felt wrong.
‘Ah, in my previous life, cigarette smoke was everywhere—I forgot about it.’
Suppressing her cough made tears well up in her eyes.
Noticing Aria’s condition, Dwayne whispered into the Grand Duke’s ear:
“Your Highness, secondhand smoke isn’t good for someone already weak. Besides, there are piled-up documents that must be processed today.”
“So?”
“Please have her come again another time…”
“Fine.”
The Grand Duke stubbed out the half-burned cigarette in the ashtray and lazily leaned back in his chair, giving the order:
“Vent the room.”
“Yes, sir!”
Dwayne quickly opened all the windows. The smoke vanished instantly, but the cold wind made the curtains flutter violently.
Aria instinctively hugged herself, shivering.
The Grand Duke looked baffled.
“Hands-on work, aren’t you?”
He stood up and casually draped his coat over Aria’s head.
He then took the card from her hand naturally.
Aria struggled briefly buried under the oversized coat, then peeked out and looked up at him.
The card she had written, [I’m fine just staying quietly by Father’s side.], was now in his pocket.
‘Why is he keeping that?’
Aria fiddled with the coat, which was too big and slipping down, tilting her head in confusion.
“Just stay here and breathe properly.”
The Grand Duke made a single request instead of “playing” with her.
Aria wondered why he emphasized just breathing, something she had always done. But once she became conscious of her breathing, it suddenly felt hard.
‘Inhale… exhale…’
Counting the rhythm with her fingers, Aria struggled.
The Grand Duke chuckled softly at how amusing it was to see her having trouble just breathing.
“You’ll pass out if you keep that up.”
Aria felt unfairly treated.
She had been breathing perfectly fine before paying attention to it.
“You seem idle.”
At that moment, Dwayne dumped a pile of documents on the desk.
“These need to be processed today.”
“I could use some time to breathe.”
“You, Your Highness, could survive even if your breathing stopped for a while, couldn’t you?”
“I see, so that means I should continue working even if my breathing stops.”
“Of course not.”
The Grand Duke’s expression revealed boredom and annoyance, but surprisingly, he carefully reviewed the documents and began processing them.
Aria could see the papers because she was close enough.
With nothing else to do, she gently petted the wolf while observing the documents.
‘These are…’
They were documents related to Viscount Cavendish.
It detailed how the envoys sent to establish relations with the Valentine Duchy had all perished or barely survived.
The Grand Duchy’s power was intimidating, so it was kept quiet, but the people feared it as a “demonic curse.”
‘Oh yes, that incident.’
Aria recalled Cavendish’s vile smile from her past memories.
“A few of his retainers died without warning. Clearly our fault, but he demanded a huge compensation, which he received without complaint. Valentine wasn’t much affected.”
Cavendish spun a public story claiming his retainers were cursed by Valentine.
Thanks to the compensation from the Grand Duchy, his nearly ruined viscountship survived by a hair.
“They weren’t even allowed access, yet they wandered near the border and ‘caught a curse’… I wish he had put more effort into his scheme.”
The Grand Duke asked, “Investigation?”
“There were traces of fire in the forest, nothing else unusual.”
“How tedious. Should I just kill him?”
Aria flinched in surprise.
“That sum would be enough to kill Viscount Cavendish a hundred times over.”
“Killing him will only make things more troublesome.”
“Is that my concern?”
“Of course not,” Dwayne replied sharply.
Judging from his expression, he meant the bother would fall on him, not the Duke.
‘So, it’s the aide’s problem if the viscount is killed?’
The Valentine Duchy apparently had its own rules.
Aria was somewhat surprised.
“Hmm… now that I think about it, giving him money isn’t so bad.”
At that moment, the Grand Duke suddenly reversed his previous words.
His aide showed a reluctant expression, probably anticipating what was coming next.
“It’ll be interesting to see how far he falls while holding onto futile hope. He’ll crawl in the mud at my feet, begging to be killed instead.”
“Cough, Your Highness. The young lady is listening. I’m afraid she’ll have nightmares.”
Aria quietly listened to their conversation and thought to herself:
‘There’s a better way. Why feed a fraud?’
Viscount Cavendish was a gambler and a spendthrift. It was better for him to go bankrupt and fail.
‘Humans rarely change.’
After receiving the compensation, the viscount often came to see Aria, the siren, who cost astronomical fees just for a single song.
It was obvious he would squander any money he received.
Aria took out a pen and began to write. The Grand Duke and his aide’s gaze both fixed on her.
[I know how to cure the illness.]
“You?”
The Grand Duke seemed momentarily surprised, then propped his chin on his hand, silently signaling her to continue.
[You can take an anti-parasite medicine.]
Aria offered a solution.
She was entirely serious.
After a brief pause, the Grand Duke burst into loud laughter.
