IWAIWD 21

#21. Benefactor

“Yes, my lord?”

The moment Chloe replied as calmly as she could, the duke—who had been seated until now—shot up from his chair.

Startled, Chloe found herself looking up at him and instinctively stepped back.

“Your younger sister, Chloe Riden… was she blond with blue eyes?”

“Ah!”

Chloe trembled violently.

The duke had already suspected that the woman he had slept with—who shared the name Chloe and the same scent—was Chloe Riden. And now, with Sir Joyce’s investigation added to it…

Blond hair, blue eyes, even a similar height.

It wasn’t like she had any real room to argue, but she still found it strange how Sir Joyce had managed to uncover even her physical details. Still, now that the report had already been delivered, she couldn’t lie to the duke.

“Yes. She was blond with blue eyes.”

“……”

The duke stared at her sharply, as if trying to pierce through her.

Chloe wanted to avoid his gaze, but she couldn’t. Somehow, she felt that looking away would only make him more suspicious.

“You have blue eyes too.”

“……”

“I don’t think I’ve ever properly seen them because of those thick glasses. Take them off.”

“Why do you want to see my eyes…?”

“Just curious.”

“If I take my glasses off, I can’t see well.”

Chloe was seized by fear that removing them would expose everything.

Even though nothing catastrophic should happen from simply taking them off for a moment…

“It doesn’t matter. I just want to see your eyes.”

“Still… there’s no need for you to look at them…”

“Take them off.”

It was a clear command—one that allowed no refusal.

She knew her resistance might look suspicious, yet she couldn’t stay calm. Fear was overwhelming her so much she felt like crying.

She had already told so many lies—about her gender, about her sister’s death, about being a man who desired the duke…

And now, tears?

Ah… tears.

A sudden idea struck her.

She forced her eyes open wide—not to hold back tears, but to summon them.

Soon, tears began streaming down her face.

“My eyes… they resemble my sister’s the most. My sister… sob! If anyone should have died, it should have been me. That fragile child… died so horribly, and I… I couldn’t do anything… sob… Every time I look in the mirror… every time I see my eyes… I think of her… ah… sob sob…”

What began as an act quickly turned real. Her emotions—long suppressed—burst out, and her tears wouldn’t stop.

“…Died? You mean Chloe Riden passed away?”

Sir Joyce interjected, confused.

“Ah! Yes, that’s right.”

The duke sat back down.

“Oh… I’m sorry. I wasn’t informed she had died.”

Sir Joyce glanced at Chloe and bowed his head toward the duke.

“No death registration?”

The duke’s question was directed at either Joyce or Chloe.

“Yes… hngh… sob… there was no time for it,” Chloe answered, barely controlling her sobbing.

In truth, she hadn’t registered her brother’s death. She needed his identity for work, and at the time she simply hadn’t had the capacity to handle it.

“I see. I may have been too harsh. My apologies, Klein.”

“It’s alright, my lord.”

Sigh.

At least she had avoided the disaster of removing her glasses. The room fell into an awkward silence, but it was better than before.

“Then it seems the Chloe from Kinden is the most likely candidate. I’ll head to Kinden.”

After a moment, the duke broke the silence.

Either way, he would go and confirm that she was not the woman he had slept with.

Regardless, Chloe would be leaving this mansion anyway. Before the duke departed, she needed to tell him she was leaving.

“My lord… may I return to my hometown now? It seems you’ve found that woman, and as I mentioned, I left my mother in the care of a friend, so I should return…”

“……”

The duke simply stared at her without answering.

“Was that caregiver a friend?” Sir Joyce suddenly asked.

“Pardon?”

Caregiver?

“I actually visited your home, but only a caretaker was there. Your mother was out, so I couldn’t ask about your sister directly. I waited for two days, but she never returned. The caretaker knew nothing about your sister either. I assumed she must be staying somewhere for work… I had no idea she had passed. My condolences.”

Chloe stopped breathing.

“My mother… was out?”

She couldn’t comprehend what she was hearing.

Her mother… outside? That was impossible. She had been bedridden—she couldn’t even leave the bed.

“This is strange. You don’t even know your own mother’s condition? I was told she recovered after taking a medicine made with the core of an extinct magical beast known for its healing properties. The caretaker said she recently got back on her feet. Since the caretaker had already been paid, she stayed on for a while.”

“Medicine…?”

Medicine?

That kind of treatment—made with a magical core—was something Chloe could barely afford just to keep her mother alive.

It was said to be so powerful it could save anyone who wasn’t already dead. If taken properly, her mother might indeed have recovered… but Chloe had never had the means to obtain something like that.

Not only was it expensive—it was almost impossible to acquire.

So how? And who was this caretaker who had been paid?

“Klein Riden. You really have no sense of responsibility. Always talking about quitting and leaving your duties. Honestly, your lack of loyalty makes me regret the money and effort I spent on your mother.”

The duke’s words made Chloe’s eyes widen.

“No way…”

“It’s the first time I’ve ever felt unappreciated after saving someone’s life.”

Tears began flowing again from Chloe’s eyes—but this time, they were not from fear or deception.

They welled up from somewhere deep inside her.

Her mother had recovered… because of the duke. He had sent that medicine. He had even sent a caretaker.

She had never imagined such a thing.

“Thank you, my lord! Sob… sob sob! Thank you… thank you so much…!”

Chloe bowed deeply as tears poured uncontrollably.

She didn’t know how to express this gratitude.

“My lord… how can I ever repay this kindness… sob…”

“Disgraceful. A grown man crying and sniveling like that. Get out. You’re distracting.”

At the duke’s sharp words, Chloe wiped her face under her glasses, but the tears would not stop.

“Thank you… thank you so much…”

“Go cry outside. Come running when I call you.”

For someone who had saved her mother’s life, his tone was astonishingly cold.

Yet Chloe felt as if she would willingly kiss his feet.

“Yes! I’ll leave. Thank you again, my lord!”

Unable to say anything more, she obeyed his order and left.

He was her benefactor. Someone she would follow without question.

If he told her to leave, she would leave. If he called, she would come running. If he told her never to leave the mansion—or even her room—she wouldn’t.

Anything.

By the time she stepped out of the room, her original plan to leave the duke’s estate had completely vanished.

Exactly as the duke had intended.

“Why did you spend money on Klein’s mother for no reason? Chloe Riden is supposedly dead.”

As soon as Klein left, Joyce asked.

“Who knows.”

Hugh Grey had no intention of explaining.

He couldn’t say it was to keep Klein tied to the estate.

Nor could he say he disliked the idea of Klein feeling indebted to Calcus.

And he definitely couldn’t admit that seeing Klein cry over his mother had physically hurt something in his chest…

Most of all, he could never say he couldn’t let Klein Riden leave until he found the woman he had been marked to.

Because that would mean admitting he had gone insane.

Who could he possibly tell—that he had trapped a male attendant simply because of his scent, assigning him unnecessary translation work just to keep him close, only to drive him out whenever the scent became unbearable?

Even just moments ago, seeing him cry over his sister had made his chest ache—genuinely, physically ache.

He even regretted pushing him so harshly.

All of it was a symptom of the imprinting madness. Once he found the woman, he would return to normal.

Then he would let Klein Riden go.

Until then… he had no choice but to endure his own madness.

“Your Grace, when will you depart for Kinden?”

Joyce was perceptive enough to stop asking.

“Early tomorrow morning.”

He needed to confirm the woman as soon as possible.

Before the next heat cycle arrived.