Chapter 24
Edward’s smooth voice whispered so close that it made the tiny hairs on Lucy’s body stand up.
“You couldn’t even lift your head because you were so scared.”
His teasing tone made Lucy puff up a little.
“That’s because you…”
“And then you slept like a log.”
“W-Well… I did sleep…”
She couldn’t deny it.
After saying they would leave immediately, Edward had carried her all the way here, flying through the entire night without stopping.
Meanwhile, Lucy had spent the trip sleeping in his arms, waking up every now and then until they had reached Tesseron.
‘I even drooled while I was sleeping.’
She had secretly wiped the drool off his armor while sweating nervously.
‘He’s incredible.’
Edward’s stamina amazed her.
He had stayed awake all night and flown while carrying her the entire time, yet he didn’t look tired at all.
If anything, his body felt warmer and warmer against hers, almost as if he had recharged.
“We’re here.”
Before Lucy could finish thinking, Edward slowly landed.
She looked up and gasped.
“Wow.”
A beautiful green garden spread out before them.
Magic stones decorated the statues throughout the garden, and the garden itself seemed to be maintained by magic.
Behind it stood an enormous castle.
It had to be the Duke’s residence.
A line of people was waiting at the entrance.
“Welcome back, Your Grace.”
“Welcome home.”
‘It feels like a crime boss just arrived.’
The servants stood in perfect formation, greeting their master with flawless discipline.
‘So this is the Tesseron Ducal Castle…’
‘I’m really safe now.’
Relief filled her heart.
“Uh…?”
Just as she tried to climb down from Edward’s arms, he grabbed the back of her neck.
“…”
Lucy looked at him in surprise.
Edward was frowning.
“What is it?”
“I… I wanted to greet everyone too…”
“Why?”
“I’ll be working here from now on. They’re the people I’ll be living and working with.”
Since she had come here under an employment contract, she was basically another servant.
She would probably live in the same quarters and eat with them every day.
She didn’t want everyone’s first impression of her to be seeing her carried in her employer’s arms.
That was why she had tried to get down.
“…Living together?”
Something in Edward’s voice sounded displeased.
Even the servants stiffened.
‘What now?’
Lucy had no idea what had upset him.
Seeing his mood suddenly change, her survival instincts kicked in.
She widened her eyes.
“N-No… I just meant we’ll probably stay in the same building, so naturally we’ll run into each other.”
“Why would you?”
“Because I’m here under an employment contract… Oh, right!”
“What?”
“The contract! When are you finally going to stamp it?”
Just thenā
“Your Grace.”
The servants immediately stepped aside as if the sea had parted.
A strict-looking middle-aged woman walked through the opening.
The light reflected off her glasses as she carefully looked Lucy up and down.
Lucy flinched but looked back.
‘She’s…’
The woman had a sharp appearance and wore a perfectly tailored suit.
Everything about her said she was the one who managed this entire estate.
She also looked fiercely loyal.
‘Ah!’
Lucy suddenly remembered.
‘Rosendal Bellum.’
The butler of House Tesseron.
She came from the Bellum family, which had served Dragons for generations.
She would do absolutely anything for Edward.
Readers had loved her for her capable and loyal personality.
Lucy liked her too.
‘Although she’s cold toward everyone except the Duke.’
Later in the story, when Edward eventually fell apart for various reasons, it was Rosendal who carried out his orders and dismissed the family’s loyal servants.
Instead of correcting her master when he went astray, she accepted even his downfall as her own fate and continued serving him.
‘If she dislikes me, my future here will be miserable.’
Feeling nervous, Lucy finally jumped out of Edward’s arms.
Although Edward frowned, he still held onto the back of her neck to make sure she didn’t fall.
Watching them carefully, Rosendal approached.
“Your Grace, we’ve been waiting for you.”
“Mm.”
“Sir Tepe and Sir Gorgo also arrived a short while ago using teleportation scrolls.”
“Good.”
“Would you like to eat first…”
Rosendal stopped speaking as she noticed Edward’s armor.
She carefully examined him from head to toe.
“…No. You should wash first.”
“You’re right.”
Edward looked down at himself.
After defeating the monsters at the checkpoint, he had flown here immediately without cleaning himself.
His armor was covered in filthy monster blood.
Normally, he would have washed immediately if he had gotten this dirty.
There was probably blood on his face and hair too.
‘Even so, he’d still look handsome.’
The thought crossed Lucy’s mind before she realized it.
“…”
“Y-Your Grace? Why are you looking at me like that?”
Edward’s gaze moved to Lucy.
She wasn’t exactly clean either.
She had already been wearing old, ragged clothes.
Now those clothes were stained black and sticky with the monster blood that had rubbed off from Edward’s armor.
She looked like a dirty sewer rat that had rolled around in mud.
Only then did Lucy realize how she looked.
‘Of all times…’
Not only had everyone seen her arrive in the Duke’s arms, but now she was introducing herself looking like this.
She noticed several servants whispering.
“Why did His Grace bring home a beggar?”
“Did he suddenly decide to do charity?”
“Did you eat poison or something?”
She couldn’t even blame them.
‘Honestly… I do look like…’
…a homeless girl the Duke had picked up off the street.
It was hard to make a good first impression after that.
She felt herself shrinking.
‘…I wanted to become someone useful here.’
Not someone who constantly watched other people’s moods.
Not another burden like she had been in the shelter.
As Lucy felt discouragedā
“Then we’ll wash first.”
“I’ll prepare the scented oils.”
Edward decided that bathing came before eating.
‘Then I guess…’
Rosendal would probably take her and explain everything.
Lucy quietly stepped away from Edward.
“…And you.”
Edward looked down at her with a strange expression.
“You need a bath too.”
Lucy blinked slowly.
‘Dinner, bath… no, not me… you?’
For some reason, that strange sentence flashed through her mind.
“Very well.”
Rosendal turned toward Lucy.
She looked at her as though inspecting some random object her master had picked up.
“I’ll have the maids take her to be washed properly…”
Just as she was about to finish giving the orderā
“No.”
Edward’s voice was calm but firm.
“There’s no need.”
‘What?’
‘Didn’t you just say I needed a bath?’
Before Lucy could protestā
“I’ll wash her myself.”
Edward dropped the bomb.
Heavy silence filled the air as everyone stared at him in complete shock.
