TMLYSISAT CH 06

“He came here to kill me. I can’t just let him go, can I?”

I understood his reasoning. Of course he couldn’t forgive someone who had come to kill him.

But considering that Ridden was looking at someone who had tried to kill him, he didn’t seem particularly angry.

If anything, he looked like he was enjoying himself.

I stared up at Ridden with pleading eyes.

“……B-But, Your Grace.”

“Oh, my. Our Charles is so softhearted. If you can’t even deal with one little rat that came to kill me, what exactly are you planning to do by my side……?”

With that, Ridden took the gun that had been forcibly placed in my hands.

No way……

Without a moment’s hesitation, he pressed the muzzle against the man’s head.

And then he pulled the trigger.

Bang—!

I instinctively squeezed my eyes shut.

I thought I would soon smell blood, but contrary to my expectations, the only scent that reached the tip of my nose was the acrid smell of gunpowder.

Thinking that something was strange, I cautiously opened my eyes.

At the same time, I heard Ridden chuckling.

“Did I scare you?”

The trembling man, still gagged, had already fainted.

Ridden simply looked at him and snickered.

“It wouldn’t be any fun if I just killed him.”

Ridden kicked the man tied to the chair with all his strength, and the unconscious man collapsed limply onto his side.

Perhaps he had lost interest in him, because Ridden turned toward me.

The moment I met his harmless-looking eyes, I froze completely.

I wasn’t imagining it.

Ridden held no hostility toward that man.

He was simply enjoying this situation.

“By the way…… Charles, I’m quite disappointed in you.”

“I mean, that’s……”

I hurriedly tried to speak, but Ridden was faster.

“If someone tried to kill you, I’d gladly smash their head in for you.”

“……”

……Was I supposed to thank him for saying that?

I simply couldn’t understand Ridden at all.

Leaving me standing there without an answer, Ridden immediately walked out of the basement.

At this point, I had no choice but to finally admit that the Duke didn’t like me.

If I had to guess with my rather foolish brain, it was probably because of the mistake I had made on my first day.

It seemed the Duke had somehow become even more terrifying while he was away on his business trip.

I had, in fact, made a mistake in front of him, so it was only natural that he disliked me.

But what worried me was the possibility that I might be the only one who got fired while leaving Abel behind.

Besides, there was also a chance that Ridden’s anger could extend beyond me and reach Abel as well.

That man was truly an expert at driving perfectly normal people insane.

Looking at how haggard my once-presentable face had become after only a week, I slowly blinked.

If Ridden found out that I was actually a woman, I couldn’t even imagine how much trouble that man would give me.

Anyway, if I wanted to remain at the ducal household, the method I had chosen was to maintain a friendly relationship with the Duke.

I had to find some way to make up for the terrible mistake I had made.

Otherwise, there was a real possibility that I would be thrown out of the ducal household alone, leaving Abel behind with nothing.

So I asked Peter how he had managed to escape the Duke’s disfavor, but Peter only kept repeating that time was the best cure.

With no useful information from him, I changed my question and asked Roel, who had apparently gotten along well with the Duke from the very beginning.

“Senior, what does His Grace like?”

At my question, Roel began seriously thinking.

I quietly waited for her answer.

“Hmm, what he likes changes so often……”

Unfortunately, Roel’s answer wasn’t particularly helpful either.

“……Really?”

It was one of the warnings Roel had given me on my first day.

Ridden Akarut might like something one day and hate it the next.

In other words, the Duke was simply impossibly self-willed.

That was why no one could ever figure out what was going on in his mind.

“Don’t worry too much. He’s just extremely fickle.”

“That’s true, but I also don’t understand why His Grace keeps calling me Charles……”

I tried to probe Roel, wondering if she knew the reason, but she only smiled awkwardly and changed the subject.

“Sorry. It’s not like I know everything that goes on in His Grace’s mind either……”

Then suddenly, a bell began ringing so loudly and frantically that I froze.

It was so loud that I couldn’t help sighing.

“……Then I’ll go first, Senior.”

“Alright. Good luck.”

Thanks to that wonderful Duke declaring that I no longer needed training and could immediately begin attending to him, I picked up the tea set and headed alone toward his office.

If Abel found out that the Duke disliked me, he would undoubtedly insist that we leave the ducal household immediately.

But even if I quit right now, the Duke’s negative feelings toward me would remain unchanged.

Until we solved the mystery of why Abel had died, the Duke was still one of the people I considered dangerous.

Therefore, somehow, my relationship with the Duke had to become more amicable.

Leaving the ducal household could come afterward.

Even if I quit being a servant now, I had a strange feeling that the Duke would search for us with his eyes blazing for some reason.

Thanks to all this, my self-esteem kept dropping lower and lower.

Why did I always seem to cause trouble with everything I did?

I had followed Abel into the ducal household because I was worried about him, but it felt like I had only made the situation worse.

No, Cherish. Pull yourself together.

I couldn’t put spilled water back into the cup.

But I could wipe up the spilled water and fill it again with fresh water.

I took a deep breath and knocked on the Duke’s office door.

I knocked carefully, but there was no response telling me to come in.

Instead, I could hear music coming from inside.

I knocked again, but my knock seemed to be drowned out by the music, and there was still no answer.

In the end, I carefully opened the office door.

“Your Grace, excuse me.”

As I opened the door, the music that had been faintly audible through the gap grew louder.

Ridden seemed completely absorbed in his documents and didn’t even glance in my direction.

That was actually a relief.

I carried the tray and quietly made my way inside so I wouldn’t disturb him.

Then—

“Charles.”

Ridden called my name without taking his eyes off the documents.

“Yes, yes!”

Trying not to show how startled I was, I answered him with a bright smile.

“Bring me a cup of tea.”

“Understood.”

The moment he finished speaking, I hurriedly began preparing the tea.

Yes, Cherish.

All I had to do was do better from today onward.

Then, once I had made up for everything, I could leave this place with Abel.

I took a deep breath to calm myself.

At least it was a relief that the office wasn’t filled with silence.

The gentle harmony of the piano and violin playing from the record player created a surprisingly peaceful atmosphere.

Thanks to that, even the sound of Ridden turning the pages of his documents sounded almost pleasant.

By the time the aroma of tea began to mingle with the music, I felt my body, which had been stiff with tension, slowly relaxing.

Oh, right.

Roel had said I was supposed to keep the Duke company and talk to him, too……

Remembering Roel’s words, I glanced toward Ridden.

He had a cigar between his lips.

With a clicking sound, he lit his lighter.

A red glow appeared at the bitten end of the cigar as it slowly burned.

Seeing him like that, I became tense again and held my breath.

Ridden stared straight at me as he slowly exhaled a cloud of smoke.

I hurriedly approached him with the tea I had prepared.

“……You must be tired. Why don’t you take a short break?”

I had thought the music had helped me relax, but I had been completely mistaken.

No matter what the surroundings were like, the moment I stood in front of Ridden, my body automatically became tense.

Because of that, even during the brief moment when I placed the teacup in front of him, my hands trembled.

Fortunately, they weren’t shaking enough to make a sound……

All I could do was desperately hope that Ridden wouldn’t notice how nervous I was.

But the intensity of his gaze on me made that impossible.

Still, I smiled.

I figured it was best to just smile for now.

“Is your work going well?”

At my question, perhaps deciding to play along, Ridden finally took his eyes off me and answered.

“As you can see.”

I wasn’t entirely sure what exactly I was supposed to see.

Ridden placed the cigar between his lips again and inhaled.

I watched as the cigar slowly burned down and grew shorter, briefly wondering whether I should bring him an ashtray.

“Are you getting used to the work?”

“I am getting used to it, but…… I’m worried that I’m being treated far better than I deserve.”

Ridden smiled faintly at me.

“You’re doing well.”

“……Really?”

It was an unexpected answer.

Wondering if I had heard him correctly, I asked again without realizing it.

“You’re holding up better than I expected.”

“Th-Thank you. I’ll work even harder from now on.”

I quickly bowed deeply to Ridden and smiled brightly.

“By the way, aren’t you curious about what happened to the man you saw in the basement?”

Because of the music filling the office, I had to think over his words for a moment.

That man from the basement……

Once I understood what he meant, I froze slightly before answering.

“Ha-ha…… I suppose you’re right. I do wonder what happened to him……”

I vaguely avoided answering.

It was a topic that felt completely out of place with the piano melody drifting through the air like clouds floating gently across the sky.

“Do you think he’s alive?”

For some reason, I didn’t think he had died.

“I…… don’t think he’s dead.”

At my honest answer, Ridden gave a small chuckle and curled the corners of his lips upward.