“Oh, how merciful of you.”
Ridden’s voice drifted through the calm piano music.
Although his voice was partially drowned out by the music, his words were unmistakably sarcastic.
I honestly had no idea how I was supposed to respond to something like that.
I rolled my eyes around before cautiously asking,
“Then…… is he dead?”
“He’s not dead. I’m still thinking about what to do with him.”
Ridden leaned comfortably against the back of his chair and looked at me.
Whenever he moved, the chain attached to his glasses made a soft rattling sound.
Even though the peaceful music filled every inch of the room, I remained on edge at every single one of Ridden’s movements.
I decided I needed to get away from this subject.
“Y-Your Grace, is there…… anything else you need?”
But at that exact moment, the gentle music filling the room seemed to reach its climax, and the combined sounds of the strings and percussion suddenly grew louder.
Because of that, I couldn’t hear Ridden’s answer.
The music continued ringing loudly in my ears.
“……”
At that moment, Ridden suddenly grabbed my wrist and pulled me toward him.
My body was yanked in his direction, and I nearly lost my balance.
I quickly grabbed the armrest of Ridden’s chair and held on tightly to steady myself.
Ridden whispered quietly beside my ear.
“Turn the volume down.”
Only then did Ridden let go of my wrist.
I nodded awkwardly and walked toward the gramophone.
……But I had never learned how to operate a record player.
The golden horn of the gramophone continued producing loud music, gleaming beautifully in the sunlight.
It would be better to ask him rather than accidentally break it by touching something I didn’t understand.
At that moment, I turned around and immediately bumped into Ridden.
The music was so loud that I hadn’t noticed him approaching me.
Ridden reached out and moved the cartridge from the spinning LP to the outer edge of the record.
The music crackled briefly before stopping completely.
I was so startled by Ridden suddenly appearing in front of me that I instinctively began hiccupping.
Ridden looked at me as though I were pathetic before returning to his desk.
Then he placed the still-burning cigar into the teacup I had prepared earlier.
The moment I heard the cigar being extinguished, Ridden spoke.
“You can leave now.”
For some reason, his words made me feel ashamed.
I felt pathetic for not even being able to complete the one task I had been given.
“……Understood.”
I was about to gather the tea set when I cautiously approached Ridden.
“Um, Your Grace……”
At my call, Ridden’s gaze fell upon me.
“……I know that I’m lacking. But I’ll work harder from now on so that I don’t cause you any trouble, Your Grace.”
At my words, Ridden gave a small laugh before speaking.
“Then doesn’t that mean there’s no reason for me to keep you around? I prefer someone who is already complete rather than someone who is still improving.”
Despite his sharp tone, I smiled.
“But I’m good at listening to people. I’m also good at quietly listening. If Your Grace ever feels frustrated or has something troubling you—”
“I’m not stupid enough to tell you something like that.”
Ridden’s gaze returned to the documents on his desk.
I felt all the strength drain from my body.
My chest felt tight, as though something heavy had been placed on it, but it was fine.
It wasn’t exactly…… an incorrect statement.
I suppose I had been too presumptuous.
I slapped my cheeks several times with my palms, making sharp smacking sounds, and then opened the door to our room.
“……What are you doing there?”
Seeing the large Abel squatting down while fiddling with the wall looked incredibly strange.
At my question, Abel took his hand away from the wall and spoke.
“The magic circle is working properly again.”
“……The magic circle?”
Then could we finally relax a little in our room?
Of course, after getting used to living so cautiously at the Marquess’s residence, I probably wouldn’t be able to completely let my guard down.
“It was probably because we hadn’t been here for very long.”
Abel lightly knocked his fist against the wall as he spoke.
“Still, it would be better to stay cautious.”
I nodded at his words.
Then, without meaning to, I remembered Ridden Akarut’s face.
Surely the Duke wasn’t treating only me like this and saying things to Abel as well, was he?
“Nothing happened today…… right?”
At my question, Abel narrowed his eyes and examined me.
Then he immediately adopted a serious expression.
“That’s right. Come here for a moment.”
……Why was he suddenly acting so serious?
I hadn’t seen Abel looking cheerful since we parted ways with Isis, but even then, he had never acted this serious before.
With an uneasy feeling, I slowly walked over and sat down in front of Abel.
With a very serious expression, Abel spoke.
“How long are you planning to stay here?”
“……Me? Probably until you leave?”
“No……”
Abel seemed to lose his words after hearing my answer.
I didn’t miss the opportunity.
“But I thought we had already finished discussing this last time.”
“……”
“And there’s no guarantee that it’s safer outside the ducal household, either. Viscount Owen would have an easier time approaching me there……”
After hearing my words, Abel seemed to have nothing left to say.
Instead, he spoke with a troubled expression.
“Then promise me just one thing.”
“What?”
“If you ever feel like leaving this place, no matter when that is, just tell me. If you do that, I won’t bring this up again.”
Abel suddenly held out his pinky finger toward me.
“I can obviously promise that.”
I confidently hooked my pinky around his, and only then did he seem a little relieved.
Then, with his rough hands, he took something out of his pocket and held it out to me.
It was a small box wrapped beautifully.
“What’s this?”
Abel didn’t answer.
Of course, I hadn’t actually expected an answer.
I already knew what it was, after all.
Could it be…… my birthday?
I carefully opened the box.
Inside was a bracelet for men and a hairpin with a large gemstone set in it.
At a glance, it looked like he hadn’t known what to buy me, so he had simply bought both.
“It’s pretty.”
Abel had always thought that the biggest accessories were the prettiest, so the hairpin he had bought had a single green gemstone set right in the center.
The green gem resembled the color of both my eyes and Abel’s.
Honestly, it was a little tacky, but it was still pretty nice in its own way.
As for the bracelet, perhaps he couldn’t find one with a large gemstone, because it consisted of countless thin silver loops intertwined together.
The bracelet was completely my style.
I couldn’t help letting out a small laugh before fastening it around my wrist.
Even after adjusting it to the shortest length, it was still a little loose.
Abel quietly spoke as he watched me.
“Come here.”
When I approached him, Abel took the hairpin from the box and fixed it into my hair.
When I was young, my hair had been long, so Abel used to tie it for me quite often.
But after I cut my hair short, he hadn’t done anything like that anymore.
Looking at my face with the somewhat tacky hairpin in the mirror, I looked surprisingly happy.
As I fiddled with the hairpin Abel had put in my hair, I thought to myself.
If I wanted to protect this smile, I had to somehow improve my relationship with Ridden.
The next day, Ridden called me over to a black car that looked exactly like his hair.
There were several cars at the mansion, but this black one was the car Ridden used the most.
“Get in.”
He opened the driver’s door.
With a sinking feeling, I cautiously asked,
“……Are you driving yourself?”
“Then who’s going to drive? You?”
I wasn’t particularly good at driving myself, but I figured I was still better than this unpredictable man.
The thought of being in a car driven by Ridden Akarut……
It would be a lie to say I wasn’t nervous.
While I hesitated, Ridden casually climbed into the car.
Because of that, I awkwardly opened the passenger-side door and sat down.
Then I fastened my seat belt more seriously than anyone ever had and prayed desperately to God.
Please let me return safely to the mansion.
If that happened, I solemnly promised that I would listen to Abel and live a good life from then on.
Ridden checked his reflection in the rearview mirror before stylishly putting on a pair of sunglasses.
Soon, I heard the engine start.
At least the sound itself was rather pleasant.
Before long, the car began moving smoothly.
The ride was surprisingly comfortable, which made me feel a little more at ease.
Still, Ridden Akarut was a Duke, and since he had even been involved with the heroine in the original story, I figured he must at least be good at driving.
Just as I was thinking that, the car suddenly screeched to a halt.
My body lurched forward.
“Ah, my mistake.”
At Ridden’s words, I tightly grabbed the seat belt that was practically my lifeline.
Oh, God.
Please let me make it back alive.
To get straight to the conclusion, I survived.
Well, if I had died, Ridden, who was sitting right beside me, would have either died or been seriously injured too.
So in a way, it was only natural that I survived.
The place Ridden took me, despite his terrifying driving, was a boutique.
……Honestly, I had never imagined that Ridden would bring me to a boutique.
At the very least, I had expected him to take me to some prison buried deep in the mountains and scare me with his cruel jokes.
Considering the time he had put a gun in my hand and all the rumors circulating about him throughout the kingdom, it wasn’t an entirely unreasonable expectation.
It’s really huge…….
The entrance alone was dazzling with gold, and the boutique I was visiting for the first time in my life was far beyond anything I could have imagined.
