CHAPTER 87………………………………….
The Sleeping Duke (1)
“Then surely it wasn’t just me—there must have been several mercenaries, informants, and assassins whose names anyone in the business would know coming and going, right? From what I personally confirmed, there were quite a few. I may not know everything, but at this point, in this line of work, Anje has basically become a walking gold coin.”
Gray walked up to the duke and bowed with exaggerated politeness.
“I wouldn’t be doing this without the captain’s permission unless I were truly desperate. There were so many of them that it was annoying to deal with each one individually. Given the situation, I believe Your Grace will also understand why we’re taking Anje away. Other than Your Grace, no one knows she’s the leader of the Black Wolves. We plan to make her disappear for now and later cut off any loose ends.”
Scratching his head as he scanned the room, Gray let out a light sigh.
“It’s a shame things ended this way. I always felt bad seeing how she was worn down by work every day, but at least here, she actually looked like a girl her age. She laughed easily, played around… Thank you for that. As for the penalty fee, calculate it and let me know later. You trusted us with her, and I’m sorry things turned out like this—but Your Grace must admit this isn’t entirely our fault.”
“I only have one question.”
“Go ahead.”
“Did Lady Crow say that if the situation became dire, you could kill me as well?”
At the duke’s words, Gray’s eyes widened, and he shook his head vigorously.
“Of course not! Do you know whose sake all this is for? Lady Crow seemed convinced that once Anje was gone, Your Grace would naturally fall into her hands. That’s why she repeatedly warned me not to let a single scratch appear on you under any circumstance. If you want, I can show you the contract she gave me.”
Gray rummaged inside his clothes and handed over a yellowed envelope.
“Here it is.”
As the duke inspected the contents, deep wrinkles formed on his brow. So the attackers from earlier had nothing to do with Hildegard. Then who on earth—?
“I’ll be going now.”
As Gray bowed, the duke—lost in thought—suddenly lifted his head as if snapping back to reality.
“Going where?”
“Excuse me? I’ve been explaining this to you all along.”
“If what you said is true, the safest place for Anje is by my side.”
“Well… yes, that’s true, but that would put Your Grace in danger. And it’s not like Your Grace has any reason to risk your life to protect Anje…”
Gray abruptly stopped speaking, tilted his head, and stared at the duke.
As he slowly observed the faint anxiety in the duke’s eyes, the tightly bitten lower lip, and the clenched fists, a mischievous smile crept across Gray’s face.
“Oh? Don’t tell me—you caught feelings?”
Gray grinned and circled the duke for no reason at all, completely unfazed by the duke’s scowl of annoyance.
“You definitely did. The captain insisted it was all for work, but come on—no man gives a girl dresses and jewelry and eats meals with her just for work. Right?”
“……”
“This is a problem. Truly unfortunate. Anje is really slow when it comes to that sort of thing.”
“Slow?”
The duke raised an eyebrow.
“Very slow. No—extremely slow. Like a bear. Plenty of guys hovered around her in the slums because of her neat, rare-for-the-area looks, but not a single one succeeded. There was even one guy who hung around for over ten years—and still failed.”
“Over ten years?”
At the duke’s question, a bitter expression briefly crossed Gray’s face.
“There are… things like that. Anyway, what are you planning to do? The difference in your statuses is enormous. Don’t tell me you’re thinking of making her a mistress or concubine? I wouldn’t stand for that—but more importantly, Anje wouldn’t tolerate it. She may seem easygoing, but she’s very firm about certain things.”
“I know that much.”
“Are you seriously thinking about marriage? Even if the times have changed, that would still be nearly impossible…”
How had the conversation gotten here? It wasn’t as though the duke had never considered marriage, but this was certainly not a topic to discuss with a midnight intruder.
“If you’re done, you may go.”
“Of course. The guards change shifts at about this time, so I was planning to slip out anyway. Please take good care of our captain. Don’t let her get hurt—physically or emotionally. You understand? If I sense even the slightest sign of something wrong, I won’t be taking just the captain with me next time.”
Despite the threat in his words, Gray smiled impishly as he opened the window.
The duke winced as the cool, humid early-summer dawn breeze swept in.
“If anything else comes up, I’ll be back. Until then.”
By the time the duke leaned out the window to look, Gray had already vanished without a trace.
He hadn’t seen him draw a blade, but judging by his movements and the way he concealed his presence, he was undoubtedly one of the best martial artists in the capital.
Was he talking about himself when he said someone lingered for over ten years?
Unfortunately for Gray, the quick-witted duke had seen right through him—unlike the oblivious Anje. No wonder the man was always slipping in through her window like a stray cat.
From what the duke had observed, there had never been so much as a hint of romantic tension between them, so he’d assumed those visits were purely for information exchange. That was why he’d left them alone.
Feeling oddly unsettled, the duke closed the window.
Just the thought that Gray had lingered around Anje for years was unpleasant enough—but imagining carefree Anje drinking, eating, and rolling around with them without the slightest prejudice made it worse.
Then the duke realized, with despair, that he was acting like some boy sulking over a crush. He had never been like this in his life.
Running a hand down his face in self-disgust, the duke opened the door and stepped into the hallway, stopping in front of Anje’s room. She still seemed sound asleep, her breathing peaceful.
“Damn it.”
Muttering a soft curse, the duke sank down with his back against her door, eyes closed.
Listening to her calm breaths—which sounded almost serene—helped quiet the chaos in his heart, if only a little.
When Anje woke, her first action was a sigh. The memories of yesterday came flooding back. She was worried about the penalty fee, but she’d already blurted out that she was quitting.
“I wonder if Gray has saved up any money.”
Mumbling weakly, Anje pulled down the bag she’d stored on top of the wardrobe.
She decided to start packing the item that would take up the most space—the dress. But as she opened the dressing room door—
“…What is that sound?”
Somewhere, she heard soft, steady breathing mixed with a faint snore.
Startled, she looked around frantically, but the room was exactly as it had been when she went to bed last night.
Holding her breath, she listened again—this time, there was nothing.
“Did I imagine it?”
Was she just on edge from yesterday?
Tilting her head, she reached again for the dress hanging in the wardrobe.
That was when she heard it: a deep inhalation, followed by the rustle of fabric brushing wood.
Now certain she hadn’t misheard, Anje cautiously scanned the room.
She peered into the deeper, shadowed parts of the dressing room, then checked the bathroom and the closet attached to her room.
No one was there—but the intermittent breathing continued.
Anje stood silently in the center of the room. Peaceful sleeping breaths mingled with the morning sounds of the household. Maids hurried about carrying ingredients, and somewhere in the yard, a gardener was raking leaves.
She didn’t know how long she stood there before she suddenly spun around and yanked open her bedroom door.
“Huh?”
A large man’s upper body collapsed limply into the room. The owner of the deeply asleep body didn’t even twitch.
“Your Grace?”
Crouching down, Anje shook the duke gently, but he showed no signs of waking.
Breakfast time is soon…
Instinctively, Anje looked down the hall to make sure no one was there.
It was early summer, and the duke was wearing a thin night robe that bordered on indecent; the sash had loosened, exposing half his chest. If anyone saw the duke asleep like this outside her room, misunderstandings were guaranteed.
“Please wake up!”
Anje shook the sleeping duke with a silent scream.
Even if no one saw them, the duke—who was habitually punctual—would never miss breakfast. If he didn’t appear, the butler would soon send someone to check on him.
She didn’t want to imagine what would happen next.
Steeling herself, Anje shook him harder.
“Your Grace, it’s morning. Wake up. Why on earth did you fall asleep out here? Your Grace! Please wake up—what are you going to do if someone sees this…?”
