Chapter 18
Ariel opened her lips slightly.
She seemed unsure of what to say.
Then, as if something finally came to mind, she barely managed to speak.
“…Were the others’ reactions not good?”
Her timid voice made it clear she was trying not to provoke the Duke’s anger.
“…What?”
Ariel cautiously asked, watching the Duke’s expression.
“Because… running away might seem more like what a successor would do…”
She couldn’t understand why the Duke was so angry.
She had captured a monster difficult to handle with a child’s body.
As the heir of the Duke’s family, she had demonstrated excellent skills, so she thought the vassals would be impressed.
That was her intention when she captured the monster.
‘Maybe this time, the Duke will praise me!’
If things went well, maybe he would give her a bigger diamond than last time instead of a small one.
And since she had worked so hard today, maybe she could eat something super expensive for dinner.
Excited by those thoughts, she had spoken up — only for the Duke to start yelling at her.
No matter how much she thought about it, she couldn’t figure out why he was so angry.
Rigan never liked anything she did, but even he always liked it when she caught monsters.
‘Understanding the Duke’s feelings is really difficult.’
She sighed internally.
Still, if she wanted to stay in the Duke’s household, she had to read his mood carefully.
Even if she won the argument, if the Duke kicked her out, it would all be over.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t know that running away was more like what a successor should do in the Duke’s household.”
She apologized, but honestly, she still didn’t really understand.
What kind of noble house preferred running away over catching monsters?
“That’s not it…!”
She stared directly at the Duke.
He looked at her with an incredibly frustrated expression.
She recognized that look all too well.
It was the same face Rigan always made.
‘You’re so frustrating. Why can’t you even do one thing I told you? Didn’t I say not to draw attention to yourself? Who would like someone like you who can’t even do that right? And besides, you’re the daughter of the Evil Dragon. Who else but me would take care of someone like you?’
Unpleasant memories resurfaced.
Duke Clastar seemed like he was about to say something but just let out a long sigh.
“Hoo… forget it.”
She had risked her life to capture a monster, trying her best to fulfill her role as heir according to their original contract.
But judging from the Duke’s reaction, it seemed all her efforts had been in vain.
She had planned to listen to whatever the Duke said next, but she wasn’t feeling well.
If she stayed like this, she might collapse right in front of him.
But if she collapsed here, rumors might spread that her body was weak.
“…If you’re done speaking, I’ll go change my clothes.”
Using the excuse of her dirty clothes, she escaped the situation.
Fortunately, the Duke let her go without resistance.
Once she was out of his sight, the tension finally eased.
“Haa…”
She sighed and leaned against the wall.
“Dealing with the Duke is harder than catching monsters.”
She felt like she could fall asleep just by closing her eyes, but if she did, her effort in catching the monster might be wasted.
If she didn’t want to be called useless, she had to finish things properly.
She dragged her exhausted body and barely made it to her room.
But when she opened the door, she locked eyes with the head maid who was rummaging through her drawers.
“A-Ah, my lady.”
The head maid quickly shut the drawer and approached Ariel.
“What are you doing in my room?”
The head maid responded nonchalantly.
“I was looking for the ledger. The match is over now, so shouldn’t you return it to me?”
Ariel approached and grabbed the woman’s wrist.
Clutched tightly in the maid’s hand was a bottle of hand oil Ariel had received as a gift.
“This is your ledger?”
She must’ve come to destroy the evidence, since her plan to kill Ariel during the competition had failed.
At that moment, Ariel sensed someone approaching from behind.
She tried to dodge quickly, but her body was barely holding up.
“Ugh!”
The man skillfully grabbed her shoulder and forced her to the floor, then shoved a gag into her mouth.
As strength left her hands, the glass bottle rolled across the floor.
The head maid picked it up and asked,
“What now?”
“What do you think? We follow orders. If we kill her in the castle, there could be evidence. We take her outside and deal with her.”
Ariel twisted and struggled to escape the man’s grip, but he was clearly highly skilled.
Given her current state—and the fact that the chairman had sent someone to assassinate her—it made sense.
“Go grab that box over there.”
At the man’s command, the maid dragged a box from the corner of the room.
The moment she saw the ordinary wooden box, Ariel began thrashing with all her might.
“Mmmph! Mmm! Mmmph!”
“Hold still, damn it! Why is a kid this strong?”
That box was no good.
She knew better than anyone what would happen to her if she went in there.
In a panic, she forgot she could use magic, forgot everything—and would only cry out for Rigan.
The Evil Dragon had struck her with violence, but Rigan never laid hands on her. He only tore her down with words.
That didn’t mean Rigan was a good guardian.
He simply never beat her.
There was a time she failed to follow one of Rigan’s orders.
She couldn’t remember the name, but it was something about digging up dirt on a high-ranking noble.
Maybe the noble had tight security, and the guards were too strong.
“I’m sorry, Rigan. I failed.”
Rigan asked,
“Did you do your best?”
“Yeah…”
“Are you sure what you did was truly your best?”
At that question, she was momentarily speechless.
Then Rigan said sternly,
“See? You didn’t do your best.”
“But I followed him for two weeks…”
“You think just a few days of tailing someone is your best?”
“…”
“Sigh… Why did you lie and say you did your best? I almost believed you. Do you think I would’ve given you a task beyond your capabilities?”
“…I’m sorry.”
“I didn’t want to punish you, but I have no choice now. This is your fault. You know lying is bad, right?”
After saying that, Rigan locked her in a box like the ones used by monster-hunting squads.
A cramped, dark, sweat-stained box.
Inside, she had to reflect on what she did wrong.
She had to endlessly think about how to succeed next time.
She didn’t even think about using magic to break free.
Trapped in the darkness with no sense of time, the only thing she could do was beg for forgiveness.
“I’m sorry. I was wrong. I’ll try harder. I’ll do better.”
Eventually, Rigan would come and ask gently, “Have you reflected enough?” and comfort her.
That’s how Rigan had trained her.
And now, the same kind of box was right in front of her.
“Damn it.”
After Ariel left, Duke Clastar ran a hand through his hair in frustration.
The heavy atmosphere kept everyone away, but he wasn’t in the mood to care about others.
He was so furious, he felt like smashing something—anything.
Rationally, he knew he should praise Ariel.
Just listen to the knights whispering.
“She doesn’t even look like she can swing a sword. How did she catch that monster?”
“If someone told me to catch something like that when I was seven, I would’ve wet myself.”
“Exactly. Honestly, she looks different now. I didn’t expect her to be so brave, considering how delicate she looks.”
It was clear that people were beginning to view Ariel more favorably.
The more people who acknowledged her as his heir, the fewer annoying issues he’d have to deal with.
‘That’s why I brought her here.’
Because he was sick and tired of everyone nagging him to marry and produce an heir.
And Ariel was doing far better than he’d expected.
‘So then why the hell do I feel so awful?’
It almost felt like he actually cared about the child.
The Duke let out a small laugh.
‘As if.’
After losing his family to the Evil Dragon, he had vowed never to grow attached to anyone again.
If his aide of several decades had brought back such a monster, he’d have scoffed and said, “You’re bragging over killing that thing?”
But that little girl he hadn’t even known for a month—what was she to him?
‘I overreacted because of old memories. When she comes back, I’ll praise her and give her lots of apples—her favorite.’
But Ariel didn’t come back.
“Why isn’t she back yet?”
Owell, who had been watching his mood, answered awkwardly.
“Who, sir?”
“Ariel. She said she was going to change her clothes. It’s been over 20 minutes.”
“Well… this castle is rather large. It could take that long just to walk there…”
The Duke ignored Owell and started walking.
“I’d better go check.”
Considering what kind of monster she faced, she probably wasn’t in good shape.
He regretted not carrying her back himself when he had the chance.
Instead, he’d yelled at her.
He hadn’t even thought to check how she was feeling.
As the Duke hurried off, Owell followed him instinctively.
His usual calm and composed demeanor was gone—his steps were more like a run.
The Duke arrived at Ariel’s room.
As soon as he opened the door, he saw a masked man swinging a sword at Ariel.
Claaang!
The Duke blocked the attack in front of Ariel, deflecting the man’s blade.
He scanned the room and said coldly,
“What the hell is going on here?”
