Chapter 19
The head maid looked up at Duke Clasta with a face frozen stiff.
“M-My lord! It’s just that…!”
“I’m not in a particularly good mood right now. So you’d better think carefully before you speak.”
Duke Clasta’s gaze settled on the head maid.
A man who had seen the duke enter clicked his tongue.
Damn it. Why did the duke have to show up now of all times?
In any case, with things turning out like this, he had to at least complete his mission.
The man’s hand moved subtly.
Using the distraction of everyone’s attention on the head maid, he planned to throw a dagger and take Ariel out.
But his plan never came to fruition.
The moment he reached for the dagger, a bolt of golden lightning shot forth like an arrow and pierced both his arms at once.
“Urgh!”
The strength drained from his arms, and the dagger fell to the ground.
There was no doubt who the lightning had come from.
“I don’t recall giving you permission to move.”
Duke Clasta spoke, his golden eyes flashing menacingly.
This time, his gaze turned to Ariel.
Though she stood holding a sword and looked fine at a glance, a closer inspection revealed that she was off balance at the ankles.
“Owell, take Ariel and get her treated.”
“I can still fight.”
“No. I’ll handle this.”
He cut her off—a rare thing—and issued the command again.
“Owell, take her. Now.”
“Miss, let’s get you out of here.”
Ariel hesitated for a moment, but noticing the duke’s foul mood, she quietly left the room.
Left inside were the duke, the head maid, and the man now unable to use his arms.
The duke approached the man groaning on the floor and stomped on his hand.
“Aaaargh!”
“Tsk. Quiet down. Our daughter can’t have gotten far yet.”
He pressed harder with his foot as he spoke.
“Wouldn’t want the child to see such an unpleasant sight, would we?”
“Gggh, ngh…”
“Now then. Have you thought carefully about how to answer my question?”
The duke’s gaze shifted back to the head maid.
“T-The thing is…”
Her body began to visibly tremble under the weight of the duke’s presence.
What is going on?
Wasn’t he supposed to not care whether Ariel lived or died?
Regardless, surviving came first now.
Every time she met the duke’s eyes, she felt like her head was about to be lopped off.
Overwhelmed with fear, her legs gave out and she collapsed to the floor.
As she did, she knocked over a glass bottle that had been placed beside her.
Thud. The bottle rolled on the floor, and her eyes gleamed at the sight.
“You’re slow to answer. Then I’ll interpret that in my own way.”
“T-The truth is, I discovered that the young lady had committed a terrible crime!”
“Hm?”
“P-Please forgive me! I found out that she used a monster to try to kill Young Master Denson!”
The head maid prostrated herself before the duke, trembling.
“So when I tried to take evidence of her using the monster and report it, the young lady tried to kill me! I had no choice!”
Once she started talking, the words poured out effortlessly.
“I see.”
His calm voice brought her a moment of relief.
As expected, the duke clearly doesn’t care about someone like Ariel.
But the words that followed froze her in place.
“In that case, it means a mere servant dared to rummage through a noble lady’s room.”
“…Pardon?”
She looked up at the duke, dazed.
“You not only snooped through your master’s room, but tried to report her crime? How should you be punished for that?”
The duke tilted his head slightly and looked down at her.
“Shall I cut off the hands that rifled through her belongings? Or the tongue that tried to betray her? What do you think?”
The head maid crawled on her knees and clung to the duke’s feet.
“P-Please, no! It’s a misunderstanding! I didn’t mean it like that! I just… I thought I had to inform you, my lord! I’ve devoted myself to this house for so long! Please believe me! I did it out of loyalty to you!”
She clung to him desperately, but his gaze remained cold.
“I’m well aware of how devoted you’ve been to our family.”
A flicker of hope appeared in the head maid’s eyes.
The duke smiled as he continued.
“That’s why I’ll make your death even more painful.”
A storm of blood swept through the ducal house.
The one who brought the storm was none other than the duke himself. His targets were those who had opposed me and sided with the councilor.
The councilor, who had tried to kill me using a monster, was executed, along with the head maid who had been his most vocal supporter.
The councilor’s family was banished from the Clasta estate.
I’d heard that the councilor’s influence had been quite strong, and there was some opposition, but no one could stop the duke.
“Will you quietly agree, or shall I take your head right here?”
The maids and knights who had tormented me were dismissed without even receiving letters of recommendation, making it nearly impossible for them to find work in respectable noble households.
Because of that, the atmosphere in the estate had turned rather grim lately.
But that’s none of my business.
I thought to myself while eating the dinner Mary had brought to my bed.
Tonight’s meal was a fluffy omurice with cheese.
As I cut into the plump egg with a spoon, it slid down and wrapped itself around the rice.
Delicious!
The stress from dealing with the monster seemed to melt away with each bite.
Honestly, it doesn’t even hurt that much anymore.
After I finished eating, Mary returned with a bowl of dark liquid.
“Alright, my lady. Time for your medicine!”
I looked at the medicine with a complicated expression.
Maybe the duke had felt guilty for scolding me for not running away and going after the monster instead.
He had sent over a ridiculous amount of medicine, all said to be good for the body.
If it had just been one or two, I’d have taken them gratefully. But the problem was how many there were.
“After this one, you also need to take the one that purifies your blood, and then the one that strengthens your bones, and the one that restores your mana—oh! And the duke sent over a new one today too!”
“What is it?”
There was still more?
“It’s for digestion! He was worried you might get sick since you’ve been lying in bed so much.”
…Is the duke trying to kill me with overdosing?
There was no other way to interpret the amount.
Of course, if you looked at them individually, they were all expensive and supposedly good for the body.
I didn’t usually complain about food or medicine, but—
Still, I don’t want to follow up a delicious meal with a relay of herbal sludge.
Not one or two bowls, but five!
Besides, thanks to the medicine the duke sent, I was already completely healed.
My mana was restored, and my ankle didn’t hurt when walking or running.
The duke had told me I should rest to make a full recovery, so I’d been stuck in bed for three days.
“I’ll give you a candy once you’re done!”
Well, I guess it’s still good for my health.
Before I possessed this body, I would’ve been grateful for even crumbs off the floor.
“Still, I think the duke really does care about you. He sends you medicine, keeps the staff in line. Even those maids who said it was a shame someone like you ended up under their care—they’ve all been fired.”
He probably doesn’t care about me. He’s just using me as an excuse to wipe out the councilor’s faction.
I couldn’t say that out loud, so I just smiled at Mary.
“That face tells me you don’t believe me, doesn’t it? But my lady, if the duke didn’t care about you, why would he adopt you in the first place?”
Mary spoke kindly.
This was tricky.
I couldn’t exactly tell her about the contract I had with the duke.
He had valued my survival instincts when I crawled out of my room with a high fever, that’s all.
There’s no way the duke actually cares about me.
I thought as I swallowed the medicine she gave me.
Still, he’s better than my biological father, that evil dragon, or Regan. At least he sends medicine to help me recover.
When I opened my eyes, it was dawn.
After lying in bed all day, my body felt restless.
Maybe I’ll take a few laps around the training grounds.
But I had barely taken a few steps out of my room when I ran into Duke Clasta.
He frowned slightly upon seeing me, as if displeased, then walked over.
“You’re not fully recovered yet.”
“Thanks to the medicine you sent, I’m fine now.”
The duke’s hand moved toward my shoulder.
Is he going to press down with his fingers again?
I was wondering if I could endure it this time, but he paused—and then picked me up.
He gently brushed my ankle with his hand.
“Your ankle’s healed. And your fever’s gone. Still, don’t move around recklessly. Even with treatment, we should monitor your condition for at least a week.”
“But I really am fine… I’m worried everyone’s going to think I’m weak if I stay in bed all the time.”
“No need to worry about that. Everyone in the estate is busy talking about how bravely you fought the monster. You could lie in bed for a year, and no one would complain.”
He carried me back to my room and laid me gently on the bed.
“Sleep.”
When he saw my wide, alert eyes, he sat down next to the bed.
“I’m staying here until you fall asleep, so don’t even think about getting back up.”
I hadn’t planned to, but—
Honestly, after three straight days in bed, I wasn’t even sleepy anymore.
The duke rested his chin on one hand and spoke.
“Why is a kid like you always up and about at this hour?”
“I don’t know. I just always wake up around this time.”
“You have nightmares too?”
“No… It’s just…”
I always had to wake up at this hour. If I didn’t, I’d be scolded. Regan would reprimand me, tell me he was disappointed in me… I was scared he’d abandon me.
Before Regan betrayed me, I forgave him for everything he did.
He was the only one who told me it was okay, even after learning I was the daughter of an evil dragon.
No, that’s not true. Regan also betrayed me because I was the evil dragon’s daughter. In the end, there was no one who liked me after learning the truth.
Suddenly, the duke’s cool hand touched my forehead.
Startled, I looked up at him with wide eyes, and he looked slightly flustered.
“Your expression suddenly changed, so I thought you might be sick… Good, no fever.”
“Yes, sir.”
He pulled his hand away and said,
“You’re still a kid. You need to eat well and sleep well. That’s how you grow taller.”
“But you never sleep and still grew tall, Duke.”
The duke’s smile briefly held a trace of nostalgia.
“…I slept well when I was a child.”
What kind of expression was that?
I didn’t get to look for long because the duke suddenly pulled the blanket over my head.
