Chapter 48
I sensed something strange in the Duke’s words and hesitated for a moment.
‘What’s with him? He sounds almost like he’s worried about me.’
The great Duke Nox Ruppelen, worried about someone else? Impossible. I should know that better than anyone—I wrote the original story, after all.
But the Duke, with his eyes still burning with madness, kept muttering without pause, leaving me completely confused.
He sounded like someone who had lost his mind. So I decided to just let his words wash over me.
“I thought I’d lost you. I thought you were dead. Without you, what meaning would the Bellutin or House Ruppelen have for me?”
“Ah… I see.”
I didn’t even bother to argue with him.
“The thought of even a single hair of yours being harmed is worse than death to me. When you screamed, I couldn’t breathe.”
“When someone screams, their ears should ring, not their breathing stop.”
I tilted my head, unable to understand, but the Duke paid no attention and kept talking.
Then his eyes dropped to my feet, and he gasped.
“Your foot… When did you hurt your foot?”
“I didn’t hurt it.”
I looked down, and one of the blue topaz gems set into the summer sandals he’d gifted me had fallen out.
“Huh? When did that fall off?”
“That filthy wizard dared to wound your foot… and ruin the gift I gave you?”
I could see his anger reaching the boiling point.
“That damned wizard! If I see him again, I’ll tear him apart right there. No, better yet—I’ll make him kneel before you, begging for death. Gianna, just say the word. I’ll do whatever you want.”
“You already know what I want. The termination of our contract.”
“No. That won’t do. I think we should rewrite it. Gianna, you don’t have to cook for me anymore. But I can’t give you things like paid leave or vacations.”
Excuse me? The wizard’s the one who caused trouble—why am I the one losing vacation days?
“From now on, you’ll have to stay where I can see you. How dare anyone harm your feet like this?”
“I told you, I’m not hurt. It’s just a missing gem.”
“You’re planning to take a vacation? Where could you possibly go without me? No, I won’t allow it, Gianna.”
“What nonsense is that? You can’t just take back my vacation! Once given, it’s mine!”
“If you’re going somewhere, I’m coming with you. We’ll rest together. That solves everything.”
“What kind of vacation is it if I have to spend it with my boss?!”
I screamed, but it was as if he had stuffed his ears with cotton—completely unmoved.
“Paper. Right, I’ll need paper to rewrite the contract. Hey! Bring me some paper!”
The Duke suddenly jumped to his feet and barked an order at one of the sailors bustling about.
“Paper? Out of nowhere?”
“Yes, paper. No—never mind, I’ll get it myself.”
“Hey, I told you, I’m not rewriting anything—!”
I tried to stop him, but before I could even finish, he’d vanished in a flash.
Ugh, whatever.
I lay back down on the deck and gently stroked Gary’s tail.
“I think the Duke’s gone mad. What do you think?”
“He looks the same to me. They say a good beating cures madness—shall I smash that lunatic’s head for you, Creator?”
“Where did you even learn something like that?”
“Does one need to learn it? Dragons are born wise and knowledgeable.”
“True, you are my creation. Of course you’re smart.”
I rolled around on the deck, chatting with Gary to calm myself down.
Honestly, I would be lying if I said I wasn’t shocked.
I’d expected Duke Ruppelen to handle things calmly. I never imagined he’d lose his composure over some cheap threats from a wizard.
‘His reaction today was over the top.’
Logically, he should’ve prioritized the Bellutin over my safety. I just couldn’t understand what he was thinking.
Meanwhile, under Eliot’s orders, the Bellutin’s crew efficiently cleaned up the aftermath.
They tied up all the pirates sprawled across the deck like bundles of dried fish and shoved them into a corner.
Eliot and the three idiotic brothers stood before the captives, interrogating them.
“Who the hell are you people?”
“We’re just ordinary pirates.”
“Hold on, since when could ‘ordinary’ and ‘pirate’ be used in the same sentence?”
“I dunno, they said it themselves.”
“It’s true! We just raid ships at sea, that’s all…”
Eliot pressed them, trying to find any connection between the pirates and the wizard, but they didn’t seem to know much.
“The man was hired personally by our captain. We didn’t really know him. Never even spoke with him.”
“Useless trash.”
Eliot grabbed one of the pirates by the hair and then flung his hand away in disgust.
The motion made the line of bound pirates knock their heads together one after another, like dominoes.
“Ughhh!”
The pirates screamed, but Eliot didn’t even flinch, frowning with his hands on his hips.
“We’re heading to the Empire of Astria. But we don’t have room to haul all you scum aboard. Guess we’ll have to unload some of you.”
“U-unload…?”
“It means toss you into the sea. Don’t pretend you don’t understand.”
The pirates’ faces turned pale—a shade that suited these dragon-infested waters quite well.
*
Duke Ruppelen pestered me all afternoon, following me around with a sheet of paper he’d found somewhere, but I ignored him and went straight back to my cabin.
‘He’s incurable. Time’s the only medicine.’
After thinking it over, I came to a reasonable conclusion.
He must be acting like this because it’s the first time he’s seen me in danger. Once some time passes, he’ll return to his usual cold, ruthless self.
‘No need to let this shake me. It’s only temporary.’
To clear my mind, I sat down at my desk and opened my diary.
Writing always helps when there’s too much to think about.
‘Who exactly was that wizard? How could someone vanish so cleanly in the middle of the sea?’
And those black spheres he conjured—what were they? What happened to the pirate who got swallowed by one and turned to black ash?
I jotted down my questions one by one.
Then the crystal orb on my desk began to glow and vibrate softly.
“Arines?”
I quickly got up and pulled the cloth off it.
Arines’s fair, peach-like face appeared in the orb.
—“Waaah! You little brat!”
The moment she saw me, she burst out in a wobbly, tearful shout.
I raised a hand to calm her down.
“That’s what you open with after all this time? What’s going on?”
—“Can’t you come back to the Kingdom of Tian?”
“What? Where’s this coming from?”
Arines pouted for a moment, then burst into tears again.
—“It’s so lonely and boring without you! Nothing’s fun anymore, the palace is dull, and I’m scared someone will find out I’m not the real Arines. I have no one to talk to!”
I stared at her tearful face through the crystal orb.
“For someone so miserable, you look awfully healthy.”
—“H-huh?”
“You’ve even gained a little weight, and there’s this… radiant vibe about you.”
—“T-that’s not—”
“And your skin’s glowing more than ever.”
Was it just me, or did she look completely lovestruck?
“Wait a minute… Did you call just to brag about your love life?”
I leaned close to the orb, narrowing my eyes in suspicion. Arines flailed her hands in protest.
—“Hey! We’re nowhere near that yet! We haven’t even held hands!”
“Oh? What happened to the bold Archmage who confessed the night before my wedding?”
—“Exactly! He seems interested, but nothing’s progressing. Maybe I should just confess first!”
“Well, the Archmage was always a socially awkward research type, not one for romance. Might be faster that way. You’ve got your work cut out for you, Arines.”
We ended up chatting and laughing until our sides hurt—it was the first time I’d laughed like that since leaving the Kingdom of Tian.
Then, after a pause, Arines asked me seriously,
—“Don’t you ever think about giving it a chance with Duke Ruppelen? He’s totally your type, and honestly… he seems to really like you.”
