Chapter 20
Sebastian grabbed the nobleman’s arm tightly after his words.
The nobleman, surprised, frowned and started to argue.
“What? How am I the one at fault here?”
“In a busy street like this, it’s proper to walk on one side.”
“Proper?”
“You were standing right in the middle, blocking everyone from passing.”
Sebastian’s words were true. The nobleman had been standing in the middle of the street, causing a bottleneck.
He also had guards blocking everyone else from passing, making the already narrow street even narrower.
The people around them began to glare at the nobleman.
Feeling their glares, the nobleman’s face turned red and purple.
“You, a slave, dare to…”
Unable to control his anger, the nobleman was about to slap Sebastian when…
“Master! Please, wait! Don’t!”
The nobleman tried to strike the guard who was stopping him, but another guard whispered something in his ear.
The nobleman’s face turned pale as he listened, and he quickly knelt down, bowing his head.
“L-Leonhardt Duke… I… I did not recognize you…”
It seemed the nobleman realized who Sebastian was.
He shook with fear.
Considering Sebastian’s reputation, his reaction was understandable.
But that face… Why does it seem so familiar?
Briana suddenly remembered who the nobleman was.
The man still kneeling with his face to the ground was Count Roberts.
It seemed his eyesight wasn’t the best, because he had only noticed Sebastian’s hair color.
He was the kind of man who would harass even commoners and low-ranking noblewomen, and Briana had planned to make him pay for it.
“Stop the disturbance and move aside.”
Sebastian passed by Count Roberts and walked over to the child who had fallen.
As he approached, the child flinched and shrank back.
It seemed that even the poorest, most ragged children recognized the infamous Leonhardt Duke.
Sebastian bent down and started picking up the fallen potatoes around the child.
“If you eat the sprouted parts of the potatoes, your stomach will hurt. So eat this part, and plant the sprouted ones in the ground later.”
Sebastian carefully separated the potatoes and placed them in front of the child.
“Then, later, from just one of these, you’ll get over 20 potatoes.”
“20 potatoes?”
The child, who had been frightened by Sebastian, suddenly leaned in, amazed.
“Yes. Right now, there are about 5 you can eat, and 5 to plant. If you cut them in half and plant them, you’ll get a lot more later.”
“How do I plant them? Just bury them in the ground like this?”
“No…”
Seeing the child’s excited eyes, Sebastian hesitated for a moment.
It seemed like he was uncomfortable with someone approaching, but he soon met the child’s gaze and began explaining how to plant the potatoes.
At first, the child seemed scared, but he listened carefully to Sebastian’s instructions.
Briana watched them quietly, her eyes focused.
“He’s the Emperor’s lapdog, isn’t he?”
Suddenly, David’s voice echoed in Briana’s mind.
Sebastian, who followed whatever the Emperor said, had been stopped by David when she was Anastasia.
Briana thought about the Sebastian she had seen, and though she stayed quiet, she wasn’t fully convinced.
But Uncle…
Wouldn’t it be better if he was the Emperor’s dog?
If Sebastian, whom she once thought of as a dog, attacked Cassius, the Emperor would be furious.
Briana smiled faintly, thinking about how Cassius would react to Sebastian.
After finishing the conversation with the child, Sebastian saw Briana’s notebook.
[Let’s meet tomorrow at a different place, not the one we met today.]
“Is there a more effective place than that café?”
[If you go a bit deeper into the busy district, you’ll find an inn called Fencingpony.]
“An inn?”
Briana nodded.
[Yes, actually, this is something I should have told you earlier, but I didn’t think it through.]
“What do you mean by ‘tell me’?”
[We should talk about this tomorrow. It’s better to meet somewhere private where we won’t be seen. Let’s meet at the inn on the second floor in the innermost room.]
“Still talking about the event…”
Before Sebastian could finish, Briana bowed quickly and left.
After she left, Sebastian stood frozen for a while, lost in thought.
“Excuse me…”
At that moment, the child who hadn’t left yet came up to Sebastian.
“I’m going to plant the potatoes as soon as I get home. Could you help me?”
Still staring at the place where Briana had gone, Sebastian barely shifted his gaze to the child.
“Ah, okay, I’ll help.”
“Thank you!”
The child bowed repeatedly, thanking him.
But Sebastian’s eyes never left the direction Briana had gone.
Later that night, close to midnight, Colin arrived at the Duke’s residence to report a few things.
He entered Sebastian’s office and found him leaning against the desk, staring off into space.
“Your Excellency, it’s Colin.”
“…”
Sebastian didn’t answer, lost in his thoughts.
Usually, Colin would’ve caught his attention before entering, but today, he seemed absent-minded.
Confused, Colin asked,
“What are you thinking about so deeply?”
“What does it mean when a woman asks to meet at an inn?”
Sebastian suddenly asked this, snapping out of his thoughts.
He didn’t even notice when Colin had entered and looked at him with surprise.
“Uh, what are you…?”
“Maybe she’s trying to see if you’re doing your part as a man.”
Colin glanced at Sebastian’s legs as he spoke.
In that instant, Sebastian smacked Colin’s head.
“Ouch!”
“Don’t talk like that. Watch your words.”
Sebastian clicked his tongue in frustration.
“Honestly, if a man and woman, two different people, meet at an inn, it can only mean one thing…”
“Colin?”
Colin, mid-rant, suddenly felt a chill run down his spine.
