“My lady! Sir Hugo is coming up to the second floor with the knight order right now!”
At the urgent cry of the maid who rushed in, Michelle’s face, which had been staring fixedly at the magic communication device, twisted severely.
“You gave me a defective product telling me to use it in emergencies?!”
In the end, the magic communication device fell to the floor and shattered into pieces at the hands of the enraged Michelle. Huffing and puffing, she paced back and forth in the room, anxiously gnawing at her nails.
How had things turned out this way? When she checked after hearing that the knight order had entered the ducal residence and was dragging away servants and maids, they were all spies she and Abram had planted. Startled, she called the shadows to contact Abram, but not one of the ten shadows responded.
‘They’ve definitely been caught. What’s all this commotion about all of a sudden?! Has the Duke gone mad? Is he getting tired of waiting and self-destructing?’
Various assumptions flashed through her mind. However, she failed to consider the possibility that he might have rescued the Duchess. After all, he couldn’t suddenly do something he hadn’t done in 17 years.
“That’s right! That’s still left.”
Michelle remembered the poison she had intended to use as a final threat and hurriedly rummaged through the bottom drawer of the cabinet to pull out a small transparent bottle hidden in the corner. She clutched it tightly with both hands and hugged it to her chest. Meanwhile, Hugo burst into her room leading the knight order.
“What is the meaning of this?! Where do you think you are to come barging in?!”
As Michelle shrieked shrilly, Hugo looked at her with eyes as if viewing an insect. Whenever he saw this woman who had seized the Duchess’s position through blackmail and committed all manner of scandals and evil deeds, he couldn’t help but feel murderous intent. Just thinking about all the incidents the Duke had to endure because of her made him want to cut her down immediately, but to officially make her face justice, she had to be kept alive.
“We’ve come to capture spies by His Grace’s order. If you resist, we’ll have no choice but to use force, so please comply quietly.”
At Hugo’s firm tone as he held his sword, Michelle ground her teeth invisibly. At his signal, knights entered and dragged out her two maids.
“My lady, please save us!”
“Kyaaah! My lady!!”
Even hearing the maids’ screams and wails, Michelle didn’t bat an eye. Rather, she looked at Hugo with venomous eyes and asked.
“Did he tell you to drag me out too? His Grace, I mean!”
“He did give the order, but if you’ll walk on your own, I won’t stop you.”
At Hugo’s cold and somewhat contemptuous words, Michelle, seething with venom, shouted sharply.
“I need to hear it with my own ears! I’m not leaving here until I hear it…!”
Before her shout could even finish, the Duke’s voice was heard, coldly cutting her off.
“Must you hear it to know?”
Finding the Duke already there, looking at her with ruthless eyes, Michelle bit her lower lip hard enough to draw blood. It had been a full 17 years. The time she had spent trying to seduce him… And the end was always those eyes.
“…Those disgusting eyes… You’ve always been like that… From the moment you first saw me, you had those eyes… Well, it doesn’t matter. More than that, you turned out to be just another worthless man after all. Even knowing that this action of yours will ultimately cut off the breath of your wife and daughter, you still couldn’t hold back and moved.”
At Michelle’s venomous sarcasm, the Duke looked at her with an expression that said she wasn’t worth responding to. There was no need to tell her that he had already found his daughter and that she had rescued his wife too. And at his attitude, Michelle burst into high, sharp laughter. Laughing like a madwoman, she made her eyes gleam dangerously and said.
“But you know what? Duke! And Hugo, you too! If I just open the lid of this bottle, it’s over.”
The Duke’s and Hugo’s gazes turned to the transparent bottle she held out. Watching them, Michelle continued with a low chuckle.
“There’s already plenty of poison accumulated in your bodies. Do you know what happens when the poison you’ve been exposed to for 17 years meets the fragrance in this bottle? Instant death! So go ahead and do as you please! If you so much as lay a hand on me, I’ll…!”
“So you mean you’ll do this with the bottle?”
Just as the Duke had cut off her words before, this time a transparent, pleasant, clear voice cut off her words. As she was momentarily dazed in surprise, long white fingers moved so fast they were invisible, snatching the bottle from her hand and dropping it to the floor.
“Kyaaaaaah!!!!”
Michelle screamed at the sight of the bottle shattered into pieces on the floor. A sweet fragrance, like candy or fruit, spread throughout the entire second floor. Now the Duke and Hugo would cough up blood and die… Michelle, who had turned pale, realized that both the Duke and Hugo were standing perfectly fine, looking at her as if she were insane.
“How…how are you still alive? That shouldn’t be possible…!”
As Michelle muttered as if in a daze, she was startled by a voice right next to her.
“That’s because the poison has already been neutralized. Former Duchess. Or should I call you Michelle now?”
“What…?”
In the pupils of Michelle, who turned her head with a dazed expression, the face of a girl with jet-black hair and red eyes filled her vision. She was an incredibly beautiful and alluring girl, but the smile on her lips was as ruthless as the Duke’s.
“You…you! That’s impossible! Abram said he abandoned you. He said he abandoned you in the forest…”
Watching Michelle back away and shout in disbelief, Lea kindly repeated the same words she had said to Abram.
“I’m rather lucky, you see. So will you please go quietly now? I don’t want to bring my mother to this unpleasant space where you are.”
“Drag that woman out and lock her in the underground dungeon with the spies!”
As soon as Lea finished speaking, the Duke’s frost-like order fell. As if they had been waiting, knights approached and tried to forcibly drag Michelle out. Michelle struggled, but the strength of a weak woman was no match for the knights. She was eventually dragged away in a wretched state with her clothes torn here and there. Watching the scene, Lea turned her head at the Duke’s worried voice.
“Are you hurt anywhere? Where did you leave Ian to be wandering around alone?”
Her heart warmed at the sight of her father gripping both her shoulders and examining her entire body to see if she was injured. She raised her hand and squeezed the hand on her shoulder tightly.
“I’m fine. More importantly, look who I’ve brought.”
Lea took her father’s hand and left Michelle’s room. Then she stepped aside so the figure standing and waiting in the corridor could be seen.
“…Rien…?”
The Duke thought what he was seeing was an illusion. With golden hair like woven gold and marine blue eyes brimming with tears… More mature than in his memories but still more beautiful than anyone else, his wife filled his vision.
“Eric…!”
As Rien flew into his arms as if she had been waiting, the Duke spread his arms wide and embraced her. Her fragrance, her body felt in his arms, told him this was not a dream. The Duke, his eyes tightly shut in overwhelming joy, buried his face in her shoulder and apologized in a trembling voice.
“…I’m sorry… for not protecting you…”
“…No… Just meeting you again like this… I couldn’t ask for more…I missed you…Eric…”
Tears flowing from Rien’s eyes dampened the Duke’s chest. And Rien’s shoulder was also getting wet with the Duke’s hot tears. Hugo, who had been watching the touching reunion with reddened eyes, came to his senses at Lea’s signal and quietly withdrew leading the knights. Lea also followed Hugo, holding Abel’s hand. What the two people needed now was time alone together.
Hugo, who came down to the living room, bowed his head to Lea in greeting. Except for him, the knights who had been brought up to the second floor had been switched to mansion guard duty in place of the knights who had gone to deal with Abram’s branch, and were immediately deployed to their mission.
“It’s an honor to meet you, my lady. I am Hugo Pegate, leading the Kaien knight order.”
Even without hearing any explanation from the Duke, he could immediately tell. This beautiful and alluring girl who looked exactly like the Duke was the Duke’s one and only daughter who had been lost, and their young mistress.
“I am butler Jeromey Rudolphen. Please just call me Jerome.”
Jerome, whose heart felt relieved now that all the spies had been dragged away, also stood next to Hugo and greeted Lea.
“……”
Lea tilted her head at their greetings, then exclaimed “Ah!” as if something had occurred to her and burst into low laughter.
“What’s wrong, Lea?”
At Abel’s words, Lea answered, still laughing.
“For a moment I was thinking, ‘Why are these two greeting me as if it’s the first time?’ It is the first time for this appearance though. I didn’t realize it myself, but I must have been quite tense today. Judging by how slow my mind is working.”
“I see.”
Hugo and Jerome, who had been listening to their conversation, wore puzzled expressions. What did she mean this appearance was the first time…? Unable to understand what she meant as they looked at her, Lea smiled and pulled out a ring from her pants pocket and put it on her finger.
“Joseph?!”
Hugo and Jerome exclaimed in surprise simultaneously. The young lady had disappeared and Joseph without glasses was standing there. But looking at him without glasses, only his hair and eye color were different – his features were exactly like the Duke’s.
“To think Joseph was the young lady…”
As Jerome spoke in a daze, Hugo’s eyes showed he agreed. Meanwhile, Lea, who had removed the ring again, bowed her head lightly to the two men in greeting.
“We met when I was Joseph, but let me greet you formally. Sir Hugo. Jerome. I look forward to working with you.”
“We look forward to working with you as well.”
Hugo, who finally understood why she had laughed, answered with an embarrassed smile. Jerome also seemed embarrassed upon learning that Joseph had been the young lady.
‘She’s really grown up beautifully.’
Hugo, who had been looking at Lea contentedly, turned his gaze to Abel standing next to her. He had been curious since the second floor. What kind of relationship did he have with the young lady to be holding hands so affectionately? Abel, in his eyes, was an incredible beauty. He appeared to be about the same age as the young lady, and his silver hair and silver eyes were quite mysterious. Moreover, his features carved on his snow-white face were each flawlessly handsome as if drawn. Hugo wasn’t the only one curious about their relationship. Butler Jerome was also looking at Abel with a strange gaze. And Abel, noticing their gazes, looked at Lea and said.
“Now that things seem safe, I’ll be heading back.”
“Mm…”
At Abel’s words, Lea nodded. Knowing too well how much he disliked the human world, she couldn’t hold him back any longer. She was just grateful that he had stayed with her until now. But perhaps her expression didn’t match her thoughts, because Abel, looking at her, smiled warmly and said.
“Why are you making such a disappointed face?”
Then he bent down and gently touched his forehead to Lea’s, whispering.
“You are the master of my soul. Whenever you call, I’ll come running. So… don’t make that face… You know it really doesn’t suit you, right? Confidence suits you best.”
As his words that started gently ended up becoming teasing, a chuckle escaped from Lea’s lips. Only then did Abel raise a satisfied smile to his lips and returned to his home using spatial movement.
‘Thank you, Abel…’
As she thanked him in her heart, she felt Ian’s presence sneaking into the mansion and turned her head toward the direction where he would appear. Ian seemed slightly surprised that she had detected his location, but he revealed himself and bowed. In one arm he was holding a large quantity of documents.
“I’ve found and brought all the documents that were hidden in the mansion as you instructed, my lady.”
“You’ve worked hard. Thank you, Ian.”
“Here they are.”
What Ian held out was quite a large quantity of documents. Lea’s eyes lit up as she tried to take the documents he offered. Then Ian shook his head.
“They’re too heavy for you to hold, my lady. I’ll take them to your room.”
“Mm…”
She suddenly thought that when she came to live here, the first thing she would need to do was change people’s perception of her. Everyone saw her as too weak. Though she might not look it, she had been the top bounty hunter in the Kingdom of Hamel. But since there was nothing she could do about it right now, she looked at Jerome and asked.
“Jerome. Which room should I use?”