ESL Chapter 13

“I’m Joseph, the new administrative officer who just arrived. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Sir Hugo.”

“Ah~ So you’re that capable administrative officer I’ve heard about. I hear you’ve made the Duke’s work much easier. I look forward to working with you.”

Hugo’s large hand patted Lea’s shoulder with a thud. When the impact he usually delivered to his knights’ shoulders struck her shoulder, she slightly frowned. Seeing this, Kaid chuckled quietly and reached out to grab her arm, pulling her slightly toward him. Feeling how thin her arm was beneath the fabric—thin enough to fit in his one hand—he wondered how she could wield a sword with such slender arms and said:

“My, my. You shouldn’t treat such a delicate civil official the way you do your subordinates.”

Lea, who was grateful to be rescued but displeased that he wasn’t removing his hand from her arm, raised her free hand and removed the man’s hand from her arm. Then she bowed lightly to Kaid and Hugo.

“Well then, gentlemen, if you’ll excuse me. I have many documents to process.”

Kaid watched Lea’s retreating figure heading toward the office for a while before looking at Hugo when he heard his voice.

“How should I put it… He’s strangely beautiful. Don’t you think so too, Your Highness?”

“Strangely beautiful… Hehe… That’s how it appears now.”

“Pardon?”

“Never mind. Let’s spar.”

Kaid climbed onto the training ground with a pleasant smile. Hugo followed behind him, tilting his head in puzzlement.

****

Michelle opened her eyes with difficulty, feeling a splitting headache. Her eyelids felt as heavy as if stones were hanging from them. As her blurry vision slowly cleared, she realized she was in her own bed at the ducal residence. Since she didn’t feel pain in her back, it seemed they had treated it. But the true wound that was bleeding untreated was her soul.

“Hng… hngh… ugh…”

She trembled as if convulsing. The rough touch and scent of the men who had handled her seemed to still linger all over her body. She had to receive them while her back was covered in blood and untreated, and they had played with her and violated her roughly as if she were truly a prostitute. Even after she lost consciousness, they apparently hadn’t stopped—her lower body throbbed with tremendous pain. The metallic taste wouldn’t leave her mouth.

“Haa… haa…”

Tears flowed from Michelle’s eyes and she covered her face with both hands. She thought she had forgotten everything, but apparently not. Abram had given her a cruel gift cruel enough to make everything she had desperately worked to achieve until now seem futile. She truly felt as if she would shudder at the sight of any man now, just as he had said.

“…I won’t forgive you… That bastard… I’ll definitely… send you to hell…”

A voice filled with bitter resentment flowed between her clenched teeth. If she didn’t do at least this much, she felt she wouldn’t be able to breathe.

****

“What is this?”

Lea, who had boarded the carriage to go home, asked in annoyance at seeing Kaid already in the carriage waiting for her.

“I thought we needed to talk. I have some questions too. Depart.”

At Kaid’s command, the coachman closed the door and started the carriage.

“Where are we going?”

At Lea’s sharp tone, he gave a slight smile. His sculptured face was truly charming when he smiled like that, but it didn’t work on her anger. Sensing her eyes narrowing more and more, Kaid quickly withdrew his smile and said:

“I had them circle near the ducal residence for a bit. So don’t be so angry. When you get angry, I don’t know what to do. Usually when I smile like this, other young ladies calm down.”

“Then go smile at those young ladies.”

Oh dear… Kaid inwardly smiled at Lea’s thoroughly irritated appearance.

“I won’t keep you long, so don’t worry. More importantly, won’t you show me your real appearance now? Since you’re with me, there won’t be anyone watching. Above all, we’re inside the carriage.”

So he knew about the surveillance too… Lea let out a quiet sigh and removed her glasses and took off the ring from her finger. As her ordinary brown eyes changed to unforgettable, striking red eyes, and her ordinary brown hair changed to jet-black hair long as a deep night, Kaid once again admired her captivating beauty. Such a fragrant flower even before fully blooming… Suddenly he felt a thirst and frowned slightly. It was a feeling he had never experienced before, something stirring somewhere in his heart. But he had no time to examine that emotion. Beautiful red eyes, deepened as if to burn him, were glaring at him.

“Hurry up and speak. I’m rather busy.”

It wasn’t a lie. She had to go back and talk with Abel about the sword case, and tomorrow at dawn she had to go to the forest to rescue Count Roman’s daughter. Above all, didn’t she need to rest too? As she grumbled inwardly, she flinched at Kaid’s question.

“Lea, by any chance, are you Duke Kaien’s lost daughter?”

“…..”

When she didn’t answer, Kaid nodded as if confirming his suspicion. Only now could he understand Duke Kaien’s reaction from before.

“So that’s why he made that expression when I told him about you last time.”

“…What?”

When Lea looked at him questioningly, Kaid answered with a smile.

“His face hardened completely and he left first. It was the first time I’d seen the Duke so flustered. But why are you hiding your appearance from the Duke? He would be truly happy to see you.”

“………………”

When she confirmed that she and her mother had been kidnapped, she had thought her father might be happy if she appeared, but hearing it from someone else’s mouth made her chest ache somehow, and Lea couldn’t say anything for a moment. When the red eyes that had been blazing like flames just moments ago wavered with emotion, Kaid felt an impulse to embrace her. Right now, she seemed infinitely fragile. But a moment later, she had returned to normal as if nothing had happened.

“Because the time isn’t right yet. I’d appreciate it if Your Highness would keep the secret too.”

“Can’t you tell me the circumstances? I’d like to help if I can. I have quite a bit of power, more than you think.”

Was this to lift her sunken mood? At Kaid’s warm offer that seemed like comfort, Lea unconsciously formed a gentle smile at the corners of her mouth. And her first unguarded, beautiful smile froze him. His heart, which had never moved at any woman’s smile, was slowly beating faster at one small smile.

‘This is dangerous…’

While Kaid was smiling invisibly bitterly, Lea put her ring back on and put on her glasses. Then she said to him:

“I’ll gratefully receive just your words. And if you’re done talking, could you take me to the central district?”

Intuiting that keeping her any longer would be difficult to handle given her personality, he took her to where she wanted without further comment. And before she got out, he held her hand and said seriously:

“I clearly remember being indebted to you. So contact me anytime if you need anything.”

“……I will.”

Though it was a reluctant answer, only after hearing her response did he release her hand. After getting out of the carriage, Lea glared at the departing carriage’s rear for a while. She was worried about how they would interpret a mere administrative officer’s meeting with a prince, and anger at Prince Kaid for making her worry about this surged up again. But when she recalled his serious golden eyes as he told her to contact him if needed, she ultimately let out a resigned sigh and muttered with a slight twist of her lips:

“…At this rate, I’ll have to collect this debt somehow.”

She turned and disappeared into the streets.

****

Helen regained consciousness at the feeling of her body being carried on something and swaying. Her eyelids were so heavy they wouldn’t lift as if they were waterlogged cotton, but her mind was gradually becoming clearer. At the same time, as the terrible things that had happened to her came to mind, she involuntarily screamed. But the scream only echoed inside her mouth and didn’t flow out between her tightly closed lips. After struggling in agony screaming for who knows how long, as reason slowly returned along with despair, she began to examine her condition. When she used all her strength to lift her eyelids slightly, her vision that was cloudy at first gradually became clear. And when she saw a man’s legs and shoes, she realized she was being carried on a man’s shoulder. On her still naked body, she felt thin fabric. She had probably been rolled up in a blanket.

‘…sob… sob sob…’

Tears welled in her eyes and fell drop by drop to the floor. She couldn’t understand why she had to suffer such things. For her first experience, forced to receive his thing without any preparation, her lower body had no sensation now from too many insertions. Especially, he had enjoyed shoving his thing into her mouth and grabbing her hair to move roughly while she choked and suffered, unable to breathe. As if he had an obsession with women’s hair, he only did it from behind, and even when moving after insertion, he would grab her hair and not let go. If she resisted even slightly, beatings followed without fail. Her face and body were probably covered in bruises everywhere. Those two days were hell for her, and he was a demon. Her dream—that every woman has—of meeting a man she loves, having a baby, and living happily was shattered by him. So much so that it could never be put back together. As she floundered in inescapable despair, she heard the voice of the man carrying her.

“By the way, what’s the occasion? It hasn’t even been a month this time.”

Then another man’s voice was heard. Apparently there was another man besides this one.

“I don’t know either. I heard something briefly, but I don’t know if it’s true…”

“What is it?”

“I heard she was received as a gift? Apparently sent by some organization that wants to help the prince. But you know.”

The man’s voice suddenly lowered. It was at a volume that only the man carrying Helen and Helen could hear.