Duke Kyron spoke firmly.
“Drink. With Chaers.”
“Yes…?”
When I turned my head to look at him, Chaers avoided my gaze like a sulky child.
“Arielsa, Chaers had been bothering you a lot lately.”
“Duke!”
Duke Kyron asked him with an incredulous look on his face.
“Is that not it?”
“Cough. Not… much”
Chaers was furious but he did not deny it. Chaers attitude was nothing new to me but I was still nervous because I did not know what Duke Kyron was thinking.
I asked him timidly.
“Wh…y?”
Duke Kyron leaned back as he looked at Chaers while sipping on his glass.
Chaers coughed uncomfortably while I felt like I was a troublemaker called in the teacher’s office. Chaers clicked his tongue as he opened his mouth to speak.
“You’re going to say that it’s a coincidence that you saw the goblin grass that was attached to the Duke’s horse today. Right?”
“It’s a coincidence.”
I was already prepared for these questions so I answered him naturally.
“How do you explain it? It’s your first time seeing the hunting party?”
“Did I… make a mistake?”
I asked again as pitifully as I could. Chaers clicked his tongue harder. It seemed like he knew that I would answer like that.
Duke Kyron smirked.
“It’s not a coincidence even if it was a coincidence.”
“Then… Do you think I knew it in advance?”
Then, Chaers cut me off with anger clear in his voice.
“Since when have you been so impatient when greeting the Duke?”
“……?”
“When did you put the goblin grass there?”
“Heok……!”
I finally realized that Chaers was suspecting that the goblin grass incident was made by my own hands.
“What I value more is the reason for your actions than you.”
“……”
“The Duke has already asked you to come. But if you don’t appreciate it then you should be ashamed. Arielsa. I will be disappointed if you just tried to cover it up by being negligent with the Duke. More than before.”
Why are you bringing it up now!
I gritted my teeth. I was only barely able to let the words out from my clenched teeth.
“Since you’ve already made up your mind that I did this…”
I spoke to Duke Kyron seething in anger and filled with a sense of injustice.
“I know that Sir George is treating me well. I am grateful. But I never did such a thing… Sob.”
Even though I was speaking in tears, Duke Kyron just smiled at me lightly.
“I spoke to Chaers. You saved me so I should thank you. And you also have a mysterious yet serious disease. Ha.”
Chaers flinched and stiffened when Duke Kyron did not take his side. I knew the meaning of his gaze and smile.
‘You saved me for the third time. This is not a coincidence, Arielsa.’
That was when I realized that this was Duke Kyron’s trap.
He knew that it was not the doctor and that I was the one who saved him back in Movale. He had begun to doubt me back then but it was even more so because of what happened today. I felt like I was looking at the loopholes that I had created while I was being interrogated by Chaers.
A bone chilling coldness suddenly came down my back. I closed my mouth tightly.
However, even though I understood the situation, I was still unable to find a way out. No matter what I said, I was sure that I would either be criticized by Chaers or be doubted further by Duke Kyron.
What will you do if Arielsa cries?
However, even if that was how I thought, I knew that they were great men that wouldn’t even bat an eye when I cried. Especially Chaers. He would even scold me and tell me to not cry and just say what I had to say.
I grabbed the bottle that was in front of Chaers as I poured its content into the glass in my hand. Then, I spoke as pitifully as I could.
“It’s really unfair…!”
The two men’s eyes widened when they saw me drinking the alcohol in one go. Because of the embarrassment that started to creep up on me, my voice began to waver and sound more pitiful.
“Sob, sob. But it’s not like that… Dad…”
Yes!
However, contrary to my words, I was singing praises for myself inside. When I spoke the word Dad, Duke Kyron and Chaers’ faces both hardened.
I felt a bit apologetic, but at the very least, George was someone who supported me. If he got angry and asked Chaers for a duel then Harpel Castle would become noisy.
I made my voice sound more pitiful when I heard Chaers growling beside me.
“Sob… I didn’t do it…! Dad always told me to take good care of the Duke and live a good life but… sob…”
Chaers grabbed the bottle out of my hand when I tried to pour on my glass again.
“You don’t even doubt her?”
“Sob…!”
When I looked at him, my eyes were filled with sadness and resentment at the world’s unfairness. Chaers then glanced at Duke Kyron.
“She has a very mysterious disease. Did you even care about her ladder disease?”
“No!”
He did not care at all! This was the first time that I had encountered someone in the world who’s as insensitive and ungrateful as him!
I screamed inside but I still kept my pitiful appearance.
Chaer’s expression began to crumple.
“Are you telling me to be understanding because of her mysterious disease? That’s what you’re saying, right?”
“Sob… I didn’t do it.”
“I get it. I get it.”
Chaers took the glass in my hand as he quickly drank the contents. It seemed like he felt sick when he said something that he truly did not mean to say. Meanwhile, Duke Kyron just looked at the two of us quietly. His first glass was still half full.
This time, I looked at Duke Kyron.
“I’m going to go back, Duke. I’m not going to drink with Sir Chaers. Sob.”
“Arielsa!”
Chaers called out to me in a fluster but I still stood up while wiping the tears on my face with the back of my hand.
“My stomach feels weird. I’m going to make herbal tea.”
“Look here! You’re obsessed with tea! I’m the same, I’m also obsessed with my duty to serve the duke!”
Chaers was trying to say that it was unfair for him too but I cut him off cleanly.
“I’m not obsessed. It’s because the Duke loves tea.”
Duke Kyron slowly placed down his glass. I walked out of the office while sobbing but no one stopped me this time.
I closed the door of the office tightly. I realized that my heart was beating wildly as I walked down the hall.
I only felt a bit relaxed once I stepped away from the hallway where the office was located. I leaned on the wall near the stairs when I felt that my head was spinning and I was out of breath. It seems like I was finally feeling the drunkenness from the glass earlier.
I wanted to go to the garden to get some cold air. I wanted to calm myself down before going back to my room.
It might seem that I did that to get out of the office but I knew that it was only a stopgap measure. My brain did not work well because I was terrified and scared but now I could already feel the effects of the drink I had earlier.
It just felt heartbreaking that Duke Kyron was doubting me.
I struggled and suffered every day for his sake but instead of being praised and recognized, I was being suspected of hiding something. It was both sad and unfair.
I went down the stairs and opened the door that would lead to the garden. My heart felt heavy as the cold wind slapped my face squarely.
❄❅❄
The cold crescent moon shone in stark contrast to the cold and dark garden of Harpel Castle. There was a slight chill floating in the night air but it felt a bit bearable due to the rising heat in my body.
I did gymnastics as I stretched and folded my arms and legs to get my act together. It was my habit when I wanted to switch up my mood. Whenever I was studying all night, I would feel refreshed after I opened the window and did some gymnastics or stretching.
And even thought it was just a bit, I missed the simple and meaningless yet safe life that I had in the past.
“Bambaba, bambaba, bam, bababam. Bambaba, bambaba, bam, bababam… one, two, three, four…”
I felt a bit better as I hummed the tune to gymnastics while jumping with my flapping arms. Perhaps it was because of my drunkenness that I strangely felt emotional while trying to make myself feel better.
I shouted towards the sky from the garden.
“I want to go! I really want to go home!”
I slowly turned my head when I felt the cold and sharp blade nick the back of my neck. I could see the pale and white moon hanging above Duke Kyron’s head. He was emitting a subtle glow amidst the cold, somber and dreary garden. It was the glow of the soft and gentle aura of life.
“How dare you do such filthy sorcery in my castle, Arielsa.”
My head was tipsy and my body was overcome with shock. His blade shone blue as he aimed it at my neck. There was a faint murderous intent flowing from his eyes and voice.
My lips were dried and chapped but I couldn’t think of anything to say to him.
‘Sorcery…? No way, the gymnastics…?’
“Your real home? You’re clearly not my Arielsa. How dare you… How dare you cast sorcery, you high-ranked demonic beast!”
I was frightened.
“D, demonic beast?”
My head turned blank for a moment as Duke Kyron’s chillingly sharp sword nicked my jaw.
“Do you think that it would be easy to hide in my castle?”
I tried to answer him as I desperately held back my teeth from clacking together.
“I’m not a demonic beast! Duke Kyron.”
“But you’re also not Arielsa Lockeman.”
“Just now, what I just said now… It was because I was so cold that I imagined a warm place like my home. So―”
“―Shut up. Arielsa would not forget the reason why I’m drinking tea. Even if she was hit on the head with a mace and did not fall off a ladder.”
“Tea…? The tea?”
I felt suffocated.
I’m the one in charge of the tea in this place but I’m dying because of tea?
My intense fear brought forth Arielsa’s buried memory.
Duke Kyron spoke firmly.
“Drink. With Chaers.”
“Yes…?”
When I turned my head to look at him, Chaers avoided my gaze like a sulky child.
“Arielsa, Chaers had been bothering you a lot lately.”
“Duke!”
Duke Kyron asked him with an incredulous look on his face.
“Is that not it?”
“Cough. Not… much”
Chaers was furious but he did not deny it. Chaers attitude was nothing new to me but I was still nervous because I did not know what Duke Kyron was thinking.
I asked him timidly.
“Wh…y?”
Duke Kyron leaned back as he looked at Chaers while sipping on his glass.
Chaers coughed uncomfortably while I felt like I was a troublemaker called in the teacher’s office. Chaers clicked his tongue as he opened his mouth to speak.
“You’re going to say that it’s a coincidence that you saw the goblin grass that was attached to the Duke’s horse today. Right?”
“It’s a coincidence.”
I was already prepared for these questions so I answered him naturally.
“How do you explain it? It’s your first time seeing the hunting party?”
“Did I… make a mistake?”
I asked again as pitifully as I could. Chaers clicked his tongue harder. It seemed like he knew that I would answer like that.
Duke Kyron smirked.
“It’s not a coincidence even if it was a coincidence.”
“Then… Do you think I knew it in advance?”
Then, Chaers cut me off with anger clear in his voice.
“Since when have you been so impatient when greeting the Duke?”
“……?”
“When did you put the goblin grass there?”
“Heok……!”
I finally realized that Chaers was suspecting that the goblin grass incident was made by my own hands.
“What I value more is the reason for your actions than you.”
“……”
“The Duke has already asked you to come. But if you don’t appreciate it then you should be ashamed. Arielsa. I will be disappointed if you just tried to cover it up by being negligent with the Duke. More than before.”
Why are you bringing it up now!
I gritted my teeth. I was only barely able to let the words out from my clenched teeth.
“Since you’ve already made up your mind that I did this…”
I spoke to Duke Kyron seething in anger and filled with a sense of injustice.
“I know that Sir George is treating me well. I am grateful. But I never did such a thing… Sob.”
Even though I was speaking in tears, Duke Kyron just smiled at me lightly.
“I spoke to Chaers. You saved me so I should thank you. And you also have a mysterious yet serious disease. Ha.”
Chaers flinched and stiffened when Duke Kyron did not take his side. I knew the meaning of his gaze and smile.
‘You saved me for the third time. This is not a coincidence, Arielsa.’
That was when I realized that this was Duke Kyron’s trap.
He knew that it was not the doctor and that I was the one who saved him back in Movale. He had begun to doubt me back then but it was even more so because of what happened today. I felt like I was looking at the loopholes that I had created while I was being interrogated by Chaers.
A bone chilling coldness suddenly came down my back. I closed my mouth tightly.
However, even though I understood the situation, I was still unable to find a way out. No matter what I said, I was sure that I would either be criticized by Chaers or be doubted further by Duke Kyron.
What will you do if Arielsa cries?
However, even if that was how I thought, I knew that they were great men that wouldn’t even bat an eye when I cried. Especially Chaers. He would even scold me and tell me to not cry and just say what I had to say.
I grabbed the bottle that was in front of Chaers as I poured its content into the glass in my hand. Then, I spoke as pitifully as I could.
“It’s really unfair…!”
The two men’s eyes widened when they saw me drinking the alcohol in one go. Because of the embarrassment that started to creep up on me, my voice began to waver and sound more pitiful.
“Sob, sob. But it’s not like that… Dad…”
Yes!
However, contrary to my words, I was singing praises for myself inside. When I spoke the word Dad, Duke Kyron and Chaers’ faces both hardened.
I felt a bit apologetic, but at the very least, George was someone who supported me. If he got angry and asked Chaers for a duel then Harpel Castle would become noisy.
I made my voice sound more pitiful when I heard Chaers growling beside me.
“Sob… I didn’t do it…! Dad always told me to take good care of the Duke and live a good life but… sob…”
Chaers grabbed the bottle out of my hand when I tried to pour on my glass again.
“You don’t even doubt her?”
“Sob…!”
When I looked at him, my eyes were filled with sadness and resentment at the world’s unfairness. Chaers then glanced at Duke Kyron.
“She has a very mysterious disease. Did you even care about her ladder disease?”
“No!”
He did not care at all! This was the first time that I had encountered someone in the world who’s as insensitive and ungrateful as him!
I screamed inside but I still kept my pitiful appearance.
Chaer’s expression began to crumple.
“Are you telling me to be understanding because of her mysterious disease? That’s what you’re saying, right?”
“Sob… I didn’t do it.”
“I get it. I get it.”
Chaers took the glass in my hand as he quickly drank the contents. It seemed like he felt sick when he said something that he truly did not mean to say. Meanwhile, Duke Kyron just looked at the two of us quietly. His first glass was still half full.
This time, I looked at Duke Kyron.
“I’m going to go back, Duke. I’m not going to drink with Sir Chaers. Sob.”
“Arielsa!”
Chaers called out to me in a fluster but I still stood up while wiping the tears on my face with the back of my hand.
“My stomach feels weird. I’m going to make herbal tea.”
“Look here! You’re obsessed with tea! I’m the same, I’m also obsessed with my duty to serve the duke!”
Chaers was trying to say that it was unfair for him too but I cut him off cleanly.
“I’m not obsessed. It’s because the Duke loves tea.”
Duke Kyron slowly placed down his glass. I walked out of the office while sobbing but no one stopped me this time.
I closed the door of the office tightly. I realized that my heart was beating wildly as I walked down the hall.
I only felt a bit relaxed once I stepped away from the hallway where the office was located. I leaned on the wall near the stairs when I felt that my head was spinning and I was out of breath. It seems like I was finally feeling the drunkenness from the glass earlier.
I wanted to go to the garden to get some cold air. I wanted to calm myself down before going back to my room.
It might seem that I did that to get out of the office but I knew that it was only a stopgap measure. My brain did not work well because I was terrified and scared but now I could already feel the effects of the drink I had earlier.
It just felt heartbreaking that Duke Kyron was doubting me.
I struggled and suffered every day for his sake but instead of being praised and recognized, I was being suspected of hiding something. It was both sad and unfair.
I went down the stairs and opened the door that would lead to the garden. My heart felt heavy as the cold wind slapped my face squarely.
❄❅❄
The cold crescent moon shone in stark contrast to the cold and dark garden of Harpel Castle. There was a slight chill floating in the night air but it felt a bit bearable due to the rising heat in my body.
I did gymnastics as I stretched and folded my arms and legs to get my act together. It was my habit when I wanted to switch up my mood. Whenever I was studying all night, I would feel refreshed after I opened the window and did some gymnastics or stretching.
And even thought it was just a bit, I missed the simple and meaningless yet safe life that I had in the past.
“Bambaba, bambaba, bam, bababam. Bambaba, bambaba, bam, bababam… one, two, three, four…”
I felt a bit better as I hummed the tune to gymnastics while jumping with my flapping arms. Perhaps it was because of my drunkenness that I strangely felt emotional while trying to make myself feel better.
I shouted towards the sky from the garden.
“I want to go! I really want to go home!”
I slowly turned my head when I felt the cold and sharp blade nick the back of my neck. I could see the pale and white moon hanging above Duke Kyron’s head. He was emitting a subtle glow amidst the cold, somber and dreary garden. It was the glow of the soft and gentle aura of life.
“How dare you do such filthy sorcery in my castle, Arielsa.”
My head was tipsy and my body was overcome with shock. His blade shone blue as he aimed it at my neck. There was a faint murderous intent flowing from his eyes and voice.
My lips were dried and chapped but I couldn’t think of anything to say to him.
‘Sorcery…? No way, the gymnastics…?’
“Your real home? You’re clearly not my Arielsa. How dare you… How dare you cast sorcery, you high-ranked demonic beast!”
I was frightened.
“D, demonic beast?”
My head turned blank for a moment as Duke Kyron’s chillingly sharp sword nicked my jaw.
“Do you think that it would be easy to hide in my castle?”
I tried to answer him as I desperately held back my teeth from clacking together.
“I’m not a demonic beast! Duke Kyron.”
“But you’re also not Arielsa Lockeman.”
“Just now, what I just said now… It was because I was so cold that I imagined a warm place like my home. So―”
“―Shut up. Arielsa would not forget the reason why I’m drinking tea. Even if she was hit on the head with a mace and did not fall off a ladder.”
“Tea…? The tea?”
I felt suffocated.
I’m the one in charge of the tea in this place but I’m dying because of tea?
My intense fear brought forth Arielsa’s buried memory.
