Chapter 14
“…….”
“…….”
The Duke fell silent, and the adjutant standing beside him, looking at the cards together with him, was stunned.
The lord he served was absolutely not the kind of person children would ever want to see again.
He had a harsh personality that never showed mercy even to children, and at times his mischievousness went too far.
‘She didn’t run away screaming like a normal child… she came here on her own? What kind of life has this girl been living…’
While Dewayne looked at Aria with a gaze full of pity, it happened.
[I’m happy to see you again.]
Aria held the card tightly with both hands and smiled brightly.
Smiling was still unfamiliar to her. But as she thought of Dana, Betty, and the servants who had taken care of her, a smile bloomed on her face like it was spreading across her lips.
It was her first time feeling this.
‘How strange.’
Just recalling their warmth made her feel softly, pleasantly warm inside.
As she smiled innocently, the Duke let out a dumbfounded laugh.
“You came riding a hunting beast all the way here just because you missed me?”
Aria nodded.
It was true that she hadn’t seen the Duke at all since the first day.
There had been moments when she vaguely wondered what he was doing or where he was.
But not that much.
“Is that so.”
At that, the Duke twisted the corner of his mouth.
It was a phrase he had never heard even from his own son, yet it didn’t feel as unpleasant as he expected.
“So what, you want me to play with you?”
“…….”
“And do what, exactly?”
She had nothing to say to that.
‘Come to think of it, he’s right. If I came all the way here, I should at least have a purpose.’
They could only stare at each other blankly.
The Duke had never played with children before.
Aria had never properly played as a child either.
After briefly thinking while brushing his red lips with a finger, the Duke asked:
“Should I treat you like I treat my son?”
“That would be a disaster. Absolutely not normal play!”
The adjutant, who had been frozen like a stone until now, cut in with a serious expression.
“My lady, you came from beyond the border. And I heard you’ve been running a fever until a few days ago.”
What on earth did the Duke and his son usually do when playing together to make him react like that?
Aria fell into thought for a moment.
‘A normal, warm family playing together… I can’t even imagine it.’
If she had to imagine it, it would probably be some brutal, demonic kind of game with blood splattering everywhere.
“So you’ve just recovered after falling ill as soon as you arrived in the principality.”
Only then did the Duke release her nape. He looked at her as though it were a miracle she was still alive.
It was the same look Aria had seen from Lloyd.
And from Dana and Betty as well…
“Then are you fully recovered now?”
Aria nodded without hesitation at his question.
[I’d like to play with the wolves here.]
The Duke clicked his tongue in dissatisfaction.
“If you came to see me just to play with wolves, then why did you come at all? Kids are really unpredictable.”
Well, she hadn’t exactly come to see him in the first place.
Aria couldn’t find a reply and just moved her eyes around before writing something plausible on a card and holding it out.
[I’m happy just sitting next to you, Father.]
And at that moment, she quickly covered her mouth with both hands.
The faint smoke filling the office made her feel like she might cough.
For some reason, in front of the Duke, even coughing felt forbidden.
‘Ah… I’m used to cigarette smoke from my past life.’
It was harsh. The more she held back the cough, the more tears gathered in her eyes.
Noticing her condition, Dewayne whispered into the Duke’s ear.
“Your Highness, secondhand smoke is not good for a young lady who is already weak. There are also many approval documents that must be processed today.”
“So?”
“Perhaps you should ask her to come another time…”
“No.”
The Duke extinguished the half-burned cigarette in the ashtray and leaned back in his chair lazily.
“Open the windows.”
“Yes, sir!”
Dewayne quickly opened every window in the office.
The smoke vanished quickly, but now the strong wind made the curtains flap violently.
Aria instinctively hugged herself and shivered.
The Duke looked annoyed.
“You’re quite high-maintenance.”
He stood up and casually dropped his coat over Aria’s head.
Then he naturally took the card from her hands.
Aria struggled under the oversized coat, finally managing to peek her face out and look up at him.
The Duke, holding the card that read [I’m happy just sitting next to you, Father], slipped it into his pocket.
‘Why is he keeping that?’
Aria tilted her head while pulling the oversized coat into place.
“Then just breathe properly beside me.”
Instead of playing with her, the Duke gave her a strange instruction.
Aria already always breathed, so she didn’t understand why he was pointing it out. But once she became conscious of breathing, it suddenly felt difficult.
‘Inhale… exhale…’
As Aria silently counted her breaths on her fingers, the Duke let out a quiet laugh.
“You’ll suffocate like that.”
Aria felt wronged.
She had been breathing just fine until he made her think about it.
“You seem quite relaxed.”
At that moment, the adjutant returned with a stack of documents and dumped them on the desk.
“These are the documents you must process today.”
“I’d like at least a chance to breathe.”
“Your Highness could probably survive even if your breathing stopped for a while.”
“That sounds like you’re telling me to work even if I stop breathing.”
“Of course not.”
The Duke looked irritated, but unexpectedly began going through the documents properly and started working.
The desk was close enough that Aria could see what he was reading.
Since she had nothing else to do, she gently petted the wolf’s head and looked at the documents.
‘That is…’
It was paperwork related to Baron Cavendi.
It stated that the envoys sent for reconciliation with the Valentine Grand Duchy had all been suffering life-threatening conditions.
Although the principality was trying to suppress it due to fear of its power, the public believed it was a curse from demons.
‘Come to think of it, there was such an incident.’
A memory surfaced in Aria’s mind—Baron Cavendi’s vile smile.
“There was no time to respond—several envoys died. It was clearly our mistake, but they demanded enormous compensation, and we gave it without hesitation. Valentine was nothing special after all.”
Baron Cavendi had spread rumors that the envoys had fallen ill due to a curse from Valentine.
Thanks to that, his nearly ruined territory had been revived with compensation money from the Grand Duchy.
“They only wandered near the border without permission, claiming they were cursed… If you want to scheme, at least do it properly.”
The Duke asked, “And the investigation?”
“There were traces of fires lit in the forest. Nothing else unusual.”
“How troublesome. Should I just kill them?”
Aria flinched.
“That amount of money would be enough to kill Baron Cavendi a hundred times over.”
“Killing him would only make things more troublesome,” the adjutant replied.
“Am I expected to care about that?”
“Of course not.”
The adjutant responded flatly.
His expression suggested he meant that it would become troublesome for him, not the Duke.
‘So killing the baron would just become the adjutant’s problem?’
So that was how things worked in the principality.
Aria was slightly surprised.
“Hm… no, come to think of it, giving him money might not be bad.”
Then the Duke suddenly changed his mind.
The adjutant looked uneasy, already anticipating what would follow.
“I wonder how far he’ll fall while clinging to false hope. Rolling in the mud, crawling at my feet, begging for death…”
“Cough, Your Highness. The young lady is present. It might give her nightmares.”
Aria listened quietly, deep in thought.
‘Is there really any need to feed a fraud like that when there’s a better way?’
Baron Cavendi was a gambler and a spender—he would surely waste any money he got.
People don’t change easily.
After receiving compensation, he had visited Aria from time to time just to hear a song from a siren whose voice cost a fortune.
He would inevitably squander the money again.
Aria took out a fountain pen and began writing. The Duke and the adjutant both turned their attention to her.
[ I know how to cure the disease. ]
“You?”
The Duke raised an eyebrow, then rested his chin on his hand as if telling her to go ahead.
[You just need to take anti-parasite medicine.]
Aria presented her solution.
Very seriously.
Then, after a brief silence, the Duke burst into loud laughter.
