Chapter 11 ….
“It seems your character is lacking as well, but you’re still less bad than thieves, so I’ll let it slide with my eyes.”
“My character… is that bad? I had no idea.”
The duke muttered as if wounded, but no matter what, it would still be less than the pale faces of the thieves.
Eventually, the man with the monocle gestured toward the knights.
“Shall we go, Lady Hanisha?”
“Y-yes…”
As he took my hand and led me into the castle, the cries of the thieves begging for their lives echoed behind us.
The man with the monocle was the butler of the Stukkia Duke.
“You can just call me your butler,” he said.
While he held my hand and we entered the castle, I briefly explained why I had come here. I left out detailed explanations and only said that since my family wanted to abandon me, I had chosen Stukkia instead.
It was a slightly more detailed version of what I had just told the Duke of Stukkia.
To prevent further misunderstandings, I added that the man eaten by the monster was a very bad criminal.
“So, Lady Hanisha, what you mean is…”
The butler spoke as he listened to me.
“You had no choice but to leave your family and act to grant freedom to the maid you love.”
“Y-yes, that’s right.”
“So you lured our gatekeeper as bait, entered the Duke’s estate safely without a single hair on that cute little thing being harmed, and on top of that, bravely defeated the thieves as well, is that it?”
I hadn’t said all that… but it wasn’t entirely wrong, so I nodded absentmindedly.
“Oh, my.”
The butler let out a small sigh and pulled a handkerchief from his coat pocket, starting to wipe his eyes.
“It’s truly a story one can’t hear without tears. This butler is deeply moved.”
“Eh, you’re crying?”
“But I don’t usually shed tears easily.”
In an instant, he wiped the handkerchief with a crisp snap, erasing all traces of emotion from his face.
“….”
I had thought this from the moment I first saw him…
This was definitely not an ordinary person…
I instinctively shrank back, and he suddenly looked into the distance and said:
“…Anyway, this is the second time.”
His voice was serious, without a trace of humor.
“The second person to open the Duke’s gate by offering a person—especially a truly bad one—as payment.”
His gaze fell on the monster in my arms.
“And the second person to hold that fellow in their arms as well.”
There was an emotion in his eyes I couldn’t identify.
But the second time? What did that mean?
Before I could ask, the butler, now without a smile, took a step back and bowed politely.
“I’ll guide you to the room you’ll be staying in.”
As he said this, he took the monster from my arms.
“W-wait a moment!”
I grabbed him urgently, and he turned. Even the monster in my arms tilted its head.
I swallowed nervously and asked:
“D-do you not want to ask anything else?”
Of course, there wasn’t much he could ask, but as the Duke’s butler, he might be curious about who I was.
“Why would I ask?”
His answer was unexpected.
“As you know, this place is a heap of garbage. We accept everything—objects, beasts, monsters, and even people. It doesn’t matter what kind of person you are, Lady Hanisha.”
He smiled lightly as he said this.
It was as if my background truly meant nothing to them.
He shrugged lightly.
“Well, perhaps Lady Hanisha is actually the Duke’s daughter after all.”
“That’s…”
Impossible.
Agnito and Stukkia were enemies, and Stukkia had been a heap of garbage even before my mother got pregnant with me. My mother wouldn’t have sought out this place.
Since I couldn’t say that, I stayed silent. The butler, who had been watching me, clapped his hands lightly and said:
“Very well. Now, come inside. The maids will guide you.”
As he said this, as if on cue, people in maid uniforms appeared.
“This is Lady Hanisha, who will become the Duke’s daughter.”
“Nice to meet you, Lady Hanisha. We look forward to working with you.”
Like the butler, the maids didn’t seem surprised at all that she was the daughter.
‘People here really aren’t easily surprised,’ I thought.
I was letting go of the butler’s hand and taking the maid’s hand when I remembered something.
‘Ah, right.’
I had heard that the Duke of Stukkia always had a right-hand man by his side.
The Duke of Stukkia was pretty crazy himself, but that man was even more extreme. Only someone utterly insane could handle him, as the Duke of Agnito had once said before my reincarnation.
‘With something this big happening, where on earth is that right-hand man?’
I tilted my head when a voice called out.
“Ah, Lady Hanisha.”
I turned at the sound. The butler was now looking at me.
“Just so you know, you might hear some strange sounds tonight.”
“…Excuse me?”
“It might sound like screams and be unpleasant to hear, but don’t be too afraid. Once you get used to it, it will be sweeter than the music of any musician.”
The butler smiled faintly as he said this.
A strange sense of unease ran through my head.
I swallowed and asked:
“B-but, Butler…”
“Yes, Lady Hanisha?”
“May I ask your name?”
“Oh, I didn’t tell you that, did I?”
After a brief sigh, he placed a hand on his chest and bowed politely.
“But I’m sorry. I’ve already abandoned my past, so I don’t have a name. You can just call me your butler.”
He clearly had no intention of revealing it.
So I changed my question.
“Then… are the screams… human?”
The butler answered straightforwardly.
“Hmm… no?”
“….”
“They probably aren’t.”
“….”
“Perhaps.”
As I thought, this person was definitely Caron.
The Duke’s right-hand. The mad dog of the battlefield. Stukkia’s top crazy man, who loved blood more than water…
Perhaps thinking I was frightened, he kindly added:
“Just think of it as a lullaby. What comes out of their mouths is similar either way. After listening a while, it will sound sweet.”
How could it be similar, and how could it be sweet?
I swallowed the lingering words, and the butler, humming a tune, disappeared.
I was assigned two maids: the brown-haired Anna, and the dark-haired Harty.
With them, I headed straight to the shower. I expected a poor environment, but it was cleaner than I thought, and the hot water worked well.
“Is the water temperature okay?”
“Yes, it’s fine.”
“Please speak freely. You came as the Duke’s daughter, so it’s natural to lower your tone.”
Harty, the dark-haired maid, said.
“Oh, okay….”
Even though I knew that, it felt unfamiliar, and when I added that, Harty smiled faintly.
It wasn’t as cold or rigid as I had expected.
I cautiously spoke, observing them.
“I’m curious about something…”
“Please, go ahead.”
“What kind of person is the butler who was with the Duke?”
“Oh, you mean Caron. He was a comrade who fought alongside the current Duke of Stukkia, Pater.”
“Although now he has switched to being a butler.”
Harty added quietly, and Anna gently corrected her:
“Harty…”
Still, neither of them seemed to be working here reluctantly.
‘They actually seem very loyal.’
Which made me even more curious.
Stukkia was infamous as a place unfit for living.
Not just because the north was naturally harsh.
The reason… was the Duke of Stukkia himself.
Fifteen years ago, the Duke of Stukkia was Enril Stukkia, the first-born.
Until then, Stukkia was only known for its cold climate and numerous monsters; it wasn’t yet feared as the ‘heap of garbage’ it is now.
Enril Stukkia, the wise and merciful first-born and duke.
And the rough, sly, but powerful swordmaster, the second-born, Pater Stukkia.
Everyone believed that as long as these two lived, the north would remain strong.
Moreover, the first-born Enril was engaged to Trisha Klein, princess of the Klein Principality.
A marriage between the prosperous principality’s princess and the duke.
Enril’s love for Trisha was so deep that everyone expected Stukkia’s prosperity.
But in an instant, all those expectations were shattered.
Trisha was pregnant with another man’s child.
Her fiancé’s younger brother.
That is, Pater Stukkia’s child.
