#20
“I’m fine now.”
“Yes. I know.”
“I could go attend to business.”
“My job is to stay by Young Master’s side.”
That was true. Since I had made Kara work so hard when I was sick, I hoped she could rest even for a moment.
The rice porridge I had been eating little by little had finally reached the bottom of the bowl. Kara cleaned up the bowl and spoon I had been using, then stood up holding the tray I had been supporting.
“Your Grace will be coming shortly.”
The person who didn’t even visit when I was sick was coming now that I was better. As expected of this game’s greatest villain.
“Yeah. I understand.”
“Young Master.”
“Yeah?”
Kara was looking at me while holding the tray. Though her face looked cold, I could read the worry contained within it.
“I’m truly relieved that you’ve recovered.”
After saying that, Kara gave me a short bow and turned around to go outside. I wanted to say thank you for staying by my side too, but I regretfully missed the timing.
This illness had definitely been really dangerous. I thought the Duke was what would endanger my life, but it was actually my health. In a world like this where proper medical technology wasn’t developed, illness could be the most frightening enemy.
From now on, I should take naps properly when Kara tells me to. I often forgot that I was still young.
As I was reflecting on my physical condition and the limits of my stamina, the closed door opened. The person who entered was the Duke, just as Kara had told me earlier.
The Duke who entered the room didn’t give me a chance to greet him. He came and sat beside me directly, then immediately opened his mouth.
“The fever.”
“I’m fine now.”
The headache had mostly gone away and I wasn’t breaking out in cold sweats either. At this level, even if not perfect, I belonged to the relatively healthy category. However, perhaps my answer wasn’t satisfactory, as the Duke reached out his hand to touch my forehead. I opened my eyes wide in surprise at the Duke’s sudden warmth.
I had no idea what kind of emotional change had occurred. I couldn’t believe the Duke had directly laid his hand on me.
“Yes, you seem fine now.”
I couldn’t even answer his words. I just stared blankly at his fingertips that had fallen away, thinking it was absurd that the hand that had touched me was real.
Could it be that he came because he was worried about whether I had really recovered? It was something the usual Duke would never do. I kept my mouth shut and waited for the Duke to open his mouth.
“Andelion.”
The Duke called my name once.
“You don’t need to go to the palace anymore.”
“……Pardon?”
“You don’t need to come anymore.”
What was this all about suddenly?
It wasn’t like I hadn’t gone to work for months due to a major accident and my position disappeared – being suddenly fired like this didn’t make sense. I couldn’t believe it at all and tried to ask the Duke specifically.
However, just as he hadn’t given me a chance to greet him, the Duke didn’t wait for me to ask and stood up from his seat.
“Wait, wait a moment.”
I urgently reached out to the Duke and called him to a stop.
“What do you mean by that? That I don’t need to go to the palace.”
“Just as I said. You don’t need to associate with His Highness anymore. Know that and rest.”
The Duke, who had spoken like a notification, left me sitting helplessly on the bed and escaped outside the room.
It was Persis who had sat in front of that door just a short while ago saying he liked me. I heard that while I was sick, he wanted to visit the Duke’s residence and cried, but held back because of the Emperor’s orders. But now that I was better, I didn’t need to come to the palace anymore? It was absurd.
I got up abruptly and chased after the Duke who had gone outside the room. I heard the voices of employees guarding the door calling me to stop, but right now I had to ask the Duke clearly.
The Duke, who had already walked far away, heard the sound of me running and stopped walking. His face as he looked back at me was quite nicely crumpled. Regardless, I had to ask him now.
“Don’t you know your own physical condition? Running suddenly like that.”
“Is it His Highness who requested that I not go to the palace? Or is it something Your Grace wanted?”
I asked him while breathing roughly. The Duke looked down at small me coldly. Then he opened his mouth and spoke.
“It was something I wanted. If you’ve heard the answer you wanted, go back now.”
After saying that, the Duke turned around and left without even giving me a glance. I stared intently at his retreating figure.
If it had been something Persis wanted, I would have followed his wishes. But it wasn’t, was it? If it was something the Duke wanted, my course of action would be different.
I didn’t know what intention he had for not letting me enter the palace, but I had no intention of staying still like this. Since I had been quietly doing as told when told to do so, he seemed to think he could manipulate me however he wanted.
Let’s see if I can properly rebel for once.
* * *
“What are you planning to do?”
“Go to the palace.”
“What do you think of me, Young Master?”
“A wonderful employee who can make anything possible?”
“I’m very grateful that you think of me that way.”
When I told her what I wanted, Kara’s face hardened even more than usual. I felt really sorry that I seemed to only upset Kara’s mood lately. But where else would I go to ask for something like this?
It didn’t make sense for me, still young, to escape the Duke’s mansion and go to the palace alone. I could meet strange people on the way, and I didn’t know the exact transportation either.
In the first place, there was no way I could get past the guards’ eyes. Even if I was lucky enough to reach the palace, I had no way to prove that I was a young master, and even if they knew I was a young master, I couldn’t enter the palace without permission. The Duke would have already said that I would no longer be going as Persis’s playmate.
At times like this, the only person I could rely on was Kara.
“Can’t you?”
“No. I cannot.”
Since Kara was speaking so firmly, I couldn’t keep clinging to her.
Though she was by my side taking care of me, her employer was the Duke. She couldn’t go against the Duke’s words, so it was natural that there was no way for her to help me.
In a situation where even Kara couldn’t help, there seemed to be no way to leave the Duke’s mansion.
“How about properly asking Your Grace?”
The moment I heard the two words ‘Your Grace’ and ‘asking’, I shook my head. It was because Kara hadn’t seen the Duke’s face as he firmly commanded me. That was the expression of someone who wouldn’t be swayed by any words.
“I’ll figure out a way somehow. You won’t tell Father, will you?”
“I’d like to tell him. If I just leave you alone, aren’t you thinking of leaving the mansion even without Your Grace knowing?”
I shut my mouth tightly at Kara’s words. If I said yes here, Kara would surely run out of the room immediately and head to the Duke’s study.
Kara, who had let out a small sigh, clicked her tongue as if she had no choice.
“What are you planning to do after going to the palace?”
If I could just go to the palace and meet Persis, wouldn’t our little prince take care of everything? Whether he threw a tantrum or cried, Persis would create the whole situation.
If that didn’t work, I would do it myself. If I’d done it once, couldn’t I do it twice? I’d seen Persis do it so much that I was really confident I could be stubborn like a little child.
“It could be dangerous.”
I didn’t understand Kara’s low voice. What could be dangerous at the palace? There was no one who would harm a young master. There might be forces that would take me hostage to threaten the Duke, but the palace was full of guards. Unlike Persis, who was good at finding places where they weren’t, I knew my life was precious and would never stray from their sight.
“What’s dangerous about it?”
At my question, Kara closed her mouth. Lately, she had been not giving me proper answers to many things. I thought about pestering her a bit more, but I didn’t want to trouble Kara any further.
“Don’t worry. I won’t do anything dangerous.”
That’s why I asked Kara, who might tell the Duke everything. Just as I was about to think about what method to use, Kara grabbed my hand.
“It’s a promise.”
“……Yeah. I’ll promise.”
Only after I answered did Kara let go of my hand. However, her darkened face didn’t brighten the whole time she moved away from me. Feeling bad for no reason, I stroked the back of Kara’s hand several times. Only then did her face return to normal, even if just a little.
“This won’t do.”
I was startled by her sudden denial. She wasn’t going to say she’d run to the Duke and tell him everything like this, was she? If that really happened, I’d have no choice but to ask the Duke again to let me go to the palace. And the Duke, whose evaluation of me had hit rock bottom, would probably worry about where to abandon me.
It was the worst-case scenario that painted itself automatically. Of course, it might not go that far, but he might already be judging me as ‘useless’ after I’d been bedridden for so long. That’s why he didn’t visit once during my illness.
“I’ll do as you wish.”
“Huh? Really?”
“Yes. If Young Master wants it, I should do it for you. You want to go to the palace? Yes. I’ll make it happen.”
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
