RVF 07

Chapter 07

To Give to the Duke!

For a moment, I couldn’t believe my eyes.

But no matter how many times I blinked, the imposing figure standing there was indeed the Duke.

Why was the Duke here? And with all his men?

“Miss, what brings you here?”

The only relief was that Yan was here too. Though I had just been thinking about him, I certainly hadn’t wanted to see him like this.

“W-well…”

At that moment, the Duke, who had seemed like he was about to leave, stepped closer to me.

And he wasn’t the only one. A few other men also slowly walked toward me.

I gripped my bag tightly, and an unavoidable worry crept in.

‘Anyone would think I’m stealing something and running away!’

This was bad. I quickly tried to recall what was in my bag.

‘The silver button I picked up in the corridor, my block toy, and the cookies…’

At that moment, the red-haired man suddenly leaned forward in front of me. Startled, I stepped back quickly.

“So this is the young lady?”

“Bart, please think about your face.”

The slender man behind the one called Bart pulled him back. But Bart ignored it, sticking his head forward to ask Yan:

“The one you brought last time?”

“Yeah, that’s right.”

“Hmm.”

Bart crossed his arms and silently stared at me. There was no doubt he was suspicious.

‘Should I run? Could I even escape?’

True to the reputation of the villainous Duke’s knights, they were skilled in pursuit and interrogation. Once they caught a scent, they never let go. No wonder in the original story, they were called the Duke’s dogs.

Even Yan, who acted as a spy on the protagonist’s side, always warned that the Leviche Knights needed to be treated with extreme caution.

‘It’s over for me…’

Then, the largest man among them spoke up loudly.

“Oh my, wow!”

His voice was higher and more excited than before.

“How can someone be this small? Yan! You brought a young lady like this?”

“I told you, she’s very small. Adorable.”

“No, how can she even wear clothes like that! And she has a bag too!”

“Hey, hey! Bart, tone it down. You’ll scare the lady.”

“She looks even smaller than when the young masters first arrived!”

Starting with the loud large man, others slowly began to speak up one by one. It was chaotic.

‘Huh…’

This was nothing like the knights I had seen on the first day. There was none of the intimidating aura mentioned in the original story.

‘They just seem like ordinary people.’

That thought popped into my mind. Still, their attention felt overwhelming, so I slowly moved behind Yan.

Almost as if on cue, the surroundings went quiet in an instant.

“Damn it, I should’ve gone out that day.”

“Did you forget your conscience? Who refused to go out because it was raining that day?”

“You didn’t even tell me the mission properly!”

“That day, everyone except you heard, you idiot!”

Bart and the slender man started shouting at each other again, almost ready to fight. I stayed close to Yan’s legs to avoid getting caught in their quarrel.

Then the Duke spoke casually:

“He follows you well, huh.”

“Ahaha…”

His tone was so flat that it was hard to tell whether it was praise or reproach. Yan seemed to think the same, awkwardly smiling without answering.

The Duke then stepped closer to me. I felt exposed and defenseless in front of him.

‘It’s okay, it’s okay.’

He couldn’t do anything to me immediately, especially with Yan here.

‘…It really will be okay, right?’

The Duke bent his knees slightly to look me in the eyes.

“How did you get here?”

I swallowed hard. He stared at me as if waiting for an answer.

“W-well…”

“Where were you going at this hour?”

The sharpness of his question froze me in place.

“With a bag. Coming down alone without a nanny…”

“….”

“Did you intend to leave the house?”

I inhaled sharply, unconsciously.

‘I’ve been caught.’

I hadn’t expected to be discovered so quickly. My hands and feet felt cold.

Everything was ruined. There had to be a reason the Duke brought me here, and he’d surely be angry that I tried to sneak out. He might even lock me somewhere in this huge mansion.

‘In the original story, there was even a dungeon in the mansion.’

Horrible thoughts kept popping into my mind.

“Eh, the little lady?”

At that moment, the blue-haired man behind the Duke leaned forward.

“Maybe she just came out to play alone? Or got lost.”

“At this hour?”

“Young master, you may not know, but children at this age don’t usually sleep in the morning.”

The blue-haired man replied casually. I nodded quickly, agreeing. Still, the Duke’s sharp gaze didn’t ease.

Then my bag, which I had been carrying, was suddenly lifted slightly. The Duke tried to take it with one hand.

“What’s inside this…”

“No, don’t!”

I grabbed the bag tightly. The Duke’s eyebrows twitched as he noticed I wasn’t letting go.

“Why shouldn’t I see it?”

“Well…”

“Everything looks suspicious.”

The Duke shook his head and spoke seriously:

“Why did you come out this far? Speak for yourself.”

The other people went silent, too. Their attitude toward me differed clearly from the Duke’s. Even though I was just a child, he suspected everything, just as in the original story.

‘I must not get caught.’

If I admitted I wanted to leave the house, I’d have to explain why, which meant revealing I had seen the Duke kill a servant.

“What were you doing here at this hour?”

He asked again, pressing me.

“T-this!”

I pulled it out of my bag and held it out in front of him.

“To… give to the Duke!”

I had cherished it and carefully put it in my bag, never expecting to use it like this. My heart ached as I offered it. The Duke frowned at it without even understanding my feelings.

“What is this?”

“It’s… a cookie?” said the blue-haired man. The Duke looked at the cookie in my hand, seemingly a bit surprised but said nothing.

“I brought it to give to the Duke!”

The child probably didn’t know, but Cailius had watched the child living in the Duke’s mansion several times.

He could often see her wandering in the garden following Sophia from his window. Sophia also reported her daily activities to him, so it wasn’t difficult to know the child’s routine.

‘Her favorite food is cookies.’

He remembered that the child loved cookies so much that Sophia only gave her one a day. So this cookie was probably one she didn’t eat yesterday and had saved.

‘What is she hiding?’

Cailius remained suspicious. Regardless of the reason, the child was there at his discretion. Whether she liked it or not, she would have to play within the “play” he had created.

The problem was that the child seemed smarter than expected. He had taken her in because he liked her eyes from the first day, but if she didn’t act as he wanted, he could get quite tired—especially if she acted on her own, as she was doing now.

“To… give to the Duke!”

The excuse she spat out sounded like this.

‘A lie.’

Her true intention was elsewhere, but she was hiding it. As I pondered how to tease her, Filen laughed happily at my side.

“Oh my, really? You brought it for the Duke?”

“Yes!”

“What a thoughtful idea! Isn’t that right, young master?”

Cailius raised an eyebrow.

‘She believes this?’

Filen was completely taken. I glanced around, thinking the others wouldn’t be so easily convinced…

“Miss, next time bring some for me too! I love cookies!”

“Miss! You can ignore Bart! He cried on the first day because he didn’t want to go!”

“Miss, I’m Crisy. If you need anything next time, just find me!”

…And it didn’t stop there.

To think they had collected such simple things—it was a complicated feeling.

“T-then I’ll…”

The child backed away as if she had done her duty, glancing at us as if asking for permission to leave. Cailius lightly surveyed the area.

“Young master, I’ll safely take her back!”

“No, I should handle this…”

“Eh, since I’m not on the mission, I’ll take her…”

“Yan, take her back to her room.”

“Yes, I’ll escort her.”

As Yan answered, the others couldn’t hide their disappointment. Cailius paid no attention and watched until the child disappeared into the mansion.

‘Cheeky little one.’

Her actions were obvious, so he wasn’t angry. He looked at the cookie, wondering what to do about it, since he didn’t even like it.

I sighed deeply as I checked my bag.

“Hmm? Why such a big sigh today?”

“Nothing.”

Sophia tilted her head, but I just shook mine.

‘It’s okay. There will be another chance.’

The lesson I learned from this morning: The Duke uses the back gate when going out for work.

‘Tomorrow, I’ll leave through the front gate.’

If I leave through the front gate, I won’t run into the Duke. To be safe, I planned to leave a little later in the morning.

‘I saw this morning that the Duke seemed to leave very quickly.’

Then I just had to leave a little later. I saved today’s cookies for tomorrow instead of eating them.

“Not eating the cookies today either?”

“Yeah, I’ll eat them later.”

Delma asked curiously, but I didn’t give a reason.

‘Tomorrow, I’ll definitely go out.’