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Chapter: 05
The Side Effects of the Bond.
“Yes! Do you have any instructions for me?”
Chloe turned her body to answer, looking with envy at the back of Sir Joyce disappearing through the closing door.
“You will handle the Information Guild request.”
“Ah!”
She found herself in the situation where she had to make a request herself in order to search for him.
“Yes! Understood. Then, I’ll head out as well.”
“But… are you feeling unwell?”
“Huh?”
Chloe’s voice cracked slightly.
It was an unexpected question.
Now that she thought about it, she had been so tense that she had forgotten her own physical state.
Receiving the question made the aches in her whole body painfully obvious.
It was, in fact, the fatigue from rushing to the duke’s residence in the early hours yesterday with a body that had not yet recovered.
But… was her condition really visible enough for the duke to notice?
“You don’t look well. You also seem a bit uneasy.”
No matter how unwell she might appear, the fact that the duke had noticed and even worried about her felt… flattering? burdensome? terrifying? She wasn’t sure which.
“Oh, I’m just a bit tired after returning from my hometown.”
The last day of vacation, tormented by the duke, all night long.
“Ah! Right. You said your hometown was far, didn’t you?”
Not far. It’s Boergen.
Thinking of her hometown, she realized that soon Sir Joyce would likely go all the way to Boergen to find her.
“Clain?”
The duke called her again, and Chloe snapped back to attention.
“Yes. It’s a bit far.”
“Where exactly?”
Until now, they had rarely had personal conversations, only interacting face-to-face for work, so she didn’t understand why, of all days, he was noticing her condition and engaging in such trivial dialogue.
For the past three months, their relationship had been strictly that of employer and servant.
The duke had never shown particular interest in the servant’s personal life, rarely asking private questions.
Well, not completely absent.
When she requested permission to take four days off at once after working through weekends for a month, she had mentioned that her hometown was far and that she had an ill mother.
It seemed the duke remembered that conversation.
“Boergen.”
Chloe answered, half resigned.
It was already known to Sir Joyce and the duke’s servants that she came from Boergen. In fact, when Clain was first employed as a servant of the duke’s household, correspondence had been sent to her Boergen address.
Of course, she had never revealed any family connections other than her mother.
Since she was disguised as her twin brother Clain for the job, revealing that she had a twin sister would have been too risky.
Come to think of it, the duke was indeed a generous master, living up to his reputation for having a fine character.
When he learned her mother was ill, he even gave extra money for her vacation.
That money allowed her to stay at “Night of the Dogs and Cats” each time.
Though it took a full day to reach it, she stopped there to prepare herself mentally and physically for the return trip.
She had been grateful for that money, but now she realized that money had been the cause of her current predicament.
Because of staying there, she had gotten into trouble with the duke.
He was a good master.
Soon, thanks to that good master, she might end up buried under debts or, in the worst case, branded a fraud and sent to prison.
“Boergen… I see. And how is your mother, who you said is unwell?”
“She’s still the same.”
“I see. Do you take after her?”
“Huh?”
“Is your mother beautiful?”
“Huh?”
“Hmm. For a man, you’re a bit…”
“…….”
The flow of conversation had gone strange.
“Ahem! Go on out.”
The duke cleared his throat suddenly and spoke seriously.
“Yes!”
Chloe quickly left.
Talking about whether her mother was beautiful and then saying “for a man…”—somehow an ominous feeling crept over her.
She thought she should find out from Sir Joyce how the duke would react if he found a woman.
It was something that could be discovered at any moment.
Hughrey was bowing his head, clutching it with both hands.
He had clearly gone mad.
Even now, when he should be searching directly for his bonded partner, all his attention was fixed on the servant Clain.
Completely insane.
He regretted sending the tired servant on the Information Guild errand just to have more time with him!
While listening to Joyce’s report, he had been too distracted by observing Clain’s scent and expressions from the side to remain sane.
It was clearly a side effect of the bond.
Quickly, quickly!
He had to find the woman immediately.
The only way to calm this strange hormonal chaos was to find the bonded partner and restore stability.
The moment Chloe exited the duke’s room, she dashed toward the main entrance of the duke’s residence. The estate was so large it could be called a castle, and since the duke’s room was on the fourth floor, she had to sprint frantically to reach Sir Joyce.
“Sir Joyce! Sir Joyce!”
Fortunately, he hadn’t left yet, though he was just about to mount his horse.
“Oh, what is it?”
He pulled on the reins and looked at Chloe.
“I need to find a woman through the Information Guild. Do you know which guild would be best? I think it would be best to request the most skilled one.”
Of course, the Information Guild was just an excuse to stop Sir Joyce.
“Oh, for the Information Guild, go to Luciel. It’s the fastest and most accurate.”
“Ah, Luciel…”
“Well then, good luck.”
“Sir Joyce!”
Chloe, anxious, called him again as he tried to mount his horse.
“Do you have more questions?”
He frowned slightly at Chloe.
“In fact, as the duke’s servant, I’m also curious. I think I need to know to avoid upsetting the duke.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean… what will the duke do if he finds the woman he slept with?”
“……?”
Sir Joyce stared down at her.
“Oh, I was just speaking as a servant… about the future…”
“You don’t need to know. Just do your best to keep the duke calm. Even if he looks fine outwardly, it won’t be the same inside.”
“……?”
“To be caught by such a strange and unprecedented person… you can hardly imagine the suffering.”
A person?
“Caught…?”
Caught? It was all mutual consent…
“Yes. The duke would never have offered himself to such a woman first! You know it too. The duke is not that kind of man.”
Right… oh!
Suddenly, the blurred memory of that night became clear.
A dark hallway.
Whether from alcohol or some other heat and strange impulse, she saw the duke in the hallway.
The duke’s face, frowning as he saw her.
Her body moving toward him unconsciously.
He stepped back to avoid her, trying to re-enter his room.
She followed, afraid the door would close, and clung to him.
<Who are you! Don’t do this! Go away! Get off me! Ah… this is wrong!>
The duke’s desperate rejection struck her head like a heavy rock.
Yes. The duke had rejected her.
With desperate eyes and voice.
Yet she clung to him even more…
She wanted to die.
It was her.
She had physically attacked the rejecting duke, and somehow, the duke eventually gave in and then changed completely. Turned into a beast, almost.
But one thing was certain: before becoming a beast, he had rejected her.
“I’d like to catch that woman and tear her apart… hmm! No. I can’t handle her that way.”
Sir Joyce muttered to himself and then, as if only now remembering Chloe in front of him, looked at her again.
His still angry eyes seemed ready to kill her if he found the woman.
To speak of catching the woman, tearing her apart… such violent words.
Was sleeping with the duke such a grave sin?
It was life-threatening.
Chloe worried that being discovered as a woman disguised for the job would be dangerous.
Of course, sleeping with the duke was awkward, but they were consenting adults. Why the expression of apocalypse? She couldn’t understand.
“Th… that’s right?”
But ultimately, Chloe could only respond like this. Sir Joyce’s expression was that serious.
Fortunately—or unfortunately—his expression softened slightly.
“It can’t be helped. It’s already happened and can’t be undone. Anyway, take good care of the duke. I’m asking you.”
“Yes…”
Chloe struggled to steady her trembling voice as she replied.
Leaving Chloe behind, Sir Joyce departed.
Why was he so enraged over the duke’s affairs?
Watching him leave, Chloe pondered deeply.
Was it because the duke lost his virginity? Was virginity that important? And it wasn’t even Sir Joyce’s virginity. Ah! Perhaps the duke was a purist?
A flicker of fear seemed to pass over the duke’s face as he stepped back from her.
Indeed, considering how much the duke avoided women, it wasn’t surprising.
Had she really destroyed him?
But despite that, the duke seemed calmer than Sir Joyce.
<Even if he looks fine outwardly, it won’t be the same inside.>
Sir Joyce’s warning echoed in her mind.
True, the duke didn’t fully display his emotions.
What should she do?
Now her identity as “Chloe” had been revealed.
It wasn’t just about the money; judging from the atmosphere, that wasn’t all.
She had a premonition that she would have to take some kind of “responsibility” for the duke.
It seemed likely that this “responsibility” concerned virginity, but there could be more, and how to bear such “responsibility” was unclear.
Then, in the end, there was only one conclusion.
