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Chapter 63
“…Gilbert.”
“Yes, my lady.”
“Can I please just move to a different room?”
At my words, Gilbert’s eyes widened like lanterns. After a moment of thinking, he nodded as if he understood.
“The room is a bit small, right?”
“No?!”
What was he even talking about!
I shook my head vigorously.
Small?
The problem was the opposite — it was too big. Overwhelmingly big.
“Who even uses a room this huge?”
“Of course you do, my lady?”
“This room is bigger than my whole house…”
And the room I was assigned was the Royal Suite Room. The highest, most expensive room in the entire hotel. It had a bedroom, a parlor, a terrace, a bathroom, and even a dressing room attached.
Far too luxurious to even compare with the house I used to live in.
“Honestly, it still feels lacking. If possible, I’d love to expand this entire floor and make it into one huge room just for you.”
“Please… don’t say things like that, even as a joke.”
He was going to give me a heart attack.
I still wasn’t used to people spending money like this. Instead of admiring the room, I was worried whether I should even accept such a place.
A fluffy wool carpet. A bed and sofa draped in deep blue velvet. Enormous statues that looked like craftsmen had poured their souls into them.
How is this supposed to be a bedroom?
They even wanted to fill the dressing room with clothes in case I needed them. I was already terrified imagining what they’d fill it with.
Even when I tried to decline, grandfather clung to me saying it was his sincerity, so ignoring him wasn’t easy either.
“My lady, this is some advice I give you as your business partner.”
“…What is it?”
“You should just accept this hotel quietly.”
“Why?”
“Think about it. If you refuse, what will the master think?”
“Hmm… maybe he’ll think he made me uncomfortable?”
Gilbert shook his head.
“I wish it were that simple. More likely he’ll think—”
“?”
“‘The hotel is such trash that my precious pup is rejecting it!’”
“…”
Gilbert mimicked grandfather’s tone perfectly and let out a deep sigh.
“So what do you think will happen if you refuse now?”
“The general manager we met earlier… will get dragged away?”
“Exactly. You’re already becoming a true Proud family member, my lady.”
“Please don’t say that with pride…”
I sat on the sofa and slowly looked around the room. It took quite a bit of time to look around — that’s how massive it was.
“In my experience, the best and fastest solution in cases like this is to accept quietly. If you don’t, the master will be heartbroken and wail like crazy.”
“…Hhh.”
He probably wouldn’t actually cry, but he could, and Gilbert’s logic was sound. My grandfather did seem the type to be a bit dramatic. And after experiencing the scale of the Kazliden family once, this didn’t even feel surprising anymore.
Sigh… really now.
There was no helping it.
Just as Gilbert said, if I refused… I couldn’t even imagine what outrageous thing grandfather would do next.
So I decided to surrender peacefully to my fate, slumping weakly into the back of the sofa.
Wow, it’s so soft.
Furniture really was nicer the more expensive it was. It hugged my back and hips so snugly I felt like I could sleep here instead of the bed.
I wonder if grandfather made it back safely.
Sniff. I sniffed once and looked at the clock on the wall.
It had just turned afternoon.
And yet in just half a day, my entire world had changed.
* * *
A failure.
A fallen royal bloodline.
A ducal house that could have become the sun, but instead became a shadow.
Proud Duchy’s main estate was located far from the central square — past a long forest path and a wide field, where an enormous fortress wall finally appeared.
“!”
A knight looking through a telescope gasped sharply.
Immediately, he lowered the telescope and raised the horn.
BWOOOO—
At the sound announcing the duke’s return, not only the knights but all household staff hurried outside. They quickly straightened their appearance and lined up neatly to welcome their long-absent master.
“His Grace is arriving!”
Before long, someone shouted.
The long line of knights bowed deeply. The servants pressed their hands together politely.
As the shadows of two people stretched across the entrance, the return of the ducal family exploded in a chorus:
“Greetings to His Grace, the Duke!”
“Greetings to the Young Duke!”
It had been a long time since they’d last heard such greetings. But rather than pleased, Wistons clicked his tongue, bothered by them.
His lavender-colored eyes twisted in annoyance. Feeling that peaceful days were now over, he strode forward quickly.
Felix followed behind with his usual delinquent-like gait.
“You there!”
Dion, who had been waiting eagerly, spread his arms wide. At last, the master of the estate had returned!
“I’ve really been waiting for you— I wept every night… ah, ah no— why are you holding a candlestick?!”
Dion stumbled backward in panic.
Trying to protect his pathetic father’s life, Meital stepped up with a cheerful smile.
“Your Grace, it’s been a while.”
“…Why is it that you’re becoming more like your father by the day?”
“Th-that’s too harsh—!”
Meital nearly lost control of himself but somehow managed to pull himself together.
Seeing his son’s honest reaction, Dion covered his mouth, deeply wounded.
Hurrying to maintain composure, Meital drew an envelope from his jacket.
“Please look at this letter first.”
“Judging by the disgusting smell of it—”
Wistons’ brows furrowed as he accepted it.
“It’s from that dog of a nephew of mine, isn’t it?”
The letter crumpled in his fist. Anything from the imperial family was just as unwelcome now as it had ever been.
“We should continue the discussion inside. The pressure has been worse than expected.”
“If that brat wanted to see this old man so badly, he should’ve dragged his own damn hide over here.”
The grandfather who smiled warmly at Amelia was nowhere to be seen.
Now that he had returned to Kazliden, Wistons was no longer a doting grandfather, but the leader of the anti-imperial faction and the master of Proud.
“Oh, and Young Duke.”
“What.”
“A certain person has arrived.”
At Meital’s words, the young duke let out a long sigh. He thought he could finally rest, but no — one more issue remained.
Felix swept back his silky hair and lazily flicked his hand.
“Put him in the reception room.”
“W-well, um, about that…”
“What now.”
“We did try to escort him politely to the reception room, but…”
Meital added shyly:
“He already left.”
“…Where.”
“Where else?”
Meital snapped his fingers.
“Of course, to Lady Amelia— Young Duke! Where are you going?!”
Felix spun around instantly, spitting a curse under his breath.
“Tell me exactly where he is. Now.”
First, he needed to find that bastard.
