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Chapter : 10
“As I thought, it was a good idea to bring the Duke to my villa!”
I chuckled inwardly at that thought, just as the Duke pitifully bumped his fingertip against mine.
“Um… is it alright for me to stay here for the time being? We came in such a hurry that the security might be lacking…”
The Duke seemed on the verge of another sniffle, so I quickly nodded.
“That’s fine. Please make yourself comfortable.”
At my words, the Duke’s face immediately brightened.
“Excellent! As long as Cardmael Rikesis serves as the Knight of Her Highness the Crown Princess, no evil faction will dare trespass here!”
And with that, he raised his fist to the sky.
I let out a small laugh.
‘He hasn’t even had his loyalty accepted yet.’
To be precise, yesterday the Crown Prince had suddenly shown up, so the Duke’s oath of loyalty had been left unresolved.
Well, in any case, since no formal loyalty pledge had been made through documentation, it wasn’t a problem.
Right now, the important thing was one thing.
‘I somehow need to turn this Duke’s overflowing enthusiasm into love… hmm?’
At that moment, I caught the eyes of the knights awkwardly standing behind the Duke.
‘Hmm? Do they want to say something to me?’
For some reason, the knights’ gazes toward me felt serious.
Sure enough, one of the knights stepped forward when I didn’t look away.
“I am Zennin Locke, senior knight of Rikesis. I wish to make a request to Her Highness the Crown Princess.”
Facing him was one of my maids, Lien.
“This is highly improper. Her Highness is currently speaking with the Duke—”
“Stop. I will hear the request. What is it?”
Lien stepped back professionally, and Zennin looked me in the eyes and spoke.
“Your Highness. Until now, the House of Duke Rikesis has loyally served the royal family.”
Loyalty?
‘…Could it be…?’
“But our Duke is essential for the defense of the North.”
With a loud thump!, Zennin knelt on one knee.
“Please, retract the Duke’s oath of loyalty!”
“Retract it!”
At the same time, a dozen other knights also knelt in unison.
“….”
While I remained silent, the Duke was the first to react.
“No… these… these fellows! These fellows?”
The Duke looked extremely flustered, and eventually…
“What are you doing?! How dare you approach my lady! Can’t you cancel this request immediately?!”
Bang! Crash!
A commotion broke out, and I pressed my temple.
‘Ah, obstacles. Well… at least I know now.’
If I had ignored the knights’ vigilance and proceeded with my courtship, it would have been a huge embarrassment.
‘That won’t do.’
My ultimate goal was the Crown Prince.
I couldn’t let these small fry hold me back before I even began.
“Everyone.”
So I calmly addressed the room.
“I have never made an oath of loyalty with the Duke of Rikesis.”
At that moment:
“…Pardon?”
All eyes—the Duke and his knights, who had been grappling with me—were fixed on me. I smiled faintly and added:
“You cannot retract an oath that does not exist.”
“The Duke…?”
The knights looked at the Duke in disbelief, as if silently saying:
‘Didn’t you pledge loyalty?’
“It seems there was a small misunderstanding.”
With my quick clarification, the Duke finally opened his mouth in shock.
Then…
“Your Highness!! Please do not abandon me!!”
…Kneeling, he clung to my legs.
‘Abandon you? I never accepted your loyalty!’
No matter how much he pleaded, I couldn’t accept the Duke’s loyalty.
To do so would hand him over to the Crown Prince’s grasp.
‘I need to get out of here.’
Earlier than expected, I decided to use my trump card.
Thunk.
A gift box with the Crown Prince’s seal appeared in the Duke’s hands.
“…?”
The Duke blinked at the sudden gift, and I bowed slightly.
“Duke, I will take my leave now.”
“Y-Your Highness?”
“I have a busy schedule.”
In truth, thanks to the Crown Prince, I had plenty of free time…
‘But the Duke is far too high-energy right now. He’ll calm down later!’
“I hope you will let the steward know if anything here is inconvenient.”
“D-Do not leave, Your Highness!!”
“Then, farewell!”
I promptly turned and left.
As I quickly exited the villa:
“Your Highness, what will you do now…?”
My maids asked, watching me carefully. I nodded and said:
“I’ll meet with the villa’s steward. I need to give instructions regarding Duke Rikesis.”
Then:
“No, that won’t be necessary, Your Highness.”
At the voice calling me, I stopped and turned.
“I have something to tell you.”
“….”
Ah, here it comes.
The person who appeared was Evelyn, head maid of the Crown Princess’s palace.
I swallowed and said:
“…Let’s go inside.”
Click.
Once the door closed, she spoke bluntly.
“Your Highness, Duke Rikesis must leave the Crown Princess’s palace today.”
“….”
“Although the palace’s villa is usually for distinguished guests, hasn’t it always been used exclusively by the House of Haim?”
“That’s correct.”
I nodded.
‘I didn’t want to get caught up in unnecessary rumors.’
Previously, I had not allowed outside nobles into the Crown Princess’s palace. There were many beautiful, historic buildings in the royal estate, and I could use one of them.
But…
‘Why should I care about that now?’
A surge of emotion rose as the head maid, with a stern face, gave me her counsel.
“Your Highness, if a male noble stays here while the social scene is so noisy, it could damage your esteemed reputation. Therefore, it would be best to have the Duke return to the main palace today…”
At that moment, something unexpectedly slipped out of my mouth.
“The Crown Prince let ‘that woman’ stay in the palace.”
“…!”
Did she not expect me to speak the name of the Crown Prince’s mistress, Lady Nevia Khalid?
Seeing the head maid’s shocked expression, I clenched my fist tightly.
“Why… can’t I do the same?”
After wiping a tear with my sleeve, I walked toward the window and said:
“The scene of the Crown Prince putting flowers in Lady Khalid’s hair… looked truly happy.”
Speaking of the shared sight, the head maid could only lower her head, unable to respond.
After a moment of watching her, I looked out the window and said:
“So, I thought becoming happy myself would be the best revenge.”
“…!”
The head maid suddenly raised her head, approached me, and looked out the window.
“I see.”
She nodded in understanding.
“You wretches! How dare you approach my lady! Ugh!”
Seeing the Duke flexing his massive muscles and beating his naked subordinates, she must have felt something.
‘Through that man, I can get revenge on the Crown Prince!’
So, I quietly told the head maid, who was watching the Duke with keen eyes:
“Serve him devotedly. As if he were serving me.”
After the discussion with Head Maid Evelyn, time in the Crown Princess’s palace passed slowly and leisurely.
Meanwhile, time in the Crown Prince’s palace was bustling.
The incident began three days later, as the Crown Prince’s aides walked through the corridor after lunch.
“Ah, I see! It’s about !”
“Listen, that’s not the important part. The Duke is huge, right? They say he won’t even kneel to our Crown Prince.”
“And Her Highness stayed alone in the Crown Princess’s palace for so long, right? I bet it ended up feeling like .”
The aides froze at the gossip they heard from the servants by the window.
“…?”
It was one of the most notorious erotic tales in the Raedan Empire.
And very lewd.
