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~Chapter 19~
“Pyu pyu!”
Ruby, who had been quietly waiting at Astia’s request, stomped the floor in the direction Raniel had left, as if angry.
“Come here, Ruby.”
“Pyu…”
Astia stroked Ruby’s droopy ears and thought to herself.
‘As I thought, I wasn’t wrong.’
There had never been a vassal family that stayed inside the duke’s house before. Damian always made sure no one set foot inside unless absolutely necessary.
‘The Castea Viscount family.’
They must be trying to use their involvement in buying the diamond mine to push for more benefit.
The problem was that their motives were so obvious.
Viscount Castea had even gone on and on about their family in the dining room.
‘I can’t just leave them alone.’
Astia’s eyes turned cold.
She was going to live as the only princess of the Rovellito house now. She wasn’t anyone’s fool, and she had no reason to let Raniel’s words affect her.
She wasn’t the type to just take whatever happened, nor was she generous enough to forgive people who meant her harm.
‘Still, I can let this much slide for now.’
After watching Damian, who could snap and kill someone in a second, Raniel’s behavior didn’t even bother her.
She only wanted to break Raniel’s silly illusion of being in control.
“Haa…”
Astia grabbed her aching head and drank her Hineloti flower tea.
“Ugh. It tastes awful.”
“Pyu!”
At least she wasn’t coughing today, so that was a relief.
Creak—
The door to a dark basement, lit by a single lantern, opened. Damian entered, his face stiff.
He looked around at the blood-smelling room, then turned his eyes to the servant bowing before him.
“So, what’s the spy’s name?”
“His name is Dice, sir.”
“Dice… what a disgusting name.”
“Huk…”
Dice, battered and tied up, was panting for breath.
“P-please, spare me…”
Damian looked down at him with an emotionless gaze. Dice shuddered under his stare.
“I-I told you… everything I know…”
“Annoying.”
“Eek!”
Thud—
A servant struck Dice on the back of the neck, knocking him out. In this house, the smallest annoyance could be dangerous.
“You still don’t know who sent him?”
“No, sir.”
“Useless.”
Damian tapped Dice’s limp arm and clicked his tongue.
“But there was something odd.”
The servant bowed his head and explained.
“He was told to gather information about our Rovellito family and… about Prince Diego.”
“Prince Diego?”
“Yes. The one who hired him cared a lot about Prince Diego.”
“…Orland, is that true?”
This unexpected clue made Damian think.
Recently, he had been nervous about the shifting power in the empire, and uneasy about Havel and the movements of the Cellion Duke’s house.
Now, it seemed someone was trying to find Diego—a lead at last.
“Yes, sir. I think it’s likely that Prince Diego has gone missing.”
Orland gave his opinion, and Damian nodded slightly.
‘Just as I thought.’
The public believed the Cellion Duke’s family was just delaying the inheritance as the previous duke had wanted. But Damian suspected otherwise.
Every family had secrets, after all.
The idea that the Cellion family was searching for a missing Diego seemed most likely.
“So the ones who hired Dice were probably the Cellion Duke’s family.”
“That’s right, sir.”
“Then…”
Damian glared at the unconscious Dice.
“…Why was he hanging around Astia’s door?”
A menacing aura filled the room.
The servant almost collapsed from the pressure but forced himself to answer.
“B-because… he overheard the young lady mention Prince Diego.”
“Astia?”
Damian immediately softened when Astia was mentioned.
When he asked, the servant nodded, gulping air.
“Yes. I didn’t hear exactly what she said, but he heard her say Prince Diego’s name by chance.”
At first, Damian thought Dice was targeting Astia. But now, knowing the reason, he was bothered that Astia had mentioned Diego at all.
‘She shouldn’t have any connection to him.’
Then he remembered Astia reading the newspaper, which sometimes discussed the Cellion succession.
‘She probably just mentioned him while reading.’
Still, he felt uneasy for some reason.
A vein popped out on Damian’s forehead.
He’d barely met Diego a few times, but now his image of him was worse than ever.
He was annoyed just knowing Astia had said Diego’s name.
‘Why does it bother me so much?’
For some reason, Damian felt like he should keep Diego away.
“…Take care of it.”
“Yes, sir. I’ll handle it.”
Leaving the dark basement, Damian felt unsettled.
It would be weird to ask Astia about it, and if it was nothing, he didn’t want to make her uncomfortable.
‘Brother, how did you know?’
If Astia looked at him with those innocent eyes and asked, he’d feel guilty forever.
‘Astia comes first. If Diego becomes a problem later, I’ll deal with him then.’
Damian forced himself to move on.
“First—”
In his office, Damian quickly gave orders.
“Orland. Find out everything you can about Prince Diego’s whereabouts.”
“Of course, sir. I already have informants in place, so we should hear something soon.”
“Good.”
Damian wiped his face and sounded tired.
“Increase security. There might be more Cellion spies trying to get into our house. Focus on rooting them out.”
“Yes, sir. I’ll make sure to carefully check every new servant too.”
“Right. This is partly your fault, but I won’t blame you this time.”
“Thank you.”
Orland bowed seriously.
“I’ll risk my life to make sure the young lady is never hurt again.”
“Good.”
Damian smiled in satisfaction.
“And—”
“Yes?”
Damian stopped Orland.
“…Don’t let Prince Diego anywhere near Astia. Do whatever it takes.”
“Sir, but we haven’t even found Prince Diego yet…”
“That doesn’t matter.”
“…Yes, sir. I trust you have your reasons.”
At that time,
Ruby, in Astia’s room, began trembling with a sense of unease.
“What’s wrong, Ruby?”
“Pyu…”
Astia tilted her head, worried by Ruby’s trembling.
“…Are you cold?”
Worried, Astia covered Ruby with a blanket.
“Next time, you don’t have to help me. You’ll get hurt.”
She still worried a lot about Ruby.
Ever since her nightmare, Ruby had seemed weak, and Astia wondered if it really had been Ruby who saved her.
She didn’t know for sure, but she decided to believe it—Ruby was always there for her.
“Don’t worry. Everything will be fine. I’ll take care of you.”
“Pyu pyu.”
Astia hugged Ruby close. She wanted to be with him forever.
“I’ll stay with you for a long time. No matter what you become.”
“Pyu?”
“Hm?”
Ruby perked up his ears at her words, his eyes shining even brighter.
Astia patted him and spoke more clearly.
“I mean it. Whether you’re a rabbit, a monster, or a person…”
“…”
“I’ll stay with you.”
The more time she spent with Ruby, the less she cared what he really was.
Ruby was Ruby.
“Pyu?!”
Ruby jumped up in surprise and then suddenly flopped over as if fainting.
At first, Astia worried, but when he staggered up again, she was relieved.
“Ahaha! You like it that much? I didn’t think you’d faint!”
Ruby hopped around her feet, moving his little legs like he was trying to say how he felt.
Watching him spin in circles was just too cute.
“So cute.”
Astia caught him as he lost his balance and fell back on his third lap.
“Pyu pyu…”
“That means you’re really happy, huh? Careful, or you’ll really faint.”
Ruby bounced in place and dove into Astia’s arms.
Astia gently stroked his fur.
“I don’t lie. I always keep my promises!”
Ruby’s red eyes grew deeper.
He never left Astia’s side and always followed her gaze.
She found it both adorable and touching how much Ruby wanted her reassurance.
“I’ll never abandon you. Promise.”
She held out her pinky.
Ruby licked the tip of her finger and tapped it with his nose, as if to promise back.
“Alright. It’s a promise, okay?”
“Pyu!”
Even if Ruby was a monster, Astia didn’t care. She’d love him no matter what he was.
