🔊 TTS Settings
Chapter 16
“Something good must have happened, Duchess?”
Lady Nora asked with an unpleasant smile.
“Yes, indeed. I’m relieved now that the suspicions that had been spreading were cleared up.”
“Suspicions?”
That my villainous husband didn’t harm the headmaster, of course.
Yurita smiled and changed the subject.
“It seems the two of you were out for a walk?”
“Yes. The weather warmed up a little today, so we decided to come outside for once. But…”
Lady Nora glanced at Yurita standing alone and continued.
“It appears Your Grace is ‘alone again’ today?”
At the words alone again, one of Yurita’s eyebrows lifted.
‘There she goes again.’
Yurita felt irritation crawl up the back of her neck at Lady Nora’s passive-aggressive jab that never seemed to get old.
But just then, as if on cue, he was walking toward them from behind Lady Nora.
Yurita smiled at the woman.
“No, I didn’t come alone.”
“Oh my, you have company? Where—”
“Zachary.”
At Yurita’s call, Zachary passed by the Middletons and came to stand beside her.
Both Lady Nora and the headmaster froze in shock.
“‘Today as well,’ I came with my husband, Lady Nora.”
“Ah, I see. Hoho…”
Zachary’s eyes swept sharply over the Middleton couple. Headmaster Middleton visibly trembled under his gaze.
“Viscount.”
“Duke Killerster, I didn’t expect to see you here.”
“Have you been well?”
“Ah… yes, yes. Thanks to you.”
“You do know D-day is only a few days away, correct?”
“O-of course! I’ve prepared everything.”
“I trust construction of the school building you said you’d fund with borrowed money is progressing well.”
“Y-yes, of course. We plan to use it as a retreat facility for the children.”
“Right.”
At that moment, Zachary turned to Yurita and pulled out a small velvet-covered box.
When he opened the lid, inside was a bracelet with a round amber pendant. The pendant’s color resembled Yurita’s eyes.
“This is what I went out to buy.”
Speaking softly, Zachary removed the bracelet and unclasped it.
“Will you hold out your hand?”
Yurita glanced briefly at Lady Nora before raising her hand.
Zachary fastened the amber bracelet around Yurita’s slender wrist. On her healthy left wrist, as though mindful of the injured one.
The Middleton couple witnessed the entire scene without missing a thing.
‘Smart bastard.’
Yurita muttered inwardly.
Rumors about him skipping the wedding, rumors about discord between the Killerster couple—Lady Nora had probably contributed greatly to spreading all those stories. And right in front of her, Zachary placed the bracelet on Yurita’s wrist.
He was even still wearing his wedding ring.
“Stay with me forever, Duchess.”
Zachary whispered to Yurita before kissing the back of her hand.
It was a display of affection powerful enough to instantly crush every rumor of marital discord.
“…Thank you, dear.”
Yurita answered quietly.
The gossip-loving Lady Nora, having witnessed the scene with her own eyes, would never be able to resist telling the other ladies about today.
Yurita met Zachary’s intense gaze fixed upon her.
‘Anyone watching would think this was real, Zachary.’
Yurita suppressed her racing heartbeat with difficulty.
Think rationally, Yurita. Stay cold. Don’t be fooled by appearances.
“…Haha, the two of you truly have a wonderful relationship! It’s lovely to see.”
At last, the headmaster broke the long silence with an awkward laugh. Lady Nora laughed stiffly beside him.
Led by Zachary, Yurita looped her arm through his and looked back at Lady Nora.
“We’ll be going now.”
“Ah, yes. Duchess, farewell!”
“And one more thing.”
Yurita stopped Lady Nora just as she was trying to leave quickly.
“From today onward, I would appreciate it if you refrained from spreading ridiculous rumors about me wandering around without my husband. I found it quite absurd ever since the last banquet.”
“I never spread such rumors—”
“Our marriage was personally arranged by the imperial family. Surely Her Majesty the Empress would not appreciate someone insulting such a noble union, would she?”
As Yurita calmly pointed out Lady Nora’s behavior, the woman shrank back and nodded weakly.
Only then did Yurita take Zachary’s arm and leave.
It had been a complete victory against Lady Nora.
“You really know how to talk. I’d be too scared to argue back.”
Walking beside her, Zachary snickered.
“…Zachary.”
“Yeah?”
“What did you mean earlier when you said you ‘took care of’ the headmaster?”
“Oh, that? I went to collect money, and old man Middleton was sitting there trembling and coughing, so I massaged his hands a little.”
Yurita stared at Zachary in horror.
“Then why would you phrase it like that?! That’s practically an act of filial piety!”
“Well, I worked on his hands, so I said I took care of him. What’s the problem?”
‘Your language skills are the problem, you idiot. You’ve definitely got “villain language” programmed into your body.’
Yurita sighed. Still, that answer helped her make up her mind.
“If you want to calm my anger, grant me one more favor.”
Though he could have complained, Zachary unexpectedly asked obediently,
“What is it?”
“I want to go into the basement of the Killerster estate.”
At those words, Zachary turned to look at Yurita.
Her expression remained calm.
She knew the reason Zachary had publicly placed the bracelet on her wrist earlier was because he was trying to restore her reputation.
She couldn’t completely praise him for fixing the reputation he himself had damaged, but the gesture showed Yurita a certain possibility.
The faint possibility that Zachary might not be a complete villain.
That he could acknowledge hurting someone and try to make amends through his actions.
‘Proof that Zachary is still a decent human being.’
Yurita decided to place a little hope in him.
Hope that he might not become a villain.
‘But if I’m going to truly trust him, I need verification first.’
Exposing the truth behind the many rumors surrounding Zachary would be one part of that verification.
‘The first rumor being that he drinks blood.’
Yurita intended to uncover the truth behind the basement.
‘If you refuse here, we’ll never build trust, Zachary.’
Yurita stared steadily at him.
Please accept.
Zachary slowly opened his mouth.
“That’s all you’re asking?”
“Huh?”
“Go into the basement. Toby should have the key—ask him for it.”
That evening.
There truly was nothing unusual in the basement of the Killerster estate.
There were enormous shelves filled with wine storage racks, but Yurita found nothing particularly suspicious.
She poured herself a glass from the tap attached to a large wooden barrel and drank.
‘Sweet.’
The rumor that packets of human blood were displayed in the basement seemed to be false.
‘Though I can’t exactly drink everything in here to check.’
The thick scent of grapes filling the air proved it was all wine.
‘Everyone in the Killerster family has red hair and wears red clothing most of the time, so it’s easy to see how people misunderstood and assumed they drank blood.’
Yurita set down her wineglass with an empty laugh.
Then, while wandering aimlessly around the basement—
‘Why didn’t they put wine shelves here?’
There was one empty room tucked away in the corner. Completely bare, decorated only with white tiles.
It looked like it could at least be used as storage, yet it had been left untouched. It seemed inefficient.
‘Did they forget this room even existed?’
…She thought as she turned to leave.
—Who dares enter this room? You shall be cursed.
Suddenly, a voice echoed like it was reverberating through a cave.
Yurita flinched for a moment, but upon hearing the familiar childlike voice, she narrowed her eyes.
—Leave… immediately!
The voice echoed even deeper this time. For a moment, it even felt like the room itself trembled.
“Lucifer?”
At that moment, Yurita’s voice cut through the air. Her gaze remained fixed on one section of the wall.
The trembling wall stopped vibrating when it heard its name.
—No? Who’s Lucifer?
“You’re obviously Lucifer, so just come out already.”
—…….
Soon, accompanied by an awkward boing sound, a small white ghost emerged.
