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Chapter – 16
“Did something good happen, Duchess?”
Lady Nora asked with a displeased smile.
“Yes, of course. I feel relieved now that the doubts have been cleared up.”
“Doubts?”
Now that she knew her villain husband hadn’t harmed the principal.
Yurita smiled and changed the topic.
“Were you two out for a walk?”
“Yes. The weather has gotten a bit warmer today, so we decided to come out. But…”
Lady Nora glanced at Yurita, who was standing alone, and continued,
“Duchess, it seems you’re ‘again today’ out alone?”
At the words again today, one of Yurita’s eyebrows rose.
‘Here we go again!’
As if she never got tired of it, Lady Nora’s passive-aggressive remarks came once more, and Yurita felt irritation rising up the back of her neck.
But just then, from behind Lady Nora, he appeared at the perfect timing.
Yurita smiled toward the lady.
“No, I’m not alone.”
“Oh my, you have company? Where….”
“Jackerie.”
At Yurita’s call, Jackerie passed the Middleton couple and stood beside her.
Lady Nora and the principal both froze in shock.
“‘Again today,’ I came with my husband, Lady Nora.”
“Ah, I see… hoho…”
Jackerie’s eyes sharply scanned the Middleton couple. The principal visibly trembled under his gaze.
“Viscount.”
“Duke Killister, I didn’t expect to see you here.”
“Have you been well?”
“Ah… y-yes, thanks to you.”
“You know the deadline is not far away, correct?”
“Y-yes, of course! Everything has been prepared.”
“I hope the school building you said you would construct with borrowed money is going well.”
“Of course. It will be used as a training place for the children’s retreat.”
“Right.”
Then Jackerie turned to Yurita and took out a small velvet-covered box.
When the lid opened, inside was a bracelet with a round amber pendant. The color of the pendant was similar to Yurita’s eyes.
“I went out to buy this.”
Jackerie said quietly as he took out the bracelet and opened the clasp.
“May I see your hand?”
Yurita glanced at Lady Nora and raised her hand.
Jackerie fastened the amber bracelet around Yurita’s slender wrist—on her uninjured left wrist, perhaps mindful of her injured one.
The Middleton couple witnessed everything.
‘Clever bastard.’
Yurita muttered inwardly.
Wedding absence rumors, discord in the Killister couple—Lady Nora, who likely contributed greatly to spreading those rumors, was right there.
And Jackerie, still wearing his wedding ring, placed a bracelet on Yurita’s wrist.
“Stay with me forever, Duchess.”
Jackerie whispered and kissed her hand.
An affectionate act that could instantly end all rumors of discord.
“…Thank you, darling.”
Yurita replied softly.
Lady Nora, who had witnessed everything, would have no choice but to gossip about it all.
Yurita met Jackerie’s gaze, which was fixed intensely on her.
‘Anyone would think this is real, Jackerie.’
She barely suppressed her racing heartbeat.
Think rationally, Yurita. Stay cold. Don’t be fooled by appearances.
“…Haha, you two have such a good relationship! Lovely to see.”
The principal broke the silence with a forced laugh. Lady Nora also laughed awkwardly beside him.
Guided by Jackerie, Yurita linked her arm with his and looked back at Lady Nora.
“We’ll be leaving now.”
“Oh, yes. Duchess! Goodbye.”
“And also.”
As Lady Nora tried to leave quickly, Yurita stopped her.
“From today onward, I hope you refrain from spreading nonsense about me walking around alone without my husband. I found it quite absurd since the last banquet.”
“I never said such a thing…”
“We are a couple personally arranged by the Imperial Family. I don’t think Her Majesty the Empress would appreciate such disrespect toward that noble union.”
As Yurita calmly pointed out Lady Nora’s behavior, the woman shrank slightly and nodded weakly.
Only then did Yurita leave, holding Jackerie’s arm.
It was a complete victory over Lady Nora.
“Not bad. I’d be too scared to talk back.”
Jackerie chuckled as they walked side by side.
“…Jackerie.”
“Yeah?”
“What did you mean when you said you ‘took care of’ the principal?”
“Oh, that? I went to collect money, and that old Middleton guy was trembling and looking half-dead, so I just massaged his hands a bit.”
Yurita looked at him in shock.
“Why would you say that’s ‘taking care of’ someone?! That’s basically filial piety!”
“I massaged his hands, so I took care of his hands. What’s the problem?”
‘Your language skills are the problem, you idiot. You must have “villain language” programmed into your brain.’
Yurita sighed. Anyway, she had made up her mind from that answer.
“If you want to make up for my anger, grant me one more request.”
Surprisingly, Jackerie asked without complaint.
“What is it?”
“I want to go into the basement of the Killister mansion.”
At that, Jackerie turned to look at her.
Yurita’s expression was calm.
She understood that the bracelet he had just placed on her wrist in public was an attempt to restore her honor.
She couldn’t fully approve of him fixing the honor he himself had damaged, but she saw a possibility in that act.
A slight possibility that Jackerie might not be a complete villain.
That he acknowledged hurting someone and tried to make amends through actions.
‘Proof that he’s still a decent human being, Jackerie.’
She decided to place a little expectation in him.
But if she was going to truly trust him, she needed verification.
One of those was dismantling the rumors surrounding him.
‘The first is the rumor that he drinks blood.’
She intended to uncover what lay in the basement.
‘If you refuse here, we can’t build trust, Jackerie.’
She stared at him steadily.
Please agree.
Jackerie slowly opened his mouth.
“Is that all you want?”
“Huh?”
“Go into the basement. Toby should have the key. Ask him for it.”
That evening
The Killister mansion basement turned out to be nothing special.
It was filled with large wine racks, but nothing unusual was found.
Yurita poured herself a glass from a tap attached to a large barrel.
‘Sweet.’
The rumor that packets of human blood were displayed here seemed to be false.
‘Even if I can’t taste everything here…’
The thick grape scent confirmed it was all wine.
‘The Killister family all has red hair and mostly wears red clothes. No wonder people misunderstood them and thought they drank blood.’
Yurita placed the glass down with a hollow expression.
She wandered around the basement.
‘Why is there a room without wine racks?’
In the corner was an empty room.
Nothing inside—just plain white tiles.
It looked like it could be used as storage, but it was left empty. Inefficient.
‘Did they forget this room exists?’
As she turned to leave—
—A voice echoed like it came from inside a cave.
“Who dares enter this room? You will be cursed.”
She flinched for a moment, but recognizing the childish voice, she narrowed her eyes.
“Leave… immediately!”
The voice grew deeper, and the room even seemed to shake slightly.
“Lucifer?”
Yurita’s voice cut through the air. She stared at one wall.
The trembling stopped at the sound of its name.
—That’s not it? Who is Lucifer?
“You are, just come out already.”
…
After an awkward boing sound, a small white ghost finally appeared.
