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Chapter 38
For nearly three weeks without Evelynn around, Duke Rosental’s mood swung wildly like a pendulum.
During the first week, Evelynn’s words kept replaying in his head, and all he could think about was that he absolutely had to properly scold her.
During the second week, he started remembering his own words.
How he had treated Evelynn all this time, how cold and blunt he had been, and what exactly he had shouted at her that day.
Then he began to regret what he had said. Even so, he still couldn’t forgive what she had said.
However, by the time the final week arrived, the Duke began to feel sorry for Evelynn. He had entered the stage of complete forgiveness.
How lonely must she have been growing up beside someone as emotionally distant as him after losing her mother at such a young age? And recently, Evelynn had changed so much, yet he had…
In the end, he even went so far as to consult Joshua about the matter.
The conclusion they reached was to summon Evelynn to the capital and at least give her a gift.
“A blue diamond, sir. She’ll be happy no matter what you give her.”
“…But even so, people have preferences, don’t they?”
Joshua thumped his chest in frustration.
“You saw how crazy Lady Evelynn was about blue diamonds—I mean, how badly she wanted one. Whether it’s a necklace or earrings, she’ll love it.”
A blue diamond.
It was the one discovered in the Conrad Mine. There still weren’t enough to put on the market, but taking one or two for processing was no trouble at all.
The Duke was currently considering having one of those diamonds crafted into a gift for Evelynn. Naturally, that had also been Joshua’s idea.
Holding a catalog of luxury items that could be made from gemstones, he groaned.
It was the first time he had realized there were so many types of accessories in the world.
‘A ring…? No, rings are cumbersome. Maybe earrings…? But can those tiny ears even hold something like this? Then a necklace…? What if it’s too heavy and breaks her neck?’
If Joshua had known what the Duke was thinking, he would have collapsed in shock.
“Honestly, she’ll be happy with anything. If it bothers you that much, just give her all of them.”
“That’s a rather irresponsible suggestion.”
“…Can’t you do at least that much for your daughter?”
Joshua shot him a look.
Then, as if suddenly remembering something, he continued.
“Oh, right. I looked into the rumors about the Second Prince, but there wasn’t really anything suspicious.”
“What do you mean?”
“His Highness personally inspected the border region as well. The timing of the rumors spreading is a bit unusual, but many of the things in the rumors overlap with what he actually did.”
As soon as the rumors about the Second Prince began spreading, the Duke traced them back to their source.
There was a reason for that.
What if the Crown Prince was behind it?
What if he deliberately spread the rumors as part of some larger scheme?
The Duke couldn’t stop worrying.
As a result, he confirmed that the rumors originated in Rosental Territory, but by coincidence, the Second Prince had also been staying nearby during that period.
In other words, unless they directly asked the Second Prince, there was no way to know whether he had actually visited the refugee settlement in Rosental Territory.
‘But that’s not exactly something I can ask him directly.’
No matter how closely they had aligned themselves, discussing his precise movements was still a sensitive matter.
“…I see. Then let’s set that issue aside for now.”
“Understood.”
Suppressing his lingering unease, the Duke lowered his gaze back to the papers.
The list was one he had reviewed countless times since yesterday.
As he slowly scanned it again, something suddenly caught his eye.
Not a ring. Not earrings. Not a necklace.
After a moment of consideration, the Duke pointed at it with his finger.
“Then this shall be the gift.”
After the incident where a maid put laxatives in my tea, the maids completely ignored me.
I had thought they would bully me even more.
‘…Surprisingly, they showed absolutely no interest in me!’
As though I were invisible, they left anything related to me entirely to Jini and didn’t bother approaching me unless it was absolutely necessary.
Honestly, that suited me better since I liked sneaking around unnoticed.
‘Even so…’
This wasn’t exactly what I wanted.
“Are you still not finished? You’re slower than a snail. Even if you came from the capital, you’re so useless I can’t assign you anything.”
A middle-aged woman let out an irritated sigh.
I had been heading toward the back door with my hood pulled up, preparing to go out.
The unexpected sight made me hide in a corner and secretly observe.
The way she practically threw the mop at someone was enough to make anyone frown.
Especially when that someone was my personal maid.
Without saying a word, Jini simply picked up the mop and bowed her head.
She didn’t even try to resist.
At the sight, anger began boiling inside me.
‘This is completely my fault.’
She had ended up on the other maids’ bad side because she took my side.
“…Should I just fire all of them?”
“Who exactly are you planning to fire?”
“…!”
My heart nearly dropped out of my chest.
Someone was standing right beside me.
“Bullying, huh? Tsk. It’s not something you see very often these days…”
He glanced beyond the corner I had been spying around.
“Your Highness!”
Clutching my racing heart, I cried out softly.
Rakiel chuckled.
“Did I scare you? I was curious. I wondered what you were doing hiding over here and watching.”
“Ugh, you didn’t have to speak so suddenly! At least make some noise first…!”
“I did make noise. Did you really not notice at all?”
He tilted his head as though he genuinely found it strange.
‘How can you compare a trained swordsman to an ordinary person?!’
I gave him a wronged look, but naturally, he didn’t understand.
‘More importantly, this thing’s performance is insane.’
Despite all my movement, the hood hadn’t even fluttered.
It really was an “Indomitable Hood.” At this rate, even if I wanted my identity exposed, it seemed impossible.
While I was internally thinking, Performance guaranteed! Proven effectiveness! Rakiel continued speaking.
“Come to think of it, this is the first time we’ve met inside the ducal estate. Now I can believe you’re really a maid.”
“You still didn’t believe me…?”
“It’s best to be certain.”
He casually shrugged.
“Is she your coworker?”
“…Ah, yes.”
My answer came a beat late.
For a moment, I got confused about whether I was Evelynn or Eve.
From where he was looking, Jini was still cleaning.
A huge area that no one could possibly manage alone.
“Then that maid must have come down from the territory together with the young lady.”
“That’s right.”
At that moment, several maids around Jini’s age approached.
Each of them was carrying a drink.
Judging by their giggling faces, they clearly weren’t friendly toward Jini.
They walked up to her and deliberately dumped their drinks onto the floor.
“Oh my, my hand slipped.”
“Did someone grease your hands? Oh dear! I dropped mine too!”
“Oh my, maybe this place is haunted. My hands always slip whenever I come here. How strange, right?”
They behaved as though Jini didn’t even exist.
‘They’re the worst kind of bullies.’
I wanted to run over immediately, rip out every strand of their hair, and throw them out.
But…
Rakiel glanced at me as I stood there trembling with clenched fists.
“…Do you want me to help?”
“Huh?”
“Do you want me to punish them?”
“Your Highness…?”
A grin spread across his face.
“My position as a prince may be useless most of the time, but it does have its uses occasionally. Especially in situations like this. It’s exceptionally effective at making people like them bow their heads.”
His tone was strange.
Almost as though he were belittling his own status.
I stared at him with wide eyes before deliberately smiling.
“Is a prince really allowed to talk about himself like that?”
“What’s the problem? I’m the highest-ranking person here.”
“How does that logic even work…?”
“Which is exactly why it’s the perfect ability for dealing with people who bully others through childish methods like that.”
I smiled briefly before my expression hardened again as I looked back.
Now they had started poking Jini and openly provoking her.
“No, there’s no need.”
“Why not?”
“If Your Highness steps in, things will be settled quickly, but they won’t actually be resolved.”
“Resolved…?”
“It’ll only be temporary. If she ever has to return to the territory later, the same thing will happen again. And there’s no guarantee Jini will be the only target.”
He seemed to have figured out from context that the bullied maid’s name was Jini.
“I see.”
“So please stay out of it. I’ll handle this myself. If Your Highness gets involved, it’ll only make things worse.”
“Do you have a plan?”
“Of course. I practically live for making plans.”
“What?”
Rakiel burst into laughter as though he had just heard the funniest thing imaginable.
“That’s quite possibly the strangest expression I’ve ever heard.”
Yet after wiping the corner of his eye, he continued.
His eyes curved gently as he smiled.
“But when you truly need help, I hope you’ll call for me. I don’t want to watch someone close to me get hurt.”
