TVPTL 06

Chapter 06

“You may rest here. The young master has already gone to sleep first.”

The black-haired maid who guided me to the room spoke in a slightly cold tone.

“If you need anything, please call for me. Then, have a good night.”

Clack.

The door closed. Until that moment, I had been holding onto the contract tightly, as if it were my very lifeline.

“……”

How much time had passed since the door closed?

“Haa!”

I exhaled heavily, like a person who had just been pulled out of the water after drowning. I hadn’t realized it myself, but it seemed I had been holding my breath.

‘I survived.’

I blinked slowly.

I finally survived.

“Ha.”

Laughter burst out unexpectedly.

“Haha.”

I couldn’t tell if it was laughter out of accomplishment or something else, but I didn’t stop the laughter that burst forth.

“Look at how stiff my body is.”

After chuckling for a long time, I tried to get up, but I couldn’t twitch a single finger as I pleased.

In particular, the hand holding the contract was so completely frozen that I had to pry it open finger by finger with my other hand.

[Engagement Contract]

I checked the contract in my hand once again.

So this is going to be my lifeline from now on.

I read it, read it, read it again, and re-read it, but it didn’t feel real at all.

However, this was reality.

‘I have no idea how it turned out like this.’

According to the original plan, I should have been on a carriage bound for the convent by now.

‘Well, then again, when has my life ever gone according to my plans or imagination?’

If my life had rolled along as I imagined, I would be living as a happy family right now with parents who came to their senses and a brother who quit his business.

But now, I have become Hermia Tekins, the fiancée of Archduke Leandro, who had tried to kill me.

‘Whatever.’

Since it turned out like this anyway, let’s give it a shot!

“I’m going to survive until the end and become happy!”

I clenched my fists tightly. This time, somehow, for sure!

“Uuuugh.”

As I raised my body, all my joints were screaming. It clearly showed how tense I had been in front of the Archduke.

“Ve-Veloa.”

I pushed off my creaking knees, stood up, and stumbled over. Veloa was sound asleep, snoring softly while taking up the very center of the huge bed.

“Sleeping well.”

It was the same as when the child was sleeping in the arms of the person called Mrs. Salisbury earlier.

Did the child sleep continuously without waking up even once?

Should I wake the child up to eat something?

I pondered for a moment, but soon shook my head.

‘It must have been a very tough day for Veloa.’

Today was the day Veloa left the Tekins Count’s estate for the first time.

How scary, terrifying, and exhausting must the world, which the child was suddenly thrust into, have been for Veloa?

‘The puppies my friend and I fostered temporarily were also particularly struggling at first.’

Looking at the photos sent by my friend, most of them were huddled in a cage or tucked into a corner, trembling.

The longer they spent trapped in a cage, the more they exhibited such behavior.

How much scarier must it have been for Veloa?

‘You did so well following me out.’

Holding my suddenly outstretched hand well, changing clothes well, and following me all the way here without much complaining.

‘Veloa tried hard, too.’

I smiled brightly as I looked at the face of the soundly sleeping Veloa.

I thought I was the only one who tried hard, but that wasn’t it. This little child had also mustered up courage with all their might.

“Good night, Veloa.”

“Uuung.”

As I patted Veloa’s stomach while covering the child with the blanket, Veloa’s mouth twitched.

“Hehe……”

Grinning softly, drool trickled down.

Is the child eating something in a dream?

I smiled and wiped away Veloa’s drool.

‘By the way, this bed is really huge.’

It’s so big that three or four people could lie down without a problem.

It would be totally fine for Veloa and me to lie down and roll around on both sides, wouldn’t it?

‘Besides, the condition of the room is extremely good.’

I raised my eyes and examined the room.

The room was filled with luxury items, clear even in the dim candlelight.

‘Even this table.’

I stroked the round table next to the bed with my hand.

‘Isn’t this something that was also in Count Tekins’s room?’

I remembered it clearly.

I felt like I was going to fall from Count Tekins’s strike, so I grabbed onto this table, and I was hit a few more times for putting dirty hands on a luxury item.

‘Do they usually furnish a guest room with items fit for the head of the house?’

Is it possible because it’s Archduke Leandro’s household?

‘I don’t know.’

I tried to think about it a bit more, but my head refused to think.

Well, it was a tough day for me too. I curled up next to Veloa, who was taking up the very center of the bed.

No, I thought it would be fine because the bed was wide.

Veloa was right in the middle.

‘Still, it’s great.’

Not a single speck of mold, sturdy windows with no draft, and furniture that wasn’t collapsed or tilted anywhere.

The bed was fluffy, the blanket was soft and warm, and the pillow didn’t sink flat either.

‘Wow, it’s really nice.’

I grabbed the blanket. I couldn’t hold back the laughter that kept rising.

‘I love it so much.’

Although I almost died today, if the reward is this good, I feel confident I can endure such crises time and time again.

“Hehehe.”

There is no one here who oppresses and constricts me. None of them can touch me while I’m here.

Finally, I am free.

“Ah, I’m so happy……”

It was a sweet and comfortable sleep, the likes of which I had never experienced in my entire life.

“What happened, Your Grace?”

As soon as the Archduke came out of the reception room, a man attached himself to his side.

The man, who had cropped dark orange hair short, frowned and pressed Archduke Leandro for an answer.

“An engagement! And with that villainess of all people!”

“Take Miss Tekins inside and my nephew to their room. To the east room on the 3rd floor.”

“Pardon?!”

The man stopped in his tracks, startled. However, when the Archduke walked ahead without waiting for him, he hurriedly quickened his pace to catch up.

“Are you really planning on keeping that criminal here? Didn’t you see the report I brought from the investigation? That woman is an evil person!”

“Evil?”

The man’s words were cut off by the Archduke’s remark. However, as if he had obtained a satisfactory reply, the man quickly continued speaking.

“Yes! Smuggling, arson, and driving several people to their deaths with usury! They say it wasn’t just once or twice that she was caught trying to kill her new family because she couldn’t accept them.”

The man poured out words like a waterfall.

“They say she’s a woman who isn’t even invited to small tea parties in high society. No, in the first place, is the child she brought really your nephew?”

“She had my sister’s keepsake.”

Keeping his gaze forward, the Archduke took out the amulet he had kept in his breast pocket and handed it over as if throwing it to the man.

“This is.”

The man who received the amulet stopped in his tracks. As if lost in shock, his words halted momentarily.

“……It certainly belongs to Lady Hilda. However, it seems difficult to be certain with just this alone.”

Although he spoke that way, his voice had softened a bit as if he was half-convinced.

“Right, verification will be necessary.”

As if sharing the same thought, the Archduke also nodded lightly.

“Ahem.”

Clearing his throat once, the man handed the amulet back to the Archduke and spoke again.

“If so, shouldn’t you chase that woman away all the more? She is an evil woman. There’s no telling what she might demand using your nephew as an excuse.”

“Evil?”

The Archduke’s striding steps came to a sudden halt.

“Do you really think so?”

“Pardon?”

Even though the man was quite grown up himself.

At the overwhelming presence of the Archduke, who was a head taller than most men, the man swallowed his breath.

“You also believe the rumor that Miss Tekins is an evil person like the rumors say.”

“Ahem, well, looking at her face alone, she certainly didn’t look like one.”

Feeling awkward for no reason, the man gave a dry cough and recalled the moment Hermia Tekins came rushing into the Archduke Leandro household as if throwing herself in.

Her urgent and desperate voice, her frantic gaze, and her face filled with impatience and despair as if being chased by something.

However, what remained most in memory was her appearance, which drew one’s eyes even in such a messy situation.

Her gentle and exceedingly gentle face looked as though she wouldn’t even be able to kill a single ant.

“That is why she is all the more evil, Your Grace the Archduke. Isn’t the evidence clear? So, chasing her out as quickly as—”

“No.”

Cutting off the man’s words, the Archduke shook his head.

“Evil? No. Rather, it seemed to be the exact opposite.”

Her dressed-up appearance was quite plausible. However, weren’t the clothes made of luxurious fabric so short that her wrists popped out and her ankles were exposed?

As if she had stolen and worn someone else’s clothes.

On top of that, her fingernails were broken and tattered, and her lips were also torn here and there as if she hadn’t been able to consume proper nourishment.

Decisively.

“She couldn’t make eye contact.”

“Pardon?”

“Lowering her head and looking only at the floor had become a habit.”

It was an appearance commonly seen in a person who lowered their gaze, bowed their head, and lived being obedient to or suppressed by someone’s words at any given time.

“Dean, dig deeper into it.”

Currently, the information about Hermia Tekins that Leandro knew was identical to what was spread in the world.

“There is definitely something behind this.”

From the moment he spoke with Hermia, Leandro was certain.

It’s a lie.

The rumors were all lies.

That’s why she made a absurd proposal like a contract engagement that would only appear in a novel.

However, there was a need to clearly verify what the hidden truth was.

And there was also a need to verify something about her that didn’t match her habitual behavior.

There is a hidden truth.

And there was something beyond that.

“Find out everything.”

Leandro wanted to verify all of it.

And he became a little interested in the person named Hermia Tekins.