Chapter 48

The sound came from the external garden behind the palace.

It was close to the outer wall of the castle, so it was particularly deserted.

As I passed through a corridor connected by several pillars, the garden appeared.

While walking forward against the cold wind, I saw someone's figure in the distance.

It was Duke Shuetsu.

The duke, standing alone, was looking down at his arm.

'What is he looking at?'

I narrowed my eyes. My vision, adapted to the darkness, widened.

Upon closer inspection, he was not alone. Knight Ante was with him.

'What is he doing at such a late hour?'

At that moment,

"......I apologize, Your Grace."

Ante raised his sword high.

I clamped my mouth shut.

A faint, dark red liquid dripped onto the ground in the moonlight.

I ran out reflexively.

There was no time to think.

"Your Grace!"

Ante turned to look at me when I called out.

"Miss Ely? What are you doing here......!"

"Why are you doing this!"

I stood in front of the duke.

Ante, startled, tried to hide his blood-stained sword.

"Miss Ely. This is just a simple training session......"

"Nonsense-"

I sharply turned my head towards the duke, but stopped abruptly.

"......!"

The duke's red eyes, gleaming in the moonlight, pierced into mine.

I shuddered.

Though I had never seen a monster, I instinctively knew.

'Not human.'

Is this the madness of the Shuetsu family, passed down through generations, as I've only heard about......

"Come this way, Miss Ely. It's dangerous!"

Ante urgently called me. It was a signal of danger.

However, I approached the duke as if enchanted.

If Duke Shuetsu were truly in a dangerous state, Ante wouldn't have attacked like that.

I quietly placed my hand on the duke's arm, where blood was oozing out.

The duke looked down at me without any movement.

After a while, his eyes calmed down.

The moment I thought his gaze had returned to its original state,

"You......"

The duke, who seemed momentarily startled, muttered and pushed my arm away forcefully.

Blood splattered onto my clothes.

"Why are you here?"

"Your Grace......"

He glared at me with the eyes of a predator staring at its prey.

Stiffening, unable to answer, he narrowed his eyebrows and looked down at me.

As he was about to speak, he saw the bloodstains on my clothes.

He hesitated, then hid his messy hand behind his back and muttered,

"......You don't seem bothered by this at all."

"......"

"Does that mean you're used to seeing blood?"

The duke muttered to himself.

"If you wander around at night, you'll end up seeing things like this. Go back now."

The duke pointed at me with a nod to Ante, who stood behind me.

Ante approached me belatedly.

"Does it hurt?"

The duke, who had been frowning, paused when I asked.

"What?"

"Your Grace, does it hurt anywhere?"

The duke frowned and looked down at me.

"......You must be thoroughly frightened. To hear you say such things."

"I'm not scared. You won't hurt me, right?"

"What?"

A small ripple appeared on the duke's face, which had been mocking me.

"If you were going to kill me, you would have attacked the knight beside you first."

The duke's face twisted, but he didn't say anything else.

"Even without a sword, it's not difficult to kill a small child like you."

Despite his words, his voice was a bit more lenient.

Actually, it would be a lie to say I wasn't scared.

I was trying my best to stop my legs from trembling.

But I saw it.

His eyes, which had been shaking roughly. And the confusion that surged within them.

'Why......'

Then, a strange, unfamiliar sound came from somewhere.

At that moment, the duke's arm began to return to its original state.

"......!"

I opened my eyes wide.

'His arm has regenerated.'

This wasn't just a wound healing.

Is this possible without any healing magic?

It would be impossible even with the divine power that the temple's best could muster.

Then......

'Is this...... the madness of the Shuetsu family?'

Startled, I only gaped, and the duke clicked his tongue.

"Didn't I tell you to go back? You're really disobedient."

The duke, who had been frowning, took out a handkerchief from his pocket and tossed it to me. I caught it by reflex.

"You must have heard about this accursed blood."

"......"

"It's one of them. There's no need to be afraid."

The duke, saying this, seemed very calm.

"Still, you're surprisingly calm."

"......"

"How many times have you seen this?"

I remained silent.

It was indeed unnatural for a child to be unafraid in such a situation.

But, then I should talk about my mother.

Would the duke not want to hear it?

I looked up at him with a timid gaze.

For some reason, his indifferent eyes today seemed to suggest that he would listen to anything I said.

"My aunt......"

So I slowly opened my mouth.

"My aunt?"

"When I lived in the back alleys with my mother, there was an aunt I was close to. She wasn't a blood relative, but I followed her like a close aunt."

My aunt was also a criminal, like my mother.

But I was too young back then to understand what a crime was.

My aunt doted on me, who followed her around.

Like her bold and confident personality, she always brought along big and small accidents.

Whenever she got badly injured, she would come to my mother.

Even when my mother scolded her, she would laugh it off, saying, "That's life."

Because of my close relationship with such an aunt, I wasn't easily startled by minor injuries.

And the environment of the back alleys was a place where a child would see many scenes they shouldn't.

"......So, this is why you're so calm."

After explaining everything, the duke muttered softly.

You should have been a little scared.

'But he looked more sad than scary......'

"It's late."

At the duke's abrupt words, I looked up at him.

"Forget what you saw today. It might appear in your dreams."

"Dreams......"

"Yes, dreams."

He repeated my words and gestured to Ante.

"Miss Ely. I'll escort you to your room. Please come this way."

Ante approached me, but I didn't turn around and asked,

"Your Grace, aren't you going to sleep?"

"What?"

The duke sighed, as if annoyed by my question.

"I often have nightmares, so I don't sleep well. Is that enough of an answer?"

"Nightmares......"

I pondered his words and cautiously stepped forward.

"Your Grace."

"What now?"

"Can I help you sleep?"

"What?"

He looked down at me as if I were absurd.

"The orphans said that if I hold hands with them, they don't have nightmares."

"Who?"

"The orphans. And, and Demian......"

My voice faltered involuntarily under his sharp gaze.

But I didn't back down and grabbed the duke's sleeve.

"I'll stay by your side to make your nightmares disappear."

"......"

"Is that not possible?"

* * *

In a very dark room.

I rolled my eyes, recalling what had just happened.

'So, I boldly offered to help the duke sleep......'

The duke, who had been looking at me with a displeased expression, turned his body abruptly.

I stood awkwardly for a moment, then decided to follow him.

I followed him all the way to his bedroom. The duke didn't say much until then.

'......This is easier than expected?'

I blinked in a daze.

Meanwhile, the duke casually took off his shirt, which had been cut by the sword.

His firm chest and broad shoulders were revealed.

'Even with a good body, do you really just take it off like that?'

Oh, how disgraceful.

'Really firm. Must be uncomfortable to wear a shirt......'

"What are you doing?"

"......!"

I trembled as if struck by lightning.

The duke, now in lighter clothing, sat on the bed and tilted his head.

"You said you would help me sleep."

"Oh."

I hurried to the bedside.

"How are you going to help me sleep?"

"Lie down first."

Despite his reluctance, the duke obediently lay down, raising one eyebrow.

'Arrogant cat.'

Yes. Butler, if that's your wish, I'll do it specially for you, like a cat.