Chapter 51

Once in the morning, the butler visited my room again in the afternoon. with a message that the Duke is calling.

"...my father?"

"Yes."

I was in agony for a moment. I was not the agony of why the Duke called. Because there's so much things to call about.

It's because I haven't prepared for the biggest fuss yet.

'The fight with Leonard? Or the one with the Military Field Assaults... or is it because I bought me a bunch of weapons with the paper check?'

In fact, the second one was the most suitable.

Leonard wouldn't have told him that he had a fight with his sister at that age.

I used the money I gave you as I wanted, but I was wondering what to say.

" You don't need to feel so bad."

Perhaps my thoughtfulness seemed to be worrying, the butler insinuated.

He gave me an indication of the status of his work.

"Let's go for now."

I got up without thinking more about the words.

"Father, I heard you called me

As I entered the Office with a light tension, the Duke, who was sitting on the sofa, welcomed me.

"Yes, sit down."

Pointing to the opposite sofa, he said.

What changed so much after I became a princess in the game was that the Duke no longer condescend me.

That means I don't have to kneel down and beg.

Without hesitation, I walked and sat opposite the Duke.

He took out the cigar he was smoking and asked.

"Would you like tea?"

"I'd appreciate it if you'd give it to me…"

Shortly after the Duke rang the bell, the maid brought a simple refreshment and a light steaming tea.

"That's enough. Get out of here."

The maid, who was about to pour the tea in front of the two of us, bowed politely to the Duke's dissuasion and went out.

Again, there was an awkward silence in the office.

Come to think of it, it's my first time having tea time with a character.'

Every time I came, things were clear. To err, save lives, and leave this place quickly.

But apart from my innermost thoughts, no one treated me as an equal person.

Now a slightly better attitude was reassuring, but on the other hand, bitter.

During this thought, the owner of the mansion took the initiative and poured tea into the cup with a kettle.

"….Thank you."

I mumbled my thanks but didn't willingly lift the teacup.

The Duke, who took a sip of peppermint tea with a pungent smell, took a little pause and opened his mouth.

"Penelope."

"Yes, Father."

"There was a commotion on the military field."

As expected, the reason the Duke called was because of a assault. Is it fortunate that they didn't call him because he fought with Leonard?

"...yes, there was some friction with the knights. I'm sorry."

I nodded my head gently and put my apology in my mouth as I used to say.

Click-. The Duke put down the teacup and shined his eyes sharply.

"Explain the whole story."

"I'm sure it's just what you heard."

I didn't want to make a mistake, explaining things that were not related to my life.

The Duke's eyebrows wriggled, as if my answer was not good enough.

"I know what I've heard."

"You mean that I showed up on the military field without any hesitation and made Eckliss strangle a knight."

He recited in a trivial way.

It was obvious without the military's eyes that they would have given testimony in their favor, leaving out all my faults.

Of course, she's an adopted daughter, but how can she say we got caught cursing in front of the Duke?

"If you called me to check if it's true, yes. It's true."

I proudly declared the Duke face to face.

"As a lady, I'll accept your orders for self-reflection because you can't stay quiet for this matter. I won't participate in hunting competitions either."

Unusual, I didn't say I was wrong.

It was because I did it with my full will, and I didn't think it was very wrong.

Instead, I secretly revealed my purpose.

'Let's avoid the hunt if we can!'

Having fully established Eckliss's Favorability, I was not going to participate in the hunting competition and decide to imitating the FL at Normal Mode, and was going to raise his sense of attraction or popularity.

When I heard about the hunting competition at the luncheon, I didn't think deeply about the situation.

It is customary for all proud aristocratic men to participate at the hunting competitions.

So it's a day when all the men get together except for Eckliss, who is a slave and cannot participate.

No matter how hard I tried to avoid it, the forest was too dangerous.

'It's a perfect episode to die without knowing the reason or the cause."

Moreover, it will be held in the royal palace, so with a high probability it will be linked to the crown prince successively.

He was so interested in me that he sent me invitations separately.

If you're setting fire to the curiosity guy who just went out hunting and barely turned it off…

'No-!'

I screamed with a shudder.

"But I never think I was wrong, Father!"

A cold silence swept through the office.

The Duke asked back coolly with a lower voice.

"You asked to killed a family guard, and you've done nothing wrong?"

"Yes."

I answered straight away without changing my face.

Then the Duke sighed shallowly.

"Okay. Then why did made you escort to do that?"

'Why are you asking me so persistently today?'

I tilted my head.

The Duke had a very high status and trust in the knights.

Ignoring Eckart's articles is ignoring Eckart.

I'm ready for some punishment, as I've done the ignorant act for strangling the knight.

'I thought you'd get mad like a thunderbolt if I went out shamelessly with I didn't do anything wrong.'

I, in need of spirit, was considered a surprise to the Duke's reaction.

"…don't you think what the knights say is more reliable than what I say?"

"Penelope Eckart."

The Duke called my full name with a serious look, overshadowed by his agonizing words.

"I am asking you why you did such a thing with the surname of Eckart, so be sure to answer with caution."

"….."

"You wouldn't say you was bored for no reason. You, who have never been in the direction of the Secretary of State, have never been in."

The suspicion of the duke was justified.

You know, she's a mad dog's bitch, but she wouldn't go and fight with the knights who train for no reason.

"And before you went out, I asked the butler in detail about the treatment about your issue in detail."

"Well, that's–"

I raised my head in amazement at the added Duke's words.

As soon as I tried to ask how he knew reflexively, I closed my mouth.

The butler is the only one who asked that question, so of course it's him who went out of his mind.

Phew, such tactician…

I resented the butler for misbehaving.

The Duke, who recognized my hesitation, looked at me.

"Do you have any thoughts of speaking now?"

"It's all my fault, Father. I just went to the military field with a simple whimper, and I didn't like the way the knights greeted me."

"The stories of the knights will determine the punishment of the slaves you brought along."

"….."

"Will you speak or I'll kick the slave out of his position as an apprentice, who caused a disturbance without knowing his subject!"

I was rapidly depressed by Dukes voice who become increasingly angry.

Even with the word "simple whims," didn't made him believe it. It seemed to him that there was a different reason.

"Tell me every detail of the day. Otherwise, I'll hold the slave responsible for all this commotion."

I couldn't help but open my mouth at the mention of Eckliss.

"…I took my escort from the field to go out."

"….."

"I've seen a knight named Mark punish him too much for breaking a wooden sword during training."

It was like a childish child complaining about nothing.

The Duke's eyes were grimly frowned upon.

He shouted as if he had intuitively guessed that was the reason.

"It isn't uncommon to see severe punishment in the top-down relationship of knights for military purposes. I'm not old enough to say I don't know it."

"In the meantime, he insulted me, the owner of Eckliss."

"Wha… what?"

When he heard my answer, the Duke, who was in the rain who was going to scold me again, groped his words with open eyes.

As expected, it must be the boat they were talking about.

"My escort was furious, and the top knight was trying to beat him up with his colleagues."

"….."

"So I told Eckliss to fight the knight who defiled Lady's honor."

I meant to kill him, to be exact.

I was not foolish enough to confess such vulgar words to the Duke.

The Duke kept his mouth shut at my words for a long time.

I looked down at my teacup, blankly without a bite.

The contents that were steaming up suddenly cooled down.

Neither the Duke nor I, however, tried to pour a new tea.

'…..I'm sick of it.'

While glancing sideways at the hardened Duke, I suddenly felt that this situation was boring.

How many times do I have to repeat this until I escape?

"He's–"

The duke made a deep, deep-seated sound after quite a long time.

"What did they insult you?"

"They say I'm a fake that I can't even cover him if I'm kicked out"

"..."

"So he told him to realize as soon as possible that he serving a master as a rotten cord."

I recited it without a single exaggeration.

It wasn't because the knights who had reported their atrocities were reprehensible.

If I had known now, I wished I would have care about whatever I did.

But the slowly distorted Duke's face was unexpected.

"...why didn't you come to me and Derek immediately and tell them?"

He asked, breathing loudly as if he were enduring something.

Obviously Penelope would have stormed into the Duke's room and yelled at the him first, saying the knights had despised her.

I pondered for a while and just told the truth.

"…..I punished him right away, but I thought he was not worth it."

"What do you mean, he wasn't not worth it!"

The answer was terrifying, and the duke burst out.

~~~~~