Chap 15

"Hold on tight, don't fall."

But my hand, contrary to my will, couldn't muster the strength. Was it the sweat from the tension? My hand, grasped by the Duke's, felt like it was slipping. Was I going to fall and die like this?

At that moment, the Duke leaned into the vent.

His face came down right in front of my eyes. Those blue eyes, which I thought I'd never see again, were gazing at me.

He pulled my arm with all his might. Like a grasshopper with wings, I was flung out of the vent.

I was alive.

Regaining my senses, I found myself on a blue carpet. As I lifted my head, the first thing I saw was the Duke kneeling on the hearth.

"Your Highness! It's hot!"

The ashes on the floor of the fireplace where the stovepipe was, looked freshly extinguished, still holding a red glow.

As I crawled towards him on my knees, he raised his hand to stop me. Then, as if nothing happened, he walked past me and sat in a blue velvet chair edged with white pearls.

He looked at me. Dressed in a wide-fronted white shirt and black pants, without his armor.

The 22-year-old Duke Zion Belphegor.

His eyes, now coldly settled, were fixed on me.

Was the fiery look he showed while saving me just a figment of my imagination?

I stared at him blankly, forgetting to speak.

He kept his gaze on me without blinking. I quickly bowed my head and prostrated on the floor.

"A nameless one greets Your Highness."

"What is your name?"

He persistently asked again.

"As I said earlier, I'm just called 'the Bug'."

"I do not trust those without a name."

I looked up at him. His eyes were steady, scrutinizing me.

"Esdel. My name is Esdel."

The name slipped out before I realized.

In the past shown by the dagger, my mother called me that. 'Esdel'. Probably, that's my real name.

In the last life, I told him my name was Bella, but now, even thinking of that name is dreadful.

It was a leash Medea disguised as affection, to control a monster starved of love.

The Duke said nothing. When I looked up, I saw his face, strangely stiff. His eyes were slowly scanning me.

Did he think I was lying?

Finally, he spoke, his voice slightly trembling.

"So, that's your real name?"

"Perhaps, it is."

"Why like that? It's unlike the Duke I know to catch words like that."

I chuckled inwardly.

Did I have enough familiarity with him to judge what's characteristic of the Duke or not? What basis do I have for such thoughts?

"What brings you here, Bug?"

"Bug," he said.

He doesn't trust me.

"You came through a secret passage. Who are you, and why have you come? Better tell the truth."

I glanced at the sword by his side. A sword overtly displayed for me to see.

I must tell the truth. A truth he can believe.

"I belong to the household of the Southern Duke Lahert and serve under the Duke's daughter, Medea Lahert. Lady Medea is my master, and I am being groomed to become an assassin, to do whatever she commands."

I continued without watching his expression.

"But I don't want to be an assassin. I've realized not everything the Southern Duke's family does is right."

"What is right and what is wrong?"

An unexpected question.

Was he testing me?

"I believe it's wrong to go against nature or to cause suffering to others for one's desires. And… that's why I came to stop the wrong that Lady Medea intends to do."

His blue eyes bore into me.

I bowed my head again.

"Lady Medea has her own garden of poisonous plants. And today, I saw the gardener of that garden visit her. On days when important uses of poison are planned, that man always comes here."

"I see."

"I overheard their conversation secretly. They are targeting Sir Arcadia Nugent. They are likely to poison him."

"Why?"

"Pardon?"

His extreme calmness took me by surprise. He asked again.

"Why not me, but Arcadia?"

I was flustered.

What should I answer?

I can't just tell him to believe me because everything I say about the future is going to happen. Who would believe such a thing, unless they were insane?

Moreover, he seems to be more upset about the fact that the target is Arcadia, not that they have prepared poison. Isn't it surprising to you that they have prepared poison? Or is he already expecting it?

"Why Arcadia?" he asked again.

"…"

Count Herren Nugent, Arcadia's father, was assassinated by the Black Beetle.

Count Nugent governed the North for seven years as a proxy for the young Duke, who was a hostage in the Empire. The North plunged into chaos when Count Nugent died, a death disguised as an accident.

But because of that, you, Zion Belphegor, could return to the North. Since there was no longer a proxy.

Seven years later, Arcadia Nugent supposedly commits suicide in the Southern Duke's household. He died because of me, but it was concluded he jumped off a balcony himself.

It was believed he had been secretly suffering from depression due to his father's death.

The death of Count Nugent and then his beloved second son, Arcadia, plunged the Nugent family into anger.

They had carried the burden of the North's hardest times as the first vassal family, during the young Duke's absence.

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