The Villain's Ending is Only Death Chapter 24
The one who stopped the person harassing me was the Duke.
"What kind of impertinent act is this during a private meeting?"
At the stern voice, Derick's eyes wavered for a moment. I, too, regained my composure from the confusion.
Derick released the shoulders he had been gripping tightly and took a step back. Then he bowed to the Duke.
My shoulders, which had been released, felt numb. I stroked the arm that had been held with one hand and watched him.
'What, why aren't you leaving?'
Derick stood firmly beside the Duke's desk, looking at me as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
The Duke also looked at him with a puzzled expression but remained resolute, clearly showing his intention to listen to me as well.
'Ah… I have to deal with two bosses now…'
I sighed deeply in my heart.
"…Well. Yes, I understand what you're saying, Penelope."
The Duke cleared his throat and tried to sort out the situation.
Fortunately, the excuse I had prepared seemed to be convincing enough.
While I was relieved, he pointed out another issue.
"But if you bought him, you could have just set him free. Why did you bring him to the house?"
"Eclis is exceptionally skilled in martial arts, Father. That's why I had to pay an unreasonable price."
I smoothly delivered the prepared words.
"I want to take Eclis as a squire. He seems to be very useful."
"As a knight of our family?"
"Yes. Rather than letting his talent go to waste as a mere servant, I want to have him learn swordsmanship formally…"
"Listening to you, it seems you have no sense of propriety."
At that moment, Derick abruptly cut in, sharply interrupting me.
"There are plenty of people who consider it an honor to be given work by the Duke's family."
"Yet, what use is there in teaching swordsmanship to a mere slave from a defeated nation?"
The Duke also seemed to agree to some extent.
'Ah, why isn't this guy leaving?'
I suppressed the rising fatigue and tried to respond in a calm voice.
"I want to use him as my personal bodyguard."
"You can't walk around alone without a bodyguard forever."
At my matter-of-fact tone, the Duke looked at me with surprise.
"Why don't you have a bodyguard? There are over 20,000 knights in the Duke's territory combined."
"I know my reputation among them isn't good, Father."
"That's why you haven't assigned me a bodyguard, right?"
Derick and the Duke fell silent for a moment.
Noble daughters are typically assigned about five to six bodyguards.
The more powerful the family, the more bodyguards they have, to ensure their safety without any gaps.
However, when I asked Emily after hearing Renaldo's words, I learned that Penelope had never been assigned a fixed bodyguard.
At best, when she had to go out, some knights who were free would take turns.
'How bad must her reputation be? Or how little value did they see in her?'
I had guessed it right, but the Duke and Derick, who were now speechless, confirmed it.
"I don't want to entrust my safety to people who don't want to protect me."
"But there's no guarantee that something like today won't happen again after I leave home."
Both of them almost shouted in unison at my words.
"What do you mean? Leaving home?"
"Exactly. I'm an adult now."
After a moment of wide-eyed surprise, I shrugged and said,
"At least let me choose my own bodyguard for my safety. Please, Father, Brother."
I bowed to them, and with my polite tone, they couldn't object.
'It's almost impossible, but…'
After all, today's incident wasn't solely my fault.
It was a significant problem that no one followed the master to ensure their safety when they went out.
Especially in the Duke's family, which wielded great power in the country.
In fact, I didn't really need a bodyguard.
I just needed a reason to keep Eclis in the house.
The Duke, after a moment of contemplation, spoke.
"I understand. You must have been very shocked. Go and rest. I'll tell the doctor to visit you after you've had a good sleep."
I didn't need to see a doctor since I wasn't injured, but I answered politely.
I bowed and tried to leave the office quickly.
"Derick, stay for a moment."
Just as I was about to leave, the Duke firmly added.
I saw Derick, who seemed to be about to follow me, standing close to the door.
'Ah, why is this guy like this!'
My heart sank, and I quickly closed the office door.
What more did he want to scold me for after the conversation was over?
Fortunately, the door didn't open again. I let out a sigh of relief.
At that moment, a white square window appeared before my eyes.
〈SYSTEM〉 [Derick] and [Festival Viewing] quest failed!
Do you want to try again?
(Reward: Derick's affection +3% and other items.)
The festival still had a lot of time left.
But I shuddered and repeatedly pressed 'Decline.'
As the square window disappeared, a sense of injustice welled up inside me.
'And why did it fail? We went out and saw the festival together!'
Just going out with them was a big deal, so what was wrong with this damn game system?
Since Derick failed, Renaldo would also have failed.
'Whatever. I got 3% anyway.'
I tried to calm down and recalled Derick's black head.
Even though the quest failed, his affection had increased by the reward amount.
'As expected. The strategy is to avoid these brothers.'
I reaffirmed my resolve to thoroughly avoid them and walked to the central staircase.
However, I had barely made this resolution when I encountered one of my targets.
"Hey. Are you mute? Why aren't you answering? Where are you from?"
At the bottom of the stairs, I saw Renaldo poking Eclis, who was standing there, and Emily, who was fidgeting beside him.
I frowned and quickly approached them.
At my voice, Renaldo turned his head.
I noticed his head, which I hadn't seen earlier, had changed like Derick's.
Instead of answering my question, he poked Eclis again.
I alternated my gaze between [Affection 10%] and [Affection 18%].
My choice was naturally the latter.
Eclis, who had been standing silently without responding to Renaldo, moved swiftly at my words.
He came to stand closely behind me, where I pointed.
Renaldo's face contorted, and he let out a sigh of exasperation.
"Didn't you hear Emily? He's going to be my personal bodyguard."
"Personal bodyguard? Using a slave as a bodyguard?"
"Did this girl run away and pick up some nonsense? Is she planning to ruin her reputation completely?"
I snapped at him curtly and turned around. I was almost about to faint.
"I'm tired. Let's talk another time."
But before I could take a step, my path was blocked.
"Where are you going? I'm not done talking."
At that moment, Eclis flinched. It might have been due to Renaldo's harsh tone or the menacing aura he felt from behind.
I blocked Renaldo with one hand.
I couldn't let Eclis be driven away after bringing him to the Duke's house for less than an hour.
I called out to him, suppressing my irritation.
He immediately shouted back.
"What do you need a bodyguard for? You're always stuck in your room."
"I need one now. I don't want something like yesterday to happen again."
"Then use one of the many knights out there!"
"I don't need knights who treat their masters with such disrespect. If their insults were compiled into a book, it would be ten volumes long."
Renaldo's reaction was the same. Like the Duke and Derick, his mouth was tightly shut as if he had just been slapped.
"How much effort would they put into protecting me if they had such attitudes?"
In other words, you are no different.
You knew about the knights who disrespected the noble lady but did nothing to maintain discipline.
You might have even encouraged them to insult me more.
His trembling blue eyes. Renaldo, who couldn't find the right words, finally came up with an excuse.
"If you're going to call it a joke, don't say it at all. This time, I was lucky to come back, but if something like yesterday happens again, I'll be…"