Chapter 43

Chapter 43

“Pant, pant!”

Perhaps it’s because she ran up the stairs.

Anna was out of breath. She poked her face through a cracked hole in the door to the Duchess’s bedroom.

She saw the Duke sitting by the Duchess’s bedside, gazing at the Duchess who had fallen asleep. 

The Duke’s eyes, looking down at his sweaty, pale wife, were so sweet that he did not look like a man who was so devilish on the battlefield.

Anna stood outside, stamping her feet, unable to get in.

Then it happened. The Duke turned his eyes away from the Duchess and summoned Anna with an indifferent tone.

“Come in.”

“…yes, yes. Duke.”

Anna cautiously entered the room.

The Duke, with his long legs crossed and his arms folded, looked at Anna with fierce eyes as if he were watching her every move.

Anna stiffened with fear. Fearing a mistake, she put the glass of water on the table next to the Duchess’s bed. Then, when she saw the golden basin she had spilled in the room, her face wrinkled as if she was about to cry. With this, the dismissal seemed natural.

…maybe I should pack up now.

“You can work in the mansion.”

“…yes, I got it. Duke. I’ll leave right now. I will always regret my mistakes—.”

“You don’t listen to me till the end. Is this a trait you got from your master?”

“Yes, yes?!”

Anna clasped her hands together in front of her body. 

The Duke was just looking at Anna, who was trembling with a blunt face, not knowing what she was feeling.

He seemed to want her to understand what he had said a little while ago. Fortunately, Anna understood his words. Her face, which was wrinkled with tearful eyes, turned bright at once.

“Well, are you serious? Duke?!”

“I can’t help it because my wife seems to like you. I think it’s better to have a much more useful person on my side.”

Anna was deeply touched by his generous act and exclaimed, not caring at all about the Duke’s criticism.

“Thank you! Thank you so much! I’ll never put the Duchess in danger again!”

“Is that true?”

The Duke tilted his head with a friendly smile that he only showed to his wife.

A flowing black hair touched the corner of his eye. He had been taking care of the sick Duchess for a month. The sharp cheekbones showed a little more line.

Even with his sharp cheekbones he looked very handsome. On the contrary, the classical beauty of the main character of a classic novel seemed to shine even more. 

On the other hand, however, there was a hint of insidiousness in the duke’s gentle manner. 

Anna realized that she couldn’t help her heart shaking even though she noticed the signs. The Duke was an overly handsome man.

My, what am I thinking!

Anna bit her lips tightly and nodded hurriedly.

The Duke again spoke tenderly to Anna, who glistened her eyes and had pledged her loyalty to the Duchess.

“Juliana is strangely adoring you. It’s the first time my wife has ever taken care of a servant like that. Yeah. Maybe it’s a good thing. She hasn’t attached a bond to the mansion for two years, so it’s very convenient to have a lovely maid in the house that she likes.”

“Yes, yes! The Duchess always takes me with her.”

There was no choice but to be confident in the fact. Anna blew her nose, showing her indescribable pride. The Duke smiled as he looked at the young girl who laughed and immediately became frustrated.

“It’s nice to see you honest.”

“Thank you…”

Is this a compliment? Perhaps it’s just to ridicule her. However, Anna, who was dumbfounded and couldn’t tell the difference, laughed happily, thinking, ‘Let’s take it as a compliment!’

Whether Anna did so or not, Evan still looked at his sleeping wife as if she were falling, stroking her cheek.

The side effects of using mana too rapidly weakened and shattered her body. His eyes trembled as he looked at his wife.

For the first time in her life, Juliana changed to help her husband.

It was definitely a good thing. However, the thought of missing something has not gone away. 

Evan tried to retrace his wife’s change of heart. But the more he did, the more intricately entangled it became, like a tangled yarn that had been tangled up with no sense of the end and the beginning. 

A cruel wife who brought up divorce as soon as he got back from the battlefield. However, his wife, who abandoned her ‘game’ that she usually played, went in and out of the temple. Then, Juliana Auburn also temporarily hanged out with her husband in order to cut her ties with her suitors.

He had taken every opportunity that Juliana had given him, and the subsequent actions of his wife were unexpected.

She attracted the Empress to the jousting contest and participated in a contest that might be another waste of her health. She even collapsed.

His wife, who had never approached Evan’s work saying that it was only the domain of others, finally came within his range.

With the joy of it, Evan had no time to think about her actions and the reasons.

A wild dog starved for too long doesn’t know the poison in front of its eyes and eats it. 

Thinking so, Evan laughed at himself.

Juliana had long held a leash in her hand that strangled the wild dog. The wild dog was tied to the leash without being fed at all. 

For Evan Hilchen, a wild dog who was starved for too long, he did not know the reason for the recent situation, but he was very happy. 

However…

His own stupidity raised his work. Now it was necessary to slowly retrace Juliana’s actions.

“Anna.”

While the Duke was still lost in thought, Anna, unable to relax, raised her head in amazement at the voice she heard.

Surprisingly, the Duke was looking at her with a gentle smile.

“Yes, yes?!”

Oh, my God! The Duke called my name! The Duke was both terrifying and surprising, so Anna didn’t know what to do. 

To the young maid waiting for the words to follow, the Duke spoke as if he were a benevolent employer.

“I want you to assist the Duchess well. As you know, she’s weak. When she was a child, she almost died several times.”

“Yes, yes. Oh, I know.”

“Then the story will be quick.”

“What?” 

Then, something rose from the Duke’s white hand.

It looked like a black pebble but had eyes drawn in the center. So, it was a bizarre gem with a rather unique flavor of taste. Anna faltered toward the jewel that was held out to her.

The Duke was smiling, telling her to take it. But still unable to look at the smile at ease, Anna swallowed a gulp.

She couldn’t pretend not to know the Duke’s gift, so in the end, Anna stretched out a numb hand. Soon she had a jewel in her hand.

“This, this is…?”

“A contact box that will allow you to contact me directly.” 

“How can you give me such a precious thing?”

Anna was in tears.

The tightly tied rows of brown hair stood one by one on her head. That’s because she felt eerie.

Magic tools were really expensive. This precious thing, which could not be bought even with the servant’s lifetime salary saved, was in her hand. 

Furthermore, the so-called ‘contact box,’ which was in the grip of her hand, was dark black and very cold. When the young maid was embarrassed by him, the Duke smiled softly again and comforted her.

“I think I was being too rough on you a little while ago. I apologize for that. I don’t intend to burden you. I’m just doing this because I want you to continue to assist the Duchess.”

 “?”

As Anna reflected at his words in tears, she looked down at the contact box she had in her hand.

Looking at it like this, she thought it was cute. The round shape was like a small button…

Seeing Anna changing her mind after his words, Evan spoke sweetly to her again.

“My wife may often become as ill as she is now. It’s important not to do anything dangerous before that happens. Now that you are the Duchess’s only chief maid, I trust you will do your duty well.”

“Me, me?”

“Yes. You don’t have to feel pressured. So…it’s like a reward. You want to keep working for the Duchess, don’t you?”

“Yes!” 

Anna’s eyes lit up.  

Evan smiled vaguely after her answer and tucked his wife’s hair behind her ear once again. He then said softly, moving his gaze from his wife’s white and pale face. 

“If anything serious happens to the Duchess, you can report it to me. Of course, without the Duchess’s knowledge. She’s stubborn about these matters.”

“Well, do you mean it’s to deceive the Duchess?”

“You’re quick to understand.”

Evan smiled at Anna with his head tilted and said casually.

“I’m going to use whatever means and methods necessary to protect Juliana Auburn. I thought you’d agree with my way.” 

Of course, this was quite a shock for Anna as well. The Duchess, who had been sick for over a month and said some strange things in a fever, was usually a bit sarcastic, but she seemed to be a pleasant woman.

“Well, I will.”

Anna nodded after much consideration. Evan grinned as he saw it. Then the smile on his face disappeared as he told her to leave.

“Get out.”

And Anna realized at that moment.

Unlike the diamond necklace that the Duchess has given her in a playful way, this was a very serious matter. If the Duchess is hurt once again because of her mistake, the Duke will not forgive her.

So this was a bribe to ensure success. Anna bowed her head seriously and went out quietly.

* * * 

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