CH 21

“Your Grace, please return to the Duke’s manor!”

The Duke’s face hardened coldly, but Count Jacob continued his words regardless of the harsh atmosphere.

“All of the Duchy’s vassals are looking only at you. If you value the Duchy of Vanice in the slightest, please……!”

I tilted my head.

It was because it was difficult for me to understand the Count’s gibberish.

‘What the hell are you talking about?’

I looked around and saw that the others were also puzzled.

“……Count Jacob.”

A cold voice escaped from the Duke’s mouth.

“Do you even have the conscience to ask me to come back?”

Ah.

Finally realizing the situation, I slightly sighed inwardly.

The Duke did not simply stop living in his manor. I don’t know the exact reason, but he seemed to have cut off all contact with the Duchy.

Naturally, neither my letters nor visits could have been delivered properly.

‘Can a Duke do that?’

I frowned.

No matter how crazy the Duke of Vanice was, he is the head of a family. The Count’s words asking for his return to do his duty were right unless he renounced the title.

“Wasn’t you who told me to come back without wasting any more time, saying that my daughter would already be dead?”

“……Yo-Your Grace.”

The Count stuttered.

“Even if I have ten mouths, I have nothing to say. But at this rate, the Vanice Duchy will perish. Thousands of lives depend on you, so please come back.”

“I once thought so too.”

The Duke slowly replied.

“Until my vassals gathered their mouths in agreement to tell me to stop and forget about Elodie because I can have a few new children.”

Freaked out, I searched for the person involved, Elodie.

All I wanted was to turn to her and block her ears.

Fortunately, she was still young and didn’t seem to understand what those words meant, just like Elodie’s friends, other little children were also clueless.

But adults were different.

With just those words, Duke Vanice convinced everyone why he abandoned his duties as Duke and did not return to his Duchy.

I was no exception either.

‘……’

I swallowed dry.

Elodie was already my family.

If, I had been frantically looking for Elodie, and someone says something like that to me…

‘It was already a miracle in itself that the Count was alive until now.’

If it were Duke Vanice as described in the novel, the head and neck of the vassals would have been separated immediately upon hearing such words. If that were the case, there wouldn’t have been a human being named Count Jacob ruining Elodie’s birthday party.

The Duke was not one to open a door once closed.

“Were you not the ones who deliberately aggravated my madness?”

Count Jacob groaned as if he had been caught off guard.

“……Sir, I’m really sorry about that and I’m really, really sorry. However……”

“You say you have nothing to say even if you have ten mouths, but you are indeed saying a lot.”

When the Duke openly sneered at him, Count Jacob closed his mouth as if he was speechless, and could only blink his eyes.

I touched my forehead.

I needed time to think about the words I heard a while ago.

‘What do you mean madness?’

So, the Duke was clearly aware that he was insane, and the Duke’s vassals also seemed to have contributed considerably to the cause.

‘……I don’t remember seeing anything like this in a novel!’

I grabbed my head.

If I knew it would be like this, I should have memorized the novel.

But who cares about the hidden setting of the villain?  It was clear that the information was not treated as important even in the novel.

The Duke’s icy voice pulled me out of my thoughts.

“I don’t want to show a rough behavior in front of my daughter, so go back. If you don’t…….”

“Did you find your daughter!?”

Count Jacob asked with a look of great bewilderment.

He looked around before the Duke could answer anything and soon found Elodie.

“Princess!”

Count Jacob rose from his seat and ran towards Elodie.

It seemed to him that the Duke had become a forgotten person.

I could hear The Duke clicking his tongue.

Count Jacob bent over.

“Princess, our princess……You have grown so much before I knew it, and I have no regrets even if I die.”

The fact that he continued to speak without even breathing seemed like a person who was overwhelmed with emotion.

Elodie, in bewilderment, only rolled her eyes.

“Do you remember me? It’s Uncle Tom! The princess called me Tommy. Oh, you’re so much like your majesty.….”

“Please stop it.”

There is also a limit to my patience.

I spoke for the first time since the Count came inside the cafe.

“Can’t you see that Elodie is scared?”

I gestured towards Elodie, she immediately ran towards me and hugged my waist.

I hugged her in my arms.

In the meantime, she gained a lot of weight thanks to feeding her hard, but still, a weak and skinny body came to me.

“It’s okay, it’s okay.”

I patted the trembling Elodie on her back.

Count Jacob looked at the two of us with a face as if the sky had fallen.

“Pr-princess……”

“Count.”

The Duke intervened and walked towards Count Jacob with a grim face.

My body stiffened by itself.

If there’s a stabbing at Elodie’s birthday party…….

‘No way.’

No matter how much of a crazy Duke, he would have that much self-control.

Fortunately, the Duke stopped right in front of the Count.

“It’s not enough that you just recklessly invaded without a word in advance, you even frightened my daughter.”

Duke Vanice growled.

“Bu-but Your Grace!”

At this point, it was annoying, but I had no choice but to admit that Count Jacob was quite strong. A normal person would have run away, crushed by the Duke’s bloodlust.

I glanced at the Duke.

Dark red eyes, clouded by wrath, took on a dark luster similar to dark clouds before a storm.

Count Jacob quickly continued.

“You don’t even have to stay long. I have prepared all the necessary documents for you at the Duke’s manor, so all you have to do is decide on a few urgent issues.”

The Duke’s eyes narrowed.

“I don’t have to stay long……Exactly how much are you talking about?”

“O-One month is enough!”

“……”

“A-A fortnight……”

“……”

“One week! Sir, it will take only one week. Then we can get over the Duchy’s crisis right now. So, please…….”

I felt like I knew his answer before he even opened his mouth.

“I will refuse.”

Yep, that’s the answer.

The Duke openly grinned.

“Even if the of Duchy Vanice goes extinct, what does that have to do with me? Didn’t you guys oppose making Elodie my successor from the start? If I won’t be able to hand it over anyway it doesn’t matter if it disappears.”

I shook my head. It was because I realized that this man in front of me had truly gone mad.

What, it doesn’t matter if the Duchy goes extinct?

What is all that bullshit?

Even if the purpose were to live alone and well with Elodie, wouldn’t the title and the property of a Duke be necessary? Right now, I allowed access because even though he was a crazy person he could use both material power and emotional support for Elodie.

If the circumstances were a little different, I would have done everything possible to block his access.

I know he’s angry because the vassals talk bullshit, but it’s not good to throw away the treasure in his hands on the street because of that.

I muttered to Elodie, who was still hugging me.

“If you are a grown adult, you have to work. Isn’t that right, Elodie?”

“What?”

Elodie asked back with her eyes wide open.

“Ah, our Elodie is still young, so you don’t know. People who are all grown up and in good shape, but do not work, are called good-for-nothing. I hate people like that.”

“Good-for-nothing?”

“Yes, but you don’t have to worry about anything Elodie. If there is something you want to do, you can do it, and if not, you can run a cafe with me.”

“……!”

Elodie’s eyes twinkled.

“I want to do a cafe with Aria!”

“Really?”

I smiled at Elodie, who seemed to be in a good mood again.

“But let’s start by finding something else you want to do. Because if it’s the cafe, you can always do it with me.”

My arm was beginning to ache, so I lowered Elodie to the floor and turned my head towards the Duke and Count Jacob, who were still at odds.

‘……?’

I blinked.

Aren’t these two noblemen looking at me and Elodie with faces like they’ve seen ghosts?

‘……Oh, my god.’

I groaned inwardly. It wasn’t something I said for them to hear.

I’m just saying this because I don’t want Elodie to use her father as a role model.…. I never thought it would be like talking behind someone’s back.

Right then, I heard a word from the Duke.

“I will go to the manor.”