Shortly after Min-ha left the annex, the door to the Duchess’s inner room opened silently.
Then, a man came out the door.
A man dressed too old and shabby to be a servant of the Persen walked out slowly with worn-out shoes.
Although he bent his back or his whole body, his fairly large and strong physique covered his face with a large straw hat that could be seen going down the stairs through the hallway of an empty annex where no one could hear him.
When the man safely escaped the entrance on the first floor and stood in front of the annex, he trembled when he saw the guards walking towards him from the front door.
On the other hand, the guards also saw the figure of a suspicious man standing in front of the Duchess’ annex, and approached them with a grim expression.
“Hey, there! Who the hell are you?!”
“Reveal your identity!”
At that, the man bent his crooked back even more and rubbed his hands sullenly in reply.
“Oh, my. I am not a suspicious person.”
“Then, who are you? How dare you come here!”
“…I, I was called to the side of the western wall… but I was in a hurry to go to the toilet, and I got lost while looking for the bathroom, so I came here.”
“Really? Show me your pass.”
“….”
“If you came into the castle to work, wouldn’t you have a pass?”
“…Ah, haha. Yes, of course.”
The man searched his arms as if embarrassed by the guards’ words as his explanations did not go through very smoothly, and took out a small wooden plaque.
The guards took it and stared at it for a while, before returning it to the man as they could not find anything suspicious. They then pointed out the door to the back of the window they were at and said.
“Tsk. The bathroom is over there. You idiot, never approach this way again! Next time something like this happens again, don’t think that it will pass as smoothly as this time!”
“Right! If it wasn’t for the Duke’s command to treat the serfs who were working with us generously, you would have been going to the dungeon a long time ago!”
“…Oh! Yes, yes! I will keep that in mind!”
The guards continued to bow low and stride inside the mansion, kicking their tongues as if feeling pathetic to the man who was asking for wrongdoing.
It was only then did the man who had lifted his eyes with his head bowed, as their presence disappeared completely, moved his body carefully and took a deep breath. He hid into the bushes inside the castle wall in a strange posture.
“Sigh—”
When he could not hear any voice completely around him, the man straightened his crooked back and took off the straw hat that was covering his face, and held it in his hand. The appearance that was revealed was completely incompatible with his sullen attitude a while ago.
Even in the shade of a dark tree, his blonde hair, a straight forehead, a high nose and thin lips, and red eyes burning like the finest ruby were difficult to see as those of a serf at all.
The man muttered in annoyance as he spat out the saliva with a hardened face.
“…Pretending to treat the serfs for someone who used to be a lowly commoner.”
‘Well, thanks to that, I was able to hide in the mansion so easily.’
The man laughed at Seth Persen, the owner of this mansion, who was infinitely generous to the proletarian, and leaned his back against a large tree.
As he pretended to be a disproportionately lowly serf, his whole body ached.
“Damn it.”
Seth Persen… If he hadn’t been caught by that lowly bastard, he could have been able to get in and out easily using the secret passage.
After Seth found out everything, the only way to enter the Persen’s mansion was to disguise his identity as a serf like this. That was why he had to pretend to be a low-level serf every time, and he had no choice but to pay money to buy a pass every time.
Nevertheless, this inconvenience was only trivial if it was for a man to meet the person he wanted to see.
He called out her name in a whisper, recalling his lover, who could barely hear her voice through a door a while ago.
“…Minase Florence, my lover.”
‘My person who is like a rose full of thorns. My lover has been taken hostage by a mean and lowly man…’
How heartbroken it was to hear that she had collapsed. He wanted to come to see her at any moment, but she did not send a letter, perhaps due to the heightened surveillance of the Duke of Persen.
So, after waiting and waiting for the lowly man to empty the castle, he finally got a chance and hid in the castle right away, though even that was not enough.
The man sharpened his teeth, recalling the appearance of the handmaiden, whom he had bribed a while ago, and the dog of the Duke of Persen, who was glaring at her with his cold eyes.
“…Yes, even a petty wild dog can run wild like a wolf in their territory.”
Even more so if a lion is taking care of that wild dog.
‘Nonetheless, that dominance will not last very long. Seth Persen… good-breeded wolves are preparing traps for you.’
“…So, before that, I must completely separate you, whom I love, from that lowly bastard.”
And, it won’t take long…
A blonde-haired man, red-eyed—“Rupert Guinivis,” with shining eyes, grabbed hold of the Vatican’s internal documents related to the divorce of the Duke and Duchess of Persen, which he had secretly obtained.
He wanted to pass this on to Minase right away, though it seemed that she had too many eyes to see today.
Well, it’s just the difference between being a little late and early. It was only a matter of time before she found out about the contents of this document.
‘…So, let us reunite with and share the love we couldn’t share now later.’
Rupert put on the straw hat again and disappeared into a small path in the deep grass as his presence faded little by little.
After completing the subjugation of Count Kain Joaquin, Duke Seth Persen and his knights were returning. The Persen territory was filled with cheers and excitement.
Fifteen, since he first entered the war as a mercenary, he has never lost once, and he brought victory once again.
At the news that they would soon cross the gate and arrive at the Persen Castle in the late afternoon, all residents of the castle, regardless of age or gender, gathered to decorate the streets with flowers and blew horns with joy.
And, the atmosphere was no different in the mansion. The servants cleaned and decorated the mansion with excitement, and the soldiers who guarded the castle while the Duke left also changed into uniforms at once and stood in front of the gate to wait for their colleagues to return.
In an atmosphere filled with cheers and joy, an untimely scream echoed from the Duchess’ annex.
“Kyaaaaaa—!”
“Madam! You must hold on to the pillar more tightly!”
The scream was, of course, the main character and owner of the room, Min-ha.
‘I should have known when I saw Mrs. Pompa and Ella who came in with a bunch of maids in the morning…!’
She was now being tightened at her waist by a leather corset that tightened her body.
Min-ha screamed and shouted in pain as though she could be broken in two at any moment.
“Do I really have to do this? Aren’t there any comfortable dresses?
“There isn’t such a thing…is there?! Madam is getting prettier, whoa… You’re thinking it’s so funny! In the past, you said you were wanting to do this every day after day! Again, what are you talking about…! What do you mean, unnecessarily?”
“That’s right! The Madam usually wore comfortable clothes that you would wear like other servants! I let it go because the Madam was comfortable with it! But, not today…! Ella, tighten it more!”
“Yes! Mrs. Pompa!”
“St, stop, stop! Okay, wait a minute! Let’s take a break and tighten it! I think I’m going to break my ribs! Wait—! Time out…!”
As Min-ha screamed desperately, fearing that she would break all of her ribs if she went on like this, Ella and Mrs. Pompa loosened the corset straps that were tight.
At that moment, she took a deep breath and sat down on the bed with an exhausted expression on her face.
“S, sister-in-law! Ahhh!”
Then, at the sound of Min-ha’s scream in the room, Noah, who was standing outside the door, crying, ran in at once.
Mrs. Pompa covered her shoulders exposed with the sheer cloth she held out, and Min-ha ran quickly and hugged Noah, who was embracing her in her arms.
Looking at the little boy, she said as she wiped the corners of Noah’s eyes as he looked up at her with his tearful eyes.
“Oh, my, Noah! Why did you cry?”
“…Are you okay?”
“Huh…?”
“You were screaming in pain… Agnh, where are you hurting?”
“…Oh. That’s it, my back…”
“Here?”
Min-ha grimaced her face. Seeing that, Noah patted her waist with his small hand and said, “Hoo, hoo” which touched her heart.
It was hurt and made a little fuss. However, she felt sorry for the child because he was worried about her. Min-ha then opened her mouth while stroking Noah’s small head, who hugged her tightly.
“Noah already blew it, it’s okay now. It doesn’t hurt at all.”
“Really?”
“Of course! See, it’s all right now, right?”
Min-ha answered in a deliberately exaggerated voice to reassure Noah, and she even moved her tight waist, moving lightly. Then, at the sight of Noah smiling slightly, she sighed in relief.
“…So, can I continue what I am doing now, Madam?”
“….”
However, the moment of relief did not last long. Min-ha screamed desperately when she saw Ella holding her dress and Mrs. Pompa with a comb approaching her.
“Oh, no! I’m still sick! So, after a little rest…!”
“It’s not possible. There is no time. You should quickly change into this dress and get your hair done.”
“..Is it really necessary to do this?”
“Yes. You must do this.”
“…”
“So, Noah, can you go out for a moment? You also have to change your clothes.”
Once again, they mercilessly tightened her waist. The two women and the other maids held out their hands as well, as if playing dress-up with dolls. Because of this, Min-ha asked to avoid it, but Mrs. Pompa’s reply was stern.
She honestly wanted to know what the point was, but Min-ha sighed heavily at the appearance of Ella and Mrs. Pompa, who did not seem to back down no matter what she said.
Meanwhile, seeing Min-ha like that, Noah was worried, so he hesitated and spoke to Ella, who induced him out of the door.
“But, if sister-in-law gets sick again…”
“She will be fine. The Madam just said that you were okay, didn’t she?”
“…Really?”
“Is that right, Madam?”
At Ella’s words, reassuring Noah and asking her, there was an unspoken pressure.
‘Are you going to worry the Young Master Noah?’
Min-ha gazed up at Noah looking up at her with his weeping eyes, and she spoke as if she couldn’t help it.
“…Yes. So, don’t worry. Can you wait outside for a minute?”
“Yes!”
After hearing her confirmation, Noah seemed relieved and followed the handmaiden out of her room.
As the door closed, Min-ha stood quietly in front of the pillar she had been holding before with her dim eyes. Then, she brought the white cloth that was covering her shoulders to her lips, and she said to Mrs. Pompa and Ella.
“…Please, tighten only enough that I can still breathe comfortably. Please…”
“I’ll try my best.”
With those words, she screamed without a sound as the laces of the corset tightened her tight waist again.