CH 10

'As a maid, I don't get the support of the temple like Rienna.'

As soon as I had clearly made up my mind, I decided that I should first greet him.

Whether or not this man was Visenna’s eldest son, I have to keep my manners as a maid.

In any case, there is no way that Sharkis himself would be here when the two families hate each other so much. I just hope the man is his representative.

‘I mean the Archduke had a deadly sword fight with him. It wouldn’t be possible for the two of them to have a casual conversation like that.’

I wish that it’s just a servant of Visenna who was imitating the eldest son.

As such thoughts was filled in my head, I stood up from my seat.

I awkwardly grabbed my long skirt that draped down to my ankles and bowed my head.

The man chuckled as if he thought my awkward movements were cute.

“Hello...o.”

Contrary to the amiable smile, his answer was rather shocking.

“I don’t receive greetings from underlings, kid.”

If that's the case, why did you wait for a greeting?

He must have a really twisted personality.

‘As expected, a passive child strategy wouldn’t work against the vicious Visenna's.’

I glanced up quickly to read his face but then, we made eye contact.

I should have looked away, but I unintentionally stared at him.

When I didn’t look away, the man twisted up one side of his lips.

Any way I look at it, he was mocking me…

Ah, my mistake.

He must have thought that I was stupid, not cute.

Should I have occasionally taken the time to practice acting like nobility when I was living as a maid?

It was no use crying over spilled milk.

He seemed intent on taking me back as Visenna’s test subject.

If that wasn’t the case, he wouldn’t have a reason to stare at me like that.

Of course, I didn’t think that the man who I guessed was a knight was going to use me in an experiment, but it seemed that it was  on Duke Visenna’s orders.

‘I’m scared, but let’s pretend that I’m not scared at all.’

Ferze didn’t leave my side even though I put on a calm appearance.

He must have figured out that I’m terrified.

Ferze wasn’t the only one who was quick to pick up on my emotions.

The man who had noticed soon after that he was intimidating, sat quietly down on the chair situated on my left.

In the seat of honor, located diagonally from my seat, was Archduke Ferze.

On my left, was the man from Visenna.

The two people had me feeling extremely nervous.

Before I said anything, the man asked me first.

“What is your name?”

“It’s Ciel.”

I said nervously but firmly.

The man raised the edge of his mouth askew.

“What did you do?”

“I was a maid at the Archduke mansion.”

Why is he asking what he already knew?

If I ask that question, my lifespan will be greatly reduced, so I should just stay quiet.

But I couldn’t help but wonder about the man’s identity.

I knew it wasn’t polite, but I stared up at the man with jet black hair.

'Is the black hair real? I've heard that sometimes a good aide takes on a troublesome tasks. Maybe that's the case now.'

My intuition kept on warning me, but I tried hard to ignore it.

As I continued to stare at him, the man gave a leisurely smile.

“There hasn’t been a single person who took a good look at me ever since my younger sibling. You’re amazingly fearless for a maid.”

I was just trying to collect some information, but it must have been seen as a provocation.

I suppressed my suspicion that the man is the eldest son.

‘I hope my intuition was wrong this time……’

There was only one person that came to my mind.

In spite of this, I prayed that there were several people with black hair aside from him in the Visenna clan.

I waited in silence for his next words.

“An assassin who was working as a maid in the Archduke mansion? Or a double agent?”

They were ideas that you would expect from a Visenna.

I spoke dejectedly.

“I’m just a maid……”

The man seemed greatly shocked, as if my answer was completely unexpected.

It seemed as though he could not believe that an ordinary maid saved the Archduke who spent more time in the battlefield than he did sitting in his office.

“Isn’t she too ordinary to be my sister?”

The man looked disappointedly at me.

“She doesn’t have horns, two eyes, and only one mouth. It’s not like she’s huge like a golem that I can use as a slave, either.”

The man glanced sideways at me and spoke in a bored tone.

What in the world! What did he say? He’s going to make me his sister?

I was petrified by his muttering.

I stiffened at the fact that I might actually get adopted as a daughter, and not an experimental subject.

The man in front of me really seemed to be Sharkis.

I refuse to be adopted into the Visenna family, even if they paid me millions to go there.

‘It’s true that I’m nothing special, but……’

What did he exactly expect?

The man erased the disappointment from his face and spoke after slowly passing his hand over his chin.

“You’re going to switch over from a noble saintess to an insignificant maid?”

Excuse me, I’m six years old……

He must be trying to offend the Archduke on purpose.

“……”

He did not respond to Visenna’s question.

Judging by his single raised eyebrow, he had no intention of actually doing so.

He probably simply did not feel the need to respond.

“Hmm. I’m sorry to say something like this, but…”

When you hear the word sorry from a Visenna, it marked the beginning of hell.

I stared up at the man with shaking eyes.

“I’m not very interested. Duke Eustia is interested, but not me.”

My prediction was completely wrong.

Wow, I’ve never seen a maid who’s as good at working as you are.

You’re good at sewing and your ironing is perfect……!

This was what I had hoped to hear, along with some profuse clapping like seals.

I snapped back to reality.

Depressed, I hung my head.

Whether I was feeling depressed or not, the two men took no interest in me.

This was very fortunate.

Because if it wasn’t for this, they would have noticed that the edges of my lips were slightly curling up.

The man from the Visenna clan turned his gaze upon me.

I was caught off guard when he grabbed my two cheeks and made me raise my head.

When our eyes met again, he arched his eyes and said.

“I heard you survived from a curse?”

Sharkis Visenna, the very person who had kidnapped Rienna, asked me after he made me raise my head.

There is a saying. Don’t catch a Visenna’s attention; whatever they take interest in shall be easily destroyed.

It wasn’t just a wild rumor. This was true whether it was a person, a rare treasure, or something common that you could see anywhere.

“Take your hands off first.”

Before Sharkis could take interest, Ferze cut short his attention.

He immediately snatched Sharkis’s wrist away from my cheeks.

He did so with such fierceness that I was worried if he had done something to displease the Archduke.

Sharkis took his hand off of me compliantly.

“Well, sure.”

Sharkis scowled sharply at him, as if to ask why he had to grab his wrist that didn’t do anything.

He shrugged, muttering that the Archduke had become more ferocious ever since he almost got killed by Rienna.

‘It looks like he’s purposely trying to enrage him, no matter how you look at it.’

But who was this Ferze?

He took my hand with the same cold, indifferent face as I had seen in the morning.

Before I could ask why, I was on the way to the bedroom, holding the Archduke hand.

“It’s time for bed, Ciel.”

Seeing as he’s rushing me off to bed when he had just gotten me to take a look at the contract.

Nobody would be able to find out what he and Sharkis would discuss other than the two people involved in the conversation.

I tried not to sleep, but I must have fallen asleep.

I tried to get up from the bed, but lied back down at the sound of an unfamiliar voice.

Concentrating my ears and pretending to be asleep, I could hear a conversation not too far away.

There was a creamy colored leather sofa a short distance from the small bed. Ferze and Sharkis must be there talking about something.

It was Sharkis that began to speak in a rather surprised voice.

“You’re going to give us the mine in return for taking in that kid?”

“You’ve had your eyes on it, drooling for quite a long time.”

“I don’t really want the mine that much. Now, it might be different if we were talking about your dragon bone sword.”

The dragon bone sword that Sharkis was talking about was Ferze’s sword.

It was called Sharoon Bahait something……

It was forged from Acinaces, the bones of a dragon that existed from ancient times.

“If you want it that much, a good way to get your hands on it is to kill me and take it from me, Sharkis Visenna.”

Ah, Archduke. Please stop using speech like that.

Before I said anything, Sharkis complained in a light tone.

"Your Highness needs to use more beautiful words. You shouldn’t use such harsh words with your pretty face, now.”

Ferze laughed and immediately spit out the worst curse in the world.

Without changing a single expression on his face, he even smiled at Sharkis with an open smile.

He said out loud a profanity that even mercenaries passing by would recoil at with such elegance as if reading a verse from the holy book.

This may have been due to Ferze’s innate air that he carried about him.

He was famous for kissing his necklace that he always carried and praying to God before he slaughtered the enemies on the battlefield.

— Allow me to wield my sword until I hold my breath. After that, an honorable death for me.

But in any case, Ferze, after blurting out the profanity that should have been beeped out, took a sip of tea and began talking.