Following Mrs. Wells’ instructions, Carol went to the lounge where the lady had been just a moment ago.
The lounge, located next to the back door, was cozy and warm. It was quite different from the Duke’s bedroom, which felt as if winter had just set in.
It was just midnight.
She wanted to go home right away, but since the coachman was scheduled to arrive at Carol’s quitting time, she had no choice but to wait.
“Sigh…”
She knew it was better to sit quietly and wait, but she just couldn’t. She couldn’t go back to the Duke’s room either.
“…I need to go to the garden.”
Looking out the window, the snow was falling heavily. She knew she would be back soon if she went out, but she couldn’t stand still because she was frustrated.
Carol wrapped a blanket around her shoulders and opened the back door.
Whooosh-.
The sharp wind stung her skin every time it blew.
She considered going back for a moment, but Carol eventually stepped outside.
She had never been to the garden alone. Every time she went, all her attention was on the Duke, so even though she had been in the garden many times, it felt strange.
Every time the wind blew, the snow touched her face and then disappeared. The wind was blowing so fiercely that a few flowers had fallen to the ground.
[I’ve seen snow from afar, but I’ve never thought about looking at it closely.]
The Duke, who had been speaking thoughtfully while touching the petals, came to Carol’s mind.
Carol picked up a fallen flower as she passed by and sat on a bench in the center of the garden.
Even though she had brushed off the snow piled on the bench before sitting down, her dress quickly became damp.
Not just her dress. The snow piled on her head also melted, and her hair quickly became damp.
So it got colder, but Carol didn’t move.
She needed to cool her head.
‘I can’t get involved here anymore…’
Right now, even if the Duke likes her more than expected, in the end, it’s a fleeting emotion.
If she responded to such a transient emotion, it was clear that she would be left alone in the same place later.
Even now, didn’t she have nothing she could do?
“What am I doing?”
No matter how cold it was, the flower still smelled sweet. That fact bothered Carol a bit.
Carol sat in one place for a long time until her toes felt numb from the cold.
Rustle.
At the sudden artificial noise, Carol reflexively shifted her gaze and paused.
‘A child?’
Is it a ghost because it’s an old castle?
That was the first thought that came to mind, as a child with pale skin and light hair was looking this way, as if to disappear into the snow.
Her face turned pale at the thought that suddenly came to her.
Who is it?
How did they get to the Duke’s Mansion?
There were a few unscrupulous newspapers that occasionally sent orphans to sneak into noble families to get scoops.
When her thoughts reached even realistic problems, Carol jumped up.
‘No.’
If the Duke’s identity is revealed, he, who is just stabilizing, will collapse.
And if such a thing happens, it would be because of the variable that is her.
Thinking it would be better if it were a ghost, she plucked up courage.
“Don’t you move?”
The child, frozen from the cold, couldn’t move swiftly and was quickly caught.
Swish!
“You sneaked all the way here!”
The child reacted violently.
“Can’t you let go?”
“Who are you? Sending a child in this weather.”
“Where is someone sending me?”
“Even lying. It must be from a very vicious place!”
At Carol’s ominous attitude, the child shrank.
It seemed that he really hated being scolded.
“I came out on my own.”
“It’s not a distance you can come alone, is it?”
“…”
“Where is your home?”
“…Here.”
“What?”
At the hard-line attitude that she wouldn’t let go until she heard the answer, the child raised his voice.
“Here!”
“…Here?”
“Yes. This is my home. Who are you, on the other hand?”
“Huh?”
At the child’s questioning, Carol was taken aback this time.
“I heard that only the old servants are allowed in the mansion at night!”
The child, full of confidence, put his hand on his waist and asked loudly.
Apparently, the child also found her suspicious.
This is home?
‘There’s a child in the Duke’s Mansion…’
While pondering the mismatched combination of words, the child pushed Carol’s arm away.
The brilliant silver hair fluttering between the snowflakes, the red eyes that seemed to set the white world on fire.
“Ah.”
Only then did she belatedly remember.
A character that didn’t appear much in the story, thus she had forgotten.
The adopted child in the cursed Duke’s family.
The ascetic who must inherit the cursed fate.
Noah Winternox.
****
Noah Winternox.
After the Duke died, after he passed away, the elders who couldn’t let go of their obsession with bloodline showed a strong obsession that the Duke’s family must continue even if the curse continues.
When the Duke failed to leave a descendant, the elders of the Duke’s family brought an adopted child from a distant relative’s family.
The decision to bring in an adopted child didn’t take long, as there were often times when the successor was cut off in the previous generations.
Among the children of the relative’s family, the one with the most distinct characteristics of the family, of the Duke’s family–
It was Noah Winternox, with his dazzling silver hair, and thus became the successor of the Duke’s family and entered this old castle.
But that was only after the Duke died.
In the novel, Noah Winternox was mentioned almost at the end.
She thought the moment of being recognized as an adopted child was relatively easy in the novel…
‘To have been here from such a young age.’
It’s too big a change to say that something has changed because of her.
If the result changed due to her influence, it would have been more natural for this child not to come to the Duke’s Mansion.
“Who the hell are you?”
Heard that only the old servants are in the mansion, isn’t it?
It was a sharp momentum that was not like a child. He was using a high-handed tone, but it was not hard to tell that he was scared.
Carol explained to the child in a softened tone.
“If you call someone, you’ll soon find out that I’m an invited guest here.”
“…Can’t do.”
“You know you’re more suspicious, right?”
“…”
“Who are you, really?”
At Carol’s question, the child licked his lips.
It was just that she asked again because she couldn’t pretend to know here, but the child opened his rabbit eyes as if he had caught a weakness.
“I am…”
She quickly noticed from the child’s attitude that the child’s existence was being hushed up.
‘What kind of family has so many secrets?’
Carol muttered a small curse and took the child’s hand.
His hand was cold from being outside for a long time.
She couldn’t say that she knew who the child the Duke’s family was hiding was, so she was being cautious.
“Shall we go in and talk first?”
“I’m fine…Ahchoo!”
“Since I’m forcing you to go, you can talk about me if you get scolded later.”
The snow was falling more heavily.
Tonight was unusually long. Looking at the sky that was covered in clouds and showed no signs of brightening, Carol took Noah and entered the mansion.
She added a few more logs to the fireplace next to her, pulled a chair forward, and sat Noah down.
“Is warm milk okay?”
There were simple sandwiches, cookies, and various teas on the trolley in the lounge. Fortunately, there was a little milk left to drink with the tea.
“…It’s okay.”
Gulp.
The child obediently accepted the milk, as it was quite cold.
Carol put a new blanket over the small shoulders, brewed her share of tea, and sat across from Noah.
Seeing that his momentum had softened, Carol cautiously attempted to converse with Noah.
“Are you the child from the annex?”
The first question that could come up had to be limited because she had to pretend not to know his identity.
“That being said…”
“Don’t you have to go back? Someone might be looking for you in this snow.”
“No one noticed that I came out.”
At the child’s firm attitude, Carol pondered for a moment.
“Why did you come out? The annex is quite a distance away.”
The child didn’t seem to be hostile to her for no reason.
Flinch.
The child glanced at Carol. Her soft-looking brown hair and kind turquoise eyes didn’t look like the rumors no matter how one looked at them.
His hesitation was short. Noah was still too young and naive to be hostile to the person who had melted his body frozen from the cold.
After a moment of hesitation, Noah soon confessed why he had secretly come to the mansion.
“I heard rumors that the Duke had driven everyone away because he was bewitched by a succubus…”
“…Succubus?”
Carol asked in a stunned voice.
She had believed firmly that there’d be a crackdown to prevent rumors from spreading, but a very strange rumor was spreading instead.
While pondering whether to scold Mrs. Wells because such a rumor was spreading among the servants, the child who had taken a sip of milk continued to speak.
“There’s also a rumor that he fell into a bottle of alcohol because he was jilted.”
“…”
The hand that had melted from the cold outside and turned a little red was fiddling with the handle of the cup.
“There’s also a rumor that he’s addicted to gambling and sneaks into the casino.”
“Ah.”
It seemed to be just a speculative rumor, not a grounded or twisted one.
It’s natural to talk about others when everyday life is boring.
