Edited…

12. The Wicked Duke

Honestly, can I speak my mind?

But before she could even do that, Eveline, who opened her mouth first, cut across Roselia’s words.

“I was curious about Claucet, so I called Antonio.”

“His Highness?”

Glancing subtly, Eveline seemed to want to hide the fact that she was collecting paintings through Roselia’s abilities.

Since Roselia had many obstacles just to speak openly, she didn’t bother to refute.

Klaus, scanning Roselia, soon turned his attention back to the Princess.

“More importantly, is your wrist okay?”

“I’m fine, Duke.”

“Does His Highness still treat Her Highness the Princess this recklessly?”

“It’s not really something the Duke needs to worry about.”

Roselia watched their exchange with a mischievous glance.

It was the same as it was mentioned in the original. The Duke showed emotions similar to affection, fondness, and obsession towards the Princess.

Whether it was accumulated familial love, like childhood friends growing up together, or love between a man and a woman, it was never revealed until the end. Because the fate of the Duke was to disappear around the time the love between the male and female leads had started to bloom.

Feeling a strange sense of camaraderie, when Roselia looked at him with pity, he seemed to sense her gaze, and his indigo eyes coolly met Roselia’s.

“What are you doing right now?”

With a cold question asked, Roselia looked back at him with puzzled squinted eyes.

“What?”

What am I doing? Just observing you two having a conversation.

“Do you think you have a reason to stay in this situation right now?”

It was a not-so-subtle way of telling her to leave.

“Do I need to tell you to leave?”

Ironically, even though she was the one who arrived first, it seemed as if she was bothering the Princess, making it inexplicably frustrating.

Why should she be frustrated? Did the Duke treat her coldly? No, the real question is :When did the Duke ever treat her kindly?

Never. He always was cold to Roselia.

That’s why perhaps the contrast between Klaus, who reflected affection in his cold shell, limited only to the Princess, was even more repulsive.

Feeling awkward, without even a proper greeting, Roselia just bowed her head and bluntly left the room.

Yeah, I just felt unjustly treated because that damn Duke discriminates against people.

At that moment.

The Prince, who was leisurely leaning against a pillar on the opposite side of the corridor with his fists clenched, approached her and spoke.

“Hey…”

Disbelieving whose voice she had just heard, Roselia’s head turned mechanically, like a broken machine.

Full of discomfort, her face twitched in response to the voice filled with unpleasantness.

Am I the only one feeling uncomfortable here?

Even if it’s about the original Roselia, it’s still uncomfortable to have the person who killed her right in front of her eyes.

I’m not going anywhere with you! I’m going home!

Contrary to her inner thoughts, Roselia naturally turned her eyes towards him as if she hadn’t thought of anything.

“Good heavens! Your Highness, what business do you have with this humble servant…?”

“Pretending not to hear… Hey, Valtezar’s dog.”

Who does he think he is, calling me someone else’s dog?

Come to think of it, whether by chance or not… even in the original novel, the Prince referred to Roselia as ‘Valtzar’s dog.’

In the original novel, Roselia, who had fallen for the Duke, provided information about the royal family as if she were using all her wits and courage she had, so it seemed like a fitting nickname… but now that the extra had become the main character, the situation was different.

Suppressing her discomfort, Roselia forced a smile.

“Yes, Your Highness.”

“What did the Duke tell you to do? If you tell me willingly, I’ll spare your life.”

In the original, without even showing a speck of concern for Roselia, he killed her instantly, so much so that threatening her life even in such a different situation was mind-boggling.

Ignoring the twitch at the corner of her mouth, Roselia spoke carefully.

“I wasn’t ordered by the Duke to come to the palace, but…”

As Roselia spoke, the Prince, who had been glancing towards the Princess’s private reception room, grabbed Roselia by the back and dragged her away.

“Your Highness?!”

Am I going to be dragged away and killed again?!

Lost in various delusions, Roselia found herself being pulled to the back garden of the Palace by Esteban.

“Here, you can speak freely.”

“Well…?”

“The Duke won’t be able to overhear us here. So go ahead and talk without worry.”

Well, actually… It couldn’t be said that there was no connection because she contacted the Princess to repay the Duke’s debt. But she didn’t go over there under the Duke’s orders. However, even if the Prince listened to what she wanted to say, there was no guarantee that the Prince, who considered the lives of the common people worthless, would ever spare her.

“Your Highness, I assure you. As a mere servant, I only came to see Her Highness the Princess for errands from Claucet.”

“How much are you receiving from the Duke? I’ll give you twice as much.”

“…”

“Three times!”

It felt like, even if he called for three thousand Berang, he would give it to her in an instant. Although Roselia was stubborn and would love to pay off that debt as soon as possible, she quietly gave up because she knew that, the more money that was rewarded, the worse the consequences would be. She knew this very well from the original story.

“Your Highness, I must inform you. As a mere servant, I have so much work piled up that it feels like a mountain even when my eyes are open and alert, so I will have to take my leave.”

As she said this and turned to leave, Esteban grabbed her wrist roughly, his hand causing a slight discomfort.

Suppressing her irritation, just as she was about to protest, the Prince looked at her wrist with a puzzled expression.

“What… Why is a man’s wrist so thin?”

Momentarily embarrassed and cautious, Roselia casually replied.

“It’s because I have grown up starving.”

The words were not wrong. From the time the Marquis passed away and his successor took over, or strictly speaking, since her mother died and the Marquis began treating her like a servant, she hadn’t received any of the Marquis’s gracious treatment, nor had she eaten well or dressed well; she grew up without any of that.

Even though twenty years had passed, the fact that she hadn’t even made her debut at a ball spoke volumes.

Roselia forcefully pulled her wrist out of the Prince’s grasp.

However, Esteban continued to gaze at her wrist with a skeptical expression.

He seemed like nothing but a lunatic Prince with more than a few screws loose, but he surprisingly had keen insight.

Well, that must be how he had noticed Roselia, who was taking away information from the royal family in the original work.

“Even for that, it’s too much… And you do seem quite small for a man…”

So needlessly sharp!

Roselia replied coldly, feeling a chill in her heart.

“It’s only because I stopped growing early.”

“Hmm… Well, let’s leave it at that. What’s your name?”

Why should you suddenly ask about my name?

In an instant, the content of the original novel flashed through her mind.

“What’s your name?”

“My name is Roselia.”

The Prince smiled broadly upon hearing Roselia’s name.

“Roselia… What a good name. Although not suitable for a traitor’s dog.”

With that conversation, the original Roselia was sent straight to the gallows.

In response to Esteban’s question that somehow reminded her of the novel’s contents, Roselia swallowed dryly and answered his question.

Hearing Esteban’s words, which were similar yet different from the original, Roselia felt strange.

“I won’t believe that you lied in front of a Prince. However, if you can’t give me the answer I want next time, I can’t guarantee what will happen next.”

Did he believe her or just threaten her…?…

Roselia, who stared at the Prince as if she were amazed at the absurdity, realized that there was nothing good about talking with the Prince for a long time and quickly left with a slight bow.

As Roselia disappeared with brisk steps, Esteban’s golden eyes followed her stubbornly, as if trying to gauge something.

* * *

Roselia walked down the dark corridor, clutching an envelope containing the 1,000 grangs check she received from the Princess.

She had received a late-night summons from Klaus.

Since she had already planned to visit Klaus to repay her debt, Roselia didn’t hesitate to leave her room.

However, as she approached Klaus’s study, her steps grew heavier.

Was it because of the Princess’s concern, that he was treating Roselia like a stumbling block, similar to a troublesome pebble?

It was uncomfortable, but was it truly enough to make Klaus detest her?

Roselia straightened her mind, shook her head vigorously, and knocked confidently on the door of the Duke’s study.

“Come in.”

Roselia, taking a deep breath at Klaus’s familiar yet cold voice, opened the door and entered the study.

Klaus, sitting at his desk and setting aside the documents he had been examining, folded his arms and stared at her intently.

“It would be better for you to speak the truth.”

Roselia’s eyebrows twitched at Klaus’s straightforward approach.

“Don’t make up nonsensical stories about meeting the Princess to talk about Claucet’s well-being. What exactly were you thinking when you approached the Princess?”

Annoyed by Klaus’s tone, which labeled her as a potential threat to the Princess without properly inquiring about the situation, Roselia replied,

“I didn’t approach her; it was the Princess who summoned me.”

Klaus sneered, twisting one corner of his mouth, at her arrogant tone.

“The Princess summoned you? What reason could she have to want to see you, a mere servant?”

“Well, it’s difficult to discuss the Princess’s personal matters with you.”

Not liking Roselia’s bold response, Klaus stood up. As a man who was easily 190 centimeters tall, his imposing figure was intimidating.

Roselia calmly looked at him with an unaffected expression.

Approaching Roselia aggressively, until he was close enough for their noses to almost touch, Klaus spoke threateningly.

“I don’t know what kind of sophistry you’re planning, but it’s best not to think of making use of the Princess for it.”

For a moment, Roselia was stunned, and empty words escaped her mouth.

Not use the princess? What?

The very same person who, in the original novel, used Roselia in the exact same way he said, to wield and exploit her for everything she had?

Klaus, who had once dedicated himself to manipulating Roselia in such a manner, didn’t even appear when she ascended the gallows. He might not have acknowledged her emotions, but he certainly could have..

That damn Duke.

Listening to such words from the Duke himself, while not being guilty of any of his accusations, made her feel inexplicably enraged and frustrated.

Roselia glared at the duke’s face as if he was going to eat it, which was right in front of her, and pushed his face closer to hers.

“Can’t I use it?”