~Chapter 16~
“You’ve regained consciousness. I’m glad to see you’re feeling much better.”
Latryne spoke to me as he looked at me.
Hearing him say that with such a calm expression made me feel even more embarrassed.
I fumbled, trying to pull away from Latryne’s embrace.
“The Duke took care of me! Thank you… I’m feeling much better now, so you don’t need to worry about me anym—”
In the middle of speaking and struggling, I managed to slip a little away from Latryne, but in the process, I bumped my arm on the floor.
A sharp pain spread from my elbow.
As I groaned in pain, Latryne grabbed me again and lifted me up, saying, “Even though you say you feel better, you’re still in a serious condition. It would be better for you to stay like this, even if it’s uncomfortable.”
Reluctantly, I found myself once again in Latryne’s arms.
Come to think of it, I had rolled down the mountain, so my injuries might have gotten worse.
If it were someone else, they probably would be fighting for their life right now.
I raised my injured arm, which was hurting, to check its condition.
Blood was seeping out from where the bandage was wrapped.
I looked at it somewhat numbly, but Latryne, who was beside me, furrowed his brow at the sight of my wound.
“Um… Sorry. It’s not a pleasant sight, is it?”
“Oh, no. It’s just that your injury looks quite severe, and I couldn’t help but frown. I apologize. If I had realized the weather was getting worse sooner, this wouldn’t have happened.”
Is that why he had been so concerned about me?
Actually, even before we left, Latryne was worried about my injury.
He’s always been someone who can’t just leave an injured person alone in front of him, given his kind nature.
How did someone like him end up becoming the mastermind who threatens the male lead’s life…?
Anyway, instead of doing something wrong, Latryne had actually protected me when I fell, so if anything, I felt grateful to him.
“You caught me when I was falling. I’m truly thankful for that.”
“It’s nothing compared to what you’ve done for Sertien.”
Ah, right. The Sertien.
It was only then, after hearing Latryne’s words, that I remembered Sertien.
There was only a doctor and a maid with Sertien right now.
Neither Latryne nor I were with Sertien, and what bothered me was the fact that the maid by Sertien’s side was someone who didn’t think highly of him.
I hurriedly spoke to Latryne.
“Is Seri… alright? We should go check on him right away…”
Latryne calmly replied, “It’s impossible to go now.”
And I had to admit it did seem that way.
The rain was still pouring heavily, and I was badly injured.
Latryne added, “Besides, Sertien is not alone, so there’s no need to worry too much. Actually, we’re in a more concerning situation right now.”
Though he said it to reassure me, his words only made me more anxious.
“That’s exactly why I’m worried. That maid… doesn’t seem to like Seri very much.”
“Even so, she wouldn’t do anything to harm Sertien directly.”
“That’s because you don’t know, Duke!”
I raised my voice in agitation.
There was a brief silence, with only the sound of the thunder and rain filling the air.
“Is there something I don’t know about?”
It seemed he had caught on that something had happened.
This might be the time to tell him about what happened at the villa.
“When I ran into the maid earlier, I went to get Seri after changing clothes. At that time, the maid was in the room where Seri was lying down, and Seri was coughing, but she had the window wide open and was just watching him cough. Can you believe that?”
Latryne’s face visibly hardened.
“Is that true?”
“Yes, and it wasn’t just that the window was open by accident… Anyone could tell she opened it on purpose.”
“…”
“But it’s strange, isn’t it? I mean, for a mere maid to harbor such hostility towards Seri… or rather, towards Seri’s mother.”
When I mentioned “Seri’s mother,” I hesitated a bit.
I was worried that bringing it up might make Latryne feel worse, considering I resembled her.
However, Latryne quietly listened to me without any visible reaction, and then he spoke.
“You really don’t seem to know anything about our family’s matters, do you?”
“Yes…”
Even though I had read the novel, there wasn’t any detailed description of Latryne’s former wife, so I didn’t know anything about it.
“I see. It’s just that people of higher status usually know about these things, so that’s why I mentioned it. Even so, she likely wouldn’t dare do anything more directly to Sertien. She’s well aware of her position as a maid.”
“Is that so…?”
“But still, I didn’t know something like that happened. I’ll have to do something about it when we get back.”
“That maid, is she from the Duke’s main household?”
“Yes, she originally worked at the main house, but she came here to help manage the villa.”
“So, does that mean Seri has always been treated like that at the main house?”
“…I can’t say no to that. He has indeed been treated that way.”
So many possibilities crossed my mind.
Maybe Seri’s real mother did something wrong…
While I was lost in thought, Latryne adjusted my position to make me more comfortable and spoke again.
“You must be curious as to why these things happen. It’s not exactly a secret, so I can tell you.”
“But still, it’s your family’s private matters…”
“There’s no one who doesn’t know about it anyway. And since we can’t leave the cave for a while, talking about it might not be a bad idea.”
And so, I started to hear Latryne’s story about Erias.
Latryne met Erias when he visited a country called Sylvia in the north.
He went there for work, but there was so much to do that he didn’t have time to properly explore the country.
As I already knew, Sylvia was known for having a slavery system.
Latryne didn’t think highly of Sylvia, especially because of the slavery, and he didn’t even want to go near a slave market.
But it just so happened that the diplomat he was working with was someone who enjoyed buying slaves, and for the sake of diplomacy, Latryne had no choice but to go along.
“Of course, since I went there in the end, I can’t claim to be any better than that diplomat.”
Latryne said, his face hardening as if the memory itself was unpleasant.
After hearing up to this point, only one thought filled my mind.
“Is this person really supposed to be the villain?”
From what I’ve seen… Latryne seemed like someone who wouldn’t commit any evil acts, especially when considering how much he cared for the heroine and the hero.
“Duke, you’re truly kind-hearted… If it were me, I wouldn’t have cared as much.”
Honestly, I wasn’t the kindest person.
I wouldn’t take pleasure in seeing slaves or buying them, of course, but if I were in Latryne’s position, I would’ve probably just ignored it, thinking it wasn’t my problem.
Latryne responded to my words with a troubled expression.
“That’s not true. I… I have more bad thoughts than good ones…”
“Well…”
I could somewhat guess what kind of “bad thoughts” Latryne was referring to, so I didn’t press any further.
Even if Latryne had a kind nature, growing up in such an environment must have made him develop some dark thoughts.
Anyway, Latryne saw Erias at the slave market, where she was being auctioned off.
So, it turned out that Erias had been a slave.
Latryne, glancing at me for my reaction, explained further.
“She was being auctioned for a very high price because of her exceptional beauty. She looked too weak to be put to work, and it was obvious what kind of treatment she would face. Out of pity… I ended up buying her.”
“So, the Duke bought her.”
I understood the situation perfectly without needing more explanation.
If Latryne hadn’t bought Erias, she would have been sold to another noble and likely turned into a plaything.
So, that’s how he came to take Erias in, fell in love with her, and then Sertien was born.
The maid was calling me dirty and all that—it was because I looked just like Erias, who was a slave, and she was also treating Sertien poorly because he was the child of a slave.
Though the country we were living in didn’t have slavery anymore, the novel’s setting was that it had only been eradicated recently.
Since it hadn’t been long since the system was abolished, people’s attitudes toward former slaves hadn’t changed much, and they were similar to those in Sylvia.
“The fact that the only heir of the Duke is of slave blood must be something they don’t want to accept,” Latryne said with a frustrated tone.
As I stared at Latryne silently, lost in thought, he suddenly added quickly, “I’m sorry, I seem to have explained too much. You’ve been listening so well that I ended up saying more than I intended…”
“No, thank you for explaining… But it must have been tough living in the main house.”
“Actually, the reason I brought Sertien with me this time is because I was afraid of what might happen to him if I left him there alone… I feel powerless, even though I’m supposed to be the head of a noble family.”
Latryne likely didn’t have real authority over the household, which explained why the servants treated him and his family so poorly.
I knew this part because it was clearly mentioned in the novel.
The real power in the Priscillia family wasn’t held by Latryne, but by his grandmother.
There was a reason for this, and it wasn’t because Latryne was incompetent, but rather due to a special situation.
No matter what Latryne did, the situation wouldn’t have changed.
That’s because Latryne wasn’t actually the biological son of the Duke’s family.
