‘What a good-hearted lady we have, she has a sympathy even for a captured criminal, she’s going to be great!
Chef Hans, a friendly-looking man, said, “I think Puffy is hungry. Can you cook something for him? Or maybe I can take some of your leftover potatoes.” Dioana was thrilled to hear him say so politely.
Dioana replied to Hans, who asked, “If you know, last year, Pupi crossed the rainbow bridge, then who is the lady talking about?” Dioana responded very simply and clearly.
“Yes, the one my aunt put in jail to kill, but he’s a good guy, and I named him Puffy because he said he didn’t have a name!”
Hearing this, all the servants in the kitchen, including Hans, turned blue and looked at Dio.
“But he won’t die, he’s a puppy!”
Dio grabbed the potato chopper from Hans and walked out of the kitchen.
Once out of the kitchen, Jeremy came to Diana’s side with a worried look on his face.
“Lady, I don’t think Puffy is hungry.”
“No, he’s got a funny look on his face.”
“My goodness, young lady, do you even know the word ‘shriveled’? I’ll tell His Highness, and he’ll be pleased.”
“Jeremy doesn’t have to come. He’s not dangerous, puppy.”
“Lady, you shouldn’t judge people by their looks. He’s not exactly handsome, with mud and shit all over his face. He’s filthy, and if he carries any germs, His Highness will be very sad.”
Then Dioana, who had been walking along with him, turned sharply and looked at Jeremy.
“Jeremy, you’re a bad adult for saying that.”
Then she turned on her heel and headed back to the dungeon where Puffy was being held.
Daphne had already thrown her hands up in the air at Dioana’s behavior and should have gone into her bedroom, exhausted from the day.
Instead, Jeremy and Lockhart were given special assignments. They were ordered to stay close behind Dioana, who insisted on bringing him something to eat.
Escorted down to the dungeon by two burly men, Dioana saw the puppy on the other side of the thick bars and ran to him.
Of course, she was lifted up by Lockhart to keep a healthy distance.
“Here, Puffy, eat this.”
Dioana held the potato close to the cage and looked at him wistfully.
Jeremy and Lockhart couldn’t understand how a woman could be so caring when it had been hours since they’d met.
“My lady, I’m afraid the Archduke would be offended by such a friendly title for someone whose identity we’re not even sure of.”
“He said all handsome men are big brothers.”
“Yes? Who?”
“My aunt.”
Jeremy and Lockhart shook their heads.
Ah, yes. Our Archduke has a way with handsome men, when you think about it. Is that why I get in so much trouble with him?
She thought about it with a sullen face.
“…His Excellency? Alas, that’s why you’ve never said a single brotherly word to me….”
Jeremy was related to the Sterrens. Technically, he was three years older than Daphne. Lockhart was even seven years older.
The two men looked at each other distantly and smiled bittersweetly at each other in mutual comfort.
Dioana didn’t care if the two men behind her were hurt or not.
In fact, she even went so far as to peel potatoes by hand for the Puffy .
“You have to eat fast. but If you eat too fast, you’ll get sick. With milk.”
As she said this, Dioana glanced at Jeremy and Lockhart, then sneaked over to the cage and waved for Puffy to come over.
Puffy leaned his upper body against the bars. Dioana whispered, just loud enough for him to hear.
“I know you’re a good guy, aren’t you the one who saved Dio before?”
“……!”
“You said to keep it a secret, However, what if Aunt wants to kill my brother? That really can’t happen. At that time, Dio might have no choice but to talk about the secret. I’ll ask for your understanding in advance.”
With that, Dioana tugged on Jeremy and Lockhart’s robes as they headed back to Iman Castle.
Before she walked out the door, Dioana turned to Puffy once more and gave her a quick little wave goodbye.
Puffy raised a hand to acknowledge the gesture, then muttered quietly as the door closed behind her.
“I remember you.”
I thought you were too young to remember.
Puffy’s face was very dark as he muttered bitterly.
“Dio remembers, but Daphne doesn’t. Twice. It’s a shame.”
* * *
Government affairs continued until past dawn.
I had to work faster and do more work each day to make sure I had time to play with Dio.
Also, I wanted to be with Dio. On this vacation, the vacation season is just around the corner, and I worked more passionately than ever before. Now that I’ve taken care of all the urgent matters around dawn, I think I can take some time to relax.
After getting Jeremy off work first, who was staggering around like a half-corpse, I quietly enjoyed the great siege of the early morning hours without any sound being heard.
The dense forest visible beyond the study window blows here and there in the night wind.
I took out the bottle of alcohol that Jeremy and the elders had hidden behind the cabinet, filled a glass, and drank it as slowly as I could, savoring it.
I don’t know how many times I’ve emptied and refilled it, but I’m getting a good night’s sleep now, thanks to the alcoholic buzz I’m getting.
But I couldn’t be bothered to go to my bedroom, so I stretched out on the emergency daybed in my study.
Kicking off my long boots, I struggle to loosen my vest and tie, this time from around my neck.
I breathed a sigh of relief, having been trapped in stuffy clothes all day to look proper and elegant.
“Whoa-“
My breath reeked of alcohol, but it felt good.
The emotion of the early morning, the time alone, and the alcohol made my normally cheerless self feel a little emotional.
I began to recall memories that I had buried in the back of my head.
I remembered Puffy, my dog, and Diana, who made me feel the pain of parenting once again today.
And Puffy, who reminded me of the memories of that day.
As I kept digging into the past, I suddenly remembered the first time I was possessed by Daphne’s body, but I couldn’t remember that part of the story, as if I’d plugged the hole with a big rock.
‘When did I know I was possessed….Was it when I was eight…?’
I muttered to myself, drunkenly staring out the window at the swaying branches and leaves of the tall forest.
“I woke up… in a forest.
A brief memory flashed through my mind.
But I was already so drowsy and drunk that I didn’t even realize I’d remembered anything.
My heavy eyelids finally gave way.
The glass in my hand fell and rolled across the floor.
* * *
“My God, Your Highness, you’re ruining yourself by sleeping here!”
It was Sir Russell, the eldest of the council, who had been fussing since early morning.
A gray-haired man, he was the oldest and most senior member of the Council and had been a member since Daphne’s birth.
He had been in charge of my brother’s and my education, had worked with my grandfather as his aide since he was Grand Duke, and was so skilled that the Emperor had appointed him to be a vassal of the palace, responsible for the education of the Emperor, the princes, and the princesses.
But after the death of Mr. and Mrs. Steren, he resigned from his position at the palace and returned to the Grand Duchy.
In his youth, he was said to have had an overwhelming charisma that charmed the nobility, but now he’s just one of those nagging admirers.
The way he slaps me on the back and yells at me is like a mother waking up her child who overslept and is late for school.
Anyway, I’ve known Sir Russell for so long that we used to refer to each other as “The Unanswerable Archduke” and “The Nagging Old Inspiration” in public.
“What a clueless Archduke you are, my dear, my dear, a bottle, a glass, and a spill on the carpet.”
“Inspiration, you’d think you were a maid.”
“I don’t know if I’m a nanny, a maid, a tutor, or an elderly senator who’s about to turn seventy!”
As I smirked at the thought of getting up from the couch, the Elder finally patted me on the chest. Well, it’s only an old man’s chest that hurts.
“You’ve been calling for me since this morning, so I was hoping you’d finally come to your senses and become a morning person, but yes, they say that people die when they change suddenly, so you called me in early to see if you’re still rotting in your inspiration!”
“Come on, I don’t think you’ve changed yet. I’m a morning person because I sleep in the morning.”
“Well, you don’t take a single word of it kindly. How did you go from being such a sweet, loving, intelligent little thing to being such a messed-up grown-up who can’t sleep without a drink?”
“By doing a good job.”
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