Save Me

46. The Changed Baloch

 

“Welcome, Lady Elizabeth.”

Elizabeth, who had been shaking the water off her drenched boots with a loud thud, paused at the unexpected polite greeting.

As she looked up, she saw a young man standing before her who had come she didn’t know when.

His attire was neat, and his appearance was tidy.

Even though it was late at night, his combed hair was perfectly in place without a single strand out of order, and his clothes fit him well.

He wasn’t dressed like a knight, and he was an unfamiliar face to her.

“Who are you?”

“Hello. I am Alex, the butler of Baloch Manor. I was caught in the snowstorm and only managed to arrive today.”

His friendly tone was quite pleasant.

The way he welcomed her without being overly dramatic gave a sense of sophistication, but Elizabeth narrowed her eyes and scrutinized him instead.

Although he was a butler, he was quite young and handsome, and moreover…

His skills were extraordinary.

Elizabeth hadn’t sensed his presence until he spoke.

Her hair stood on end instinctively, and a sense of caution arose within her.

Every Baloch was a knight.

However, she was not an ordinary knight but a commander.

She was a skilled warrior, vastly superior to regular knights.

The presences she couldn’t sense were unique to the commanders of each fortress and the duke himself.

Yet, was it really possible for just a butler to deceive her senses to such an extent?

She stared at him for quite some time in disbelief, but the butler didn’t shy away or shrink back, even though he was aware of her scrutinizing gaze.

On the contrary, his calm demeanor seemed to invite her to look closely, which made Elizabeth feel somewhat embarrassed despite her heightened vigilance.

How long did this silent standoff last? Elizabeth let out a small sigh.

She had almost forgotten.

This was not an ordinary territory; it was the land of ‘Baloch.’

After all, as the duke’s butler, such competence might be expected.

As Elizabeth relaxed her gaze, the butler approached and asked directly,

“I received word of your arrival and have prepared a guest room. May I escort you there?”

“Before that, I would like to see the Duke first. May I request an audience?”

Elizabeth returned the dirty towel she had used to wipe herself off to the footman and lightly smoothed down her light armor.

“If possible, now….”

“That might be difficult.”

Elizabeth nodded despite the stiff rejection.

This was the right reaction but the butler didn’t know….

This was Baloch, not a normal territory.

“I know it’s late. But if you tell him it’s about the wave, you won’t get scolded.”

So Elizabeth gave a rare long explanation to the new butler.

But the butler didn’t understand at all.

“According to my understanding, the first wave has been dealt with.”

“Just tell him.”

“Didn’t I tell you that it would be difficult?”

What the…

Elizabeth furrowed her brows and showed her displeasure without hesitation.

However, the sleek butler in front of her did not show any sign of being scared or appeased, but rather coaxed her like a child throwing a tantrum.

“If a wave isn’t occurring right now, then you can meet the Duck tomorrow.”

“Butler!”

“Yes, Captain of the Sixth Fortress, Sir Elizabeth Swann. Please speak.”

“Are you blocking me now?”

“How could that be? I am not blocking the Captain of the Sixth Fortress, I am just guarding the Duke’s rest time.”

Huh?

Elizabeth was speechless because of how smooth his tongue was.

Despite being polite, the butler kept saying the same thing.

‘No meeting allowed.’

How dare a mere butler prevent the Captain of the Sixth Fortress and the Duke from meeting.

“Are you blocking the Wave report! Request a meeting right now!”

As Elizabeth placed her hand on the scabbard, gasps erupted from all around.

At that moment….

The butler, who had been smiling the whole time, instantly lost all expressions.

“I will not accept the word ‘you’. I am the butler of Baloch, who has been entrusted with the management of this castle and the reception of guests. His Excellency, the Duke, and the Duchess have gone to bed, so would you like to go to the guest room? If you make any more noise, it will be difficult to serve you at the main castle.”

He simply would not disturb the Duke’s rest, who must be tired.

Huh?

Did she hear him correctly?

Elizabeth shivered.

The butler was saying that if she made any more noise, he would kick her, the commander of the 6th fortress, out.

It was a statement that made Elizabeth feel angry.

However, what bothered Elizabeth more were the words ‘Duke and Duchess’ put together.

“…Are they sleeping?”

“I never said that. The two are resting.”

“I understand the difficult circumstances, but…..”

“The Duke has entrusted me with the reception of the Captain of the 6th Fortress.”

Elizabeth’s mouth, which had been demanding a face-to-face meeting with the Duke, was tightly shut.

Meetings with the Captains were accepted at any time.

There were no exceptions.

So, Elizabeth was shocked when she heard that the Duke had turned down the meeting.

Just to sleep with his wife?

The composure that had kept her calm, even in the midst of the melee, cracked.

Something boiled in her chest, and Elizabeth could not open her mouth.

The butler, who had been standing in front of her as if blocking her, extended one arm and pointed inside as if guiding her.

“I will take you to the second floor.”

She had to follow him if she didn’t want to be kicked out.

Elizabeth followed him with creaking steps.

Immediately, Elizabeth’s eyes widened slightly at the softness that sank into her feet.

“This is…?”

“It’s the skin of a giant rabbit.”

She didn’t ask to hear that.

When she stared at him intently, the butler continued his explanation as if he had read her mind.

“The Duke ordered it because it was unusually cold.”

There had been one or two terribly cold winters before.

However, despite coming and going countless times, she had never seen anything like this.

But now, all of a sudden?

“……”

Suddenly, Elizabeth’s gaze caught his eye and he shifted his gaze somewhere on the stairs.

The feeling wrapping around her toes was so horrible, like falling into a swamp.

 

***

 

How long had they walked like that?

At the end of the stairs on the second floor, the butler who had been quietly walking ahead of her opened his mouth.

“To be honest, something happened at the estate today.”

“What.”

She walked behind him as he guided her, but her feet felt as if they were floating in the air.

“The estate people were eaten by monsters.”

“What? How!”

“They say that some of the estate people who were carrying snow to the reservoir were attacked. I guess they must have encountered the ones that escaped when the 7th castle had collapsed.”

“That….”

“The Duke had to deal with the aftermath, so please consider the Duke’s exhaustion tonight.”

He was earnest, but not mean.

He had an experienced attitude, as if he had been a butler for decades.

Elizabeth stared at the butler who was looking at her.

“This is it.”

“Thank you.”

“The bath water is ready. If you need anything, just pull the rope. Do you need any help with the bath?”

“No, no.”

“Then, I’ll see you tomorrow.”

He appropriately mixed in some small talk and pulled away at the right time.

Elizabeth’s expression was subtle as she watched the butler’s back as he turned around and left as soon as he finished his guidance.

It’s too insufficient to just say he’s competent.

What on earth was that?

What had happened in the past few days? This place had changed so much from the time she had visited before the Wave that it felt unfamiliar for the first time.

The scuffle between the captain of the 6th castle and the butler at the main entrance last night was widely spread by the servants and maids before dawn, so everyone knew about it.

Except for Henry, who lived separately on the third floor.

“Did you sleep well, my lord?”

Shane, who had found Henry heading to the first floor for lunch, approached him and put his arm around his shoulder.

“Take your arm away. Right now. Can’t you see that I’m here for lunch?”

“You must have slept very well last night, judging by how energetic you are?”

His voice was as bold as usual.

Henry was about to take Shane’s arm off his shoulder and cut off his share of thick steak to put in his mouth.

“My lord, run away.”

Shane, who had been staring at Henry, let out a creepy, low voice.

“…What?”

The voice was so ominous that it was hard to believe it was coming from a guy who usually giggled, so Henry almost dropped the fork he was holding.

The face he saw was completely devoid of a smile, so he couldn’t scold him for saying stupid things like he usually did.

“I think something is wrong with the Duchess.”

“What?”

“Your Highness, aren’t you the personnel assigned to the Duchess?”

That’s right.

He was the only contact personnel, as it would be dangerous if everyone were allowed in.

He was assigned as the only servant on the third floor as Baloch’s ‘favor’ for the Kazel family who gave Baloch their eldest child.

But what’s all of this about?

“The captain of the 6th fortress came last night. The butler stopped her from reporting the wave. He said the Duke and his wife were asleep.”

“…What?”

“Your Highness knows that this wave was unusual, right? But I guess he said he wouldn’t accept the report because he was told to ‘serve the guests’.”

The Duke who would usually put everything aside for the Wave just went to sleep like this?

Shane’s voice was so clear that his words were easy to hear, but Henry didn’t understand a thing.

“That’s why the captain of the 6th fortress was so angry.”

“Well, then….”

“If the Duke neglected his duties and the captain of the fortress opposed him, would the Duchess be able to settle down in Baloch without any trouble?”

“Huh?”

“Will the duke who neglects Wave be able to properly protect Baloch?”

Isn’t that scary?

Shane whispered in his ear and Henry dropped the fork he was holding.

Clang.

The juicy piece of meat fell to the floor with a sharp sound, leaving a red mark.

“What happened?”

“Oh, my hand slipped.”

Henry stared blankly at Shane, who was fetching a new fork while hesitating.

What should he do?

‘You can’t get kicked out. So, when you go to Baloch, win the heart of the Duchess.’

He hadn’t done anything yet, and things were getting strange.

 

* * *

 

“…Your face doesn’t look good.”

Jillian’s face changed after dealing with the recent mess in the territory.

He was usually a man who always shined brightly and suited this winter better than anyone else.

But now he was so pale that it seemed as if he had been consumed by the winter, turning blue.

“I hope you’re okay….”

“Didn’t you say you were reporting something about the wave?”

Elizabeth’s face hardened without her knowing it.

‘The Duke has entrusted me with the reception of the captain of the 6th castle as a guest.’

‘The Duke and Duchess have gone to bed.’

Was it because the words of the butler who had been smoothly moving his tongue last night came to mind?

It was unfamiliar to see him showing any selfishness, but after experiencing it for the first time, it was upsetting.

So, Elizabeth also poured out her words without any consideration.

“The monsters are evolving.”

The color immediately drained from Jillian’s face.