Edited

7. I’ve been taming the Duke well

It was a peaceful afternoon.

It hasn’t snowed in the North in a long time.

It seemed that she had adapted to the northern weather before she knew it, and even this cool wind felt warm.

Would this be how it would feel if spring came to this secluded and desolate northern part, where the only things moving were the employees?

I went out to the garden and basked in the sun, thinking.

When the weather is nice like this, I want to run away quickly.

Everything went smoothly

In the meantime, I finished preparing to run away step by step.

A new wind blew in the castle while the fugitive goods were piling up.

The blood task force was completely disbanded and the head maid disappeared.

The head maid left the manor without even receiving a letter of recommendation. She probably won’t be recognized for her career because she didn’t get a letter of recommendation, and she’ll have to go in as a maid at the end.

She glared at me with an angry look on her face, then got into the carriage.

The expression of anger reminded me of the humiliation I had suffered so far.

But at the same time, I was also envious.

The fact that she didn’t die and got out of the estate safely.

In the meantime, I’ve stolen a lot from the Duchy.

Everything that could be stolen, I stole it.

When the Duke was on a trip, she succeeded in entering an empty office and stealing a map.

It was a map with the duchy’s mansion in the middle and a mountain range.

It is written in an unknown symbol all over, but I was a Korean who had studied world geography.

The interpretation would not be difficult if we carefully looked around, focusing on common symbols.

I searched not only the inside of the mansion, but also the outside.

The other day, I picked up an egg that had fallen under a long tree.

It was a narrow tree, but it was likely to be three meters tall, stretching toward the sky.

The eggs were unblemished and very small.

Come to think of it, I had never seen a small bird because the environment in the north was not good.

I accidentally found a bird egg and buried it under the cemetery.

Eggs are a high-protein, nutritious food that is good for traveling.

Why would I eat boiled eggs on the run?

I gathered the straw and weaved the rest of the snow skin.

I collected a lot, but I needed more straws. Taking advantage of the lunch break, where there was little surveillance from the servants, she secretly went into the woods and picked up the straw. If I left late at night, I planned to avoid the surveillance by making a model as if I were lying under the bed until morning.

To make a scarecrow as tall as me, I needed more straw than I thought.

I’ve only been able to make the upper body so far… Sooner or later, I will be able to make the lower body as well.

It was pleasing to see how it was tightly-knit.

Every morning, she removed the hair from her pillow.

I swept the hair that was falling out and cut it off little by little, so it wouldn’t be noticeable. I was going to make a wig and weave it over the scarecrow.

To buy time in the morning, I sometimes came out late, yawning, pretending to sleep late.

If you do this, they’ll check late even if you run away thinking you’re sleeping late.

I didn’t forget to push the Duke to get the key out sometimes. Behind the Duke’s house, there was a greenhouse that had been neglected for a long time and was not being used.

If you take good care of it, it will be useful. In the cold north, guests rarely come, so the greenhouse is almost abandoned.

Inside were the stems of a mysterious vine with no leaves. I cleaned the greenhouse with the servants and removed the twigs from the inside.

The greenhouse windows, which had been foggy with dust, became transparent again.

I wanted to plant flowers or trees like in other greenhouses, but it was impossible to bring in precious plants to the barren duke’s residence.

Besides, I’m leaving soon. What’s the use of trying hard?

You’re not supposed to do full interior decoration at a rented house. Let’s not make other’s things good for nothing.

On a snowy day, when I lay down looking at the ceiling in the greenhouse, I could see the snow piling up on the transparent ceiling glass.

When snow falls, it melts for a while in the form of crystals and then disappears. It was amazing and ecstatic.

It was the first feeling I felt in the North.

Deon and I had occasional tea time in the glasshouse.

He had never entertained guests in the north, and he had never enjoyed a leisurely cup of tea.

So, to follow the procedure, I scribbled the invitation, which is the formula of a romance novel.

At first, there was a misunderstanding that the Duke accepted it as a battle declaration or duel, not as an invitation to a tea party.

When I first said that I would like to have tea time with the Duke, the chef took out the collection of tea cups he had collected. He was overly thrilled, saying that he did not know that the day would come when he would finally use this at the Duke’s residence.

The top of the box was so full of dust that I couldn’t even see the brand name.

***

“When are you planning to hand over your wife’s seat?”

“…”

He turned to the next page of the book without a word.

After being plagued by repeated questions for days, he didn’t even respond.

At the same time, he waited for me to drink all the remaining tea.

He kept his bloodthirsty promise to always be by her side.

But the problem was that it was really just next to him.

He didn’t say a word when I asked useless questions.

Seeing that scene made me feel hot, so I drank tea very leisurely.

Then the tea was brewed again and poured into an empty cup.

Watching the teacup being refilled, he quietly frowned.

He didn’t have any other noble ladies with whom he interacted, nor did he have any families with whom he could talk about marriage.

Who did you marry in the original?

Were you originally married by the time the story began?

It was blurry, so I couldn’t remember it very well.

Well, in the end, the duchess will be the female lead.

Readers will hate it if the female lead who is said to be passionately in love is only the second wife.

Ah. Is that why you don’t give in?

Because of the character set, there is an unconscious resistance to marriage.

Then, when the female lead appears, old stereotypes are shattered.

“Even if you don’t have a position, you’ve been walking around the mansion all day. I don’t know why you need it. Do you have a different mind…”

He broke the silence and opened his mouth. At that word, I was blown away.

“Could it be?”

“Usually, the reason people insist on getting married is that they like the power, for the benefit of the family, or to live a stable life… You always bounce in the wrong direction, so I don’t think you’re even there.”

“Do you like me, duke?”

He paused at my sudden words.

“Like you”

He snorted.

“Don’t go around saying that, Leonie. No matter who sees it, you are not in love.”

It was so slow, but she prepared to leave the duchy step by step.

Scraping the fallen straw from the woods and hiding the branches.

After stopping at the graveside as usual, I felt something strange when I crept open the door on tiptoe.

It was the day I came in with more straw than usual. The room was bizarrely tidy.

I came back later than usual, but I heard a strange chuckle from the room that hadn’t been there before.

I carefully looked around the room.

The curtain, which had always been closed, was wide open.

It was chilly.

There is an intruder. Who entered the room?

“Who is it?”

The woman who had been lying on her stomach behind the bed canopy rose to her feet, a maid whom she had not seen before.

The wind blew on the open window and silver hair flashed. It was an exotic appearance that I couldn’t see here.

She looked my age. She had freckles under her eyes.

“I was cleaning… I’m sorry. The young lady went out, and I’ve already done it, so you can rest.”

“… I told everyone not to clean.”

“I heard it, too. But today is my last day on duty, so I begged to clean all the mansions with my own hands. I’m about to get fired soon. I was originally waiting to join the blood task force…”

My heart beat fast. Did you check under the bed?

“Did you see it?”

“… what?”

You didn’t see it.

Phew. She took a deep breath. She rolled her big eyes and then answered.

“I didn’t see anything. A piece of snow under the bed, a scarecrow, and beef jerky.”

Damn. You saw it.

“But it is a little strange. You just have to ask the soldiers to do it. Beef jerky to the chef. But you hid them all under the bed… you don’t even let the maids in… and scarecrow.”

She swallowed her saliva as she waited for her next words.

“Young lady! Are you thinking of running away? Really?”

“Lower your voice.”

I hurriedly closed the door I had left open.

The Duke has softened a lot these days.

“Everyone in the mansion knows how to treat a young Lady.

What should I say?

The Duke wants to kill me?

I mean, not now, but he’s going to kill me in two years?

“You don’t know anything. So, if you want to safely leave the castle…”

“Please hire me, young lady.”

She got down on her knees

“Please. I’m from a minority ethnic group, so I’m from far away. Even if I go back, there are no jobs and the people are scattered because of the conquest of the empire. I have nowhere to go.”

“What?”

“I’m useful, too. My hometown is a mountainous area with a lot of herbs, so I’m very smart about herbs. If the young lady is sick, I can make it for you. You’re not feeling well because you’re already bleeding. It’s much better, but when I first came, I saw the young lady’s hair become dry!”

It certainly did. But she knows too much.

“If you let me stay here, I will shut up everything I see. And I’ll make a preservative so that the jerky can dry properly without mold.”

It was tempting. At first, the beef jerky looked like it was going to dry out, but I threw away half of it without even eating it.

It was because there was mold on the way. I have to prepare plenty of food to go hiking for a week in a place where there is a snowstorm…

Jerky was not made in the north, so he had to be careful when throwing it away.

“Unless the lady will hire me.”

She stood up and said.

“I have no choice but to show the Duke this scarecrow.”

“What?”

Are you going to come out that cheap?

But it wasn’t a bad offer either.

And…

Maybe…

Since she’s a maid, wouldn’t she be able to locate the key to the warehouse?

“All right. What’s your name?”

“It’s Suren.”

“Suren, you have to keep everything you’ve seen so far. Do you understand?”

“Yes! As long as I’m under Young Lady, I’m not the Duke’s maid, but Young Lady’s maid.”

Her voice rang clearly in the small room.

It was the first maid I saw a few minutes ago, and she looked funny and reliable.

“You have to help me from now on. If my hair falls off, don’t throw it away, collect it and put it next to that scarecrow.”

“Sure! I’ll keep that in mind. Should I just leave it? I’ll put them together and put them on it. Just give me an order.”

She got up and bowed. Then I put the tilted pillow back in place and opened the curtain.

Now that I see it, the room is cleaner than when I cleaned it up.

“But Young Lady, why are you running away? No matter how cold the Duke may be, he is considerate.”

Consideration? He put me on the 2nd basement floor to relieve my boredom and consideration…?

Since when was it considered to be thrown into prison? Does consideration here have a different meaning?

I had nothing to say, so I muttered something.

“Duke… I’m scared of him.”

Suren nodded her head broadly as if she agreed with her.

“I once followed him because they said they needed a hand during the last trip. The Duke is very different from here.”

“How was it?”

“As an employee, it was okay… but enemies he cuts it relentlessly. His face is always bloody… Ugh…”

Suren shuddered as if she remembered the moment.

“Are you that scared?”

Yes. Blood splattered on my clothes, but the smell didn’t go away after washing for a few days.”

Suren shook the carpet and said quietly.

“Young lady, be careful, too. If he feels like you’re an enemy, you might get killed relentlessly. I got caught, but don’t be caught by anyone else.”

Suren. I’m afraid I’m destined to die if I don’t do anything.

I’m meant to run away.

I think you’re on the wrong line.