Chapter 38
｡･:*:･ﾟ★ Translated by Sid ｡･:*:･ﾟ☆
Gael quickly rolled his eyes.
He tried clearing his throat, even raised his eyebrows and made some gestures, but his master didn’t respond at all.
Gael frowned. However, giving a vague answer here would be even stranger.
‘But I can’t just speak freely…’
“What’s wrong?” Daphne asked with a concerned tone.
Startled, Gael opened his mouth with a somewhat nonchalant attitude.
After all, the mission given to him was to secure a contract from the lady in front of him.
“Oh, it seems he has lived apart from his family since he was young. So, um, he’s a bit different from others.”
“Different? How so?”
“Well…”
Gael hesitated for a moment.
It seemed best to speak as favorably as possible about his master. So he explained in a way that would make him more understandable.
Leaving out the essential flaws, such as being cruel and having a broken personality, and focusing on portraying him in a more positive light.
“His Highness the Grand Duke is slightly inexperienced by common standards. He doesn’t understand emotions like affection or love very well.”
“….”
“Do you understand what I mean? I’m sure you do, right?”
Gael deliberately shifted the question.
As the last bit of conscience, he couldn’t bring himself to say anything negative about his master.
“….”
Then Daphne’s expression became peculiar.
‘It seems to have passed smoothly.’
While Gael inwardly sighed with relief, Daphne…
‘As expected…’
Quietly feeling a bit sorry inside.
‘So that’s how it was.’
When I first met Luciel, all I could think of was avoiding him.
It was better not to get involved with the original plot, and staying away from the villainess Daphne would be better for Luciel.
But Luciel did not avoid Daphne.
Rather…
“Is that a problem?”
He treated Daphne kindly, as if there was no problem with her being with her. Even though she knew what kind of person Daphne was.
‘Moreover, he never forgot to use honorifics until the end.’
It was from that moment that she began to question Luciel.
Whether his kindness and gentleness were due to his innate nature.
But Luciel did not notice the blatant deception of the merchant in front of him.
‘Back then, I thought he was a bit naive…’
Thinking about the words of the villain and the original content, it seemed clear.
Luciel experienced a magical outburst due to a rare disease.
For safety reasons, he had to stay in the temple and be separated from his family.
That kind of loneliness can be turned into happiness by just a bit of affection and interest, as if having the whole world.
I, too, in my previous life, made great efforts to receive praise from my family, so I couldn’t be unaware of it.
‘Well, in the end, I became a selfish eldest child who didn’t care about my siblings.’
Perhaps that’s why. The face of Luciel, who shyly smiled, wanting to express gratitude, wouldn’t leave her mind.
“An unloved, terminally ill Grand Duke…”
Suddenly, her chest felt tight.
Daphne furrowed her brow.
Unaware of this, Gael became anxious.
He feared that her words might create a negative image of Luciel.
‘If I fail…’
Thinking of Luciel’s kindly smiling face, Gael swallowed the urge to whimper.
“B-but Miss, why are you asking that?”
“Ah. I have a decision to make. It’s nothing special.”
Daphne raised her head with a face free of worries.
Then, with a decisive voice, she spoke.
“I found someone who wants to buy the medicine.”
Thump. Gael’s heart dropped suddenly.
She hadn’t even said it properly yet, but who on earth…? Did she make a slip of the tongue after all?
As Daphne slowly opened her mouth, Gael couldn’t help but shout hastily,
“The Tower Master and the Grand Duke. I want to sell medicine to him.”
“No…!”
However, Gael couldn’t help but stop in response to Daphne’s continued words.
“What did you say?”
As if he hadn’t heard properly, he asked again.
Realizing his mistake, Gael hesitated for a moment, then quickly composed himself and said in a polite voice,
“…An, An excellent eye you have.”
It was a clever and neat improvisation, considering the strength he had put into twisting the chicks in his handkerchief.
ੈ✩‧₊˚༺☆༻*ੈ✩‧₊˚
The villain, who I thought would oppose and argue with various excuses, surprisingly nodded his head without much resistance.
“Indeed, the Duke’s illness cannot be cured with the existing medicines. Lady, your medicine might be of help.”
Instead of opposing, he even added his opinion as if it were a good idea.
“I, I also considered the Grand Duke as our top priority, but I didn’t know Lady had the same person in mind. Haha…”
Although his voice trembled a bit, seeing him wipe his forehead with a handkerchief again, it seemed like he had caught a cold properly.
“Well, then I guess meeting with His Highness the Grand Duke should come first.”
As if he had wiped all the sweat away, the villain hid the handkerchief in his pocket again and said, “I’ll help you meet the Grand Duke.”
‘He’s going to help me?’
I raised an eyebrow as if surprised, then the villain nodded his head.
He, who never takes on troublesome tasks, did me a favor. Maybe it’s because he has that much confidence in the medicine…
“Well, no. That’s fine.”
I firmly rejected his favor.
“…Are you sure it’s fine?”
“Yeah.”
Facing the villain’s incredulous tone, I nodded my head.
If he backs off, I would honestly be more comfortable. Although the medicines I made were being used in questionable places, it meant that the efficacy of the medicine was as certain as ever.
Moreover, haven’t I proven the effectiveness and safety of my medicine?
‘But…’
I remembered Luciel I saw that day.
His face as he thanked me shyly with a smile.
Luciel, who believed in people’s goodwill, I hoped he wouldn’t encounter such a dangerous person if possible.
‘Considering what the villain might do to Luciel…’
My goal is to stay as far away from the original work as possible.
When I sought out the villain after taking the poison, it was because there was no other way. However, if the deal goes through, I will no longer meet him.
‘So, he shouldn’t let me off the hook.’
Therefore, our connection ends here.
Of course, I couldn’t say it like that, so I gave a plausible reason.
“I am Daphne Peregrine. If I approach using my name, there might be unnecessary suspicions, right? Especially in times like this, we should be cautious.”
Isn’t that right? I shrugged playfully, and the villain nodded, saying, “Well, that makes sense.”
“Then… How do you plan to meet the Duke?”
“We should meet as naturally as possible. Preferably by chance.”
“By chance…?”
The villain seemed to ask what I meant, but I didn’t respond further and got up from my seat.
“For now, you have the medicines I gave you. We’ll consider the sale after we see the success of the deal with the Duke.”
“Oh, I understand.”
With that conversation concluded. As I was about to leave the room after opening the door, I suddenly turned back to look at the villain.
“What’s wrong?”
“…”
The villain, still seated, asked in a puzzled voice.
Every time he went down the stairs, he held out his hand first and opened the carriage door himself. His good manners were nowhere to be seen.
I wasn’t going to ask why he was being quiet today.
His gestures back then flowed like water, so natural and graceful, making it the most memorable display of manners I had experienced in this world.
Seeing such a person being silent made me truly realize that he wasn’t feeling well.
‘Well, even the villain who would destroy the world is still a person…’
Personally, I had reasons to be grateful, so I spoke with a somewhat sincere tone.
“You can keep one of those medicines.”
“Huh? Really?”
“Yeah. Consider it my thanks.”
I hoped he would recover from the cold. I smiled lightly, closed the door, and left.
The maid who was waiting for me asked, “Shall we go to the mansion?” I shook my head.
“No. I have another place to visit today.”
“Then where shall I take you?”
I opened my mouth to the maid who asked about the destination.
“I’m heading to…”
Just finished Chapter 42 and then realized 41 wasn’t edited T_T
DivineLink
Definitely not procrastinating... Come chat with us in the Moonlight Novels discord server!
