Chapter 033
Gemma stopped in her tracks and glared at the man named Arnold, as if she wanted to kill him.
“Don’t call the Duchess by her name so casually.”
“….”
“We’re not the only ones at fault here. You’re not the only one holding the cards.”
“But it’s true that it’s more favorable for me.”
Gemma gritted her teeth, and the man shrugged lightly.
“I’m not planning to do anything. I just want you to listen to my offer.”
She turned around irritably and started walking again.
‘So the situation is…’
This man wants to enter the Duke’s castle, and the Duchess seems willing to allow it.
‘He must have something against the Duchess.’
What could that be?
‘He even calls her by her first name so casually…’
Are they having an affair?
‘But it’s not like something they need to keep a secret.’
Since the Duke has Amelia as a concubine, he would probably turn a blind eye to the Duchess’s affairs.
They’re not in love, so he would likely pretend not to notice.
So, there must be another weakness involved. I kept following them closely. But after the man spoke, Gemma didn’t say anything else.
The passage was quite long. I didn’t know how long we’d been walking, but a significant amount of time passed.
‘Could this be a path leading outside?’
They made the passage so long for a reason…
Just as I tried to follow them faster to confirm, Gemma stopped and placed her hand on the wall. The door slid open, and Gemma stepped aside, speaking to the man.
“It will take a little longer, but…”
Whoosh!
Before I could hear the rest of her sentence, I was suddenly transported to a wardrobe.
Only the bag of blueberries was left in my hand.
“Ugh! Right at the crucial moment!”
I should have at least been allowed to hear the rest of that!
I struggled and kicked inside the wardrobe, and the door flung open.
Dedrick was there, trying to hide his confusion at seeing me in such a state.
“…Where have you been? Why are you so late?”
“I had the perfect chance to find out their weaknesses!”
I whimpered, and Dedrick sat on the wardrobe, gently pulling me up as I lay there, holding my hand.
“I was worried since you were late. What happened?”
I handed him the bag of blueberries and muttered gloomily,
“I missed the chance to discover the Duchess and Gemma’s weaknesses…”
Dedrick took the bag and checked the blueberries. He quietly chuckled.
“Blueberries? Are you trying to keep my eyesight sharp?”
“Yeah. They say blueberries are good for your eyes.”
“Exactly. What a good student you are.”
He patted my head, and I smiled sheepishly.
“Didi told me about it and I was worried since you’ve been studying late. You need to eat and improve your eyesight.”
“Okay, I’ll do that.”
Once I calmed down, Dedrick finally asked why I had been so upset.
“So, about the Duchess and Gemma’s weaknesses? You didn’t do anything dangerous, did you?”
“No.”
What does he think of me? He’s so overprotective.
“A man came to meet the Duchess. Secretly. He made an offer, and it seems the Duchess will agree to it.”
“Did it seem like she had no choice but to agree?”
“Yeah, they both seemed to have something on each other. The man seemed to want to get into the Duke’s castle. I would have heard more, but I was suddenly moved…”
I sighed in disappointment.
Dedrick offered me a blueberry, and I opened my mouth reflexively. He placed it in my mouth.
It was sweet, and it helped lift my mood a little.
“Then we need to keep an eye on the new man.”
I nodded and said,
“I don’t think he’ll come anytime soon, but we still need to watch him.”
“Anything else?”
“His name is Arnold.”
“Arnold…”
“Do you know him?”
Dedrick shook his head.
“I’ve never heard of him.”
“He looked like a knight. I caught a glimpse of a sword under his robe.”
“A knight…”
He seemed deep in thought, but nothing came to mind.
If Dedrick, who’s smart, doesn’t know him, then it’s likely that the man is keeping something well hidden.
But who could he be?
‘A man with the Duchess’s weakness.’
Gemma seemed really cautious and even spoke politely to him, which was unusual since Gemma, being a noble, never speaks politely to someone of lower rank.
So, this man must be of noble birth?
Either way, whether it’s an affair or not, I was happy to know that the Duchess had some sort of weakness.
Just knowing that would mean that Dedrick wouldn’t have to be so protective of me until I become an adult.
It’s probably a huge secret the Duke shouldn’t find out about.
‘But she’s bold to bring a man like that into the Duke’s castle…’
Does the Duke really not know about this?
I subtly asked Dedrick,
“Should we tell the Duke?”
“I think it’s better to tell him.”
“That’s what I thought. It’s good to know about their weaknesses, but if they’re planning something, it might not be good for us.”
Since I couldn’t tell the Duke myself, I decided to leave that to Dedrick.
“When the time’s right, you tell him, Didi. Oh, and there’s a secret passage in the fruit storage. It seems to lead outside.”
Gemma must have used it often since she opened the door so skillfully.
“I want to go check it again sometime. I’m curious where it leads. I wonder if it really goes outside or not.”
Since I couldn’t leave the Duke’s castle in the novel or now, I might not be able to confirm it properly.
“Let’s go together.”
I immediately rejected Dedrick’s offer.
“No way. If I’m transported in my wardrobe alone, what will you do? And what if you run into Gemma?”
I shuddered at the thought of something awful happening.
“That’s one thing that can’t happen.”
“Am I in danger?”
“Yeah. We should ask the Duke to block that secret passage.”
This is how you strike back.
If they’re plotting something through that passage, then we can just block it off.
I smiled slyly, and Dedrick seemed amused by my expression.
“By the way, how are your ankles and wrists? Are they okay?”
It had been a while, but I noticed he still sometimes leaned on me, so I looked at him with concern.
“Yeah, I think they’re fully healed.”
“That’s a relief.”
I examined his face and the back of his hand. Thanks to the ointment I’d been applying regularly, there wasn’t a single scar.
Finally, today was the day.
I grabbed Dedrick’s hand as he returned from his workout and spoke with determination.
“We have to go to the training ground today.”
“I was planning to study in my room today…”
No, that kind of good work is not what we’re doing!
I immediately stopped him from doing something so sensible.
“No way! We need to leave right after lunch.”
“Why?”
I stood tall, looking as though I had just obtained some amazing information.
“The Blackwood Duke will be passing through there!”
“…And?”
Dedrick seemed indifferent.
Does he not understand what this means?
Frustrated, I hit my chest dramatically.
“It’s a perfect opportunity to earn some favor! Now’s the best time since Somerset is already on the Duke’s bad side!”
“I’m not really looking to earn any favor…”
His unexpected response made me widen my eyes in surprise and shout.
“What?!”
“Haha.”
When I was taken aback, Dedrick burst into laughter.
“It’s funny when you speak in a way that’s unlike you.”
“I guess I’ve been listening to too many things… No, what I mean is, we need the Duke’s protection to stay safe! Just look at the mock sword incident! We had it pretty easy for a while.”
So you have to get noticed by the Duke!
No matter how indifferent he is, he won’t ignore his son, whom he’s marked as the successor.
But then Dedrick surprised me with his words.
“Even if you get noticed, the Duke won’t protect us.”
Wait, why?
I was speechless for a moment. While Dedrick was always right, I couldn’t understand this.
“Surely… if you show you’re talented with a sword, he’ll want to keep you around…”
“That man just views people as points.”
“Points?”
“If you do well, you get points. If you do badly, you don’t. That’s all.”
Seeing Dedrick speak so coldly and decisively, I couldn’t force the issue anymore.
“And if you show skill with a sword, the Duchess will just become more wary of you.”
“….”
He was right.
If the Duke really wouldn’t protect Dedrick, then there was no point in making an effort to stand out.
‘It would just put a bigger target on us.’
“So, I don’t need to go, right? Even if I get on the Duke’s good side, I wouldn’t be protected.”
Dedrick grabbed my hand and pulled me toward the desk.
“So today, let’s just stay together. I want that.”
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