The room attached to the butler’s office had no windows, so there was no light at all. Even as her eyes adjusted to the darkness, she could barely see anything beyond her nose.
Kaela almost screamed involuntarily when she realized who had suddenly covered her mouth.
“Shh. Be quiet.”
The very soft voice sounded like an authoritative command. Even in the darkness, deep purple eyes approached clearly.
Kaela reflexively grabbed the arm of the person covering her mouth. She was caught by Peon. He dislikes her.
Despite disliking her, why did he try to treat her as a Grand Duchess? Because Kaela wasn’t a broken bucket this time? No, because if Kaela disappeared, Beatrice Ravalley would sit in the firmly established position of Grand Duchess?
Peon’s hand was so large that it covered not only her mouth but also her nose. It was a thick hand that could clearly suffocate her if pressed.
Isn’t this too easy a death? Kaela, who reached this thought in just a few seconds, struggled to remove Peon’s hand. Gripped by fear, her thoughts weren’t flowing properly.
“Kaela, Kaela. Shh. We snuck in here secretly.”
Peon whispered urgently, emphasizing the word ‘we’. He deliberately used the familiar tone from before to calm her, but it seemed useless.
Above the hand slightly covering her face, eyes containing a chilly sky looked at him, filled with terror. Peon, who had experienced countless battlefields and even died on the battlefield, easily recognized fear. And he was also familiar with fear directed at him.
But he didn’t want to see fear directed at him in Kaela’s eyes.
“Calm down. I came secretly too. I’m sorry.”
As he soothed her with a “shh” and slowly removed his hand, he heard her warm, fragile breath rushing out in surprise.
He also saw the small fingertips that had been scratching his forearm trembling. Kaela glared at him with her mouth tightly shut, clutching her pocket.
“I startled you. I’m sorry.”
What could she have put in her pocket? Usually, in urgent situations, untrained people tend to unconsciously grasp weapons to defend themselves or objects that shouldn’t be discovered.
Especially when feeling threatened. He was nothing but a threat to Kaela right now. No matter how many times he apologized, Kaela kept clutching her pocket.
“I came secretly too.”
How did he know and follow? Kaela, pressed tightly against the wall, didn’t even realize she was breathing heavily. To her, the most frightening being was the one who ruled Lusenford, that one person alone.
Of all people, it had to be him. Her blue eyes shook wildly, scanning the surroundings. Could he have brought knights? Was he trying to catch what she was doing and accuse her of being a spy?
“Kaela.”
Peon quickly lowered his body, even bending his knees.
He pressed down his large body that might appear threatening to the small, terrified woman. Showing both his palms, he felt a miserable feeling as if everything he had been standing on was crumbling.
‘I’m scary to her.’
He was most attuned to the smell of fear. Fear directed at him had always brought him victory. The fear of enemies, the fear of people in the castle, and sometimes even the fear that flashed in the emperor’s eyes along with contempt had always worked in his favor.
As well as he recognized fear, he used it effectively. In fact, for Peon who had few weapons, it was a weapon he couldn’t help but use.
But he never expected to see that fear in Kaela’s eyes. He had been too complacent. As always, he was stupidly late this time too, and accepted the hell that had already been sentenced without resistance.
“I only meant for you not to make a sound, but I scared you. I’m really sorry. Oppa made a mistake.”
He earnestly begged her to remember that he was the oppa she had played with happily when they were young.
“I won’t do it again. I’m sorry for startling you.”
By then, Kaela had barely regained her composure and nodded, biting her lip. There were no knights following them in, and Peon was dressed lightly enough to go to bed.
“Aren’t you cold?”
It didn’t seem right to be wearing just a shawl over nightclothes. Peon asked carefully while backing away from her a bit more.
But Kaela just shrugged her shoulders and shook her head. She was frantically trying to figure out how to handle this situation.
Would he just let it go? Or would he ask questions? If he asked, how much should she answer, and where should she die? For now, she had to face Peon, the most frightening being, without any preparation.
“No one knows we’re here.”
Peon muttered, putting his index finger to his lips. He was frightening, and at the same time, unrealistically beautiful even in the darkness. That made him even scarier.
“It seems we came to check on the same thing.”
He whispered, trying to smile gently at Kaela, who could barely speak.
“I came to see this.”
Peon’s fingertip pointed towards the cabinet Kaela had been trying to open. She still didn’t say anything.
Rather than making a mistake by speaking clumsily, she needed to hear everything Peon had to say first. Of course, if he started asking questions, she would have to answer inevitably.
But instead of asking, Peon took out a small key. Kaela didn’t want to react, but she couldn’t help her eyes widening.
The key looked like it would fit perfectly into the cabinet’s keyhole. Her eyes involuntarily followed as Peon inserted the key into the hole and turned it to open.
With a click, the cabinet opened. Peon threw the cabinet doors wide open and pulled out all the drawers.
“As you know, I haven’t learned much.”
Kaela thought this was ridiculous. What hasn’t Peon learned? Kaela, who played with him in the imperial palace, knew best that even though the empress was practically confined, she did her utmost for the education of her only son.
Even when Peon asked if he could play more with Beatrice, the empress sent very strict teachers.
Beatrice and Kaela often had to study together too. Beatrice would easily get bored and trick her way out, but Kaela foolishly learned alongside Peon, simply happy to be near him.
The subjects Peon learned at the time were very diverse. The empress, knowing the emperor was watching, secretly taught her son military science and politics from an early age, and taught him swordsmanship from the very beginning.
Sensing they would part someday, she seemed to have prepared everything for her son to stand alone. The knowledge Peon learned was vast and deep enough to seem difficult for a young child.
“I only know how to fight with a sword. Managing a territory or smooth social skills are not my specialty.”
Well, there were limits to what a child could learn in a short time. Since he was sent straight to Lusenford afterwards, Peon grew up as a rough man of Lusenford, not a noble of Crania.
If he had been skilled in sophisticated politics, the situation of Lusenford being branded as traitorous might not have occurred. No, before that, Peon could have just cooperated slightly in the murder of Duke Ostein, without having to go through the absurdity of being forced to marry his daughter.
He had earned merit at the time but ended up shouldering only the burden. Still, while coldly treating Kaela, wouldn’t he have thought of Duke Ostein?
“So I heard somewhere that important items should be checked by the owner directly.”
Peon looked down at the silver tableware that appeared more clearly in the pitch-black darkness.
“You, being much smarter than me, probably already knew this.”
Though they came here for the same purpose, Kaela didn’t agree that she was smarter than him.
Smart? Where? How was she smart when she worried about the man who killed her only family? She who had to constantly remind herself of countless reasons to hate that man was foolish and stupid, not wise or clever.
Hatred isn’t something that only comes when you find reasons. It should have just happened. Kaela de Chasser was the girl obsessed with a man because she couldn’t do that.
“It’s too much for me to count alone, would you count with me?”
To be precise, they weren’t just silver tableware, but silver items used in the castle. This included silver trays for the butler to place letters on, and candlesticks.
All nobles were expected to have at least one set, and due to their value, the butler had to polish and store them safely. They were items to be brought out and placed on the table when important guests arrived.
