Chapter 19: 18

***

“D*mn it, d*mn it, d*mn it!”

Justin, the Fourth Prince, couldn’t overcome his anger and kicked the wall, but soon fell to his seat.

“Get out of my castle right now…”

How dare he give the prince an order, and not only that but also grab the future Crown Prince by the collar?

Since the death of his brothers, unbearable treatment had been given to him, Justin,  who had grown up sheltered by the emperor.

“…I won’t let this go, Duke of Esbaden. Let’s see how long that handsome face can stay calm.”

He then vowed revenge with his broken pride in his hands.

“Your Highness.”

The escort knight entered the room, ready to return to the Imperial Palace.

“Let’s go! I have no desire to stay in this unlucky place anymore!”

“Your Highness, it’s…”

The escort knight opened his mouth in a hesitating manner while the prince was passing by him with an angry gait.

“What, what are you doing?”

“The Duke sent someone.”

“Huh, what?”

Justin let out a smirk and burst out laughing in vain.

‘Does he intend to send someone to apologize after humiliating me in front of those lowly beings?’

That couldn’t happen without someone going crazy.

“I don’t want to see him.”

“But….”

“If I have to meet him, be prepared to have his nose cut off. I don’t even know what I’m going to do out of anger.”

“Your Highness, that’s not it.”

In response to his escort, whose attitude was showing that he was holding himself back, Justin eventually screamed in annoyance.

“Don’t try to hold back and say it properly!”

“Well, the Duke sent a man, but it was not the Duke of Esbaden himself.”

“What kind of nonsense is that?”

As soon as Justin finished speaking, a strange voice came from behind the escort knight.

The owner of the voice was a young man who was exceptionally well-dressed for a servant.

“I greet you, His Highness, the noble Fourth Prince of the Empire.”

He politely bowed his head and explained the purpose of his coming.

“Sir Nate of Esbaden has sent me.”

“…Sir Nate?”

When the name of the duke’s only uncle came out of the servant’s mouth, the prince’s pupils shook.

“Yes, my lord.”

The servant continued speaking with a smile on his face.

“Lord Nate wishes to meet with His Highness, the Fourth Prince.”

***

“Uhhhhhhh!!”

“Layla, it’s the head maid who got hurt. Why are you crying?”

Dooha threw a pin at Layla, who was sitting next to her, shedding tears.

“But, but it was because of me!”

“It was not because of you, so stop crying, Layla. I just did what I had to do.”

At the maid’s words, Layla rushed over to her and rubbed her face against Sylvia recklessly.

“Uhhhhhh! Head maid, I’ll do my best in the future!”

“Why, why are you doing this, all of a sudden-”

Embarrassed, Sylvia tried to pull Layla away from her, but her own strength was not enough to do so.

“Layla, you’re interfering with the treatment. Stay away from her.”

“Yes.”

The Duchess’s words made her return to her original spot faster than lightning.

Sylvia, who watched her with amazement, bit her lip at the pain she felt on her cheek.

“I can leave my treatment to the doctor…”

“I know. But the head maid is also a noble and a person who values ​​her face.”

Dooha spoke her words, carefully placing the mixture of herbs on her cheek,

“I personally wouldn’t want to show other people my injured face, especially if it was caused by someone else.” 

“…Thank you.”

For that reason, the Duchess was in charge of treating the wounds of the maid.

The maid lowered her head, wrinkling the tip of her nose.

“And… I think there was a part that I misunderstood.”

“What?”

“I thought that the head maid would punish Layla, as it would be much easier to solve the problem by doing so.”

“Ah…”

As Dooha said, it was correct to punish Layla in the actual situation.

Her opponent was the prince, and she was just a servant of the duchess.

Sylvia let out her bitter laugh. Then she straightened her back, her eyes lighting up.

“Of course, things would have been a little easier if I had pleased the Prince, but I am the head maid of the Grand Duke of Esbaden.”

She puffed out her chest, proud of her own position.

“My master is not His Highness, but the Duke of Esbaden. My position is a symbol of the trust that the Duke has for me.”

Therefore, even if her cheeks were bursting, she had to fulfill the duty entrusted to her by the Duke.

Because she was the head maid of the proud Duke of Esbaden.

“And if I had listened to His Highness, the Prince, at that time, the Duke would have said something on the contrary. Perhaps.”

“Why?”

“The Duke always tells us to not bow to anyone for no reason. It’s not an easy order to follow, though.”

She was neither strong enough nor in a good enough position to keep her pride at all times like the duke.

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As it was with the maid, it was the same with Dooha. 

Because of such pride, the head maid was slapped by the prince and Dooha couldn’t contain her anger in front of his unscrupulous touch.

“Still, I didn’t know that the Duke would put a hand on the Prince himself.”

Dooha stopped her treatment for a moment at the words of the maid, Sylvia.

“Since he ascended to the duke’s position at a young age, many eyes have been watching him. That’s why he always tries to not do anything that could be considered disgraceful…”

For some reason, it seemed that only such things have happened lately – the maid tilted her head; it was strange thinking about it.

Meanwhile, Dooha was immersed in her thoughts.

Did such a person go so hard against the Fourth Prince?

Back then, the Duke’s eyes were not the eyes of those who were afraid to do something disgraceful.

Rather, he was in an overly passionate state that surprised the knights who followed him.

The maid looked at her, worried about the Duchess, whose complexion had darkened for some reason.

“Madam, are you not feeling well?”

“No, not at all.”

Dooha shook her head, put a cold compress on Sylvia’s face, and stood up.

“The treatment is over. Continue applying the wet cloth on the injury until the swelling goes down.”

“Oh, thank you.”

While looking at the maid’s face, who was sincerely grateful to her, Dooha unknowingly asked a question that she wouldn’t normally ask.

“…Sylvia, what kind of person is the Duke?”

“What?”

“Ah.”

She let out a short sigh, bewildered by the maid asking back.

“It’s nothing. Just forget it.”

Dooha turned her head away, feeling like she wanted to bang her head against something.

She knew better than anyone else what kind of person he was.

‘No, in fact, I may not know anything about him at all.’

All she knew was that the more she knew, the more strange he was.

At least until now.

Then, the maid opened her mouth.

“The Duke, how should I say this?”

Her voice was sweet, but there was a tinge of sadness in it.

“He is stronger than anyone, but at the same time, he is the loneliest of all.”

Sylvia smiled faintly at Dooha, who only looked out of the window.

Curiosity was not a bad sign in a relationship between a man and a woman.

“So, if the duchess can help him-“

But before she could finish her words, Layla snorted and interrupted her.

“Oh my God, so why does our princess give strength to a guy like that? Live alone for the rest of your life and die of old age.”

“Layla.”

“Heh, that’s right. I noticed that he was digging his own grave! He always frowns like that, and if he says mean things as well, who would want to be next to him?”

“That’s…”

Even though Layla was rude, Sylvia hesitated for a moment, speechless at the words she could not refute.

“Well, since he’s a human being with power and status equal to all of  the nobles in the Empire combined, he must have grown up with nothing lacking!”

“That’s not true!”

“Huh? What do you mean it’s not?”

“The Duke is different from the other nobles in the Empire, who grew up lacking nothing. Rather, it was because he had lacked more than others.”

At the words of the maid, Dooha has a surprised look on her face.

Needless to say, Leonhart was the duke with the greatest power on this continent.

What was it that such a person was lacking? 

The maid tried to say more but instead lowered her eyes.

“….It’s not polite of me to carelessly talk about the Duke’s past, so I’ll stop here. I’m sorry, Madam.” 

“What’s there to be sorry about Sylvia? It’s okay.”

“But Madam, you have to know, the fact is that the Duke would never take his wife lightly.”

Dooha held her chin and lowered her eyes.

The maid added that she was worried that Dooha would not accept what she said.

“As you know, initially, Madam’s marriage partner was not the duke, but the Fourth Prince. But he refused to marry, and so the Duke took Madam instead.”

At that time, Justin had just lost his second wife.

The emperor persuaded his subjects to change the marriage partner by saying that his son wanted to keep his loyalty to his deceased wife.

Duke Leonhart von Esbaden was then nominated as the representative groom of the Empire. 

“Actually, there were many unmarried aristocratic young men of marriageable age at that time.”

However, all of them, except for the Duke, desperately refused to marry Dooha.

Despite the emperor’s order.

“But the Duke accepted the marriage right away. I don’t know why, but…”

It was said that the agreement to the marriage was only for the sake of national interest, but from the actions of the duke so far, it seemed that that was not the sole reason.

Dooha suddenly changed the subject after listening to the maid’s words.

“Sylvia, what is the rest of the Duke’s schedule for today?” 

“Ah, after training at the temple, he’s going to go to sleep right after he’s done with his paperwork. He has been busy with work these days, so I know that he has been sleeping in the study.”

The maid knew that the duke had not been in the bedroom since the first night.

Dooha smiled at her consideration for purposely adding where the Duke had been sleeping.

“Okay, thank you. You can go back now.” 

“Madam, please don’t misunderstand the Duke…”

“Don’t worry, Sylvia.”

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Dooha smiled beautifully at the maid.

“Because I only believe in what I have experienced.”

Before she knew it, there was a serious light in her eyes instead of a smile.

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