Leonhart raised his gaze from the document and looked forward.
Dooha, dressed in a bright yellow dress, was standing at the desk, smiling.
The Duke, whose workload had increased due to the recent increase in the appearance of monsters, had long stopped visiting the bedroom.
It was the first time that the two faced each other alone since the morning the Duke woke up with a hangover.
Perhaps that’s why…
Leonhart couldn’t look Dooha straight in the eye like before and was looking at a subtly misaligned spot.
Like someone who wanted to avoid eye contact.
“Yes, I want to see the annexe.”
“Why do you want to look around there all of a sudden?”
“I’ve looked around everywhere else, but I haven’t looked around there.”
He shook his head firmly, signifying that it was not worth reconsidering Dooha’s question.
“It’s a place where there’s nothing to see, so don’t worry about it.”
“For a place that you say ‘there’s nothing to see’, there’s been a lot of talk among the people.”
“Madam.”
Leonhart put down the pen he held in his hand.
His eyes darkened before he knew it.
“I thought I said I didn’t like to say things twice.”
“Is there any reason why I can’t see the annexe?”
Dooha continued, her hands neatly folded over her stomach.
“Or are you hiding something there that I can’t see?”
“…What do you mean?”
“Literally what I said.”
“I don’t know how to understand this situation now.”
Leonhart looked as though he was in trouble.
He stared at Dooha with keen eyes.
“Even if I had something to hide there, I wouldn’t be obliged to tell you.”
Due to the response that was more sensitive than expected, Dooha also stared back at him.
“Of course. That’s why I’m asking. If there was something, I want to know why you’re keeping it a secret.”
Dooha’s answer made the Duke pause for a moment before he opened his mouth again.
“…There’s no reason.”
He spoke in a serious voice as if he had no scruples.
“But there’s nothing to worry about, so let’s not talk about the annexe anymore.”
‘You don’t want to talk.’
Dooha’s face was slightly shaded.
It seemed to all have been an illusion—seeing the Duke’s defenceless appearance while they were in the bar and her thinking that she had grown closer to him.
“Alright, if you say so.”
Dooha, who did not hear the answer she wanted, turned her back without any regrets.
If she couldn’t get an answer from him, that was enough reason for her to find it herself.
***
There was a restricted area in the Esbaden fortress where no one but the Duke could enter.
Located near the Duke’s main castle, it was called the “Annexe” and was guarded by 30 knights.
The fence of the annexe, where knights stood on guard at regular intervals, was tangled with thorny vines, so it was impossible to look inside from the outside.
It was like a castle where a princess who was cursed and had fallen asleep forever lived.
“Sigh.”
Claude, the Duke of Esbaden’s lieutenant, yawned as he stood at the door of the annexe.
The Duke entrusted the security of the annexe to the only two knights he had complete trust in, one of whom was Baron and the other Claude.
Today was the day Claude was assigned to guard the annexe.
‘Ah, I want to go hunting for monsters too. It hurts to stand still.’
Claude scratched his cheek with a bored face.
He always enjoyed moving his body, so he didn’t like to stand still in one place.
“Sir Claude, there was a suspicious person nearby but we have captured her.”
“A suspicious person?”
Claude frowned at the knight’s words.
There was not a single person in the Duke’s castle who didn’t know that nothing good was going to come out of hanging around the annexe.
But who dared to?
“Really! I didn’t know I shouldn’t be here!”
It was a clear, high-pitched tone.
Claude squinted his eyes.
She was a woman with dark hair and an oddly exotic look.
From the look of her outfit, she seemed to be a maid working in the duchy.
But why did she look familiar?
Claude recalled a hazy memory when he saw the woman who was caught and annoyed by the knights.
‘I’m sure it was the woman next to the Duchess on the Duke’s wedding day.’
“I’m not a suspicious person! I’m the Duchess’s maid!”
“Let go of her.”
The knights looked curiously at his command and eventually relaxed their arms.
No matter what, the boss’ orders were absolute.
Meanwhile, the woman who was treated as a suspicious person grumbled, shaking her sleeve.
“I’ve told you several times that I’m not suspicious, but you’re annoying me.”
“Young girl.”
“Ugh, don’t call me that. I’m getting goosebumps.”
“…What?”
For Claude, it was polite, but the opponent shook as if it were terrible.
“It’s Layla. Please call me Layla.”
“Oh, okay.”
He was embarrassed by the attitude of the woman, who he now knew was named Layla, but cleared his voice and continued.
“Layla, this is a place where no one but the Duke can enter. Please go back now.”
“What? Why?”
“…I can’t tell you why.”
Claude replied with an expressionless face but not long after she burst into laughter.