Chapter 38

Thank you Eri for the raws!

“Sir Ethan.”

When I called, Sir Ethan answered immediately.

“Call me Knoxus.”

Sir Ethan shrugged slightly.

“I’m no longer the captain of the guard. Call me Knoxus like a slave.”

Like a slave

The throbbing headache almost made me laugh.

“Slavery is illegal.”

Sir Ethan smiled a little inexplicably.

“But they call me Knoxus.”

“Yeah, so what? Knoxus.”

I nodded helplessly because I no longer had the strength to fight.

“The money will help, so leave the capital with your sister and start a new life.”

I took out a wallet from my pocket  and pushed it to him, and the gold coins in it rattled.

“If rumors spread that I let go of the slaves that I bought for a lot of money , I would lose face so I would like you to leave as far as you can…….”

I was going to recommend Count Gesban, but Knoxus pushed the bag of gold back.

“I’m not taking it.”

I frowned and pushed it back.

“You will regret it. Do you know how cold Count Gesban is?”

But Knoxus seemed really reluctant to take the money.

“I asked you to restore Catherine’s status, not my status.”

The stinging remark gave me a throbbing headache again.

That’s when I squeezed the money out of his hand and sent it away.

Kung!

Knoxus suddenly fell on one knee and bowed his head.

Why, why is he doing this?

I was so surprised that I forgot my headache for a moment.

Knoxus looked up at me with eager eyes as I rubbed my eyes in bewilderment.

“It wasn’t an empty talk when I said I would pay my debts even if I have to give my life. I don’t know how much I can help you, but I want to serve you and be by your side.”

“… … .”

“I will be your invisible eyes, your ears, your sword that cannot be touched.”

“No, you don’t have to…….”

In order not to show signs of embarrassment, I moderately blurted out the end of my words.

But the idea was completely different.

To be honest, it was annoying.

I have to go into exile with my limbs intact  and whatever I could bring cheaply.

It’s a good horse, it’s a limb, it’s just one more burden.

Considering Catherine, now I have two burdens.

Just imagining it, I hesitated and tried to throw the money bag in front of him, but Knoxus lowered his head even more.

“I know it’s hard to  trust a man who has already betrayed you once, but this time I will not be a mere contractor whom you  bought with money, but a limb that vows loyalty to the his master.”

My hand, which was holding the money bag, stopped shaking.

After all, there was no one around me who could be called a duke.

According to the duke’s records, each time she paid a penny to someone she could throw away easily and she had no true servant.

Moreover, cleaning up the slave market was something I couldn’t do alone. I’m going to need someone to get the job done…

After reflecting, I slowly opened my mouth.

“……Alright.”

Then I stood up from my desk, grabbed Knoxus’ hand, and raised him up.

I felt a little dizzy because I stood up suddenly, but it was too much for someone to kneel in front of me.

“You want to work as my aide, don’t you?”

Perhaps a little surprised, Knoxus blinked several times and then smiled brightly.

“Yes, Master.”

I wanted to fix how he calls her Master somehow, but I decided to stop here today.

I wanted to lie down in bed quickly because it was late and I had a headache.

The moment I opened my mouth to speak.

Clap, clap, clap.

Suddenly a clap came from the door.

“To give the position of being your assistant. Do you have a special love for your lover?”

Only then did I find him leaning against the dim door.

It was a Cardan.

His mouth was clearly drawing a soft arc, but somehow with a spine-chilling smile.

“Duke, why don’t you come with me?”

When Cardan nodded, I had no choice but to follow like a dragged sinner.

Cardan, who took me to his office without a word, closed the door behind me as soon as I entered the room.

And he said something out of the blue.

“No legalization is allowed

Cardan, who locked me between his arms and pushed me through the door, growled low.

“Leave the slave market alone.”

The enemy’s eye glared at me violently.

As such, the intense heat came out and made my head dizzy.

“No, I have no intention of legalizing…….”

I wanted to press my forehead with my hands because my head was aching, but I couldn’t move because I was trapped in Cardan’s arms.

“Don’t you want to legalize it?”

There was a low laugh.

“I’ll let you off the hook if you don’t  lie to me.”

I looked up at Cardan blankly.

His red eyes were colder than frozen ice caps.

“I know that I participated in a slave auction with the Marquis of Treve today. It’s also a fact that I met the slave trader in secret afterwards.”

Cardan’s corner of the mouth was gently pulled, but it wasn’t a pleasant smile at all.

“How am I supposed to take this?”

I had nothing to say, so I patted my lips.

It was a perfect situation for anyone to misunderstand.

I actually offered to legalize Faus.

I have to make some excuse right away, but I couldn’t think of anything because of my headache.

“I never intended to meet the slave trader with that intention…….”

In the end, only poor excuses fell from my mouth.

“You want me to believe it now?”

Cardan smiled bitterly.

“The prime minister of a country cannot crack down on it, but she should not lead the legalization process.”

The hand gripping my shoulder slowly went into it.

A blunt pain rose from my shoulder, but I was dizzy so I leaned on it.

After a small gasp, I could barely say a word.

“Do it.”

Cardan’s eyebrows crumpled.

“You–.”

“I’ll… crack it down.”

There was embarrassment that rippled on his beautiful face.

I grinned.

My head was not working well due to my blurred vision, but I could tell this for sure.

Let’s just do this.

Even if she’s the prime minister was, there was a limit to how much she could move arbitrarily, but I couldn’t ask because I was afraid that a tyrant who only knew how to play would not be interested in the slave market.

If it’s the emperor’s plan, then I can move a little more freely.

“What do you mean?”

Cardan still gave me a threatening look.

“Haha”

Laughter broke through my dry lips.

Thank you for your interest, let’s do well in the future, I think I was going to say things like this.

My vision turned black before I could open my lips again.

☆*: .。.  .。.:*☆

Cardan looked down in his arms for a while at the duke who fainted like a broken marionette doll.

“Hey, Duke.”

He shook her shoulder in amazement, but there was no response.

If it weren’t for her faint sound of breathing, he would have thought she was dead.

Only then did Erina’s red cheeks catch his eye.

When he touched her forehead slightly, the warm heat warmed his palm.

“Ah, so troublesome.”

Cardan grumbled low, but held Erina in his arms.

She can’t die yet.

Cardan strode to the bedroom, repeating himself.

The doctor, whom Cardan called into the bedroom, seemed a little surprised to see the Duke lying in bed, but soon began to look into the Duke’s condition.

“It’s a fever caused by overwork.”

The doctor who gave the diagnosis hesitated to say something more.

“What’s going on?”

Cardan urged Rep.

“If it’s about the duke’s condition, say it out loud.”

“The duke has recently begun to ask for a variety of medicinal herbs……. Her condition is still due to overwork, but the side effects of the drug also seem to have played a part.”

Cardan narrowed his eyes.

“What do you mean?”

The doctor’s body began to tremble as Cardan’s gaze fell over his head.

“It controls the body’s hormones. I heard that taking it often for a long period of time is not good for succession later, but she keeps asking for it.”

A heavy silence ensued.

It wasn’t long before Cardan’s voice fell.

“Don’t give it to the Duke any more.”

“What? Yes.”

The doctor, who asked back by mistake, immediately corrected his remarks to Cardan’s sharp gaze.

“Go away now.”

The doctor who wanted to get out of there as soon as possible quickly bid his goodbye and quickly disappeared.

Cardan, left alone with Erina, looked down at the face of the duke in bloom.

Soon his mouth twisted a little.

What the Duke was worried about was clear. It’s about what happened that night. He didn’t know she even got medicine. Nothing happened, but she had the misunderstanding that it was a misunderstanding alone.

“Things have become interesting.”

Obviously, the Duke will be greatly embarrassed when she finds out the truth.

He would have enjoyed just imagining the duke’s stunned expression, but now he doesn’t feel any better.

Instead, the Duke’s last words kept ringing in his ears.

‘I’ll… crack it down.’

Cardan’s mouth twisted.

Erina’s eyes, which looked up at him, did not have any sign of lies.

Her slow blinking eyes and smile almost made him look happy.

But it wasn’t easy to believe.

The Duke of Baloa, who favors no one but herself, is destroying a lucrative slave market?

Cardan brushed up his hair, swearing a small curse.

These days, he couldn’t figure out where Erina was going.