CH 96

Episode 96

“Useless? How can you say such a thing to your successor?”

The fingers that grabbed the desk were digging into the wood.

There was a wood-scratching sound by my nails, but I couldn’t afford to worry about it at all.

“Have you ever thought about the child–”

“Duke Spade, let’s calm down a little bit.”

It was Duke of the Ale Club that brought me to my senses when I was agitated.

The moment I saw her green eyes shining calmly, I stopped talking.

I sat down, chewing my lips with her eyes looking up at me.

I was angry, but I couldn’t help it.

“Any more to say?”

The voice of the Duke of Ace was heard.

“…….no.”

“From now on, the talk about private relationships will be forbidden.”

The words of the Duke of Ace sounded as if they were sarcastic to me.

“Then I’ll go ahead again.”

A cold voice rang out.

***

Many things happened, but the meeting went better than I thought.

The formation of the special committee has been confirmed for now.

Announcing the case to the private sector has been put on hold. Still, if the investigation committee was formed, more information could be obtained than before.

It was better than before.

At the end of the meeting, the Housekeepers either organized the data, exchanged greetings, or left the meeting room first.

I also collected the data and got up with it next to my arm.

Then I turned out my head and checked if there was another man with red hair standing at the entrance or exit.

‘How unusual, he’s not here?’

Is he waiting at the place where the carriage is parked today?

‘Good. Since we parked at the back door this time, so we’ll never bump into each other.’

It was a moment when I thought so.

As I turned, I bumped into the Duke of Diamond’s shoulder and uttered a short shrill note.

“Ah.”

“Oh, I’m sorry, Duke of Diamonds.”

I bowed slightly to him and said, “I’m sorry.”

“Are you all right? I hit you hard………”

But the answer didn’t come back.

The man with long green hair tied together saw me pierced, but his lips did not move at all.

“Well, Duke? Are you okay?”

Only then did the Duke’s eyes move a little.

He has deep green eyes.

“Duke of Diamonds?”

But the Duke remained silent.

He just shook his head slightly and stared at me again.

“Is he a peculiar person…..…?’

His ghostly, haunted face was certainly dry.

His cheeks were so hollow that no one would recognize him as an aristocrat if he had not worn clothes that only the Housekeepers could wear.

‘I thought he was in bad health.’

Then he turned silent and began to walk toward the exit.

“Oh, there, Duke……!”

I called him from the back, but the Duke of Diamond took a wobbly step and disappeared as if he can’t hear me.

‘I was going to talk to him.’

No matter how much I looked at it, there were some external resemblances to Rayl, but their personality seemed completely different.

Rayl, at first, he was shy, but after getting close, he was active.

Unlike him, the Duke of Diamond did not even speak very well.

‘Come to think of it, he’s never spoken at the Housekeepers meeting before.’

It was unexpected.

The Duke of Diamonds, who appeared in Rayl’s explanation, was a busy man who was working hard to reform and revive the family.

‘Well, is it because of his health?’

Rayl deserved to worry a lot.

‘That’s too bad. I was going to say hello…….’

So I left the conference room, being the last one.

Red hair was not seen in the hallway. Instead, I could only see silver hair shining brilliantly in the sun.

And the moment I saw the silver hair, the words went out before I thought.

“Mr Trump.”

My voice echoed through the hall.

With a voice so clear that it could not be ignored, the Duke of Ace stopped walking.

“……didn’t I say that the talk about private relationships is forbidden?”

His cold eyes slowly looked at me.

“Isn’t that limited at the meeting only? And how could you say that when you don’t even know what I was going to say?”

“There’s only one thing you want to talk about to call me up.”

With that said, the Duke turned his head.

“I have nothing more to say about it. Go back.”

“I don’t want to.”

I said with my head straight and my back wide open.

“You don’t have to answer. I don’t care if you listen or not.”

“…………as expected, being young can’t help it”

The Duke of Ace raised one of his eyebrows and sarcastically twisted it.

“You’re so emotional that you can’t beat a momentary blow.”

“Well, then, the experienced Duke, please watch me while pretending unaware of my brief blow.”

I took a step forward, looked straight at the Duke and put my strength into my voice.

“Eugene is not stupid, and he’s not a kid who gets in without knowing the subject.”

Then the Duke snorted.

“No, he’s cutting in on things that have nothing to do with him. Forgetting what he had to do, forgetting his goals.”

“He’s never forgotten. Eugene never forgets his goals for a single moment.”

It was Eugene, who always had straight eyes and posture. And he was sticking to his consistency, enduring bone-cutting pain.

“Even when we were preparing for the Academy Foundation Day ceremony–”

“Eugene’s magic in the performance level was as a kid’s level with no power. Everything went back to you as the centre.”

“It was Eugene who made the show. Without Eugene, I couldn’t have done that.”

Then the Duke of Ace looked down at me with a crooked look.

“That’s why it’s pathetic. He stepped down and became the stepping stone for his enemies.”

I’m speechless.

Reason, rank, competition.

It was clear that that was all this man could say.

“A stepping stone?”

I could feel the bitterness in my mouth.

The duke was crushing all of Eugene’s efforts under the word “stepping stone.”

“He can’t be a Housekeeper in that way.”

His voice weighed heavily like a rock.

“Duke of Spades, I don’t know if you may be able to do it, but the Ace can’t do it that way. He can’t survive that way.”

When he left the word, the Duke turned his back completely.

“Never bring this up again.”

Looking at his silver hair falling apart, I said in a dry voice.

“………Thank you for your time. Thanks to you, I’ve learned something important.”

The Duke stopped halfway and looked at me with his icy eyes.

“What do you mean you learnt?”

“The fact that Eugene will be better than you.”

Of course, the answer did not come back.

When the anger burning as a blue flame subsided, I looked up, and I was the only one in the corridor.

***

The hectic winter vacation is over.

My heart was pounding at the thought of finally seeing everyone again.

‘When I first thought I was possessed as a villainess, I never imagined this.’

I thought while walking on the campus of the Academy.

“Oh, Yerine!”

I looked up at a familiar voice and saw a familiar red hair and sky blue eyes.

“Astra!”

It’s been a long time since we’ve met and hugged each other and had a chat.

Actually, I was going to invite Astra and Rachel to the castle, not only Erica.

However, Rachel had no choice but to meet briefly in the capital just before school began due to her schedule.

Astra had been trying to stay together in the castle for quite a long time, like Erica, but the monster’s attack destroyed the plan.

“Oh, it’s so nice to see you after a long time. Yerine.”

“Me too. I wish I had seen you during the vacation.”

“Are you feeling alright? You’ve been through a lot.”

Astra asked with a worried look.

Although she did not directly mention it, it was clear that she was recalling the monster attack.

“No, it’s okay. You really don’t have to worry.”

“I’m glad to hear that……..”

But still, she couldn’t stop looking worried.

At the moment when I tried to add a word saying that it was really okay, a tremendous cry came from somewhere.

“Hey, it’s Yerine!”

“Oh, my God, I can’t believe I saw her as soon as school started!”

‘Huh?’

Come to think of it, suddenly there were a lot of people around.

There they were all flushed and gleaming eyes at me.

“Argh! Yerine! She’s so beautiful!”

A schoolgirl screamed and pounded her friend on the back.

The friend looked dispirited and the girl didn’t stop cheering.

The problem was that there were more than one of these kids.

“Oh, my God, look at that proud walk!”

No, I just walked without thinking.

“Oh no, she’s so pretty but so cute…….”

I know that, but is it enough to make you shed tears?

“I wish I had been under her spell once!”

Don’t do that, please. You’ll get hurt.

‘I think it’s getting more popular……?’

“Hey, Yerine’s popularity never goes down. I’m really proud of you, my friend.”

“No, by the way, it wasn’t usually this bad.”

“Oh, I think it’s because your article was published.”

“Ah.”

Come to think of it, I took a picture and had a brief interview after I was appointed as the lord of the family and as a Housekeeper.

I’ve heard that once you’re appointed as a family head, you’ll be in the entire newspaper.

“The picture came out really well. It caught my eye even on the front page.”

“Is it on the front page?”

“Yes, in the newspaper the day before yesterday. A new Housekeeper who appeared like a comet, the torch for a generational shift… Well, that’s the title.”

“Wow, that’s a very embarrassing title.”

A feeling of shame and embarrassment came deeply.

Does the newspaper know that I had a monster attack accident?

When I was thinking about it, suddenly someone tapped me on the shoulder.

“Excuse me….”

“Oh, yeah?”

When I looked back, a man who was about one head taller than me was bowing his head.

“Oh, what’s the matter……?”

The man, who was hesitating, suddenly stuck out a box wrapped in a red ribbon in his arms.

“Hav, have this!”

“Eh, yeah?”

“I’m always rooting for you. All right, bye!”

The man shouted so and gave me a box and started running as if he had thrown a bomb.

“Hey, wait! Hold on!”

But the man did not stop, and completely disappeared from view.

“What is this……?”

“Wait, Yerine. Look at this.”

On top of the pink box wrapped in a red ribbon, there was a note with a clear heart.

‘No, wait. What is this?’

When I opened the box with half a doubt, it was heart-shaped chocolate that greeted me carefully.

It’s a combination of red, pink, and white.

“Yerine, this is……….”

I couldn’t beat her.

Yeah, this was a confession, obviously.

—————