Chapter 28
Episode 28
"...It's strange, isn't it?"”
“Yes? What is?”
Mary’s irritable reply flew back to my question.
“What have you been listening to? Aren’t the two of them acting strange since last night!”
She tapped my arm and glanced towards Master, her eyes darting sideways.
I looked back and forth between our Master and Bestia, then spoke quietly.
“Yes, they’re acting suspiciously, far too openly.”
It was true that the relationship between the two had always been peculiar…
But today, the atmosphere between them was strangely unsettling.
First, Master.
When did he start acting like something terrible would happen if he was even a little apart from Bestia!
Today, he seemed to be glancing at her from a few steps away, as if for no reason.
“He looks just like a puppy abandoned by its owner… Ah, no. I misspoke there.”
As I hastily finished my sentence, Mary stated firmly.
“That’s right, Aristelle! No matter what, you shouldn’t compare Master to a dog…”
She seemed to be completely misunderstanding why I had stopped speaking.
“I meant that a cute animal like a ‘dog’ shouldn’t be brought up in comparison to our Master?”
At my remark, Mary looked at me as if I were crazy.
“Sometimes, Aristelle, you seem like the biggest lunatic.”
“Are you any better?”
“What did you say?”
Leaving Mary huffing behind me, I looked towards Bestia.
She wasn’t any less strange…
Bestia also seemed to be watching Master’s reactions.
Then, their gazes would occasionally meet in mid-air…
Each time, they would let out an awkward, clearing cough and quickly avert their eyes.
I could have bet Duke Russell’s abundant hair that ‘something had happened between those two.’
Perhaps Master had raised his voice because of what happened yesterday?
A flicker of anxiety rose, and I asked Mary.
“The two of them didn’t fight, did they?”
To my question, Mary let out a disdainful snort.
“You don’t know anything. Anyone can see that’s a romantic vibe!”
“That…?”
What reason would Bestia suddenly have to feel favorably towards Master?
“Aristelle, why don’t you take a break from work and live a little?”
Surprisingly, Mary’s words seemed sincere.
What was wrong with me that she was looking at me so pitifully?
“…So, does that mean something has progressed between those two?”
“Probably?”
My curiosity surged, and I wanted to grab them and ask them immediately…
But I couldn’t pry into the private lives of Master and his prospective mistress.
However, my careful consideration was shattered thanks to Mary, who lacked any sense of tact.
With a look of utter innocence, she asked them.
“You two, did something happen last night?”
“M-Mary, what are you…!”
Bestia stammered, waving her hands as if she were clearly flustered.
“Hmm, that’s strange… Can’t you just say nothing happened?”
“N-nothing happened, really?”
Bestia’s attempt to defend herself, raising her voice uncharacteristically, felt pathetic.
“Bestia, if you’re okay with it, it might be better to just tell us.”
At my whisper, she asked back, flustered.
“Yes? Why?”
“As far as I know, Mary doesn’t let go once she asks something.”
“What? Aristelle, how do you know that?”
“I didn’t want to know either.”
“……”
Bestia seemed even more flustered by my sincere advice.
“A-anyway, nothing really happened!”
Mary asked Bestia with a sly smile.
“Oh~ really? Then why are you two so awkward today….”
“Th-that’s….”
“Stop bothering her.”
Master, unable to watch her struggle, stopped Mary.
Unfortunately, she wasn’t the type to be deterred by this.
“Ah, really? Then, Master, could you explain what happened last night….”
Sensing that the questions would continue, Bestia cut Mary off.
“Young Duke!”
Bestia gently grabbed Master’s arm.
“I’ll go and finish tending to the people who were brainwashed.”
Tending to them.
I must be tired lately, my hearing must have worsened.
Tending to the poor people who had been kidnapped.
Our kind, prospective mistress wouldn’t do such a thing. Of course not.
Even so, my Master seemed to have no intention of being separated from her even for a moment.
“Since there are no other appointments, let’s go together.”
I have a week’s worth of work that I might not even finish if I worked day and night, and he’s spouting such nonsense…
I wanted to douse Master’s romantic endeavors with cold water right away, but for my own future, this was better.
“Yes, yes! O-okay!”
Bestia answered very awkwardly, as if she hadn’t expected Master to follow.
Even as she walked ahead, she kept glancing back. It was suffocating just watching.
Unable to bear my curiosity, I quietly asked Master.
“Master, what exactly happened yesterday?”
“That’s….”
\ \ \
“Because I love you.”
As expected, the situation unfolded as anticipated.
She showed signs of embarrassment at my words and couldn’t easily open her mouth.
Seeing her lips quivering with impatience, she was adorable in that way too.
I felt my mood lift at the newly discovered cute expression, even without receiving an answer to my confession.
“No answer.”
“Yes?”
She seemed to have taken my words as a taunt.
My breath caught at her moist, purple eyes, which had become teary.
Why did she have to return to her original state right now.
Normally, I would have comforted her and left her to rest.
But the moment I met Bestia’s eyes, my true feelings spilled out.
“Young Duke, I…”
“I don’t need an answer. I know well that you don’t like me.”
Her fidgeting was cute, but I didn’t want to look at it for long.
I poked her furrowed brow with my finger, and Bestia’s eyes widened in unison.
Bestia, due to her background as an orphan and continuous parental abuse, had hit rock bottom in terms of self-esteem.
No matter how much I declared my love, she would only accumulate strange suspicions.
However, I also felt a sense of indignation.
It was a talent, perhaps, to be so beautiful yet completely unaware of it.
It also felt quite malicious, how she could stir up people’s hearts at any moment.
It was like that now.
Those innocent, wide eyes were more harmful to my heart than anything else.
I lightly brought my lips to the tips of her soft, luscious hair.
“I don’t expect you to feel the same. Just stay by my side for the promised period.”
Bestia now wouldn’t know.
When I had started waiting for her.
\ \ \
“Hoo, Young Duke. It seems like we’re almost done, right?”
I looked proudly at the individuals, each sporting a bump on their head.
The Young Duke, who was gently wiping his fist with a handkerchief, replied.
“You were magnificent, Bestia.”
The Young Duke’s usual demeanor had long since diluted the awkwardness.
“Now we need to ask them what happened.”
“I think we’ll have to ask the people at the Duke’s Mansion to interrogate them. I’ve been away for too long.”
Aristelle, who had been listening silently from behind, added.
“That’s right, Bestia. Actually, I was worried about what the Duke might do…”
Even so, was there a need to worry so much about someone as gentle as Duke Russell?
The Young Duke seemed to have read the fleeting doubt on my face.
“My father is more immature than I am.”
“Yes?”
“He is still at an age where he is quite immature.”
To speak of one’s parents as being at an immature age.
“Then does that mean you, Young Duke, are also not mature yet?”
“No, I matured a long time ago.”
What kind of parents did the Duke have, I wondered…
“If someone saw you, they’d think you’d lived for tens of thousands of years.”
“…Well, for now, it would be best to return to the Duke’s Mansion.”
Strangely, he always changed the subject whenever the topic of age came up.
“Master, or rather, Your Grace, is such an old soul that it’s understandable.”
“That’s right, he looks a bit old for his age, but inside he’s a complete old man!”
Even with Aristelle and Mary’s words, the Young Duke seemed unfazed.
“After observing the surroundings yesterday and today, there were no suspicious places other than the temple.”
“Since the main suspects, the priests, have escaped, it will be difficult to find clues here…”
Could it be that I had shattered the only evidence?
Even though the Young Duke had cajoled and appeased me so much yesterday not to be discouraged.
Now, I truly had nothing to say, even if I had ten mouths.
“Th-then, what should we do? It’s all because of me…”
“Bestia, you should speak correctly.”
Did he anticipate my next words?
The Young Duke calmly crossed his arms and cut me off.
“Usually, something like that is expressed as ‘thanks to’ rather than ‘because of’.”
“What do you mean?”
He stared intently at me, then took something out of his pocket.
“I happened to find this at the temple.”
To be continued in the next episode ▶
