Chapter 7
<8화>
“Did you hear about Dorothy? Turns out she was a spy for the House of Pose.”
“What? The Dorothy I know? The one who wouldn’t lend out her romance novels and read them all by herself?”
“Yeah. I’m telling you, she was a spy.”
“My goodness. I never would have suspected it.”
“Right? The war only ended recently, and already a spy…”
The situation was unfolding exactly as I had anticipated.
The moment the report was found inside Dorothy’s maid uniform, the Crost Duchy Castle was thrown into an uproar.
‘Now Calips will be able to bring his escort knights when he visits the Doctia Kingdom, right?’
It was only natural.
Discovering a spy was a serious matter, one that could potentially reignite a war. Now, the Duke of Pose was the one who would have to beg and scrape.
‘He probably won’t be able to say a word even if Calips brings a hundred knights with him.’
Hmph. Serves him right.
Wiggle—
Lying on my bed, I gave a victorious wiggle of my big toes.
Since things were going so well, maybe I could escape from the Duke of Pose as soon as Calips brought the real Lady home?
“Until then, I should just take a nap—”
Bam!
“Aisha. His Excellency has ordered you to the office.”
“…Huh?”
I was supposed to be napping…
With one leg stuck mid-air, I froze in place.
As I followed the knight out of the room—
A scream pierced my ears from not far away.
“If you’re taking me, take that Aisha brat too! That kid is a spy, too!”
It was Dorothy.
She was being dragged away by two knights, but she was surprisingly strong, stubbornly digging her heels into the hallway floor and causing a scene.
“I’m telling you, that brat Aisha is a spy! Why are you only taking me!”
The veins in her eyes were bulging; she looked completely unhinged.
Normally, she would have been preparing to leave the Crost Duchy by now. It seemed she couldn’t believe she was suddenly being hauled off to a dungeon by knights.
“Oh, Aisha?”
It was then.
Dorothy’s face brightened slightly when she spotted me.
“You’re taking her too, right? Yeah, that’s right, isn’t it?”
No way. Was I caught too?
I looked up at the knights, feeling a bit tense, but they didn’t even acknowledge her words.
“Sir Knights, please just take that woman away quickly.”
Instead, a maid standing nearby muttered with a look of discomfort.
“Resa. Trust me and soak that brat’s clothes in ice water. Please? We were friends, weren’t we?”
Recognizing a familiar face, Dorothy suddenly lowered her brows and pleaded in a pitiful tone.
Since things weren’t going her way, she seemed determined to act humble.
“It’s true. I hate to tell you this… but just until yesterday, the two of us were plotting together. A spy plot. So you have to find out that she’s a spy too. Okay?”
But unfortunately for her, the maid named Resa didn’t even pretend to listen.
“Take her away, quickly. I’m ashamed that I was ever close to her.”
“…….”
“Never mind. I’ll just leave.”
Resa even hurried out of the hallway as if she couldn’t stand being in the same space as Dorothy.
‘Wow. So that’s the end of a failed spy.’
Regardless of their intentions, spies build connections while carrying out their missions.
Naturally, when the people around them realize they are a spy, the spy has to endure all the blame and reproach alone.
“…Was being a spy always this pathetic?”
The servants gathered around whispered as they watched Dorothy’s outburst.
“I know, right? And to try and drag a little child down with her…”
“That girl is the one who helped find the Lady’s whereabouts. How could she be a spy?”
“But how did that child know? It is a bit suspicious.”
I almost flinched visibly at those words, but I was relieved by what followed.
“Even so, would the House of Pose really send a five-year-old as a spy?”
Actually, they did.
Feeling their gazes piercing through me, I slipped behind the knight’s back to hide.
Still, one thing was certain: the Duke of Pose’s hunch had been right. A five-year-old child would easily escape suspicion of being a spy.
“Ignore that woman’s nonsense. Let’s go.”
The knight also ignored Dorothy and spoke to me kindly.
It seemed the Duke had called for me simply because he wanted to see me, not because of any spy suspicions.
Only then did I feel relieved and answered energetically.
“Yes, sir!”
As I followed the knight past Dorothy—
“You! How long do you think you can hide your true identity?!”
Dorothy, who had gone quiet as if she’d lost her mind, began screaming again.
“If you play both sides like a bat, you’ll end up being abandoned without being recognized by anyone! Pick a side and stick to it!”
“…….”
“And you found it while washing my clothes?! You did that on purpose, didn’t you?!”
‘…I found it?’
Among the insults I was letting go in one ear and out the other, something difficult to ignore was mixed in.
I paused for about half a second but continued walking without letting it show.
Something was strange.
I admit that Dorothy’s identity was revealed because of me.
However, I had never shown Dorothy’s report to anyone directly, nor had I revealed her identity with my own mouth.
“…….”
That meant someone I didn’t know was aware of my actions.
“Your Excellency. I have brought Aisha.”
My mind was a mess, and I could only clench my fists.
When the knight spoke with a polite knock, a low bass voice echoed from the other side of the door.
“Come in.”
When the door opened and I stepped inside, Duke Calips, whom I hadn’t seen in a while, was standing there.
“Leave the kid and wait outside.”
“Yes, Your Excellency. I will be on standby.”
The knight gave me a brief nod and disappeared, closing the door as quietly as a shadow.
When I came to my senses, I was alone in the office with Duke Calips.
Alright, calm down, Aisha.
Come to think of it, why did the Duke call me at a time like this?
“…G-greetings, Your Excellency.”
I tried to act natural, but I was so nervous my voice nearly split into three.
The air around me felt as heavy as lead, weighing down on my shoulders.
I didn’t know what it was, but a signal was blaring in the back of my mind that something had gone wrong.
As always, I stared at Duke Calips, who was wearing his mask.
His long, straight fingers tapped rhythmically on the expensive oak desk. Tap, tap.
A private meeting. Without an escort knight, or even his aide, Knox—just the two of us.
Tension filled the room as his eyes, the only part of his face visible, focused entirely on me.
Just as I lost the strange staring contest and blinked—
“!”
A black mask suddenly appeared right in front of my eyes.
“…….”
I was so startled that I flinched.
I had only blinked once, but Duke Calips was already in front of me, bending his knees to meet my gaze.
‘When and how did he…’
But the Duke asked the very question I wanted to ask first.
“How.”
Duke Calips spoke.
“How can you be so composed?”
It was a question whose meaning I couldn’t grasp.
“A normal child would have fainted or burst into tears by now. Even an adult would find it difficult to look me in the eye.”
He said it so calmly.
“…….”
His blood-red eyes, shining clearly from behind the black mask, were observing me.
After staring into me for a long time as if looking through my soul, he opened his mouth to explain what he meant.
“I mean that right now, I am emitting enough bloodlust to affect a brat like you.”
He was close enough for our breaths to touch.
Although he had bent his knees to match my eye level, his frame was massive, as if he could swallow me whole.
The way he rested his elbows on his knees made him look like a crouching predator.
“It seems you aren’t scared at all.”
A hint of amusement seeped into his low voice.
Only then did I manage to answer in a cracked voice.
“I’m scared.”
“Then are you pretending not to be scared even though you are?”
“Yes.”
“Right. That’s how you were taught. In the House of Pose.”
“!”
But as he continued in a level tone, my eyes began to tremble violently.
‘He already knew?’
I couldn’t believe it. I thought no one would ever find out.
Duke Calips shouldn’t have been able to find evidence of me being a spy anywhere.
Sure, he might have noticed I was smarter than a typical five-year-old, but what else had I shown him?
“H-how did you…”
My voice trembled.
Under his sharp gaze, the emotions I had hidden behind a mask were laid bare.
“…Now you’re acting like a normal five-year-old.”
As he watched me tremble in fear, Calips muttered quietly.
I didn’t know why.
For some reason, he seemed slightly relieved that I was acting like a normal five-year-old.
But I was too busy feeling uncontrollable chaos at the fact that my identity had been discovered.
“A-are you going to kill me?”
Frightened by my own question, my fingers splayed out like a spiderweb.
“……?”
It was from this moment that the corners of his cold, frozen eyes twitched.
“Where did a child learn such words?”
“Uh… from the House of Pose.”
“Stop talking about that damn—no, stop talking about that family. Just answer what I ask from now on.”
“Yes, sir.”
Snapping to attention, I stood perfectly still.
However, I was barely holding on because my legs were shaking so much.
“How many child spies like you are in that house?”
“I’m the first to receive a spy mission at five years old…”
It was then.
“Sigh.”
Before I could finish, the Duke suddenly sighed.
Wh-what did I do wrong? Get it together, Aisha!
“!”
When I straightened my shaking legs with all my might, the Duke, apparently displeased by something else, suddenly grabbed me by the armpits and lifted me up.
I squeezed my eyes shut in fear, feeling myself being moved somewhere. Soon, my bottom touched a soft sofa.
‘This touch. I’ve felt it somewhere before.’
‘A child who doesn’t know gratitude can’t enter the garden. Get out now.’
“…Mr. Gardener?”
“What?”
Both the Duke’s eyes and mine widened at the same time.
“…Oops.”
I quickly covered my mouth as the word slipped out, but the milk was already spilled.
