Translator: Nox

Chapter 10

"Yes, I want to see it!"

Her slender neck, so thin it seemed miraculous it could support her head, bobbed vigorously, creating a precarious sight. Instinctively, Daniel reached out to steady the fragile neck that looked ready to snap at any moment. But as Frida stepped boldly toward him, he awkwardly retracted his arm before it could fully extend.

"May we go see it right now?"

With the distance closed, her head tilted back fully to look up at him. The red and blue veins visible between her collar were stretched taut, as if about to burst. Captivated by the sight, he failed to notice immediately that the key had slipped entirely from his hand. Frida, clutching the heavy key tightly, beamed with a smile as pure and pristine as untouched snow, free of even the tiniest speck of dirt. Daniel's awkwardly folded arm slowly extended again toward the silvery strands cascading in gentle waves.

"I just need to show this key to Dominic, right?"

Overjoyed at the thought of gold coins, Frida didn't even notice Daniel's fingertips brushing her hair. Her mind was entirely filled with ducats at that moment. Turning one mountainside within the castle walls into farmland had cost a staggering 4 million florins. There were more suitable lands for clearing beyond Munheim Castle, but she had deliberately invested extra to create fields inside the walls to track the number of territory residents. With jobs inside the castle, residents naturally came and went from Munheim Castle, requiring entry permits. She issued those permits while recording the existing population and the influx of new residents. Based on those documents, they had finally begun proper tax collection in Utrecht for the first time since it became a duchy last year. Of course, they still had a long way to go to survey the entire duchy and count all residents. Sigh, that damned money, the eternal enemy. With solid finances, there were hundreds of things she wanted to do, businesses she could pursue. Until now, they had been forced to sit idle until the herb harvest ended and trades could be made. But ducats! They had money all along! Since he offered to return her 2 million florins, there must be at least that much. Her excitement mounting uncontrollably, Frida spun around without even waiting for Daniel's reply. She called out at the top of her lungs toward the man outside the study who would escort her to the vault.

"Dominic! Domi...!"

Before she could take two steps, Frida's waist was suddenly seized, twisting her direction in an instant. For the first time in her life, captured by a man's hand.

"Kyaa!"

Startled, she squeezed her eyes shut and shrank back her arms.

"No one else is needed."

A low timbre settled over her forehead, and at the same moment, the key slipped from her grasp. In Daniel's arms, which had pulled her close, Frida's wide eyes blinked rapidly. Even then, she rolled her eyes searching for the key's whereabouts until Daniel held it before her gaze. Looking down at her jewel-like eyes following the key, he spoke calmly.

"I'll escort you there myself."

*** Dominic gripped Muriel's wrist firmly as she reached for the study door handle. Her cool gray eyes stared coldly at him.

"Let go. I just heard the young miss scream from inside..."

"It was brief, and we both heard it."

If he hadn't gripped tightly, she would have shaken him off instantly. To suppress her strength, which could easily fling his hand away, Dominic held Muriel's wrist even tighter.

"Don't act rashly, Lady Rosivalt. This isn't the Harkbon Count estate where you can strut about freely."

"I'm Frida's escort knight. I have a duty to protect her safety..."

"The one with your young miss right now is the safest man in the empire—by swordsmanship or position. Granted, since my lord has been absent for so long, I understand why you might overstep."

Slowly, strength drained from the capable knight's hand, her judgment as sharp as her skill. Only then did Dominic release her wrist, chuckling as he pointed at the study door with his finger.

"Your young miss, Lady Rosivalt, is inside with her husband, who awoke after three years. They're not even a proper couple yet—surely they don't want to kill each other already. Unless it's some light friction between man and woman."

Leaning in close to Muriel, Dominic whispered quietly.

"By all accounts, they're newlyweds. Let's pretend not to notice."

"Don't speak so lightly. Our young miss..."

"Yes, yes. She's different. Not ordinary. I know, I get it."

"Her body..."

Muriel, posture rigidly straight, swept back her reddish-brown bangs, unable to hide her anxiety. Even if that scream was mere marital friction, it was no small matter.

"She's already far exceeded the limits you imagine. She's pushing herself enough as it is—no need to create even worse situations."

"Who knows. Does your young miss even want that?"

Dominic smirked slyly, arms crossed as he leaned back against the door like a barrier.

"I don't know about as a Harkbon lady, but the Duchess Rihardt I know would gladly throw herself into worse situations—and even create more, more, more extreme ones."

"That's why we must stop her. To endure even one more day."

"Exactly my point. Do you think the Duchess wants that? Locked away quietly in her room, waiting for her final days in a dull life."

Dominic clicked his tongue as if questioning whether she didn't know the woman she served. But the small tremor in the voice that followed quickly wiped the playfulness from his face.

"So what? Isn't living one more day like that better than nothing?"

He wasn't bastard enough to toy with such earnest loyalty.

"To you or your esteemed lord, such things mean nothing. Even if something happens to her, you can always replace the Duchess position—whoever it is makes no difference."

The Rosivalt family were knights through generations, and Muriel was born tough. Compared to Dominic, she wasn't much smaller in build. Against Dominic's sleek, sharp Milabo jawline, her facial lines were actually bolder. As Muriel stepped forward to block the window, shadows fell over Dominic's face. He always thought shadows suited this black-haired, dark brown-eyed man. Even if that sly smile rarely left his expression.

"Am I wrong? You with your innate talent for shivering cowardice, cold-hearted Dominic Molly?"

He had long known Muriel saw through him. Honestly, aside from the Duchess whose mind seemed as white as her skin, who wouldn't? With his usual brazen smile, Dominic stepped aside and nodded toward the back.

"Well, if you want to die before your precious young miss, go ahead and open that door. As Lady Rosivalt says, I'm cold-hearted—I don't bother blocking others' misfortunes."

Without hesitation, Muriel shoved the door open to an empty study. Stunned by the unexpected scene, she urgently turned to Dominic following behind.

"Where did they go?"

"Who knows. Jumped out the window? Or drilled through the floor?"

"Enough joking."

Dominic's leisurely gaze entering the study alternated between the empty desk and the bookshelf occupying one wall.

'This guy. They went together, huh?'

A short chuckle escaped him, soon turning icy at the corners of his mouth.

"Looks like you should worry more about Lady Rosivalt's own lifespan than your young miss's."

The dark brown eyes looking at Muriel held no more laughter.

"You know, right? What kind of man my lord is."

Rosivalt knights bearing that name were on battlefields across the empire. Dominic alone had seen dozens. If anyone else, maybe not—but Muriel, from that famed knight family, couldn't possibly not know what Daniel Rihardt was like. If she knew and still acted this way, she'd be an idiot. Dominic shook his head and stepped out of the study where his lord had vanished. Though busy, he had the leisure to offer one more piece of advice.

"My heart may be cold. But my lord has no heart at all."

The massive wooden door slammed shut with a bang before the still-flustered Muriel's eyes. *** The lantern in the man's hand cast two straight shadows in the windless dark space. Noticing the black shadow following him lagging further, Daniel stopped and silently waited. One step, then another. The woman was slow and cautious. If he hadn't recalled Countess Harkbon's words, maintaining patience might have been difficult.

"She can't even stand in the sun, and at night she can barely see."

Realizing she struggled in the dark only came after seeing the slowing shadow. Should he have turned back then? Daniel looked back at Frida, now just a couple steps away.

"Shall we go back now?"

Though groping the wall with each tentative step, Frida shook her head firmly.

"No. I'm fine. I never imagined the study had a secret door leading outside."

Eyes holding fear, she smiled brightly nonetheless. Just like earlier when Daniel, for an absurd reason, had offered to guide her here.

"I'll escort you there myself."

"Um... Your Grace, is the vault far? Actually, I can't leave the inner castle until tomorrow."

"Why is that?"

"Muriel issued a no-outing order. Even one day of disobedience doubles the duration."

"Muriel?"

"My escort knight. Lady Muriel Rossivalt."

He had heard of her. The famed knight from the Rosivalt family, which had produced several imperial knight commanders. Whatever she said, it posed no issue for the territory lord taking his wife out. Just a minor annoyance. Meeting the rumored lady knight, explaining to Dominic waiting outside that he had changed his mind. Having decided, Daniel elegantly extended his hand toward Frida.

"If you wish, there's a way to go quietly. Shall we?"

Chattering excitedly about the wonder of pushing the bookshelf's left corner, Frida fell silent upon entering the corridor. He had brought the lantern, unnecessary for him, but apparently insufficient to reassure his wife. Waiting until Frida pressed close to his side, Daniel handed her the flickering lantern.

"Hold it."

Frida stared blankly at the lantern Daniel offered, then carefully gripped the handle. Was it because she kept lagging? Better for her to lead?

"Ah, yes... I'll hold it."

Whatever the intent, the light drawing near eased her mind. Darkness made it hard to see, so Frida feared it. She had felt hurt when Muriel said she was different, but now she had to admit it. Her innate shortcomings were burdening others. Better for her to lead to exit this place faster. Raising the lantern as high as possible, Daniel's low, calm voice echoed softly in the dark passage.

"Don't hold so tight."

"Pardon?"

Hold? What? Daniel's face looking down at her shifted between light and shadow with the swaying lantern flame.

"My neck—don't hold it so tight."

"What do you... Kyaa!"

Suddenly, Frida's body floated into the air. Reflexively, her right arm clamped tightly around Daniel's neck as he lifted her. Fortunately, she didn't drop the lantern in her left hand, though the candle flame swayed wildly. Her heart did too.

"Hold tighter."