The Villain Family’s Strongest Butler
Chapter 20
When I couldn’t answer and merely blinked, the Grand Duke spoke again.
“Why look so surprised? Did you truly think I brought you here with no ulterior motive, just to treat you to a delicious meal?”
“……”
“To think my butler was this innocent.”
“……”
The Grand Duke curved the corners of his lips into a smile.
He was blatantly teasing me, but thanks to a full stomach, it didn’t seem all that obnoxious.
If anything, with that picture-perfect smile gracing his handsome face, it only made me realize all over again how strikingly good-looking he was.
When my silence dragged on, the Grand Duke asked once more.
“So, do you remember anything?”
“……Nothing.”
“……I see.”
The Grand Duke pressed no further. His voice sounded slightly deflated as he responded, but perhaps that was only my imagination.
I looked at him quietly.
‘Remembering something, huh…….’
I chewed over the Grand Duke’s question once more.
This was the very first time I had stepped outside the Grand Duke’s Residence since beginning my life in the Cadea Empire.
The Grand Duke would know that better than anyone.
‘For him to ask if I remember anything……’
That was a question aimed at this body’s original owner.
Which meant.
‘It means the Grand Duke came here with the owner of this body and ate this insanely delicious roast pig together in the past.’
An uneasy feeling crept in.
‘Don’t tell me… were they secret lovers or something?’
Otherwise, why would they go around eating such delicious food together……?
At that moment.
-“My Freya. Even the way you gorge yourself is lovely.”
Eek—!
I had gone and imagined the Grand Duke calling my name tenderly. Chills ran down my spine.
‘No! There’s no way!’
Right. What kind of madman would make his amnesiac lover work as a butler in his mansion? And while keeping her locked up for two years, at that.
No matter how vicious a bastard the Grand Duke was, he wasn’t that much of a piece of trash.
‘So it’s definitely not that. Lovers…… or anything of the sort.’
Mm-hmm, exactly. Nodding inwardly, I forcefully erased the image of an affectionate Grand Duke that had taken over my head.
‘Phew.’
In any case, though I had pondered the Grand Duke’s question thoroughly, nothing particularly special came to mind.
While eating the meat, aside from the rich savory aroma, there had been the scent of a distinct seasoning—a unique fragrance I had never tasted even in the Tenasis Empire.
That the fragrance somehow felt familiar. And that it suited my palate so perfectly my heart pounded loudly.
Other than that, well…….
‘Wait…….’
I slowly looked around the restaurant.
I was definitely new to the Cadea Empire, and this was my first time leaving the Grand Duke’s Residence.
So there was even less reason for me to know this restaurant.
‘What is this déjà vu?’
Hazy shapes seemed to flicker and overlap across the scenery of the restaurant unfolding before my eyes.
Come to think of it, it seemed to have been that way ever since I first entered this restaurant.
I thought my vision had simply blurred from exhaustion, but looking at it now, it was completely different.
‘What is this? What could it be?’
Had the owner of this body really been here? Were the memories residing in this body surfacing bit by bit?
‘Is that why this place feels so familiar?’
Yet I did not tell the Grand Duke about what I was feeling right now.
‘It’s not certain, so there’s no need to mention it.’
We boarded the carriage once more to head for the Imperial Palace.
When hungry versus when full—the atmosphere inside the carriage felt as different as night and day.
I thought a lingering unease would remain because of that earlier question, but not at all.
Right now, the Grand Duke didn’t feel burdensome in the slightest.
‘From now on, whenever dealing with the Grand Duke, I must make sure my stomach is full first.’
And so, I acquired another piece of know-how.
Once in the carriage, the Grand Duke closed his eyes again.
Thanks to that, sitting across from him, I could admire him with a much more relaxed mind than before.
The bridge of his nose is high; those obnoxious lips that always smirked look like that when closed still; his eyelashes, long for a man, and the shadows they cast beneath—handsome, yes, very handsome. And so forth.
My gaze, which had been scrutinizing and appreciating him in minute detail, stopped in one spot.
‘Those muscles.’
Going beyond awe, envy and jealousy flared up.
‘Muscles I don’t possess, and will likely struggle to ever have.’
His posture, with arms crossed over his chest, accentuated his pectoral and arm muscles even further.
Even without his armor, the Grand Duke’s body was as solid as if he were wearing it.
A vast estate, an enormous mansion, immense power and wealth, plus looks like that alongside such formidable muscles.
Realizing it anew, he truly……
‘Has it all, this Grand Duke.’
Once upon a time, I had wanted muscles like that too.
It had been a small wish of mine.
From the moment I first took up the sword, whenever I saw tall, robust female knights, they looked impossibly cool.
I suppose I was envious. Short and of a slight build, I yearned for that presence that overwhelmed one’s surroundings purely by appearance.
‘And yet…… this new body isn’t very big either.’
No matter how much I ate, neither fat nor muscle seemed to stick. Even though I ate far more than when I was Sia.
Even without exact numbers, the cost of the meat I ate in a single month surely far exceeded my salary.
I felt grateful once more for the welfare of the Grand Duke’s household, which didn’t bill me separately.
Just then, the carriage began to slow down.
I pulled the curtain slightly aside to check outside. A building whose sheer grandeur could be felt even from a considerable distance came into view.
‘It’s the Imperial Palace!’
That was the Imperial Palace of the Cadea Empire!
Not an allied nation, but the enemy empire’s Imperial Palace.
And not dragged in as a prisoner of war, but walking in boldly on my own two feet.
‘It feels… strangely surreal.’
After passing through the main gates of the Imperial Palace, the carriage continued moving somewhere for quite a while.
Just when it seemed to be drifting away from the palace buildings for some reason, the carriage slowed to a complete halt and stopped in place.
“We have arrived.”
Only then opening his eyes, the Grand Duke stepped down first as the carriage door opened.
I stood up to follow him out of the carriage as well.
Right then, smoothly, the Grand Duke extended his hand toward me.
‘Huh?’
Caught in an awkward posture—unable to step down or sit back down—I blinked, looking back and forth between the Grand Duke and his hand.
‘What? What am I supposed to do?’
Seeing his palm facing upward, he looked just like a noble gentleman offering an escort—.
‘Uh…… really?’
Did the Grand Duke just hold out his hand to escort me?
I looked at his face for a moment. An unfailingly impassive expression, revealing nothing. His firmly shut lips conveyed his serious nature, and his cool-looking eyes were filled completely with my face.
For some reason, my fingertips tingled.
‘Do I take it, or not?’
Still, I was nominally a butler; a butler being escorted by their master? That was an unheard-of precedent……
Though it was only a fleeting split second, hundreds of questions and dilemmas flooded my mind.
Then, suddenly.
Ah!
‘I get it!’
He was looking for an excuse to tease me again, wasn’t he?
‘Did you think I’d fall for it so easily, Grand Duke?’
Hmph. Having seen through the Grand Duke’s wicked scheme, I ignored his hand and jumped down from the carriage myself.
‘Did you think I was ignorant enough of basic etiquette to just grab your hand?!’
Landing on the ground, I straightened my posture and gave the Grand Duke a look that said, How about that?
“……”
“……”
Without a word, the Grand Duke pulled his hand back, turned his back to the carriage, and began to walk. I followed quietly, using his back as my guide. Hehe, somehow I felt victorious.
After walking like that for quite a while, the Grand Duke suddenly stepped into a garden. Then he said to me, who stood behind him:
“Follow closely so you don’t get lost.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
The Grand Duke glanced back at me as I answered immediately.
“Though it seems you are already plenty lost.”
“……”
Again, again! Those cryptic remarks again! Do all damned nobles speak in such an infuriating way?
‘Obnoxious bastard.’
I glared at the back of the Grand Duke’s head for a moment before resuming my pursuit behind him.
The garden wound like a maze. Densely planted trees stood as solid as walls.
‘Uh…… just as the Grand Duke said, one wrong turn and I really could get lost here.’
I realized his words hadn’t been merely to tease me. Tensing up so as not to fall behind by even a fraction, I followed hard on his heels.
Winding through the maze-like garden, an exit soon came into view.
As we stepped out of the exit, my jaw dropped at the magnificent building that appeared before my eyes.
‘Whoa…….’
It was entirely different from the Imperial Palace building I had seen from the carriage.
As if built from a piece plucked straight from the softly glowing moon in the night sky, the pure-white structure shone with a mystical radiance.
A sacred aura. Even if one harbored wicked thoughts, merely gazing upon this building felt as though it would purify them.
I was captivated by the sight for quite some time.
Just then.
“Welcome, Your Highness the Grand Duke.”
Someone appeared from ahead and offered a greeting.
The man, clad in pristine white robes, greeted us with a gentle smile.
With silver eyes and long, flowing silver hair, the man possessed an androgynous beauty.
Yet unlike his youthful and beautiful appearance, the gaze and expression fixed on us were both hollow, like someone who had endured all the trials of time, and clear, like an eternal spring.
Looking at the man, the Grand Duke spoke.
“Greetings, High Priest.”
At the Grand Duke’s words, my eyes went wide.
The High Priest?!
I thought we were going to meet royalty, but out of nowhere, the High Priest?
