While Others Became Female Leads In Romantic Fantasy Novels, I Became A Closet Monster
Chapter 31
“Um, hey.”
I quickly wiped the traces of laughter from my face and looked at him.
Fidgeting with his hands, Dedrick asked tentatively.
“Is there anything you want included in your name? Like a symbol or…?”
He was still worrying a lot about naming me.
I stared into his blue eyes and pointed toward them.
“Eyes.”
“Eyes?”
“I want a name that feels like the color blue.”
Dedrick touched the corners of his eyes, looking a bit embarrassed.
“That symbolizes me, not you.”
“I like symbolizing you. My accessory is blue, too.”
After all, I only had things like ‘monster’ or ‘ashen’ associated with me.
If my name could remind him of himself, it might become harder for him to discard me.
Of course, Dedrick was loyal and would surely keep his promise, but still…
Just in case.
I wanted to live for a long, long time. Especially since the memories of being sick in my past life were so strong.
Back then, even standing up and walking was a struggle. But here, I could roam around as much as I wanted.
Even if the distance I could travel was limited, I was incomparably happier than in my previous life.
“Got it? Please keep that in mind.”
He nodded, shyly rubbing the area around his eyes.
Dowell Danaus walked dejectedly down the long corridor with a dark expression.
Following behind the butler, he suppressed a sigh that threatened to escape. Dowell clenched his fists, his face looking ten years older than usual.
‘Damn it.’
Curses erupted involuntarily inside him.
Dowell was on his way to the Grand Duke’s office after being summoned by the man, who had just returned from the Imperial Capital yesterday.
And the reason for the summons was easy to guess. It was because of Somerset’s one-sided violence that occurred a few days ago.
A worthless knight from the Black Falcon had snitched to the Grand Duke. Even the Grand Duchess’s attempts to block it had been useless.
When she failed to win over Jacob, the Grand Duchess had summoned Dowell and spoke to him with an unusually soft tone.
‘Sir, you realize the teacher bears a great deal of the blame for this, don’t you? If you had stopped Somerset, this never would have happened. I trust you understand what I’m saying.’
‘If we get through this well, the day will come when I seek your services again.’
Though disguised in a gentle tone, it was no different from a threat. She was telling him to take all the responsibility alone and leave.
‘I shouldn’t have lined up under that woman.’
In the end, he was being cast aside like this.
As his future grew dark, the butler stopped in front of the Grand Duke’s office. He gave Dowell a cold look and knocked on the door.
“Your Grace, I have brought Sir Dowell Danaus.”
“Come in.”
Jenkinson gave a slight nod and opened the door. Dowell walked inside slowly, then froze halfway.
‘…\!’
On the Grand Duke’s desk lay a wooden sword embedded with iron pins. It was heavily stained with Dedrick’s blood.
As Dowell trembled, the Grand Duke looked at him with his chin resting on his hand and opened his lips.
“I see you recognize what this is.”
“Y-Your Grace.”
“People boast that the knights of House Blackwood are all excellent. However.”
The Grand Duke threw the wooden sword accurately toward his face.
Dowell’s head snapped to the side. A single streak of blood trickled down from his forehead.
“I didn’t realize they had lost even the basic virtues of a knight.”
“According to Delaney Blackwood, it was you who taught such tricks, Sir.”
Instantly, Dowell’s fists tightened. Dowell had never taught such a thing.
If anything, he had tried to stop it\!
‘Though it was my fault for not stopping it to the end…’
When the Grand Duchess had summoned him, he thought she meant for him to take responsibility for failing to restrain Somerset, but he hadn’t realized she meant for him to take the fall for everything Somerset had done.
She’s framing me like this?
Dowell ground his teeth.
“If you have something to say, speak.”
“It is all a frame-up, Your Grace.”
Dowell did not trust the Grand Duchess.
‘Seek my services again?’
He scoffed. He knew that more than one or two of the Grand Duchess’s subordinates had been discarded like this.
Dowell had simply sided with Somerset, who had more potential, in his capacity as the commander of the White Falcon.
But because of that, he was about to lose his career and be kicked out with a dishonorable reputation.
He couldn’t live the rest of his life with a disgraceful tag attached to him.
“That was a decision made by Young Master Somerset alone. I tried to stop him, but he drove iron pins into the wooden sword, saying he would make sure Young Master Dedrick could never hold a sword again\!”
“And?”
“It is my grave error that I failed to stop him. I will step down from my position as the commander of the White Falcon and never return. But I do not wish to be driven out under a false accusation for something I did not do\!”
“Can you say those words in front of Delaney Blackwood and Somerset?”
Dowell nodded without hesitation.
“Of course\!”
“Bring them in.”
A short while later, Delaney and Somerset entered the office. Somerset hid behind Delaney, looking utterly terrified.
Delaney and Somerset’s gazes moved from Dowell’s bleeding forehead to the wooden sword lying on the floor.
As Somerset flinched, the Grand Duke asked.
“The blood soaked into the wood and won’t come out.”
“F-Father…”
“How would it feel if this blood were yours?”
As Somerset turned pale, Delaney stepped in front of him and called out to the Grand Duke as if screaming.
“Honey\! The child is scared…”
Thud.
Cutting Delaney off, the Grand Duke pointedly threw a paper envelope at her feet. Delaney’s face flushed deep red.
“Now, what is this…?”
“You were hiding an ointment containing a healing Mana Stone. So that Dedrick couldn’t use it.”
Delaney’s pupils shook.
“And so Dedrick is still walking around covered in wounds.”
“H-Honey.”
“Didn’t you say you cherish Dedrick as your own son? Yet you can see Somerset is scared, while you can’t even see that Dedrick is hurt?”
Delaney couldn’t answer and swallowed hard.
“I suppose I seemed like a joke to you because I’ve been staying quiet.”
“N-No, that’s not it…”
“The things you reported to me were all lies as well.”
As the Grand Duke glanced at Dowell and looked away, Delaney glared at him as if she wanted to kill him.
“It’s a frame-up, honey\! That’s…\!”
“I’ll give you two choices.”
But the Grand Duke did not listen to her. He spoke coldly.
“First, voluntarily surrender your command of the White Falcon. Simultaneously, Somerset will be confined to his room for one month.”
The Grand Duke added immediately.
“During the confinement period, if he recklessly comes outside or loiters around Dedrick, it won’t end with just confinement, so behave accordingly.”
Under the Grand Duke’s chilling gaze, Somerset couldn’t even lift his head and trembled while looking only at the floor.
However, Delaney spoke up loudly as if she couldn’t bear it.
“Are you saying you’re going to strip me of the command I have over the White Falcon? Then I won’t have any knights to command\!”
Delaney continued to protest, claiming it was unfair.
“And a month of confinement? Isn’t that too long? Children are supposed to grow up through fighting…\!”
“Ha.”
Delaney flinched at the Grand Duke’s incredulous sigh. He calmly retorted with his characteristically icy face.
“Does a one-sided assault on Dedrick with a wooden sword embedded with iron pins look like a childhood scuffle to your eyes?”
“…T-That is.”
Before she could even finish her sentence, he gave a cold warning.
“It would be best not to say things you can’t take back, Delaney Blackwood. If such a thing happened to Somerset, would you simply overlook it as a child’s prank?”
In the end, Delaney just bit her lip hard. The Grand Duke narrowed his eyes in disdain at Somerset, who was hiding behind his mother.
“Somerset, are you such an idiot that you can’t say a single word while hiding behind your mother’s skirts?”
“F-Father…”
Somerset, gripped by fear, couldn’t even speak properly. Delaney bowed her head deeply, biting her lip until it bled.
It was a situation where curses were bound to come out.
‘I should have been a bit more mindful of the Grand Duke.’
Delaney squeezed her eyes shut.
“To air grievances over a mere confinement… You surely know that I am being patient.”
Delaney swallowed her dry saliva.
She had momentarily forgotten that the Grand Duke could be endlessly cruel as long as he had evidence.
A month of confinement was practically a huge mercy.
“Be grateful for the fact that you are still a minor.”
“…Y-Yes, F-Father.”
Delaney and Somerset bowed their heads low. Without even sparing them a glance, the Grand Duke continued again.
“Second. A reduction in Delaney Blackwood’s dignity maintenance funds, on the condition that you personally nurse Dedrick. Jenkinson will be monitoring you by your side at all times. Which of the two options do you prefer?”
Delaney’s face turned ghastly pale.
“A-A reduction in dignity maintenance funds? Nursing him\! Dedrick wouldn’t want my nursing either\!”
“You seem to know very well how much Dedrick dreads you.”
“T-That is…”
“Weren’t you the benevolent mother?”
When the Grand Duke openly sneered, Delaney’s lips trembled.
“My patience is not long.”
Giving up command of the White Falcon Knights and confining her son for a month.
Or having her dignity maintenance funds cut and nursing Dedrick.
Between these two choices, there was only one she could pick.
‘Why should I have to personally nurse that woman’s son with my own hands\!’
Delaney’s sharp nails dug into her palms.
She hated that more than death.
Delaney glanced at Somerset.
“M-Mother…”
It was only a month. He just had to stay cooped up in his room for a month.
‘Above all, I cannot lose my dignity maintenance funds\!’
That would be equivalent to Delaney becoming a laughingstock in high society.
Giving up the command of the White Falcon Knights was bitter, but it couldn’t be helped.
Delaney’s deliberation didn’t last long.
As if she had made her decision, she pulled Somerset out from behind her and spoke.
“I’ll go with the first option.”
Somerset looked at her with a shocked face, never imagining she would choose that.
“Mother…\!”
“Listen well, Somerset.”
Delaney whispered in his ear.
“You just have to endure for one month. Think of it as a vacation.”
“Are you saying you’re giving up command of the White Falcon? And what about me? If I’m confined for a month, what about my reputation\!”
Forgetting that the Grand Duke was right there, Somerset raised his voice. Delaney tried to soothe him.
“I’ll take care of that.”
Though she said so, Delaney couldn’t meet Somerset’s eyes. His pupils shook violently.
Right now, his mother had chosen to preserve her own pride by giving up the command of the White Falcon—the very thing that was supposed to give him power in the future.
In other words, it was as if Delaney had abandoned Somerset for a moment just to protect her own honor.
‘I… lost to something as trivial as dignity maintenance funds…?’
The Grand Duke quietly watched Somerset’s face, which was stained with a sense of betrayal, before averting his gaze.
This rift of emotion would likely deepen for a long time to come.
