Disguised as a Male Servant in the Duke's House - Chapter 12

Should I be honest?

But Ivellionne, who spoke first, interrupted Roselia’s words.

“I called because I was curious about Closet’s wellbeing, Duke.”

“You mean Your Highness?”

Glancing discreetly, it seemed Ivellionne wanted to hide the fact that she was collecting paintings through her.

Roselia also had many things to consider before speaking openly, so she didn’t bother to refute.

Klaus suspiciously looked Roselia up and down before turning his attention back to the Crown Princess.

“More importantly, is your wrist alright?”

“It’s fine, Duke.”

“Is His Highness the Crown Prince still treating Your Highness the Crown Princess rudely?”

“That’s not for the Duke to worry about.”

Roselia watched their exchange with blank eyes.

It was like this in the original too. The Duke showed emotions similar to attachment, love-hate, and obsession towards the Crown Princess.

Whether it was familial love built up from childhood as childhood friends, or romantic love between a man and woman, was never revealed until the end. Because the Duke… was destined to disappear around the time the male and female leads’ love blossomed.

Just as she was looking at him with pity from an inexplicable feeling of sympathy, his deep blue eyes coldly met Roselia’s, as if sensing her gaze.

“What are you doing right now?”

Roselia stared back at him with wide eyes at the chilly question.

“Pardon?”

What do you mean, what am I doing? I’m just watching you two talk.

“Do you think this is a situation where you can butt in and stay?”

It was telling her to leave, reading the room.

“Do I need to be told to leave before I go?”

She was actually here first, but he was kicking her out as if she had been bothering the Crown Princess. It was beyond absurd to the point of feeling hurt.

Hurt? Because the Duke treated her coldly? When had the Duke ever treated her kindly?

He hadn’t. The Duke was consistently cold towards Roselia.

That’s why Klaus, who showed kindness beneath his cold exterior only to the Crown Princess, may have seemed even more hateful.

Feeling unsettled, Roselia left the room abruptly with just a curt nod, without even giving a proper farewell.

Right, I was just upset because that damn Duke treated people differently.

It was then.

The Crown Prince, who had been leaning casually against a pillar across the hallway with his arms crossed, called out.

“Hey…”

Roselia’s head turned like a broken machine at the unbelievable voice.

Her expression contorted at his voice full of displeasure.

I’m just as displeased!

No matter if it was the original Roselia’s doing, how could she not be displeased when the very person who killed her was standing right in front of her…

Roselia tried to pretend she hadn’t heard Esteban’s call, bowing her head low and attempting to go on her way.

But Esteban, who had suddenly approached, grabbed the nape of her neck, causing her steps to falter in the air.

“Where do you think you’re going?”

Where? I’m going home!

Contrary to her inner thoughts, Roselia turned her head innocently as if she really hadn’t heard.

“Oh my! Your Highness the Crown Prince, what business do you have with this lowly servant…?”

“Pretending you didn’t hear… Hey, Balthazar’s dog.”

Who are you calling whose dog?

Come to think of it, whether coincidence or not… in the original novel, the Crown Prince also called Roselia ‘Balthazar’s dog’.

In the original novel, it seemed like a fitting nickname since Roselia, infatuated with the Duke, brought imperial information as if willing to give up her liver and gall.

But now that she had become that extra character herself, the situation was different.

Roselia suppressed her unpleasant feelings and forced the corners of her mouth to curl up.

“Please give your orders.”

“What did the Duke order you to do? If you tell me honestly, I’ll at least spare your life.”

In the original, he killed Roselia without a moment’s hesitation, and even in this different situation, he was threatening her life. It was mind-boggling.

Roselia continued speaking, ignoring the twitching at the corners of her mouth.

“I didn’t come to the palace on the Duke’s orders, but…”

The Crown Prince, who had glanced towards the Crown Princess’s reception room where Klaus had entered, grabbed the nape of her neck and dragged her along.

“Y-Your Highness?!”

Am I going to be dragged off and killed like a dog again?!

While lost in all sorts of imaginations, the place Esteban dragged her to by the nape of her neck was the garden behind the palace.

“Now, you should be able to speak here.”

“Pardon…?”

“The Duke can’t eavesdrop here. So speak freely.”

No, I’m telling you, it has nothing to do with the Duke…

Strictly speaking, she couldn’t say it was unrelated since she had contacted the Crown Princess to repay the Duke’s debt…

But it wasn’t on the Duke’s orders. Even if she told the Crown Prince what he wanted to hear, there was no guarantee that the Crown Prince, who valued human life less than a dog’s, would let her live safely.

“Your Highness, I am honored, but this humble servant merely met with Her Highness the Crown Princess on an errand for Lady Closet.”

“How much are you getting from the Duke? I’ll give you twice that amount.”

“…”

“Three times!”

Somehow, it seemed like he would give 3,000 berans in an instant if she asked. Roselia was tempted for a moment, but she didn’t have the guts to make up a nonexistent story and take the money. She knew very well through the original work that such money often led to terrible consequences.

“Your Highness, I am honored to report, but as a mere servant, I have mountains of work piled up even while I’m awake, so I’ll take my leave now.”

As she turned to leave with those words, Esteban’s hand roughly grabbed her wrist, stopping her.

Just as she was about to protest, barely containing her rising irritation, the Crown Prince looked down at her wrist quizzically.

“What’s this… Why is a man’s wrist so thin?”

Feeling a pang of alarm, Roselia ignored the cold sweat running down her spine and calmly opened her mouth.

“It’s because I grew up malnourished.”

It wasn’t a lie. Since the baron’s death and the decline of the family fortunes, no, strictly speaking, since her mother died and the baron treated her like a maid, she grew up poorly fed and poorly clothed, without the treatment befitting a baroness’s daughter.

The fact that she hadn’t even had her debutante ball despite being well past twenty was proof of that.

Roselia forcefully pulled her wrist from the Crown Prince’s grip.

However, Esteban was still looking at her wrist with a dubious expression.

She had thought he was just a crazy Crown Prince, but he seemed to have keen eyes.

Well, that’s probably how he noticed Roselia leaking imperial information in the original work.

“It’s too thin even for that… And you seem quite short for a man…”

Unnecessarily perceptive!

Feeling a chill run down her spine, Roselia spoke coldly.

“It’s just that my growth stopped early.”

“Hmm… Well, let’s say that’s true. You, what’s your name?”

Why suddenly ask for my name?

Suddenly, the contents of the original novel flashed through her mind.

‘What’s your name?’

‘It’s Roselia, Your Highness.’

‘Roselia… A nice name. Doesn’t suit a traitor’s dog.’

With that conversation, the original Roselia was sent to the scaffold.

Swallowing dry saliva at the question that somehow reminded her of the novel’s content, Roselia answered the real Esteban’s question.

“It’s Antonio.”

“Antonio…”

The Crown Prince smiled slightly upon hearing Roselia’s name.

“A splendid name. Doesn’t seem to suit you though.”

Roselia felt strange hearing Esteban’s words, similar yet different from the original.

“I don’t think you would have lied in front of the Crown Prince. But next time, if you can’t give me the answer I want to my questions, I can’t guarantee what will happen.”

Is he saying he believes me, or is he threatening me…

Roselia stared at the Crown Prince in disbelief, then realizing that nothing good would come from staying with him any longer, she bowed quickly and hastily left.

Esteban’s golden eyes followed Roselia’s rapidly retreating back intently, as if measuring something.

Roselia walked down the dark corridor, clutching the envelope containing the 1,000 beran check she had received from the Crown Princess.

There was a late-night summons from Klaus.

Since she had been planning to find Klaus to repay the debt anyway, Roselia left her room without hesitation.

But as she got closer to Klaus’s study, her steps grew heavier.

Was it because of his words treating her like a bothersome pebble while worrying about the Crown Princess?

It was certainly unpleasant, but was that enough to make her so reluctant to see Klaus?

Roselia shook her head vigorously as if coming to her senses, then knocked on the Duke’s study door with feigned confidence.

“Come in.”

Taking a deep breath at Klaus’s familiar yet cold, deep voice, Roselia opened the door and entered the study.

Klaus set aside the documents he had been reviewing on his desk and stared at her intently with his arms uncrossed.

“It would be better to tell the truth.”

Roselia’s eyebrows twitched at his words that cut straight to the point.

“Don’t give me that nonsense about meeting with Her Highness the Crown Princess to convey Closet’s regards. What on earth were you thinking, approaching Her Highness?”

She felt irritated by his tone that assumed she was a potential threat to the Crown Princess without even asking for an explanation.

“I didn’t approach her, Her Highness the Crown Princess called for me.”

Klaus twisted one corner of his mouth and let out a deflating sound at her insolent tone.

“Her Highness called for you? What reason would she have to want to see you?”

“Well, it’s Her Highness’s private matter, so I’m afraid I can’t discuss that.”

Klaus stood up, seemingly displeased with Roselia’s bold retort. The imposing man, who must have been at least 190 centimeters tall, exuded an intimidating presence as he rose.

Roselia merely looked at him with a calm face, trying hard not to show any agitation.

He slowly approached until he was right in front of Roselia, then leaned in close and whispered threateningly.

“I don’t know what you’re plotting, but it would be better not to think about using Her Highness the Crown Princess.”

For a moment, she was so dumbfounded that a gasp of air escaped her lips.

Don’t use the Crown Princess?

How could he say that when in the original novel, he had used Roselia like that, squeezing every last drop out of her, both sweet and bitter, and then what did he do?

Klaus, to whom Roselia had devoted her all, didn’t even show up when she was on the scaffold. Though her emotions weren’t described in detail since she was just an extra, she must have waited.

For that damn Duke.

But hearing such words from the Duke’s own mouth now, even though it wasn’t something she had experienced directly, she felt inexplicably enraged and her insides were churning.

Roselia glared at the Duke’s face, which was right in front of her, as if she wanted to bite it off, and instead leaned in even closer.

“What if I do use her?”

Male lead fell into her trap — and shattered when she walked away

This is also on my reread list!

This one is a slow burn, but when it burns, it burns hard.

Definitely worth a read, y’all!

The story follows a thousand-year-old seductive spirit who, on a bet, sets out to charm the male lead—a once-promising but unfortunate cultivator.

But just when she succeeds in making him fall for her, she heartlessly leaves, driving him to madness.

Determined to find her at all costs, he captures her, keeping her by his side no matter what, even if she hates him.

I love this kind of trope—I enjoy watching the male lead suffer in agony.

The ending drags a bit with unnecessary filler, but that’s fine.

As long as I enjoy the beginning, I’m good.

Intro

As an enchantress, Su Heng possesses captivating eyes and charming beauty, easily manipulating the joys and sorrows of living beings at her fingertips.

But to enchant a god, making him taste the bitterness of love’s separation, long-lasting resentment, unattainable desires, and inability to let go…

Do you dare?

Su Heng assists a divine lord in his cultivation, aiming to make him experience all the sufferings of love, so that he can attain the Great Dao.

Only after being chased down from the heavens by the divine lord, confined and completely possessed by him, does she realize how successful she has been.

The once gentle and polite youth has transformed into someone she no longer recognizes.

Link to read 

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