Disguised as a Male Servant in the Duke's House - Chapter 64

Roselia’s gaze wavered in disbelief.

The dark-skinned man looked at her and sneered.

It was Antonio, the rogue of the Hesink baronial family, who had disappeared after squandering the family fortune on drinking and gambling even after the baron’s death, unable to tell right from wrong.

While Roselia was confused, Antonio looked her up and down and opened his mouth.

“You look terrible.”

“Weren’t you dead?”

She had thought he would have been killed by the back alley gangs for his gambling debts…

Even in the original story, his survival was never clearly explained. It only said that he was captured by gangs for gambling debts and never returned…

Could this also be a change in the setting due to her attempts to alter the original story?

“I almost died. Instead, I had to have my hand cut off.”

As he said that, he raised and waved the empty arm where his hand should have been, causing Roselia’s brow to furrow deeply.

Looking at her, Antonio twisted his lips into a smirk and sneered.

“While I was living in the gutter in the back alleys, I heard a very interesting story.”

Antonio scratched his ear with his good hand as he spoke.

“I hear the eldest son of the Hesink baronial family is working as a servant for a ducal family?”

Unlike the relaxed Antonio, the tense Roselia hardened her sharp gaze and continued speaking.

“What are you trying to say?”

Seeing her extremely wary appearance, Antonio grinned.

“While I was groveling in the gutter to survive, you were living comfortably in the duke’s mansion, is that right?”

“You ended up in the gutter because of your own karma.”

At Roselia’s cold words, Antonio shrugged.

“Well… if I tell the duke your true identity, won’t you end up in the same situation?”

At Antonio’s nonchalant words, Roselia’s expression stiffened.

“What?”

“Do you think that Duke Balthasar would keep someone who deceived him by his side? You’d be lucky if he didn’t kill you.”

Yes, she knew this fact very well.

Klaus, who values trust and loyalty, would certainly do that and more.

Not to mention the betrayal and lies of someone he had trusted.

“What do you want?”

Facing reality, Roselia calmed herself down and glared at him. Looking at her, Antonio curled up the corners of his mouth and continued speaking.

“As expected of the smart Roselia. We can talk now.”

“…”

“Get 2,000 berang ready in two weeks. If not, I’ll expose your true identity.”

For a moment, anger surged up. She knew he would demand money, but 2,000 berang?

Even 200 berang would have been outrageous.

The 2,000 berang was what she had struggled to pay off the baronial family’s debts.

If anything, shouldn’t she be the one receiving money from this damn Hesink leftover?

Seeming to notice her thoughts, Antonio continued speaking impudently.

“2,000 berang is cheap. The baronial mansion was my property anyway, and selling it would have brought in 2,000 berang, right?”

Damn it. She doubted the sanity of that head that was calculating the mansion that had been taken over due to debts incurred by his own father as money he should receive.

“Considering that you were hiding gloomily in the mansion after cutting your hair and disguising yourself as a man, wouldn’t the duke be creeped out?”

Finally unable to hold back, Roselia roughly pushed Antonio against the wall and grabbed his collar.

“I paid off 2,000 berang of the damn Hesink baronial family’s debts! You should be coughing up 2,000 berang to me, and it wouldn’t be enough, what are you saying?”

Antonio, with only one hand, didn’t resist much as his collar was grabbed and just sneered.

“Who told you to pay off that debt? Didn’t you enter the duke’s household as a servant for your own comfort?”

She was beyond dumbfounded, almost losing her mind.

How could a human brain come up with such thoughts?

While Roselia was frozen, Antonio roughly removed her hand and stepped back.

“You have two weeks.”

With those words, Antonio moved towards the shadowy alley and snickered.

“I hope you stay safe until then.”

Roselia’s clenched fists trembled as she watched him disappear into the darkness.

[This is the timeline separator]

Roselia was absentmindedly staring into space while cleaning the front yard of the mansion when she was startled by a box suddenly dropped at her feet with a ‘thud’. She turned her head.

It was Denver, a servant of the duke’s mansion, who had dropped the box at her feet as if throwing it down.

He had disliked her from the moment she arrived, but now he seemed quite comfortable with her, even speaking informally.

“Antonio, move this to the storage room.”

Roselia was momentarily dumbfounded at the size of the box, which looked burdensome even for an adult man to carry.

Denver looked down on her and added:

“You’re a servant, you should be able to do this much, right?”

“Um… well…”

Denver’s attitude was no longer surprising to her.

And she was someone who believed there was no need to distinguish between men and women when it came to work.

It might be a bit heavy, but not impossible to carry, right?

Thinking this, Roselia bent down and struggled to lift the box.

Besides being heavy, the box was so large that she, with her small build, could barely see in front of her.

At that moment, her hands suddenly felt lighter as the box was lifted into the air.

As she blinked in confusion, a familiar voice was heard.

“Where should I move this?”

Roselia and Denver both looked at Klaus, who was holding the box, with surprised eyes.

Denver, who had ordered the box to be moved, had turned pale.

“Y-Your Grace?”

As Denver stammered, Klaus looked at him coldly and spoke icily.

“Where should I put this?”

Under his gaze, Denver swallowed hard, his face turning from blue to white as paper, and hurriedly took the box Klaus was holding.

“I-I’ll move it!”

Watching Denver’s retreating back as he fled with the box, Roselia sighed deeply.

It might be comfortable now, but this would lead to more gossip among the servants about favoritism and such.

Thanks to this, she was likely to become even more disliked.

Roselia glared at Klaus sulkily and opened her mouth.

“I could have done it myself.”

At Roselia’s words, Klaus openly looked at her arms and muttered lowly.

“With those thin arms?”

“…”

As Roselia fell silent, unable to respond, Klaus looked over her face and spoke matter-of-factly.

“Come see me in my office for a moment.”

Roselia looked at Klaus quizzically, but as he turned and walked away, she followed him without a word.

As soon as they entered his office, now familiar to her, Klaus spoke without even sitting down.

“I heard you went outside the mansion yesterday on the butler’s orders.”

At Klaus’s voice, which sounded somewhat angry, Roselia tilted her head and answered.

“Yes, Roy had severe stomach pains, so I went out to get medicine.”

“Who did you meet in front of the mansion?”

Only then did Roselia’s expression stiffen.

“Did you have me followed again?”

At Roselia’s cold voice, Klaus sighed and rubbed his forehead as he continued speaking.

“Have you forgotten your situation? I’m not sure if it’s the grand ducal family, but someone is targeting you. How can I just stand by and watch?”

“…”

“Was it a pawn of the grand ducal family? Did they approach you?”

“No.”

Fortunately, it seemed that the shadow Klaus had attached hadn’t heard the conversation.

“I heard there was a scuffle.”

“It wasn’t that serious.”

Klaus frowned at Roselia’s evasive answer.

Every day felt like walking on thin ice, not knowing when the grand ducal family might resort to trickery.

Moreover, according to the shadows he had attached, the number of shadows pretending to be ordinary people and hovering around Antonio was increasing day by day, changing people every day.

It was a situation where an ambush could happen at any time.

In such a situation, he was irritated by Antonio, who didn’t seem to understand his concern and was building walls.

“Why are you hiding things from me?”

“I have no reason to report my private life to you, Your Grace.”

Finally, Klaus’s patience ran out.

Unable to hold back any longer, Klaus slammed his hand against the wall next to Roselia and growled lowly.

“Damn it, Antonio. I’m trying to protect you.”

Feeling his rough breath right in front of her face, Roselia realized how angry he was and lowered her gaze, speaking calmly.

“It was just an old friend who visited. Don’t worry about it.”

Looking at her deep green eyes avoiding his gaze right in front of him, Klaus twisted his lips.

“A friend… Why does it feel like you’re covering for him?”

“…”

For a moment, Roselia looked directly at Klaus, feeling provoked.

But soon she turned her head away again under Klaus’s intense gaze.

It’s not that I’m covering for him, it’s just that I don’t want you, of all people, to find out.

Swallowing those words that lingered in her mouth, Roselia bit her lip hard.

Klaus’s gaze unconsciously fell on her lips, pressed by her snow-white teeth.

He was exasperated at himself for following her every little movement even in this maddening situation.

If he followed his instincts, he wanted to devour those tempting lips that only spoke irritating words and make them unable to utter nonsense again.

But if she had said she had never thought about such things between people of the same gender, she would probably run away in disgust.

Klaus exhaled roughly and then detached his body that had been pressed close to her, nervously running his hand through his bangs.

“Fine. You can go.”

Roselia looked at Klaus’s back as he turned away brusquely, and then had to turn away herself, biting the inside of her cheek.

[This is the timeline separator]

As usual, Roselia was leaving the mansion to go to the count’s house when she quizzically raised her gaze at a carriage stopping beside her.

The door of the duke’s carriage opened, revealing a familiar man sitting inside.

“Get in.”

Hearing him speak coldly without even facing her, Roselia turned her head sharply and opened her mouth frostily.

“I can walk.”

“Get in while I’m asking nicely.”

Only then did his icy dark blue eyes look at her.

Now that he was looking at her, she felt oddly exposed and embarrassed.

“I have business at the count’s house too, so I’m going there.”

Klaus had to stop by the count’s house anyway because of the item the count had promised to show him.

Well, actually, that was secondary. He felt he needed to see with his own eyes that Antonio safely entered the count’s house to feel at ease.

At Klaus’s nonchalant words, Roselia reluctantly got into the carriage.

Neither of them spoke first until the carriage arrived at the count’s house.

After what felt like an eternity of 10 minutes, when the carriage arrived at the count’s house, Roselia got out of the carriage as if escaping.

Roselia, who entered the mansion first, looked around at the strangely quiet surroundings and opened her mouth.

“Grandfather. I’m here.”

Is he in the study?

Roselia, who was taking steps with a puzzled mind, discovered a figure collapsed near the corridor and uttered in a trembling voice.

“Grandfather?”

Only after approaching a few steps did Roselia realize that the count was collapsed on the floor, and she screamed and approached the count’s side.

“Grandfather!!!!”

“Antonio! What happened!”

Klaus, who came running at her scream-like shout, surveyed the situation.

And after confirming Roselia shaking the collapsed count with her trembling body, Klaus gritted his teeth and rushed over.

Roselia, noticing Klaus’s presence, spoke in a panicked voice, stumbling over her words.

“Grandfather! The count…!!”

Klaus, who had carried the count on his back without a word, quickly moved towards the carriage.

As Roselia followed behind him, her gaze suddenly fell on a letter that had fallen where the count had collapsed.

Instinctively picking up the letter, Roselia checked its contents and froze.

It was a death notice for the young count, forwarded from Eskiban.

“Why is this…!”