Don’t think of me as human. What does this mean?

‘Is it a metaphor?’

Like how people often say witches are not human but demons serving Satan, did Deuce mean it in that sense?

Though it felt a bit unsettling, Irene didn’t think too deeply about it.

Her mind was already complicated by Kalos’s matter, so she didn’t want to create another problem.

“I see.”

Just as she was trying to awkwardly wrap up the conversation, footsteps were heard from behind.

“My lady?”

Irene immediately brightened upon hearing the familiar voice and turned around.

“Dewey!”

“Hmm…”

Uncomfortable with Irene’s somewhat intense reaction, Dewey pushed up his silver monocle and looked at Deuce standing in front of her.

Deuce also looked at Dewey, and an awkward yet strange silence flowed between the two.

“…”

Irene, unintentionally caught between the twins, shifted her eyes back and forth, observing their expressions.

While Dewey’s gaze towards Deuce seemed melancholic and sorrowful,

Deuce was looking at Dewey with eyes mixed with resentment and displeasure.

There was also a hint of bitterness, and a touch of longing.

“…”

“…”

As they silently stared at each other as if in a staring contest, Deuce was the first to turn away.

He glanced sideways at Irene, who was standing still like a statue, then left abruptly without a word.

Irene, who had been holding her breath carefully for fear of getting caught in the crossfire, finally loosened the taut string of tension.

Dewey approached and apologized politely.

“I unintentionally showed you an unsightly scene. I’m sorry, my lady.”

“Oh, no!”

Irene waved her hands, denying it.

“What do you mean unsightly? It’s not like that. Even blood brothers can fight sometimes.”

“Blood brothers…”

A bitter smile spread across Dewey’s face.

His scarlet eyes traced the direction where Deuce had disappeared with longing.

Judging from their earlier interaction and Dewey’s current reaction, it seems their relationship isn’t particularly good.

“If it’s not too presumptuous, may I ask what you were talking about with Deuce?”

“Well…”

As Irene hesitated, scratching her cheek in embarrassment, Dewey added with a gentle smile.

“If it’s difficult to say, you don’t have to.”

“Ah, it’s not difficult, just a bit embarrassing.”

Now that she thought about it, she wasn’t sure where she got the courage to say such things.

“What is it?”

“Well… I confronted Lord Deuce about why he dislikes me.”

Once she started speaking, the words flowed smoothly.

“Then Lord Deuce said it wasn’t that he disliked me, but that he hated humans in general. So he asked me not to think of him as human.”

“…”

For a moment, Dewey’s expression stiffened, but fortunately or unfortunately, Irene didn’t notice as she was preoccupied with her slightly reddened cheeks.

Dewey smiled again as if nothing had happened.

“Deuce was hurt a lot by people around him when he was young, so he said such things. I hope you don’t think too strangely of it.”

“I see.”

“Yes. Besides, Deuce dislikes not only you, but also Jessie and me. The only person he trusts and follows is the master.”

Of course, Kalos wasn’t human.

“…”

Irene looked at Dewey with a peculiar expression.

Dewey asked with his characteristic friendly smile.

“Why are you looking at me like that, my lady?”

“Well, it might be my imagination, but… from what I see, Lord Deuce doesn’t dislike you.”

“…”

The faint smile on Dewey’s lips disappeared in an instant.

Dewey asked back, somewhat bewildered.

“Deuce doesn’t dislike me… What do you mean? No, may I ask why you think that?”

“When Lord Deuce looked at me, his eyes were full of wariness and hostility, but not when he looked at you. There was also a hint of bitterness and longing in his gaze.”

The scarlet eyes shook greatly.

“Th-that can’t be.”

Dewey shook his head rather vehemently, denying Irene’s words.

“Deuce looking at me with longing eyes… That’s impossible. That, at least, is absolutely impossible.”

“I’m just telling you what I saw with my own eyes.”

Irene looked straight into Dewey’s wavering eyes and continued.

“I may not know about other things, but I’m certain that Lord Deuce looked at you with longing and bitter eyes. That much I can be sure of.”

Dewey silently gazed at the corridor where Deuce had disappeared.

A face full of thought.

Irene quietly waited, not interrupting to allow Dewey to sort out his complicated thoughts.

How much time had passed like that?

Finally, as if he had finished organizing his thoughts, Dewey looked back at Irene and asked.

“…May I ask how you can be so certain that Deuce looked at me that way?”

Irene smiled bitterly.

“I’m sorry, but I can’t tell you that.”

She didn’t want to say that her mother had always had such eyes whenever she talked about her hometown after being severely beaten by her father.

*

“By the way, did you come out alone without Jessie?”

Come to think of it, there was something she wanted to ask Dewey.

Irene, who had momentarily forgotten the question while meeting Deuce and talking about them, carefully asked.

“Um… there’s something I’m curious about. Can I ask?”

Dewey smiled gently.

“Of course.”

“I asked Young Master Abel earlier, and he said that the Grand Duke would never abandon me. Is that true?”

“…”

As if it was difficult to answer, Dewey, unlike when he had readily invited her to ask, couldn’t easily respond.

When she had carefully probed Deuce earlier, his reaction wasn’t bad, so she had been hoping inwardly, but was there still some problem?

“I know it’s difficult to answer, but… I’d like you to answer honestly.”

Irene sincerely and earnestly pleaded.

“…”

Dewey stared at Irene for a moment, then looked towards where Deuce had disappeared, then back at Irene before nodding.

“Yes. The master will never abandon you, my lady. So if you were worried about being abandoned by the master, you can put your mind at ease.”

*

“Then I’ll escort you to your bedroom.”

“…There’s one more thing I’m curious about.”

“Yes, please go ahead, my lady.”

“When can I return to my own bedroom?”

This time too, Dewey didn’t answer immediately and remained silent.

“It’s uncomfortable to keep staying in the Grand Duke’s bedroom, and I feel like I’m being a nuisance. I also think the Grand Duke will keep sleeping outside if I’m there.”

While understanding Irene’s feelings, it was also an undeniable fact.

“That’s something I dare not speak about, so I’ll ask the master and let you know. Would you mind waiting in the reception room for a moment until then?”

Dewey, who also wished for Irene to return to her room, didn’t refuse by saying it wasn’t possible.

*

“…so, what would you like to do?”

Dewey immediately went to find Kalos and asked about what Irene had requested.

“…”

Kalos rubbed his furrowed brow as if something was not to his liking, then nodded.

“Do as she wishes.”

They had searched all of Esper Castle but couldn’t find any trace of Darren.

And since they had separated Yomi, who had been controlled by Darren…

There shouldn’t be any major problems.

Still, just in case, I’ll attach a shadow.

Should I assign a separate guard as well?

Jessie is there, but she was simply meant to prevent Irene from running away.

Jessie, who had no aptitude for physical combat, couldn’t stop Dale or his minions if they attacked.

Moreover, Jessie was busy taking on her previous duties again because the servant who had been covering for her had an accident during the gunpowder incident.

It was impossible for her to closely monitor and protect Irene 24 hours a day.

Which knight has that level of skill?

Deuce immediately came to mind, but he couldn’t be assigned to guard duty because he disliked humans.

It seems safest to keep her by my side, but she says she’s uncomfortable…

“…”

Thinking about Irene made his head hurt again, and the area around his heart stung.

He understood the headache from thinking about how to protect her from Dale’s clutches, but why did his heart hurt?

“…”

As the unanswered questions piled up, Kalos pressed his furrowed brow.

Deep sighs escaped one after another.

As Kalos’s expression darkened rapidly, Dewey asked worriedly.

“Are you feeling unwell somewhere?”

Kalos laughed as if in self-mockery.

“Do you think it suits me, a sovereign, to say I’m sick?”

The underground residents had better physical strength than humans and rarely caught diseases like colds, but they weren’t completely immune.

On the other hand, the sovereign of the underground had no connection to illness at all.

Dewey smiled awkwardly at the question that was close to a rebuke.

“Of course not. But you’ve weakened considerably from staying in the human world for so long, so I thought just in case…”

Kalos waved his hand dismissively.

“Enough. More importantly, do you know Baron Douglo Eclas?”

“Douglo Eclas…”

Dewey muttered the name, going through the imperial nobles he knew.

Kalos threw out a hint to make it easier for him to recall.

“I hear he has a great interest in black magic and magical beasts.”

“Ah.”

As if an individual immediately came to mind, Dewey let out a short exclamation.

“I remember there was a human by that name among the followers belonging to Parthenos.”

Parthenos.

Long ago, it was a group formed by gathering followers who worshipped the sovereign of the underground world, and the temple denounced and persecuted them, calling them heretics.

It was also the cause of witch hunts.

It was a well-known fact that Parthenos followers, harboring resentment and grudges, were trying to take revenge on the temple by researching black magic and using magical beasts.

The underground residents suffered a lot because of that too.

Anyway, so Baron Eclas is a Parthenos follower.

He was a very suitable person to be the culprit behind the magical beast riot.

That’s why it was even more suspicious that the Empress put forward Baron Eclas as the fake culprit.

“It seems the Emperor of the Empire has decided to present that man as the fake culprit for the gunpowder incident.”

When the sharp Dewey asked, Kalos nodded.

“More precisely, it’s the Empress.”

“…The Empress?”

Dewey, who also didn’t seem to like the Empress, asked back with a sour expression.

Kalos told Dewey all the conversations he had with the Emperor.

Although he hadn’t decided what to do yet, he would need Dewey’s help regardless of which side he chose, so it was right to tell him.

“…”

After hearing the whole story, Dewey took off his monocle and rubbed his face.

He also muttered to himself as if praying to someone.

“…So what are you going to do? Are you going to the capital?”

“Well. Dewey, what do you think?”

Judging by the fact that you’re asking, it seems you haven’t decided yet.

In other words, it meant that Kalos’s decision could change based on his words, so Dewey thought carefully before answering.