‘What is the Duke doing over there?’

The one standing in the hallway was the Duke.

He went straight into the room without turning his head towards me.

‘It seems that’s the room where the Duke stays.’

Since the first day I came to the Duke’s house, I had never encountered the Duke.

The Duke didn’t come to see me first, and I didn’t go to see the Duke first either.

Moreover, the mansion was so vast that I hardly ran into him, even if I wandered around here and there.

‘I have to pass through…’

The place I was going to was the back staircase that led to the end of the second floor.

There were back staircases that servants could pass on each floor, and it was particularly because there were many things to pick up there, where the servants often passed by.

‘Should I just take another way?’

I contemplated for a moment. Then I quickly changed my mind.

‘I can’t avoid seeing him forever anyway.’

As long as I had to stay here for four more years, I couldn’t avoid seeing the Duke.

Even for the goal of independence after four years, it was good to appear well to the Duke.

‘He’s the master of this house.’

It might become easier to gather emergency funds if I look good.

I began to move step by step with determination. I thought about what I would do after running into the Duke.

I will politely greet the Duke who I happened to run into in the hallway, and pass by just like that!

‘If I act courteously, the Duke might think well of me.’

Perhaps he might protect me a little even if I am harassed by the servants later.

I stopped in front of the door where the Duke went in. The door was wide open, so I could look around the room right away.

And then, I faced a scene I couldn’t have imagined. My whole body stiffened.

The first thing that caught my eye was a shattered teacup spread on the floor. The luxurious rug right in front of the door was stained red.

Above the rug, a person was lying face down, not showing any signs of movement.

The Duke was standing in the middle of the room, carelessly brushing off his sleeve.

I was about to let out a scream without realizing it, but at the same time, the Duke turned his head.

‘Gasp.’

I quickly hid my body to the side. Silence ensued all around.

My mind was a mess. But only one thought crossed my mind.

‘I mustn’t get caught.’

No one must find out that I saw the scene just now. I stifled my breathing as much as possible.

‘Let’s go to the room.’

I went straight to the room.

The sound of light footsteps came from the hallway. Just as doubt arose as to who it was, the one who appeared in front of the room was Phyllen.

“My Lord! No, what is all this!”

Although it was a grown man’s shout, it was a bit light, but Kailius didn’t think much about it.

After all, there were not many people wandering the secondfloor hallway aimlessly at this time.

Phyllen, who confirmed the situation inside the room, hastily brought a few servants and instructed them to clean the room.

The servants Phyllen brought were also relatively familiar with such matters.

Having worked in the Duke’s house all their lives, they silently cleaned the room while clicking their tongues, seemingly accustomed to it.

“Are you alright?”

Kailius casually turned his head towards the corpse.

“Go check it.”

Phyllen examined the tea in the teapot for a moment. He pulled out a pen he had been carrying and dipped it into the tea.

The pen was covered with sheepskin. The dye on the sheepskin that had touched the tea turned pale in an instant.

“Is it Hydra?”

Hydra was a colorless poison with a simple scent. Therefore, when using Hydra, it was often mixed with strongsmelling tea.

It was a poison discovered quite recently, and they would not have been able to obtain information if it were not for the Duke of Consta.

Hydra was a poison that didn’t discolor silverware. The only thing that could identify Hydra mixed in a fragrant tea was the dyed skin of an animal.

When dyed skin is dipped into a liquid mixed with Hydra, the color fades, and the skin turns pale.

Such information was heard from Duke Consta, and it was also why Phyllen had immediately replaced all the carpets in the house with sheepskin.

A very small portion of the carpet on the floor appeared faintly distorted.

It was probably because Kyleius had dropped the tea to check if it was poisoned.

“That must be it.”

“What has happened to this one?”

“Check inside the mouth; there must be poison.”

When he checked the mouth, he found a broken pill. It seemed that he had chosen to take his own life to avoid capture when he was found out.

Phyllen, who had checked the state of the body, got up from his spot.

He needed to investigate more closely, but those who were risking their lives for a request like this were only in one place in the empire.

“If he was trained to this extent, it must be that place.”

“He must have been the one who made the request.”

Turns Out He’s Been Secretly in Love with Me

One-line summary: He acts like he doesn’t like her but is actually playing hard to get.

Synopsis:

Xu Muzhou like her. He has liked her for a very long time, and through repeated schemes, he finally closed the distance with her.

But this is still far from enough.

He wants to be the one who stands out among her many suitors, to fight for her attention, and to make her take the initiative to pursue him.

_____

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