Sophia explained to me that Yan would only escort me when I left the room.

In other words, as long as I didn’t leave the room, I wouldn’t have to face him again.

My face felt flushed, and in my heart, I desperately wanted to keep avoiding Yan.

‘But eventually, I’ll have to see him anyway.’

Continuing to avoid him wouldn’t make what happened this morning disappear.

Sighing deeply, I grabbed my bag and went outside. But my eyes immediately met Yan’s.

Unlike me, who froze in place, he smiled and greeted me with a nod.

I bit my lip hard and quietly walked. Yan didn’t walk side by side with me but followed behind me.

When I slowed down, he slowed down too, and when I stopped, he stopped at a certain distance.

It was much more distracting than I thought.

I glanced back. The corners of Yan’s mouth, whose eyes met mine, softened gently.

“Does it bother you?”

Yan immediately noticed how I felt. He kindly explained to me.

“You can just go about your business as usual, my lady. If it makes you uncomfortable, I will follow further behind.”

His concern was appreciated, but what I was actually worried about was different.

‘If I had known this would happen, I should have gone to bed early last night.’

What happened in the morning kept coming to mind. I sighed deeply. Then Yan spoke first.

“I also look a mess in the mornings.”

I stopped walking and turned around. Yan playfully added.

“Especially since I tend to sleep a lot. On holidays, I often can’t get up even when the sun is high in the sky.”

“……”

“So you don’t have to mind it, is what I’m saying.”

Yan gently concluded. I couldn’t answer and just blankly stared at his smile before abruptly turning my head.

Hmm, okay. A tiny voice lingered on my lips.

* * *

After passing the entrance, I briskly headed to the garden.

I came out to the garden, pretending to be busy admiring the flowers. It was to have some time alone with my thoughts.

There had already been two assassination attempts inside the estate. At first, I thought it was just the ill-tempered duke arbitrarily killing people, but that wasn’t the case.

‘This incident also appeared in the original work.’

In the original work, there were three major incidents where the duke’s life was threatened, and one of them was the case where the duke drank poisoned tea.

But who is the duke? He’s the one who has a firm grip on this vast northern land of Hesella.

Although the duke drinks the poison in this incident, he has a tolerance to most poisons and recovers his health quickly without major injuries.

And not long after, the culprit who tried to harm the duke is quickly caught.

‘The culprit was a vassal of the ducal house.’

During the investigation of the culprit, two people were identified as the most suspicious.

It was a vassal who was too upright and tried to obstruct the duke’s misdeeds at every turn, and another vassal who opposed accepting Clemens as the successor.

And that’s all I remember. I groaned and grabbed my head.

‘I can’t remember the names.’

Maybe because they were just passing extras, I couldn’t recall anything.

‘It was a count, and what else?’

Still, I tried hard to remember. I have to remember, I must remember.

‘He said he would introduce me to the vassals soon.’

In a few days, all the vassals would gather at the ducal house to be introduced to me.

The day the duke drinks the poison is also during the gathering where all the vassals are present.

‘If the duke collapses after drinking the poison, I could be in danger too.’

Since they were just briefly mentioned characters, I couldn’t think of any specific information other than the fact that one was a count.

‘It would be nice if I could at least remember the names.’

I walked briskly, lost in deep thought.

“At this rate, we’ll all end up like cows and chickens watching. Not only did he adopt an orphan, but also make her the successor.”

“My lady, just a moment…!”

I vaguely heard Yan’s voice. However, as I was deep in thought, I didn’t hear the sound and kept walking ahead.

“Sir! You should refrain from saying such things…! I’m already distressed enough that you came all the way here!”

“Oh my, so do I need permission to speak with my own mouth now? Put aside the nagging and go find where that ledger I mentioned might be hidden!”

“Oh dear, sir! Please lower your voice…”

It was too late when I realized that a dark shadow had fallen in front of me.

“My lady!”

Yan urgently pulled me back.

“Oh my!”

With Yan’s help, I stopped walking just before colliding with the person in front. Belatedly checking ahead, I was so startled that my heart was pounding.

‘If I had been a little late, I would have been kicked by those feet!’

Whether the other person did it on purpose or not, if I had been kicked by those feet, I would have fallen backward.

“Are you alright?”

Yan looked down at me with a face full of worry. Shocked, I felt my heart pounding as I looked straight ahead.

A middle-aged man with a short mustache and an impressively plump chin was staring at me intently.

“It seems to be the young lady the duke has been looking for recently.”

The elderly servant standing behind him whispered to the middle-aged man. But his voice wasn’t small, so I heard it all.

“Ah, I see.”

The count clasped his protruding belly with both hands and made a ‘hmph’ sound before speaking.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, young lady. I am Count Ripe. I am one of the vassals serving your family.”

‘A vassal has already come to the ducal house.’

My heart grew anxious, but I tried to greet him as if nothing was wrong.

“Yes, hello.”

“Yes, it’s truly a pleasure. I was curious after only hearing rumors, but to think you would be such an adorable young lady.”

At that moment, he reached out his large hand and tapped my head.

Startled, I covered my head with both hands. The elderly servant behind the count also seemed surprised by his sudden action.

Yan also belatedly blocked his hand.

“You must not touch the young lady so casually!”

“Oh my, oh my! I wasn’t thinking straight. The young lady is just so cute.”

The count leisurely withdrew his hand even after hearing Yan’s words.

His eyes weren’t smiling, only the corners of his mouth were raised.

“It seems this old man’s visit wasn’t in vain. Although I couldn’t meet the duke, I was able to see the young lady like this.”

“If you came to see the duke…”

“He said he had urgent matters to attend to. I had the next schedule anyway, so I was planning to leave soon.”

He cut off Yan’s words and disappeared to the end of the corridor with his servant. It was an agility that didn’t match his plump physique at all.

Only after the count disappeared could I relax a little.

‘As expected, the vassals won’t be pleased with me either.’

Count Ripe’s attitude just now was clear. He did not acknowledge me as the duke’s child.

‘I can’t let the duke be in danger like this.’

Him being in danger was the same as me being in danger. Then, a low voice was heard from behind.

“What are you doing here?”

When I turned around, the duke was striding towards me.

‘He must be coming from the training grounds.’

Unlike other days, he wasn’t wearing a formal uniform but comfortable clothing. His hair was also not styled but flowing naturally.

“Yan, have you forgotten your duty?”

As the duke approached, a chill ran through my body as if all my hair was standing on end. I had an intuition.

‘He’s angry.’

In an instant, the atmosphere turned cold, and my whole body froze for a moment.

If even I could notice it, there was no way Yan, a knight, could miss his reprimand.

Although he didn’t say much, he cornered Yan in an instant.

Yan hurriedly bowed his head.

“No, I haven’t.”

“Then what did I just witness?”

“I apologize, it was my negligence.”

Yan’s voice trembled slightly.

‘But why is he angry?’

I looked back and forth between the duke and Yan with puzzled eyes. The answer came from Philen. Philen whispered in my ear.

“Earlier, Count Ripe casually touched the young lady’s head, right? That’s something the escort should have prevented in advance.”

The scene from before came to mind again.

Count Ripe had arbitrarily tapped my head.

‘I’m fine though.’

Sure, I was also flustered, but that was it. It didn’t hurt, so it wasn’t a big deal. However, the duke seemed to think differently.

“It would be better to change the escort.”

Yan’s expression rapidly darkened. I hastily intervened between the two.

“Duke, wait a moment!”

“What is it?”

“I’m fine, it didn’t hurt at all.”

“Ah, my lady.”

Yan tried to stop me, but I ignored him and stood in front of him.

“So don’t do this to Yan, I’m really okay.”

“This isn’t a matter for you to interfere in.”

If I said I wasn’t intimidated by the duke’s sharp gaze, it would be a lie.

I unconsciously stepped back.

But if I had any intention of backing down, I wouldn’t have stepped in from the beginning.

“I said I’m fine, so why are you getting angry at Yan?”

“What?”

The duke furrowed his brow deeply. Yan was fidgeting, and Philen also looked flustered.

The one who broke that heavy silence was the duke. The duke let out an irritated scoff.

As if he found it ridiculous, he rolled his eyes and stood up.

The duke spoke to Philen as if I weren’t even there.

“Take the child back to her room.”

“Now, young lady, shall we go together?”

Philen approached, gently coaxing me. The duke spoke to Yan in a chilling voice.

“You, follow me.”

At those words, my heart sank.

‘What is he going to do with Yan?’

I cried out without thinking.

“Don’t get angry at Yan!”

* * *

Cailius, who had returned to the office, finished his work faster than usual.

Philen was the same.

On any other day, he would have been happy that work was done early, but today, he couldn’t be completely happy.

‘His Grace is in a very bad mood.’

The reason seemed obvious, and Philen felt disheartened. It was something he couldn’t do anything about.

Philen, who had briefly left the office, witnessed Cailius changing into comfortable clothes and leaving the room.

“Your Grace, where are you going?”

“To spar.”

‘…Someone will get beaten up today without knowing the reason.’

Philen pondered for a moment.

Excluding a brief period of wandering, he had dedicated his life to the ducal house and intended to continue doing so in the future.

Although in a different field, the knights were also those who loyally served the ducal house like himself.

Thinking of a sense of camaraderie and the loyalty they shared, Philen mustered up courage and stopped the duke again.

“Didn’t you already visit the training grounds this morning? Aren’t you overworking the knights…?”

“Then you can be my opponent.”

“Have a safe trip.”

Philen, who swiftly changed his attitude, quickly ran away.

And that day, anguished screams continued late into the night at the training grounds.