I doubted my eyes for a moment.

But no matter how many times I blinked, the intimidating man standing there was indeed the Duke.

Why was the Duke out here? And with all his subordinates too?

“Young lady, what brings you here?”

The only fortunate thing was that Yan was here as well.

Of course, I was just thinking about Yan earlier, but I didn’t want to see him like this.

“Well, that’s…”

Then the Duke, who had been about to leave, started walking towards me.

That wasn’t all. A few of the other men also slowly walked towards me.

I clutched the bag I was carrying tightly. Then suddenly I couldn’t help but worry.

‘Anyone can see that this looks like I stole something and ran away!’

This was bad. I quickly tried to recall what was inside the bag.

‘The silver buttons I picked up in the hallway, my block toys, and cookies…’

In the meantime, the red-haired man suddenly stuck his face in front of me. Startled, I quickly took a step back.

“Is this the young lady?”

“Bart, please consider your face.”

The slender man standing behind the man called Bart pulled him back. Bart, unperturbed, craned his neck and asked Yan.

“The one you brought last time?”

“Yeah, that’s right.”

“Hmm.”

Bart folded his arms and fixed his gaze on me. He was undoubtedly suspicious of me.

‘Should I run away? Can I escape?’

They were skilled in pursuit and torture, befitting the villain Duke’s knights. They never let go of their prey once they caught the scent. No wonder they were called the villain Duke’s dogs in the original story.

Even Yan, who was on the protagonist’s side as a spy, warned to be especially wary of the Lebiche Knights.

‘I’m done for…’

That’s when the largest man among them spoke out in a booming voice.

“Oh my goodness!”

His tone was much higher and more excited than before.

“How can you be so small! Yan! You brought this young lady?”

“I told you, she’s very small. And cute.”

“No, how can she be wearing these clothes! Goodness, she’s even carrying a bag!”

“Hey, hey! Bart, keep your voice down. You’re scaring the young lady.”

“She seems even smaller than when the young masters first came?”

The large man making a fuss started the others to chime in one by one. It was utterly chaotic.

‘Oh…’

It was a completely different image from the knights I saw on the first day. The image described in the original story was nowhere to be seen either.

‘They just seem like ordinary people.’

That thought suddenly came to mind. Apart from that, the people’s gazes were burdensome, so I slowly moved to stand behind Yan.

Then, as if on cue, the surroundings instantly fell silent.

“…Damn, I should’ve gone out that day.”

“Did you eat your conscience for breakfast? Who was the one who refused to go out because it was raining that day?”

“Because you didn’t properly explain the mission details!”

“Everyone heard it that day except you, man!”

Bart and the slender man began arguing loudly again. Now they looked like they were about to fight.

I stuck even closer to Yan’s legs to avoid getting caught in their bickering.

That’s when the Duke spoke indifferently.

“She seems to follow you well.”

“Ahaha…”

It was hard to tell if it was a compliment or a rebuke due to his flat tone. Yan must have felt the same way, as he also just laughed awkwardly without answering.

Then the Duke approached me. I felt defenseless standing exposed in front of him.

‘It’s okay, it’s fine.’

Still, they couldn’t do anything to me right away. Even if the other knights could, Yan was here.

‘…Will it really be okay?’

The Duke bent his knees to level his gaze with mine.

“How did you get here?”

I gulped nervously. The Duke stared at me intently, as if waiting for my answer.

“Well, that’s…”

“Where were you trying to go at this hour?”

I flinched at the Duke’s sharp words.

“Even carrying a bag. Without a governess and coming down alone.”

“…”

“Don’t tell me you were trying to leave the house?”

“!”

I gasped involuntarily.

‘I’ve been caught.’

I didn’t expect to get caught so quickly. My hands and feet felt cold.

Now it was all over.

There must have been a reason why the Duke brought me here, so he would surely be displeased that I tried to leave without a word. He might even lock me up somewhere in this vast mansion.

‘In the original story, it said there was even an underground prison in the mansion.’

Terrible imaginations started popping up in my head one by one.

“Aye, the little lady?”

Then, the blue-haired man standing behind the Duke stuck his head out.

“Maybe she was just playing alone and came out. Or perhaps she got lost.”

“At this hour?”

“Your Grace, you may not know well, but children at this age usually don’t sleep late in the morning.”

The blue-haired man replied nonchalantly. I quickly nodded, as if agreeing with his words. But the Duke’s sharp gaze did not waver.

That’s when the bag on my back was lightly lifted. The Duke was trying to snatch my bag with one hand.

“What’s inside this bag that,”

“Ah, no!”

Startled, I quickly clutched the bag to my chest. The Duke, who had the bag snatched away in an instant, furrowed his brows.

“Why can’t I see it?”

“That’s…”

“Every single thing is suspicious.”

The Duke shook his head in disbelief. And he continued seriously.

“Why did you come all the way here? Tell me directly with your own mouth.”

At the Duke’s suspicious tone, everyone else also fell silent. From here, the difference in attitude between the others treating me and the Duke was clear.

As Philen had said, “She’s just a child,” the others seemed to think the same way.

But the Duke did not dismiss my actions as just a child’s thoughtless behavior. As in the original story, he was skeptical and wary of everything. Even if it was just a child.

‘I must never get caught.’

If I said I wanted to leave the house, I would have to disclose why I tried to leave. That meant I would have to reveal that I saw the Duke killing the servant.

“What were you doing here at this hour?”

The Duke urged.

“This, this!”

I immediately took it out of the bag. And I abruptly held it out in front of the Duke.

“For, for the Duke!”

I had treasured it and carefully put it in my bag, but I never thought I would use it like this.

My heart ached as I held it out. Unaware of my feelings, the Duke frowned even after seeing it.

“What is this?”

“That’s… a cookie, right?”

The blue-haired man said. The Duke also looked stunned, blankly staring at the cookie in my hand.

I tried to speak as calmly as possible and continued.

“I brought it for the Duke!”

* * *

The child may not have known, but Cailius had watched over the child staying at the ducal residence several times.

The child’s figure, often strolling in the garden courtyard with Sophia, was clearly visible from Cailius’ window.

Also, Sophia reported to him every day about what happened that day after finishing her daily work, so it wasn’t difficult to know the child’s routine.

‘Her favorite food is cookies.’

He recalled that Sophia had said the child loved cookies so much that she deliberately gave them only once a day.

So this cookie was probably the snack from yesterday that she hadn’t eaten and brought with her.

‘What is she hiding?’

Cailius did not dismiss his suspicion.

Regardless of the reason, the child was brought here out of necessity.

Whether the child liked it here or not, she had to play only within the play he created for the time being.

The problem was that the child seemed quite clever, more than he thought.

He brought her because he liked the eyes he saw on the first day, but it seemed like it would be quite tiring if the child didn’t move according to his will.

Just like right now, if she acted on her own.

“For, for the Duke!”

And the excuse she finally blurted out was like that.

‘It’s a lie.’

Her true intentions seemed to lie elsewhere, and she was using her head to hide it.

As he was pondering how to deal with this, Philen grinned beside him and said.

“Oh my, is that so? You brought it for the Duke?”

“Yes!”

“How could you have such a thoughtful idea! Don’t you agree, Your Grace?”

Cailius raised one eyebrow.

‘You believe this?’

Philen was utterly taken in. But surely the other guys would be different, he thought as he looked around…

“Young lady, please bring some for me next time too! I love cookies too!”

“Young lady! You can ignore what that Bart says! He’s the one who said he didn’t want to go on the first day, oof!”

“Young lady, my name is Chrissy. You’ll remember, right? If you need anything next time, just look for this Chrissy!”

…They were the same, if not worse.

To think he had been keeping such simple-minded ones. It was a truly complicated moment.

“Then, then I’ll be on my way…”

The child took a step back as if she had finished her task. Her furtive glances at him seemed to be asking for permission to leave.

Cailius took a quick look around.

“Your Grace, I will escort her back safely!”

“No, for this kind of task, I should…”

“Hey, I’m not going on this subjugation anyway, so I’ll take her…”

“Yan, take her back to her room.”

“Yes, I will escort her and return.”

As soon as Yan answered, the other guys couldn’t hide their disappointment. Cailius paid no attention and watched the child until she disappeared into the mansion.

‘A naive child.’

Perhaps because her actions were so transparent. Even though he didn’t know what she was hiding, he wasn’t angry. Cailius looked down at the cookie.

By the way, what should he do with this? He had received something he didn’t even like.

* * *

I sighed deeply as I checked my bag.

“Hm? Why are you sighing so much today?”

“It’s nothing.”

Sophia tilted her head, but I shook my head vigorously.

‘It’s okay, there will be another chance.’

One lesson I learned from this morning’s incident was this. When the Duke goes to work, he uses the back door.

‘Let’s go out through the front door tomorrow.’

If I go out through the front door, I won’t run into the Duke. But just in case, I deliberately decided to move when it was a bit brighter than this morning.

‘When I saw him this morning, the Duke seemed to leave for work very early.’

Then I just need to leave a little later. For tomorrow’s plan, I left the cookie that came as a snack today uneaten again.

“Are you not having the cookie today as well?”

“Yeah, I’ll eat it later.”

Delma asked as if puzzled, but I didn’t tell her the reason.

‘I will definitely go out tomorrow.’