‘…So sleepy.’

I yawned loudly while inspecting the precious treasures I had gathered in my bag. If I can’t leave tomorrow morning, it will be my third failure.

‘I didn’t know leaving home would be this difficult.’

My gaze fell upon the cookies placed on top of the bag.

Unconsciously, my fingers wriggled, trying to grab a cookie.

‘No, no, I have to save them.’

In fact, I had just tried to secretly poke Delma to get one more cookie.

However, Delma, unaware that I hadn’t been able to eat cookies at all for the past two days, shook her head adamantly, saying it was absolutely not allowed.

‘If Miss Sophia catches you, you’ll be in trouble!’

Sophia was kind, but strict when it came to rules. It was obvious that asking Sophia for one more cookie wouldn’t work at all.

And taking bread from meals would be too conspicuous. Sophia and Delma might have gotten suspicious.

Suppressing my desire to eat the cookies, I tightly locked the bag.

‘Come to think of it, I accidentally spoke casually to the Duke.’

It really wasn’t on purpose. It was because I had been trying hard to change the way I talk, following Sophia’s words.

‘You have to speak casually to us. The young lady is now the only daughter of the ducal family.’

After hearing those words, I had always consciously tried to change the way I spoke.

That day, I was so flustered upon encountering the Duke that I forgot I should speak to him respectfully.

‘But he didn’t seem to mind.’

Was it because he gave me a cookie? Since he didn’t say anything about it, I just continued speaking casually.

‘…Is it because of the cookie?’

In the original story, it was said that the Duke disliked sweets, but seeing this, it seemed he liked cookies.

‘Chocolate cookies are delicious, after all.’

Having carefully packed cookies in case of unexpected situations, I fell into thought again.

‘When can I leave the house to avoid the Duke?’

I kept running into him every morning because I couldn’t know his exact schedule. After pondering, I finally jumped up from my seat.

‘I should ask someone else.’

“Young Lady, where are you going?”

Sophia, who was organizing toys next to me, asked. I asked Sophia,

“Sophia, about the Duke. Do you know what time he leaves tomorrow?”

“The Duke? Well…”

Sophia thought for a moment and shrugged.

“I’m not sure about that either. Why?”

Before I could answer, Sophia continued as if she understood.

“Are you going to see the Duke off tomorrow too?”

I was startled by Sophia’s words. How did she know? As if my expression revealed everything, Sophia chuckled and said,

“People have been saying that the Young Lady goes out early in the morning to see the Duke off. They say you come out at the exact time to greet him, knowing when he leaves.”

It was very unfair that such rumors had spread.

Matching the Duke’s departure time was truly not my intention. To Sophia’s eyes, I must have seemed admirable, not knowing that.

“How did you think of that? The Duke must have been pleased too.”

At Sophia’s words, I recalled the Duke’s reaction again.

‘That Duke?’

I carefully retraced my memory. The image of the Duke left in my memory seemed more like…

‘He was smirking?’

I pouted my lips.

Of course, unlike the Duke, other people visibly liked me whenever they met me.

From my perspective, it was a bit burdensome.

Anyway, I couldn’t tell this to Sophia.

A deep sigh escaped me unconsciously.

‘Running away from home is really hard.’

* * *

On a dark night with only deep shadows and no moonlight, Cailius had already laid in bed early.

He paid attention to the unfamiliar footsteps coming from the hallway.

Not one, but two. A slightly peculiar point was that one was skilled, while the other seemed to have no intention of concealing their presence at all.

The door opened silently. Waiting for the intruder, Cailius immediately moved from his spot as soon as he sensed the murderous intent.

“Damn it!”

The intruder retreated back in surprise for a moment. Regaining his composure, he aimed for the Duke’s neck. However, the swiftly swung dagger only cut through the air.

Cailius, who had momentarily stepped back to avoid the blade, examined him with an expressionless gaze. A masked face, brown eyes. It was someone he had never seen before.

Cailius aimed his sword not at the intruder’s neck, but at his arm.

Naturally expecting the neck to be targeted, the intruder failed to dodge. In an instant, red streaks flowed from his right arm.

It wasn’t a deep cut. The assassin briefly faltered and then immediately lunged at Cailius.

Cailius also adjusted his grip on the sword to block the trajectory of the blade aiming for his neck.

At the same time as deflecting it, another presence was felt from the door. It belonged to the remaining one of the two presences he had initially sensed.

Too clumsy to be called an assassin. No murderous intent was even felt.

It was right to be cautious, but the level was too insignificant. Cailius didn’t even turn his gaze towards the door.

He twisted the blade, aiming for the assassin’s neck. Simultaneously, the one who had been making clumsy movements earlier approached the doorway.

Was this person the assassin’s accomplice? Or an intruder sent from elsewhere?

“Gasp!”

A youthful voice was heard, and Cailius swiftly turned his head.

‘Why is that child…’

Not missing the opportunity, the assassin’s blade accurately aimed for his heart.

“No!”

The child let out a scream.

* * *

In the middle of the night, the ducal residence was brightly lit. People who heard the commotion rushed upstairs to the room.

While his attention was diverted by the child, an opening was created. The assassin cleverly chose to seize the first and last given opportunity and fled.

Gazing out the dark window where the intruder had disappeared, Cailius commanded in a chilling tone,

“Chase him.”

The knights who received his order immediately dashed out of the room.

“After the poison, now an assassin?”

Philen, who entered the room, felt a sense of being out of his mind. Moreover, his lord had let the assassin escape. Was the assassin that skilled?

Amidst the confusion, Philen suddenly thought of one possibility. He quietly asked Cailius in a low voice,

“My lord, you intentionally let the assassin go, right? To find out who is behind this.”

Cailius’ eyebrows twitched very briefly.

“…Yes.”

‘I knew it.’

There was no way his lord would have let the assassin escape otherwise. Philen immediately understood.

At that moment, Cailius bent down. In his hands, the child who had entered the room at some point was dangling.

“Ah!”

At the surprised youthful voice, Cailius slightly loosened his grip on the child. Still, he didn’t completely let go of the child.

It was because he had seen the child trying to touch the dagger that had fallen on the floor.

‘What kind of trouble is the child trying to cause again?’

Narrowing his eyes, Cailius pulled the child towards him. The child struggled to break free from his grasp.

“Ah, okay! I won’t touch it!”

Philen hurriedly placed the dagger far away from the child.

“Young Lady, it’s very dangerous to carelessly touch that!”

“I know too! But it’s okay if I only hold the handle.”

“Still, it’s a dangerous object for the Young Lady. Especially since that blade is coated with poison.”

“Poison?”

“Yes, a very, very dangerous poison. If it seeps into a wound, you see. The wound won’t heal and the flesh will rot while you’re still alive…”

“Philen, aren’t you busy?”

Cailius lightly interrupted. Meeting the chilling gaze, Philen tactfully closed his mouth and pretended to be busy cleaning up the surroundings.

Leaving Philen behind, Cailius questioned the child.

“Who said you could come in here?”

“Me? Well, that’s because…”

As if thinking of an excuse, the child dragged out the words. The colder his expression became, the slower the child’s response.

Just then, an elderly physician rushed into the room, panting heavily.

“Duke, I’m here!”

His attention was momentarily diverted. During that brief moment, the child swiftly broke free from his grasp.

Cailius chased after the child with narrowed eyes.

Clearly, while the assassin was passing through the corridor, the child was also in the corridor.

It was fortunate that the assassin was focused solely on the target. If his attention had been directed towards that child even for a moment, the child’s life would have been in danger.

Thinking that far, Cailius felt his anger rising to the tip of his head. He felt a chilling sensation in his fingertips.

‘What was the child doing alone in the corridor that night?’

He intended to question the child immediately.

At that moment, the child, upon seeing Sophia who had come after hearing the news, swiftly ran to her.

“Young Lady!”

“Sophia!”

The child, embraced in Sophia’s arms, tightly grasped her collar. The small shoulders were trembling.

Seeing that, the words he had uttered were awkwardly cut off. The words he had intended to tell the child to bring to him lingered in his mouth.

…The child had acted as if nothing had happened.

Normally, it would have been right to question the child.

The fact that the child was in front of his room at that time was a situation worthy of suspicion.

“The child…”

“Shall I bring the Young Lady?”

A servant beside him quickly asked. However, the blocked words wouldn’t easily come out.

A sigh escaped involuntarily. Staring intently at the child in Sophia’s arms, Cailius reluctantly uttered,

“No, tell them to take the child to the room.”

* * *

That night, I couldn’t sleep at all.

To Sophia and Delma’s eyes, it must have seemed like I was frightened. They stayed by my side all night, repeatedly reassuring me that it was alright.

“It’s okay, Young Lady. It’s okay now.”

But I was really fine. The assassin hadn’t threatened me, and there was no direct harm done to me.

It was a flaw that my mouth kept trembling and words wouldn’t come out, despite my will, maybe because this young body was startled.

Unable to sleep, I thought all night about the scene I had witnessed.

Actually, the reason I had ventured into the corridor alone on that dark night was because of my plan to leave the house.

Failing every morning, I thought I might as well try leaving at night.

However, while passing through the corridor, I spotted an unfamiliar figure.

Naturally assuming it was one of the estate’s employees, I waited for him to finish his errand and return, but then I noticed him drawing a sword from his bosom.

I had secretly followed that suspicious person to confirm my suspicions.

If my guess was correct, he was probably…

‘Targeting the Duke.’

The place where the suspicious person stopped was in front of the Duke’s room.

‘After the poison, now an assassin?’

I even overheard what Philen had said. The scene I had witnessed some time ago resurfaced in my mind.

The scene where the Duke had killed a servant a few days ago.

‘The one the Duke killed that time wasn’t a servant.’

I had been thinking too simplistically. I had assumed that the villain Duke had killed someone on a whim because of his mood.

‘The one the Duke killed that day wasn’t a servant either.’

I recalled an incident from the original story.

‘The one the Duke had killed at that time was…’

Someone lightly knocked on the door. Soon, the door opened and Philen appeared.

“The lord has summoned the Young Lady.”

* * *

Sophia and Delma were reluctant to let me go, but they had no choice. They couldn’t disobey the Duke’s order.

I would have to face him at some point anyway. I calmly organized my thoughts and followed Philen to the room where the Duke was.

It was a different room from the one the Duke usually stayed in. Perhaps he had intentionally changed rooms since the assassin had infiltrated once.

As soon as I entered the room, I felt a chill running down my spine.

Just then, the Duke lifted his gaze.

“Sit there.”

The Duke’s sharp gaze softened a little. At the same time, the chilling air that had made my whole body shiver seemed to subside.

I walked to the sofa the Duke pointed to with hesitant steps.

“So.”

The Duke approached me.

“Why were you alone in the corridor yesterday?”

The inevitable question had come. I unconsciously gulped.