The Duke Only Needs My Child - Chapter 38

“Huff, huff… I can’t do it anymore… Let’s take it easy…”

“This isn’t human endurance…”

The knights of Delmark collapsed on the training ground, each groaning in pain.

But their pleas had no effect on Caligo.

“Stop whining! Anyone who collapses before me, who just arrived at the mansion yesterday, won’t be able to lift their head for the rest of the day.”

“But we just came back from hunting magical beasts yesterday too, you know?”

“Then we’re in a similar situation. Me, who slept uncomfortably for days in a place that’s not my home, and you, who went beast hunting while sleeping comfortably with your legs stretched out. Right?”

Caligo kicked his subordinates, telling them to get up. But instead of rising, the knights rolled on the ground to avoid his feet.

Caligo was considered one of the elite knights within the order. With great stamina, skill, and sociability, he was a candidate for the next captain.

However, the knights hoped that the day he became captain would never come.

The reason was his extremely harsh training regimen.

‘Please, someone stop the training…’

As the knights were rolling on the ground, desperately wishing, someone appeared at the entrance of the training ground. All eyes turned in that direction.

There stood Blair and the servants, holding baskets.

“Everyone seemed to be working hard, so I brought some snacks.”

The eyes of the knights, which had been almost lifeless, suddenly sparkled.

God had answered their prayers!

Even those who usually didn’t think highly of Blair saw her as an angel in this moment.

“If I’m interrupting, I can leave these here and you can eat later…”

“No! We want to eat now!”

“Wouldn’t it be polite to eat before it gets cold, given the effort you’ve made?”

The knights, who had been sprawled out like corpses, hurriedly got up and approached Blair and the servants.

Caligo kicked the behind of one subordinate approaching Blair, but the subordinates ignored him.

Finally, Caligo threw up his hands.

“Fine, it would be impolite to send the lady away without greeting her properly. Thirty minutes break from now.”

Cheers erupted among the knights.

The servants distributed snacks to them. It was baguettes filled with meat and vegetables, along with apple juice.

Blair personally delivered a snack to Caligo, who was watching his subordinates eat.

He received the snack and beamed like a child.

“Oh my, you’re personally taking care of us… I’m honored, my lady. Indeed, a house needs a mistress.”

“I’ve been hesitant to come here often, worried about interrupting training, but if I’d known everyone would be this happy, I should have done this sooner.”

“Those guys are just happy to get a break from training. Anyway, I’ll enjoy this.”

He too must have been hungry, as he immediately started eating the baguette.

Blair’s gaze, watching him from the side, turned cold, unlike moments before.

In truth, Blair hadn’t visited the training ground purely to take care of the knights.

This morning, as soon as Herdin left the bedroom, Blair had sent a letter to Mikhail asking him to investigate Caligo.

But she couldn’t just sit and wait when the person who might have killed her was right in front of her. Using the knights as an excuse, she had come with the intention of doing something.

“Oh, this is delicious. Throughout the journey down from the estate, I was craving freshly baked, warm bread… The bread at inns is like rocks. You’ve never tried it, have you, my lady?”

“The bread is as hard as rocks?”

“I’m telling you, it really is. You’ll probably visit the estate someday, try it then. You might lose all your—”

“…All my what?”

“Ah, I shouldn’t use such words in front of a noble lady… I apologize, I grew up roughly, so I don’t know much about these things…”

Caligo belatedly slapped his own mouth for his crude speech, then noticing a subordinate passing by, he nudged him.

“Go get another piece of bread.”

“Me?”

“Can’t you see I’m talking with the lady?”

The subordinate went to get the bread, grumbling. The fact that he could grumble was proof that Caligo was a good superior. It meant he allowed it.

Blair stared blankly at Caligo. The man who had killed her seemed too ordinary to be a murderer.

He was happy when someone took care of him, enjoyed delicious food, got along well with people, and didn’t even view her with prejudice or negativity.

That’s what made it scarier.

The fact that such a person could kill her.

“You’ve been with Delmark for a long time, haven’t you? Everyone seems to follow you well.”

“I’ve been here longer than those guys. I was about thirteen when I came to Delmark.”

“Where were you before that?”

If Caligo hadn’t killed her for personal reasons, he must have acted on someone else’s orders.

If it wasn’t his current lord behind it, there was a high chance it was someone he had connections with before.

“Before coming to Delmark…”

Just as Caligo began to speak, there was a presence at the entrance of the training ground.

Turning towards it, they saw Herdin entering.

“Your Excellency? What brings you here at this hour? Isn’t this a busy time for you?”

“Work finished early, so I came to spar, but it seems there’s a guest who arrived first.”

His gaze towards Blair and Caligo was strangely cold.

Blair looked at him with displeasure at his sudden appearance.

‘I could have guessed the mastermind if we had talked a bit more…’

But with Herdin’s arrival, that conversation couldn’t continue.

Moreover, seeing him was uncomfortable. After all, their argument had happened just this morning.

Especially, the moment she saw him, she was reminded of what she had said, making her want to avoid him even more.

‘I really… hate you…’

Why had she said such a thing? She wasn’t a child.

‘He’s not the kind of person to be hurt by such words anyway.’

It was the only phrase she knew to express her emotions, and she had blurted it out in anger…

Doesn’t it sound like something a six-year-old would say when upset?

Of course, she disliked him. Hated him.

But she disliked how that one phrase made her emotions seem infinitely lighter than the weight they held in her heart.

“I meant to just deliver some snacks and leave, but it seems I’ve taken up too much time. I’ll be going now.”

Blair left the training ground with her maids, almost as if fleeing from Herdin. His cold gaze followed her retreating figure.

Watching this, Caligo let out a small exclamation as if he had noticed something.

“Ah, you two had a fight?”

“…”

“They say marital quarrels are like cutting water with a knife.”

Instead of an answer, Herdin’s cold gaze turned towards him.

When he had returned to the mansion immediately after finishing the magical beast subjugation yesterday. Seeing Blair with Caligo had twisted his mood.

The gaze she couldn’t take off Caligo, the way she had asked about Caligo while in his arms, that letter she was sending to someone unknown, all of it.

The combination of all these things had led to this current situation.

“This is the good time, the good times.”

The oblivious Caligo patted Herdin’s arm.

But Herdin’s expression as he turned was icy. The faces of the knights watching Caligo turned pale. Only then did Caligo sense that something was wrong.

And that belated intuition proved to be exactly right.

Herdin gestured with his chin towards the back and ordered.

“Go get a sword.”

It was the start of a hellish sparring session.

* * *

“Is this little guy really the predator of the forest?”

Mellie looked curiously at Pipi, who was drinking milk. Lying on Blair’s lap and drinking milk, it looked just like a master.

Blair nodded and enthusiastically explained what she had read about martens in books.

“Yes. They hunt in groups and can even catch deer and roe deer bigger than themselves.”

“Wow. It looks so cute, but it’s scarier than it appears?”

“That’s why some nobles who enjoy hunting occasionally keep martens and take them along on hunts.”

“I’d better stay on this little one’s good side from now on. To avoid being hunted, you know.”

Blair laughed at Mellie’s joke. Since Blair had entrusted Pipi to her, the two had grown much closer. With Lina as well, of course.

As Blair was talking with Mellie about Pipi, they heard footsteps.

Blair turned around casually and brightened upon seeing Lina approaching.

Could there be news from the guild?

But the words that flowed from Lina’s mouth were just ordinary, everyday talk.

“Mellie. The butler says to come if you’re not busy.”

“Go ahead, Mellie.”

Disappointment flashed across Blair’s face as she sent Mellie off, but it quickly disappeared, replaced by a bitter smile.

‘I guess it takes a lot of time.’

It had been two weeks since she had requested information about Caligo from Mikhail.

And it had been two weeks since she had fought with Herdin.

Perhaps his interest had cooled due to their argument, as he no longer visited her bedroom at night.

They still had meals together as before, but that was it. There was hardly any conversation that could be called a dialogue, just meals eaten together.

That day. Why, suddenly, for what reason he had shown his twisted mood, she still didn’t know, but it was perhaps for the best.

After realizing the possibility that he might have killed her, it had become difficult to face him.

They would have to reconcile before having Asiel, but for now, she didn’t want to think about it anymore.

As Blair was playing with Pipi’s paws, trying to shake off thoughts of Herdin, a maid entered through the open door.

“My lady, Lady Lorelaine has arrived.”