Chapter 96
***
lody abruptly stood up from her seat, her face turning pale.
“That, that would be problematic!”
The Duke replied in a calm tone.
“You will still be staying in the sa capital, so if you wish, anyti…….”
It was ant to console lody, but it didn’t seem to have any effect. The girl vehently shook her head.
“But, but. You said that without , Miss Loretta wouldn’t be happy…… And.”
lody scrambled for reasons why she needed to stay in the mansion.
“……And.”
But nothing specific ca to mind. Moreover, lody herself realized that recently she hadn’t been making Loretta happy.
“…….”
Eventually, the girl fell silent.
“Of course, you’ll be able to maintain the sa relationship with Loretta as you have now. You can co and go from the mansion whenever you wish, and you can accompany her anywhere.”
“Anywhere…”
Upon hearing his words, lody thought of the theater, exhibitions, and even the royal palace and noble parties she had only read about in books.
Being able to accompany her to all those places was certainly a good thing. Most of the events in this novel occurred in such settings.
“It’s not that you have to decide right now. However, to acquire what you need, it might be necessary to act quickly.”
The Duke handed the docunts back to her, reminding her of the advice Butler Higgins had given her not long ago.
“If Miss lody plans to stay as she is now, then I believe so.”
Only now did she understand the true aning of his words.
It ant that lody needed to be adopted sowhere and establish her place properly.
“But I…”
Her mind was filled with various thoughts, but eventually, lody accepted the docunts.
***
When lody returned near her room, clutching the docunts, she was greeted by a sight she hadn’t seen in a long while.
Ronny was pacing anxiously in front of her room.
The mont she saw him, lody forgot her gloom and approached him with a smile.
“Master Ronny, are you looking for the restroom again?”
“Are you crazy?!”
Contrary to his denial, his lower body was, as usual, looking sowhat unstable and twisted today.
“It’s good if you’re not holding it in.”
“Don’t make
laugh; I’m not holding anything in.”
That was a relief to hear. Holding it in could cause illness.
lody had almost forgotten her gloom until a mont ago and cracked a slight smile. Seeing her expression, Ronny frowned.
“What’s this, I worried for nothing. You look perfectly fine.”
“…Huh?”
“You, you got scolded by father, didn’t you?”
lody blinked in confusion, not understanding what he ant.
“I wasn’t scolded. The Duke is not soone who scolds people anyway.”
“Hmph, you’d retract those words if you ever flunk a history test. Anyway, if that’s not the case, good.”
“Did you wait here because you were worried I might have been scolded?”
“Are you crazy?!”
He shouted and turned his head away. It wasn’t like Ronny to worry about every little thing for a friend.
Ronny thought about why he was there, looking for a proper excuse.
Fortunately, he had a reasonable explanation.
“That’s right…uh, yes. My brother asked
to.”
“Claude?”
Ronny nodded.
“He said to keep a good watch to ensure nothing bad happens to you.”
“Really? ‘That’ Claude?”
lody looked skeptical.
“Really! You have no idea how much my brother cares about you!”
Well, he must be thinking.
Probably about what innovative thod to use for his next prank.
“At least I understand that the two of you are concerned about .”
Though Ronny muttered, “Why include
in that,” he nodded, accepting, “As long as you understand.”
“If there’s nothing else, I’ll head in now.”
“Wait a minute.”
Ronny lightly grabbed lody’s clothes as she was about to head into her room.
“What’s that?”
He pointed at the docunts in her hand with his chin.
“It’s nothing.”
Seeing lody suddenly tense up, Ronny frowned and reached out his hand.
“Let
see.”
“Why do you want to?”
Because lody had visibly started to get flustered after Ronny pointed out the docunts.
lody hesitated, then spoke reluctantly, “I don’t want to show it to you.”
“But I showed you mine, didn’t I?”
“What?”
“When we t in the hallway last ti. I told you all about the docunt with the red mark. And now you won’t show
yours?”
lody was so flabbergasted she could only stare at him.
Indeed, such an incident had occurred. However, at that ti, she hadn’t even read the contents of the docunt, and it wasn’t lody who had asked him to explain it.
“And you still say we’re friends?!”
“Ugh.”
She found it hard to argue against the word “friend.” She had always been genuinely happy when Ronny ntioned it.
“Alright, fine. But don’t look too closely, okay?”
Reluctantly, lody handed over the docunt to him, anticipating his reaction.
‘He’s going to be thrilled.’
After all, if lody disappeared, he would have Loretta all to himself in the mansion.
“Got it.”
Ronny eagerly flipped through a few pages of the docunt. His previously furrowed brow gradually brightened as he read further, just as lody had predicted.
“What are you talking about? This is great news!”
He exclaid joyfully, closing the docunt with a slap.
In contrast, lody’s expression darkened significantly.
“Huh? Why the long face? Don’t tell
you can’t decide which family would be good? Want
to choose for you? I know them all.”
“That’s not it.”
lody quickly took the docunt back from him and hugged it tightly.
“Don’t worry, even if you beco a lady of another family, we’ll still be friends.”
Although that wasn’t exactly her concern, she was sowhat grateful for his reassurance.
“Plus, once you have a suitable family na, you can go anywhere with us. Where shall we go?”
“…”
“Right, we could have a blast at the New Year’s banquet hosted by His Majesty the Emperor! It’ll be fun! I’ll show you around the imperial garden. It’s beautiful.”
“That’s…”
“Are you worried that children from other families might make fun of you? Don’t worry. Once you have a proper na, nobody will be able to do that.”
lody only hesitated, muttering “But still,” so Ronny tapped his chest with his fist.
“What’s there to worry about? You have a friend with the na of Baldwin. Didn’t I promise you last ti? I said I would protect you.”
“But before.”
I like it here.
lody wanted to say that, but sohow she found herself choked up.
“…No.”
Turning around with those words, Ronny hastily grabbed lody.
“Hey!”
Accidentally grabbing her, he noticed lody looking at him with resentnt through her shaking hair.
Normally, Ronny would have shouted, “How dare you look at
with those eyes!”
Even if they were close, the difference in their social status was clear.
“Uh… What?”
But Ronny, far from being angry, simply let out a confused murmur and released his grip on lody.
Freed from him, lody quickly entered her room and slamd the door shut with a thud.
Ronny blinked at the closed door and murmured quietly to himself.
“…Why are you crying?”
As expected, the wooden door offered him no response.
***
Hugging the docunts, lody slid down against the door and began to cry.
“Haah, heuk.”
Hugging the thick docunts sohow brought a rush of sadness, making tears inevitable.
She felt as if the Duke of Baldwin wanted her out of the house just as much as the thickness of these docunts suggested.
“Ugh.”
There were still so many things she needed to do for Loretta.
Being unable to stay put or move forward was too much to bear right now.
Would her crying be heard outside? Soon, Ronny’s voice could be heard from the other side of the door, calling, “Hey, hey? lody!”
While she appreciated his concern, lody didn’t want to respond to him right now.
To be so happy about her leaving, Ronny was being too much of a bully, even for him.
lody hugged the docunts tighter and cried louder.
Knock, knock.
Amidst her loud crying, a soft knocking sound was heard.
There were no words to identify the knocker, but lody was sure it was Ronny.
Feeling stubborn, she decided not to open the door.
‘I’ll never open it.’
Though that’s what she thought, when the knocking sounded again, she instinctively lifted her head.
‘That knocking sound is…’
It sounded familiar to her ears.
A gentle, pretty knocking sound as if tiptoeing around her heart.
Knock, knock.
The sa sound ca again. And this ti,
“lody…”
A small voice accompanied it. lody hastily grabbed the doorknob and pulled it open.
Standing in front of the door, Loretta looked incredibly surprised to see lody.
Only then did lody realize she hadn’t wiped her tears before opening the door and hurriedly tried to do so with her sleeve.
But before she could, Loretta rushed forward and hugged lody tightly.
“…!”
lody buried her face in the golden locks that tickled her cheeks.
Soon, small hands began to pat her back gently.
lody’s halted tears started flowing once again.
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