Chapter 12
Bert returned when evening came. Seeing Adi, who had stubbornly stood in the same spot the entire time, he told her to go rest. Noticing Adi looking at Yuls, Bert said, “Your Grace.”
Yuls lifted his head. He glanced at Adi once and said, “You may go.” Adi bowed her head and left the room. Bert pressed his face against the doorway, listening to the sound of Adi’s departure. Only when her footsteps could no longer be heard did Bert pull away.
“Your Grace.”
“What is it?”
“How was the result this time?”
Bert didn’t have high hopes as he asked. For ten years, the answer had always been similar, so it would likely be the same now.
“Well, she said it shouldn’t take long.”
“That witch always says that.”
At Bert’s words, Yuls added, “About a week.”
“…Pardon?”
“She says I’ll know in a week. Apparently, it’s already by my side.”
“By your side?”
“That’s why I’m checking the list of gifts from the Marchioness.”
“What kind of thing is it?”
“Probably an object. Those are the only things that have come into my possession recently.”
Yuls said. But it wasn’t clear. If he had known this would happen, he should have asked the witch what the curse-breaking item looked like.
She had said to come if he needed help. Would it be strange to visit her again tomorrow? But wouldn’t that be more accurate?
“How did your task go?”
“It seems they’re not ready to make a move yet.”
“It’s not time yet. Above all, they don’t trust me.”
“If we’re talking about trust, they certainly trust Your Grace. They just don’t trust your appearance.”
“Isn’t it amateur to think I don’t understand the world just because my body is like this?”
“But people place importance on appearances. That’s why you’re trying to break the curse, isn’t it?”
At Bert’s words, one of Yuls’ eyes twitched. It wasn’t wrong. People do prioritize appearances. That’s probably why nobles put so much effort into their appearance. Yuls Woodpecker had realized this belatedly. He didn’t know it right after becoming a young lord.
But as time passed and he showed no changes, rumors began to spread. That Woodpecker was cursed.
A curse of eternal youth.
To investigate this, he had visited countless places and met numerous people. They couldn’t believe that Duke Woodpecker was a child, so Bert acted as his front.
Unless they were high-ranking nobles or had connections, people didn’t know what Woodpecker looked like. Woodpecker himself had stopped attending social gatherings after realizing his body wasn’t growing.
However.
‘The servant’s clothes don’t suit you, Your Grace.’
Only Dalkatir’s sole witch had seen through everything.
‘It’s true that a witch made the Duke like this, but it’s not a curse.’
No, this is a curse.
‘That’s because Your Grace is…’
Recalling the situation, Yuls placed his fingers on his temple. His head hurt somewhere, but he couldn’t pinpoint exactly where, so he rubbed it all over.
‘Not human.’
It’s definitely a curse.
* * *
Returning to her room, Adi opened the closed window. Lights began to flicker on one by one outside. Turning from the window, Adi surveyed her room, dimly lit by the outdoor light. Nothing had changed. After glancing at the portrait of Adrian and herself by the bedside, she gathered her chemise and headed to the bathroom.
She turned on the water and began undressing. Standing under the warm water, Adi brushed back her wet hair.
Something felt strange. The Palesa she usually saw was a mess. It was full of fierce, sweaty idiots who picked fights over everything, making her feel fortunate that she was here instead of Adrian. Adrian’s sensitive nature would have made it hard to live in such a place.
But the Palesa she saw today, the late spring Palesa, was different somehow. It was as if color had suddenly burst into a world full of grayscale. She felt like she’d never seen such green before. It was completely different from Grimaldi’s deep green. So while her heart fluttered…
“It feels unpleasant.”
It didn’t feel right at all. She scrubbed his skin hard under the falling water, hoping the inexplicable emotions would wash away with it.
After washing, Adi put on her chemise as usual and strapped on her leather armor. She needed to change clothes and head to the Duke’s residence.
Roughly drying her wet hair with a towel and leaving it on her head, Adi came out and quickly moved to the bed, sensing an unfamiliar presence. She grabbed the dagger hidden under the bed and opened the wardrobe. Quickly pulling out clothes to change into, she put on pants and tucked the dagger into her waistband.
There was a knock at the door. While there were people who might come looking for her, no one would linger at his door for long. Adi approached the door and opened it just enough to peek through the gap.
“Adrian?”
“Who is it?”
It was a stranger.
“Roy Gaillard, from the First Squad of the Second Knight Division.”
“What brings you here?”
“I have something to say. Won’t you open the door?”
“Show me your cameo and notebook.”
Adi said. The man grumbled about Adi being suspicious but willingly showed his notebook and removed the cameo fixing her cravat. Adi opened the door.
“You wear armor even in your quarters?”
“What’s it to you?”
“It’s nothing, but isn’t it uncomfortable? I came because I heard you had no afternoon schedule.”
Saying this, the man walked in uninvited and sat on a chair. Commenting on the dark room and the lack of proper lighting, he took out his own matches and lit the candle on the desk.
Adi opened the notebook. Roy reattached his cameo to his cravat. As the man grumbled about the lack of mirrors, Adi said,
“Roy Gaillard, First Squad of the Second Knight Division.”
“That’s right.”
“Why are you here?”
Roy crossed his legs. Confident in his appearance, he rested his chin on his hand, narrowed his eyes, and stated his demand as if it were obvious.
“Give me your job.”
“What?”
“It was supposed to be my job originally. But it went to you because you came. It also took time for me to recover.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Duke Woodpecker only takes new recruits as escorts. In other words, I, as a new recruit, should have been escorting the Duke. But because you were suddenly assigned, I missed that opportunity. You don’t like that job anyway, right?”
“I do like it.”
“What?”
“It’s quiet and uneventful, which makes it good for escorting.”
Adi said. Roy muttered, “That can’t be.”
Come to think of it, before escorting the Duke, a servant had come to tell her what not to do and so on. The conditions were picky, but in reality, it wasn’t that difficult once she got used to it. What she didn’t understand was…
“Rather than talking about whether I like it or not, shouldn’t you explain why you need to do this job?”
“Because it’s Duke Woodpecker.”
“Is that all?”
“What else do you need?”
“Why is that a reason?”
“…This is why territorial nobles are…”
Roy clicked his tongue and said,
“You have many options even if you leave here. You could work for your family right away. But I don’t have many options. If I don’t find a suitable lord by thirty, I’ll probably leave here, do some menial job, and become a guard when I’m older. So for me, this is an opportunity to meet high-ranking nobles or royalty.”
“You don’t necessarily need to find a suitable lord among royalty or high-ranking nobles, do you?”
“You don’t need to do this job either, right?”
Roy didn’t seem to understand why Adi, a territorial noble from a count’s family, was here at all. That might be true for the real Adrian. But Adrina was different.
“That’s not for me to decide.”
Besides, hadn’t Spencer Grimaldi told her to get close to Woodpecker?
“If you want to do this escort job, talk to the Duke directly.”
“Do you think I can talk to him?”
“Do you think I can?”
“Adi Grimaldi.”
Roy said, standing up. He approached Adi and looked down at him. It was an attitude as if trying to intimidate him with physical presence. But Adi looked at Roy unfazed. Roy, who seemed to be clenching his jaw, soon sighed and said,
“I’m really desperate.”
“If you’re desperate, beg.”
“What?”
“Your way of asking is shitty. If you’re desperate, get on your knees and beg me to change it.”
“…This isn’t some kind of confession of sins.”
“I don’t care about your job, Roy. Whatever you want, whatever lord you desire, it’s none of my business.”
To begin with, something seemed odd.
“If I change it here, you’ll probably use me as an excuse, saying I asked to change because I didn’t like it. Do you think Palesa Palace would leave such an escort knight alone?”
It was strange that Duke Woodpecker only took new knights as escorts, but this man was strange too. If he was looking for a lord, wouldn’t a royal be better than Duke Woodpecker? Like a prince. Many royals would come to Palesa when summer arrived.
“I just need to stay put.”
Adi said, lifting her gaze and then lowering her eyes, as if looking down on Roy.
“If you’re going to do something that harms me, you should grovel like a dog and beg, not hold your head high. What kind of behavior is that?”
Why Woodpecker when he could just wait for them? If it’s simply about finding a lord, there would always be opportunities. Was there a reason it had to be Woodpecker?
“Are you a lower noble who doesn’t know etiquette?”
Just as she had heard from her father, had someone bribed Roy Gaillard too?
“…You bastard.”
“I am Palesa Palace’s bastard, indeed.”
Adi said, lifting his chin.
