Chapter 5

Episode 5

TL: Jasmine

Chloe’s expression hardened. The cold early winter wind dug through her thin clothes.

“If the Viscount had heard that, what would have happened? If I were the Viscount, I would have blown the necks of the soldiers who insulted my daughter with a dirty mouth”

The Duke did not stop talking even after confirming in front of his eyes that Chloe’s face was pale.

“War is no joke. It is no longer a tool to satisfy Young lady’s petty compassion. It is natural that the heads of those who witnessed a bullet hole in the forehead of a fellow soldier they were talking to just now are halfinsane. Should I give another example?”

“It’s enough now.”

Chloe shook her head because her mouth became dry, but the Duke easily ignored her words.

“A woman walks through the forest like this at dawn when the darkness is still there. If anything dangerous happens, who should be responsible for it?”

Chloe barely opened her trembling lips. Chloe wasn’t such a fool that never thought about it.

“This forest has been Verdier’s private property even before I was born. It means that it is a safe place where no unauthorized person can enter.”

“Ha ha. Safe?”

The duke laughed at her aloud this time. His voice was like a cold winter breeze. The sky was turning purple behind the duke.

“Yes! It’s safe….!”

“I wonder how you could say that.”

As soon as the duke took away her cane, Chloe’s eyes opened with astonishment. What is he doing right now? As his shadow, one head bigger than her, covered her, instinctive fear flooded in.

“W, what are you doing?”

The duke struck the ground with the cane taken from her. Chloe instinctively lowered her gaze and was surprised as if she would faint at the sound of an animal. Her cane was piercing exactly in the head of a large snake.

The snake approached her with it’s head raised, camouflaged it’s body with the color of fallen leaves.

The attacked animal twisted its body with its mouth wide open. She could see sharp teeth in that open mouth, and it was clear that something,

Duk, duk

Fell.

Chloe was frightened and stepped back and eventually fell on the floor. The snake, whose body was pierced by her cane, was still moving it’s body with all it’s might just before losing it’s breath. The sound of the snake’s body sweeping the dry leaves was very vivid.

“Ugh…”

Chloe tried to get up, but she couldn’t. The cane was stuck on the floor stabbing the snake, and perhaps because of surprise, there was no strength in her body.

“H… Help me.”

Chloe managed to open her mouth to the Duke, who was watching her with his arms folded.

“You said it wasn’t dangerous.”

Chloe bit her lip as he gave back what she had said. No matter how high-ranking he was, this kind of treatment was not right.

“Then… Please return my cane.”

“Young lady doesn’t have hands? The snake is already dead.”

As she swallowed her fear, glanced with cloudy eyes, the snake stopped wriggling and drooped. However, it was simply impossible for Chloe to take out her cane, Even if she crawls and barely grabs her cane, how will she deal with the dead body? Just looking at the eyes of the snake, with it’s stretched tongue in its mouth, gave her goosebumps on the back and made her uncomfortable. Chloe touched the soil floor with both hands and stood up with all her might. The duke, who approached late, took out her cane and shook it once to blow the dead body.

“It’s broken.”

There was a crack in the middle of the cane due to hard force applied on it.

“You’ll be able to use it until you get back to the castle.”

“I refuse.”

Chloe turned her pale face away from the duke who gave her the broken cane.

“…Can you excuse me now? As the Duke said, I think should stop taking dangerous walks.”

“Seeing that you know how to be sarcastic, you have a temper. It’s unexpected because you look different. It’s fresh.”

Chloe looked at him with a smirk, and unknowingly let out a cry and vomited out.

“…I want to give it back to the Duke.”

“What does it mean?”

“It means that you can’t judge the content of the book just by looking at the cover.”

Her ribs are almost hurting because her heart was pounding hard. White breath spread one after another from the Duke’s red lips. The sky in the east, which had been colored with deep purple, was now gradually brightening. The duke looked at her with a smile.

“Can I understand the heart of the Viscount, who made his sick daughter wander in front of me?” “Duke.”

“He complimented you so much that his mouth went dry. If it weren’t for the leg, you would have done well if he had sent you to the palace. With tears in his eyes.”

Chloe rarely felt pure malice toward others as she watched the duke saying those words in a cold voice. It was the first time that she felt that she hated a person since she saw a maid secretly touching her sick mother’s belongings in her childhood.

“Raise your skirt.”

“What?”

“Look at the condition of your legs. Is it hereditary?”

She knows that her opponent is the duke and commander of the royal army, but that doesn’t mean he can be rude to her in this way. Attacking the opponent’s weakness means that he does not have the basic human principle. Chloe’s voice, who barely opened her mouth, trembled thinly.

“Why…. are you being so rude to me?”

Damian smiled brightly as he approached her one step closer.

“To ask a question and mistake it for an attack is a paranoid delusion.”

Chloe’s face was now pale and bloodless. Chloe really hated him. Her hands were sweating, and her heart was beating so violently that it couldn’t beat any more strongly.

“Emotionally, you’re going to lose. Likewise, you can’t win a fight if you don’t respond emotionally to an order.”

Chloe opened her watery eyes wide and whispered,

“I’m not a war soldier, duke.”

As he stepped on the fallen leaves, he bowed his head and made eye contact with her. It was the first time that the bright sun behind him felt so unwelcomed. Chloe wanted to hide herself in the dark if she could, She didn’t want to show an expression of barely holding back tears.

“The day a person is born, life itself becomes a war. Especially for people like you.”

His eyes, as smooth and cold as a grain of glass, slowly glided up and down her body again. She had the illusion that the snake that died earlier revived and wrapped around her body. Yes. This person was a golden snake. Chloe grabbed the skirt tightly so as not to fall.

“Even so, there is no reason for the Duke to interfere, in my life.”

“Interfere. I’m giving you advice, but seeing that you can’t thank me, you must have been very twisted.”

She had the illusion that the color of the Duke’s eyes seemed to be more mysterious. Even in the morning, his perfectly arranged blonde hair, aristocratic white skin, and clear lips were beautiful like works of art, but he was like a devil with the face of an angel.

“Thank you for your valuable advice to this humble hostess.”

“Now that I see it, your sarcasm is at a high level.”

Instead of expressing that he was offended, the Duke showed his white teeth and laughed. Looking at him, Chloe took a deep breath.

“Don’t you know that I am not a subject enough to be sarcastic to the Duke?”

“If you’re trying to disparage yourself, write it in your diary.”

“Duke, it’s preposterous but can I tell you two things?”

Damian looked at her as if he was having fun and nodded.

“Tell me, Chloe.”

“First of all, please return my cane that the Duke damaged to a new one.”

“I should have let the snake bite you.”

“I don’t think a cane is a more powerful weapon than a sword.”

Chloe straightened her back and gave a clear look to the long sword worn by the duke around his waist. The duke’s eyes shone and moistened his lips with his tongue.

“As soon as I go back to the barracks, I will call in a carpenter to make the finest cane.”

“No. What I want to receive is a cane made of birch trees that grow in Tisse territory.”

“What?”

The Duke looked at her with her eyebrows raised strangely. Chloe was a little startled by the strong energy that came out in an instant, but soon clenched her fist. Her palms were wet with tension and sweat.

“Don’t you know there’s a war going on?”

The eyes of the Duke, who pronounced each syllable precisely, were proving that he was very uncomfortable right now.

“Can’t you make it and send it to me after the war?”

The duke stopped talking and quietly faced her. Chloe calmed down once again and continued her small but clear voice.

“Last night, the Duke made it clear. You will definitely win the war and come back. You will send the soldiers home, and that includes the duke himself.”

“So what?”

“Come back from victory, and send me the cane after returning to the Tisse territory.”

In the morning sun, the badge in the duke’s military uniform shone. Chloe felt the Duke’s hand lightly grabbing her chin. Damian whispered to her, who was trembling with fear but tried hard to hide it.

“Should I give you something more amazing than

that?”

“No, that’s enough.”

“I think Verdier, who is mad at me, would probably want something more.”

“…..What are you talking about?”

“I dared to get involved with one of his

daughters, so I decided to go ahead and fight

at the war front. He is gambling on this

because he is sure that I could win this war

and safely return.”

Chloe couldn’t take it anymore. After turning

her head and getting out of his touch, she

limped and stepped aside a little.