Chapter 13

The atmosphere in the conference room was as rigid as ever.

The cause was clear.

The Duke of Paeraton.

After almost a dozen days, he had a daunting atmosphere.

‘Oh, it was like that before, but it’s even more so today.’

‘Why are you so scary when you haven’t been here in a while?’

The nobles were sweating and slowly looking at him.

“I can’t narrow down the differences. The achievements from the war will be reviewed once again by each division and discussed later.”

Other aristocrats were delighted and evoked a jubilant atmosphere as if they had been waiting.

“Oh, my gosh, it’s already time. I was supposed to buy my daughter an èclair, but I was too busy.”

(Èclair- An èclair is an oblong pastry made with choux dough filled with a cream and topped with chocolate icing.)

“Oh, you’re worried about everything. Why don’t you ask the footman to do that?”

“He doesn’t know anything. Would it be the same for her if the Footman bought it or if her father bought it himself?”

“The count is right. If I personally buy something to eat, she’ll be so happy. I’m buying it on purpose, not sending a footman.”

“I do that too when I go home. How can I go back empty-handed when she wriggles and watches my hands?”

“Yes! My granddaughter gives me a kiss saying thank you for buying her an eclair! How cute it is!”

Hahaha!

The merry-talking aristocrats flinched.

They could feel the stinging gaze. A sharp gaze that can never be avoided

They stopped laughing awkwardly and glanced sideways.

‘Hiik’

The emotionless face of the Duke of Paeraton was staring at them to death.

*Sha-sha-shak, the prickly nobles turned their heads fast enough to make a sound.

‘C, come to think of it, the Duke of Paeraton didn’t like small talk!’

Last time, I could see him freezing the conference room, saying, “I hope you didn’t gather here to talk freely.”

‘I forgot about that workaholic pace after a long time!’

“L, l, let’s go ahead with the meeting.”

I tried to settle the situation in a hurry, but it was too late.

“Viscount Tercho.”

At the deep, low voice calling for him, Viscount Tercho shivered, his shoulders shaking.

Tercho looked at the Duke of Paeraton, forcing him to turn around.

“Where is it?”

“Yes….?”

‘Where is what? Where is my grave?’

I couldn’t even get my daughter an èclair.

When he swallowed his saliva in anticipation of death, the Duke of Paeraton’s lips opened again.

“The dessert shop.”

“To my daughter……Huh?!”

Unexpected words made Tercho’s own eyes open wide.

Are you burying that èclair store?’

It can’t be.

It was not that Tercho himself was a big-time or a sly politician.

However, he had enough importance to attend the selection meeting as a senior central official.

In other words, it meant that he was very familiar with the conversations between aristocrats.

The Duke of Paeraton is not asking for dessert now.

It’s not appropriate to talk about buying sweets for your daughter while you are discussing the state affairs.

‘No, it’s not like a face-to-face meeting.  I told the Duke that I could only buy èclairs in a dessert shop… Yes, this must be a threat to my life!’

It was certain.

The Duke of Paeraton wouldn’t really be curious about a dessert shop.

‘The Duke of Paeraton, this scary man….…’

Other aristocrats might have thought the same thing, but they looked at the Duke of Paeraton blankly.

However, when there are several people gathered, there is at least one person who can’t understand the atmosphere.

“Huh! I guess the Duke of Paeraton is interested in desserts, too? You don’t look like that at all!”

Everyone was shocked and stared at Marquis Schuev.

‘Look at him!’

‘Did you think before saying  it?’

Sure enough, the Duke of Paeraton looked at Marquis Schuev with a fierce glare.

“Well, let’s start the meeting again. The next item on the agenda is an official letter from the temple.”

Count Crawfel, who decided that the Duke would really kill him, hurried the meeting.

At that time, an aide came to the Duke of Paeraton and whispered something in his ear.

In an instant, the Duke of Paeraton’s eyes changed.

Everyone was embarrassed at the sight of the duke leaving the conference room without looking back.

“D, Duke of Paeraton! Where are you going? We’ve been talking about the agenda for a long time—”

“Something urgent has come up.”

“But it’s been a long time since you’ve been here! We have to wrap it up today—”

“When was it mandatory for me to attend the screening meeting?”

The Duke of Paeraton shot at those who had stopped him.

Those who encountered the red eyes faltered and closed their mouths.

It wasn’t until the Duke of Paeraton left the conference room that the nobles spoke.

“What the hell is going on?….”

“Didn’t he leave suddenly last time?”

“I don’t think it’s serious. There may be information that only the Duke of Paeraton knows. He’s not the kind of person who’s going to leave without a reason.”

“Yes, we should check the international situation and see if there’s anything going on in territories.”

When he left the conference room one step later than the Duke of Paeraton, his chief aide, Viscount Erkel, sighed deeply after hearing the roar of the nobles.

‘It’s not much. So relax.’

He gazed at the back of the master quickly moving away.

‘The last time he suddenly went out it’s because he heard that my lady was cleaning the windows.’

At that time, the aide, Viscount Erkel never imagined that the Duke of Paeraton would run out of the conference room.

It was just an insignificant message from the contact of the helpless maids.

‘The reason you haven’t come out for a while is because the youngest lady said she would be stuck with you.’

Although he seemed to stay at home all the time, the Duke of Paeraton, the greatest contributor to the discussion related to non-communist activities, could not be left out.

So he put it off and put it off, and it was only today that he attended.

“Today, I heard that the Young lady of the Marquis of Tarenka has come.”

No matter how loud you say it to me, the nobles in there won’t be able to hear.

“The Marquis Tarenka must have gone crazy.”

The Duke of Paeraton murmured lowly.

“You thought I would do nothing if you let her come.”

His voice was as fierce as a beast.

Looking next to him, Viscount Erkel swallowed dry saliva.

‘Even if the Marquis Tarenka is his brother-in-law, he doesn’t know him that well.’

It’s a miscalculation to think that she’ll be treated as a child.

‘Well, you think the Duke wouldn’t know, so you did that.’

How dare you cheat using the Duke’s name.

It was the perfect way to kill yourself.

‘But somehow….’

Viscount Erkel gave the Duke a sidelong glance.

‘I think you’re more angry at the coldness of the youngest lady than that.’

The Duke of Paeraton is different from ordinary humans.

I shouldn’t assume he’s going to get angry because Marquis Tarenka neglected his child, treated her coldly, and made her work.

He may be angry that the Marquis ignored the direct line of Paeraton, but he may not be angry that the Marquis made his child suffer.

‘You don’t even think it’s abuse.’

No emotional feeling is necessary for the Paeraton bloodline.

In order to blend into human society, they learn more than normal nobles, but it is not strange for their family.

‘All three masters are older than the youngest lady’

Remembering how desolate the father-son relationship was.

Erkel casually said, “It looks good.”

Only when he felt the eyes of the Duke of Paeraton pointed toward him did he say, oh, no.

However, I have seen too many different aspects of my lord, who was like a monster without any emotion.

‘I opened my mouth by myself.’

“The way Your Excellency is cherishing and pampering…..”

“It is Paeraton’s bloodline. It’s natural to keep and protect them until they reach adulthood.”

He seemed to speak like he was taking care of a family treasure rather than caring for his daughter.

“It’s not–.”

When he hurriedly opened his mouth, he closed his mouth again.

“You look like an ordinary father in front of the lady…..”

Will the Duke understand this?

Do you even know what a normal dad is?

I am her father, and it is natural that I look like a father–maybe the Duke will respond like that.

“Your Majesty, isn’t the youngest lady cute and lovely?”

The Duke of Paeraton stopped walking. The red eyes pointed straight at the aide, Erkel.

Unlike his distinctively warm eye color, his gaze was neither warm nor cold.

Eyes that are so insensitive that no warmth of emotion can be found.

‘Ah.’

The Viscount of Erkel realized.

‘You don’t know.’

He doesn’t know the sense of being cute or lovely.

How Viscount Erkel felt sorry for this strong and great man.

And the youngest lady, who’s clearly different from the Duke’s harsh lineage.

“You’re being loud.”

“I made a slip of the tongue.”

The Duke of Paeraton, who was looking at him, walked again.

“Well, I’m not blaming you for asking that. There are many strange things about the youngest.”

“Why do you think so?”

He asked with a curious face.

‘If your Excellency judges that the youngest lady is not of the Paeraton lineage…..’

What will happen to the youngest lady?

“She falls so easily. And she cries.”

“It can’t be helped because she has no magic.”

As I spoke, I knew that this answer was not a defense for the youngest lady.

A descendant from the direct line of Paeraton without magic has never existed.

“It’s not just that. She said she missed me, and she kissed me on the cheek, and last time she fell asleep on my lap.”

What?

The conversation was progressing in a different direction from what we’re talking about.

Erkel, who was as serious as he could be, looked up at the Duke of Paeraton with a dumbfounded face.

‘Your face looks so happy today.’

He still looked expressionless, but somehow prideful.

“What’s more strange is me. When I look at my youngest child…….. my body reacts abnormally.”

“What?”

“At first, I thought it was a mistake, but I’m sure from my observations. Other times, I’m fine, but only when the youngest is next to me.”

I wondered if I had forgotten some part of the conversation, but this forced me to get serious.

It was an unprecedented event for the Duke to have something wrong with his body.

‘I don’t think it’s Marquis Tarenka’s evil plot.’

I heard that something like a curse using blood exists in black magic.

“Specifically, what physical abnormality is it?”

“My heart….”

(T/N: omg you both are naive :>>)

“Your heart?”

“Tickling. Like there’s a bug in it.”

“……..”

I was the only one who was serious.

No, it’s not a bug, it’s more than that.

‘What? Do you mean your lovely daughter?’

“Yeah, well, your heart beats fast and your chest feels tight?”

“Yeah, I feel like somethings stuck in my chest and I want to keep on pinching…….”

Although the expression was a bit awkward, Erkel looked at the Duke of Paeraton with a little anticipation.

‘I want to keep this image.’

Isn’t it obvious what this means?

However, the words of the duke completely betrayed his expectations.

“I feel frustrated because I want to just watch her eat.”

Viscount Erkel looked at his lord with cloudy eyes.

Oh, my lord.

“And when we eat together I feel like I want to do more than eating, and sometimes my hands move arbitrarily.”

The great pride of the Empire.

“When I see her, I want to bite her, and I want to break a wall.”

A great and noble living legend.

“It’s a serious illness physically and mentally.”

Ugh.

‘What living legend? He’s just a living idiot.’

Is our Duke still distant?

‘But this is a big step forward.’

He has never felt that something was cute and lovely before, so he thinks it’s an abnormal condition.

‘Maybe one day you’ll find out the name of the abnormal symptoms.’

Viscount Erkel gave a pleased smile.

The two had arrived in front of the carriage.

It was that moment when Viscount Erkel was about to climb up the wagon.

“Ah.”

The Duke of Paeraton stopped him.

“You should find out about the dessert shop that the nobles said earlier.”

“Yes? Even if I came to know now, it would have been sold out. If you think about the conversation…..”

The Duke of Paeraton did not answer. He just stared at him instead.

My body was shaken by the overwhelming gaze.

‘I’ve just forgotten who you are because of the conversation.’

Is this really the Duke of Paeraton?

‘You’ve been acting like a maiden lately, so I don’t know.’

“I’m sorry. I’ll find out right away. Do you want me to buy any spare dessert?”

“Yeah. She likes sweets.”

“Okay—”

“No, no. Don’t buy it.”

“What?”

“I’ll buy it later.”

“Y-Your Excellency yourself?”

The Duke of Paeraton goes to a dessert shop and buys èclairs?

It was too scary to be called a joke.

At that time, something entered the mind of Erkel.

“She’s so happy when I buy something to eat.”

“When I get home, she wiggles and watches my hands.”

“My granddaughter gives me a kiss saying thank you for buying me an èclair.”

Is that what you’re talking about?!

“While you’re at it, you should find other famous dessert shops.”

“Yes…..”

“Please include a pudding shop.”

“Yes…..”

“Oh, and a toy store that a child might like.”

“Yes…..”

“If you can think of more, let me know by correspondence. I have to go quickly.”

Are you saying this is not the end?!

The Duke of Paeraton was a great man while the Viscount of Erkel was a thorough man.

“Yes…..”

The door closed and the carriage left without looking back.

Tears welled up from the eyes of Viscount Erkel. Then a tear trickled down.

****

“You’re the talkative person who stole my daughter’s clothes.”

Everyone stopped moving when the voice of the Duke of Paeraton rang out in the noisy room.

He was familiar with the sight of the moment, but he was relaxed.

‘Why is the Duke home already?’

Didn’t you say you were coming home late tonight and had to go to the palace and deal with the issues?

Princess Paeraton looked at him with trembling eyes.

But there was someone who approached the Duke of Paeraton before his daughter.

“Uncle! I’m Clatier!”

Clatier runs with a pretty face and a big smile.

No one seemed to turn down her wide open arms as if asking for a hug.

But.

“Why are you carrying such rags?”

The Duke of Paeraton passed by as if Clatier did not exist.

Clatier’s eyes were wide open in shock.

‘Are you ignoring me—’

Ignoring it is originally impossible, but it is the Duke of Pieraton, not anyone else.

but.

‘—and hugging her…?’

She’s so lowly compared to me.

An illegitimate child who is not even the daughter of the Duke of Paeraton

It was something that could never happen.