Chapter 8.2

I was afraid this room wasn’t like a regular guest room.

Usually, secret passages were in the family member’s room.

“I guess they were anticipating it. Or did the Grand Duke go through here and go to different places?”

I wasn’t sure, but this secret passage was a pretty good place for me. Of course it was very dark, as if no one had used it, and there was no fire, but I’m used to this environment.

When I was being abused in the Imperial Palace, knights often locked me in a closet and laughed at me. I got used to the dark.

At first, I cried and cried since I was scared of the dark, but now I am less afraid after being killed hundreds of times during my nine lives.

The light will come after the darkness anyway.

And thus, I walked proudly into it.

“It’s like a cave or something.”

It was close to the cave I saw in the book.

The passageway was made up of arches.

The place was high enough to hop over and still out of reach.

“I could run away with my mom.”

It was so strange. I promised to stay here, to hang in there, but my instincts found a place to escape.

But I always failed. Maybe it’s because I’ve never been successful in my life.

Before I knew it, I walked through a secret passage and memorized this path.

I could feel the wind from here.

The passage was eventually connected to the exit, so I walked and followed the wind.

But it wasn’t long before I stopped in front of a room I didn’t know where.

I heard the Grand Duke’s voice. I could also hear the voices of others, but his voice stopped me.

“Is it…”

I couldn’t hear well, so I pressed myself close to the small hole between the bricks.

Then, a murmur of someone could be heard clearly.

“Father, I don’t approve of my new sibling.”

“Even if you don’t want her, I approve of her.”

“Father!”

“And it’s none of your business about the kid, Lexit.”

“But, Your Highness, I don’t think this is a good situation.”

As soon as Lexit stopped talking bad about me, another person’s voice was heard one after another. The old man’s voice that sounded as harsh as iron was unusually annoying to my ears.

“Even the vassals are against my decision.”

“Isn’t she the one who came here when she wasn’t supposed to? Your Highness, I think we need to thoroughly verify her identity.”

“That’s what I think, Father.”

With those words, there was a sudden murmur of many people.

Only then did I realize that beyond this wall was no ordinary room.

‘Is this room where they conduct their meetings?’

I tried not to eavesdrop, but somehow it felt like I am the one they are talking about, so I didn’t leave.

In the meantime, the Grand Duke did not say anything. Because of that, people around him became more senile.

How much time passed like that? At the end of the day, the Grand Duke voiced his thoughts.

“So…”

The room, which had been noisy, was enveloped with tension, and became momentarily quiet.

“I’ve been staying put lately, and it’s creeping up. Do I have to kill someone to shut you up?”

“…Your Highness, that’s not it.”

“Now you are not talking? Does it look like I’m joking?”

“No, it’s not that…!”

“Then try talking back to me.”

“Pardon?”

“I don’t know since when I started spitting like this. I’m telling you to make fun of that lightly. Though I’ll listen to you with utmost generosity.”

At the moment, a pure chill spread all the way here where I stood.

“Ugh… it’s cold.”

It was quite different from what Allen used to smell.

It was cold, but the energy was as sharp as an icicle.

The energy was unbearable for any man.

“I’m strong, so I’m fine, but…”

It was clear that some people in that room couldn’t endure it.

There was not a single sound that resounded in the room for a long time after what happened.

None refuted the Grand Duke’s words, and didn’t even breathe.

“So you can’t talk to me because I ordered you to?”

Only after hearing that did someone finally open their mouth.

“Well, then I’ll speak as a representative.”

It was the old man whose voice sounded as harsh as metal.

Perhaps it’s worth talking about. He cleared his throat a few times and went on slowly.

“Speak, Marquis.”

“As a representative of the House, I disagree with this. I don’t think it’s right to let someone in who you don’t even know.”

There was no answer from the Grand Duke.

Suddenly, a little boy’s voice piped up.

“I agree with you, Father. We have to kick her out, especially since you have a kid we don’t even know- and a girl, too. If she’s some kind of spy…”

It was then when I heard a thump.

“You’re doing something stupid huh, Lexit.”