TREV 15

Chapter : 15

He couldn’t be sure anymore whether this was truly the right thing to do.

Was it really necessary for him to go this far for Patricia?

Or was he, perhaps, digging his own grave?

In the fleeting instant he let the words slip from his mouth, countless thoughts surged through his mind.

“I asked him to.”

Yet Lawrence went through with it and spoke anyway.

Was it because Patricia’s pale violet eyes, clinging desperately to his hand as she pleaded with him, still lingered in his memory?

Or because of her voice, trembling with fear?

Or perhaps the image of her waving her hand and thanking him?

“Pat—Patricia.”

“…….”

“You mean… you asked Patricia to be your partner?”

At Lawrence’s words, Duke Herarilla stammered, clearly thrown into confusion.

“Yes.”

If confusion were a competition, Lawrence would not have lost to the duke, but he merely nodded slowly.

“…Why? Why would the young duke do such a thing?”

“…….”

At the question, Lawrence lowered his gaze for a moment.

Even he himself did not yet understand why he had said such a thing.

After everything Patricia had done to him—how foolish would one have to be to hand her an opportunity like that?

But the look in Patricia’s eyes today had been different. It wasn’t the deranged expression she usually wore.

The Patricia he had seen over their last few meetings had undeniably changed.

“Because I need to.”

In any case, he had a duty to confirm the truth.

Whether Patricia’s claim—that she did not know the whereabouts of his mother’s photograph—was true or false.

“I needed a partner.”

He needed to find out whether she had truly changed, or whether she was merely lying.

“Your Grace, how did the negotiations go?”

The aide who had been waiting asked Duke Herarilla as he emerged from the Gerhardt estate.

But the duke did not answer. He looked as though his mind were elsewhere.

“Your Grace?”

“We must—must return to the estate at once.”

With that, Duke Herarilla hurriedly climbed into his carriage.

As though he couldn’t afford even a moment’s delay.

“I’d never heard anything like that before. So what did the girl say?”

“….”

“What was Patricia’s answer?”

“She said she would think about it.”

“Think?”

“It must have been too sudden. We agreed that I would visit again next week to hear her answer.”

As Lawrence finished speaking, he called Simon in.

“As we don’t have much time, I’ll get straight to the point.”

He flipped through the documents Simon had brought, checking something, before speaking again.

“I’m sorry, but our hotel has already secured a sufficient supply of high-quality wine. We have no need for another supplier.”

“Haaah…”

That made it the fifth sigh already.

Watching the duke silently, the aide finally couldn’t hold back any longer.

“Your Grace, did the deal fall through?”

“…It’s not decided yet.”

“Pardon?”

“I said it’s not decided yet.”

A small crease formed on the aide’s forehead.

They had just finished a business meeting, and yet he claimed it was still undecided?

Though Lawrence Gerhardt was young, he was not known to retract his words once spoken.

And yet—undecided?

“If things go well, we might aim for something far greater than mere wine.”

“…Your Grace?”

“Summon Patricia to my room.”

The moment the carriage stopped, Duke Herarilla opened the door himself and stepped down.

It had been a long time since he’d looked this rushed.

“Immediately.”

“Yes, at once.”

Seeing the duke’s barely contained anger, the aide finally realized it.

The deal had not gone through—and the duke had yet to accept that fact.

He pitied Lady Patricia, who would have to bear the duke’s wrath, but he had no desire to take that anger upon himself.

He quickly passed along the duke’s order to the butler.

Knock, knock.

“Milady.”

At the sound of the knock, my shoulders flinched on their own.

Why was the butler here?

I was certain I had returned safely without being discovered by Duke Herarilla.

I took a small breath and opened the door with a composed expression.

“His Grace is looking for you.”

At those words, the expression I had forced onto my face crumpled instantly.

“My father is looking for me?”

“Yes. I believe you should go now.”

“Why?”

But the butler only shook his head slightly, as if he had nothing more to say.

This was how he always reacted when Duke Herarilla was angry.

“Did he seem upset?”

“I’m not sure.”

“Haa…”

The butler shook his head again.

Not sure, my foot.

Anyone who had ever seen Duke Herarilla angry would know how insincere that answer was.

The duke was incapable of hiding his anger.

When enraged, his face turned as red as a ripe tomato, and when he grew more agitated, even his nostrils flared.

For the butler to claim he didn’t know meant only one thing—he didn’t want to get involved.

Perhaps he had decided there was no need to answer Patricia sincerely.

“All right. I’ll go now.”

“Very well.”

With a nod, the butler closed the door.

Click.

Just as I let out the sigh I’d been holding back, the door burst open again.

“Milady! What did the butler say?”

Emma rushed in, wringing her hands, her face filled with worry.

“The duke knows everything, doesn’t he? Right?”

She looked on the verge of tears as she grabbed my wrist.

She hadn’t even knocked—and now she was grabbing me without permission.

Emma seemed completely unaware of how rude she was being.

“I told you—why did you have to go to the Gerhardt estate?”

Right.

If even I, a lady of the house, was this frightened, how much worse must it be for a mere maid like Emma?

I tried to be generous and overlook her rudeness.

“No matter what you do, the young Duke Gerhardt won’t spare you even a shred of interest! If I were him, I would’ve—”

“Emma.”

I had tried to be understanding, but if I let her go on any longer, she might start insulting him to my face.

“Calm down.”

“Sniff… h-hic…”

Emma finally broke into tears.

“I doubt we were discovered.”

If I had run away alone, perhaps—but Lawrence had helped me.

Lawrence, the strongest character in this novel.

If he had helped me, there was no way the duke had found out.

“Then why is His Grace calling for you right after you came back from the Gerhardt estate?!”

“That’s a good question.”

“Sniff, sniff!”

Emma’s crying grew louder.

She looked deeply aggrieved.

“Emma. I need to go see my father now. Enough with the self-pity.”

She must have felt it was unfair that she might get caught up in this because of me.

“You seem eager to pin everything on me. But it was your job to make sure I could leave the estate without Father knowing. You knew his schedule.”

I knew perfectly well that blaming each other now would solve nothing.

“You should be grateful I’m not punishing you right now. What’s so unfair that you’re bawling like this?”

I knew what Emma was afraid of.

But in the end, I was the one going to be scolded.

My own emotions were in turmoil too.

I wasn’t kind enough in this moment to comfort her first, so my words came out harsher than intended.

“Even if Father did find out, you know nothing.”

“…Pardon?”

“My leaving the estate. You knew nothing. I did it all on my own. If he asks you, play dumb.”

“…Milady?”

“What—were you planning to answer that way anyway?”

Only then did Emma’s tears slowly stop.

“You got the answer you wanted. Now leave.”

Emma glanced at me a few times, hesitated, then rushed out of the room.

She moved quickly, as though afraid I might change my mind.

“Haa…”

A small sigh escaped me at Emma’s astonishing selfishness.

“Tsk.”

I hadn’t shown Emma kindness because I pitied her tears.

She was simply one of the few people I could still use in this estate—and if it were discovered that she had helped me, everyone who had taken my money would be exposed.

And if that happened, none of them would walk away unscathed.

If they were beaten and cast out because of me, I wouldn’t feel very good about it.

Damn it.

That was the only reason I had shown Emma mercy.

Knock, knock.

“Come in.”

At Duke Herarilla’s permission, a servant opened the door.

“Whew…”

I took a short breath and stepped into the study.

“You’re late.”

“I came as soon as I received the message from the butler.”

I looked at my father’s face and frowned slightly.

It wasn’t particularly red, and his nostrils weren’t flaring.

He didn’t look angry.

Though his gaze—slowly scanning me from head to toe—was unsettling.

“Why did you call for me?”

Aside from that, nothing seemed seriously wrong.

It appeared he didn’t know that I had gone to the Gerhardt estate.

“…You’re hiding something from me, aren’t you?”

“…Pardon?”

Hiding something?

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“…….”

He finally withdrew the piercing gaze that had been fixed on me.