Chapter 10

“Sir.”

“What is it?”

“You smell like blood.”

At Rosaria’s words, Duke Valencia furrowed his brows.

‘Huh? Did I say something wrong?’

“It’s the smell of insects.”

“Insects?”

“Seems the smell’s still lingering, even though I washed up.”

Clicking his tongue, the duke muttered, “Even their smell is persistent, like the vermin they are.”

‘Did he squash a mosquito or something?’

Could killing a few bugs really leave such a strong scent of blood?

If it were any other smell, maybe. But Rosaria knew the smell of blood very well.

As she tilted her head in confusion, Duke Valencia pulled her closer and adjusted her posture.

She had been squirming during the conversation, and her posture had become slightly crooked.

“Now that you’re up, why don’t we eat together?”

“Yes, I’ll go tell them to prepare a meal for the young lady right away.”

“No, I’m fine…”

She had come running to the duke in fear of the head, without thinking much. But now that she was facing the idea of eating with him, she felt a bit overwhelmed.

She was about to refuse when—

Grrrgle—

Right on cue, her stomach roared like thunder.

‘Ugh, you idiot! Why don’t you just put up a sign saying you’re starving?!’

Rosaria’s face turned red as everyone heard the loud growl.

“Emma. Did you follow my orders and feed her properly last night?”

“I was afraid she’d get sick from eating too much too quickly, so I gave her soup and some fresh fruit.”

“And what else? That’s far too meager a meal compared to what I had in mind.”

“I wanted to give her more as well. But…”

“But?”

“The young lady said she hadn’t eaten for a week before coming here. And she was also sick for three days, so I couldn’t prepare too heavy a meal.”

“She didn’t eat for a whole week?”

“Yes.”

“Why didn’t you eat for so long?”

The duke turned to Rosaria and asked directly. She averted her gaze.

But there was a problem.

‘I told Emma the exact reason why I hadn’t eaten… just yesterday!’

Even if she kept her mouth shut now, the duke would find out sooner or later.

Rosaria had no choice but to whisper in a small voice.

“Because I… um…”

“What?”

“Because I couldn’t earn enough money…”

Her voice sank so low it practically disappeared into the floor.

She was afraid the duke would see her as useless.

Emma had told her she didn’t need to earn money, but not eating for a week basically meant being useless for a week.

‘He’ll think I’m pathetic.’

He’d probably point fingers and call her a waste.

That was only natural.

Rosaria began to shift, preparing to climb down from the duke’s lap.

But Duke Valencia didn’t let her go.

Instead—

“Simon.”

“Yes, Your Grace.”

“Tell Arthur to wipe out every last insect we caught yesterday. If there’s even a drop of their blood left, kill them all.”

“Yes, understood.”

It was a completely unexpected response.

Rosaria looked up at the duke in confusion.

“Why are you suddenly killing bugs?”

“They committed a sin, so they must pay for it.”

“The bugs?”

“Just existing makes them guilty. Do you want to live with bugs?”

“No!”

The idea of bedbugs or fleas crawling on her made her shudder. Rosaria shook her head violently in disgust, and the duke gently stroked her hair.

“Good. That’s the right answer.”

“But…”

“What is it?”

“I’m not good at making money… are you really okay with that?”

Rosaria asked cautiously. Duke Valencia scoffed.

“Did you really just say ‘money’ in front of me?”

“Isn’t having more money always better?”

Even Madame had tons of money and still said she needed more.

Rosaria assumed Duke Valencia wouldn’t be any different.

“More is always good, sure. But I’m not so poor that I need to rely on a little kid like you.”

“…”

“If I needed your help that badly, I’d rather catch a bear and make it perform tricks for money.”

He said it flatly.

“So what you need to focus on right now isn’t earning money, but learning how to hold a spoon and fork so you can chew your meat properly.”

Just then, the servants arrived, carrying a tray with Rosaria’s food.

“Gasp!”

As soon as they entered the dining room, they froze for a second at the unbelievable sight.

A child was sitting on the duke’s lap. A silver-haired child—exactly the kind Duke Valencia always claimed to loathe enough to tear apart.

He had constantly emphasized never to hire silver-haired servants, saying they reminded him of the Oricsa family.

Moreover, due to the grim rumors that always followed Duke Valencia, the servants were not just surprised—they were utterly pale with shock.

Who is that child, sitting so casually on His Grace’s lap?

It felt like reading a horror novel.

‘Now that I think of it, didn’t Sir Simon mumble something about dark sorcery in the middle of the night? Could that child be the one?’

A child capable of casting spells on none other than Duke Valencia? They must possess terrifying power.

Because Simon and Emma had forgotten to inform the other servants in all the chaos, the misunderstanding only deepened.

The servants hesitated to enter the dining room. But they were professionals.

Hiding their trembling hands, they managed to place the food on the table without incident.

The duke looked down at the extra food with slight dissatisfaction and forcibly placed a spoon in Rosaria’s hand.

She held the spoon awkwardly. She could feel the heavy, cold texture unique to real silver.

‘It really does feel like actual silver…’

She gripped the spoon tighter. Something she hadn’t noticed yesterday now caught her eye.

‘If I sell just this one spoon, I could buy a mountain of white bread!’

Gulp.

She swallowed dryly without realizing.

There was white bread right in front of her, but perhaps because she still felt like she might have to leave this place at any moment…

The spoon was more tempting than the bread.

‘Even the plate sparkles! It’s so pretty!’

Once she noticed one thing, she began to notice everything else.

Rosaria stared at the table with intense interest.

Everything sparkled.

As expected, a duke’s house was full of money.

Duke Valencia mistook Rosaria’s sparkling eyes as a sign of extreme hunger.

“Hey.”

“What is it?”

“Can I eat this?”

After looking over the expensive dishes for a long time, the item Rosaria finally picked was the white bread.

It was steaming, freshly baked.

“Oh. Is it not okay?”

When the duke didn’t answer right away, Rosaria withdrew her hand, looking downcast.

It was a somewhat simple breakfast, but the table included food meant for the duke as well.

Even though there were much more delicious-looking options than plain bread, Rosaria, despite her hunger, had chosen the most unremarkable item.

Duke Valencia sighed inwardly.

“I never said you couldn’t.”

He picked up a piece of bread himself and handed it to her.

“Looks delicious.”

Rosaria was used to eating hard, cold, brown bread.

Of course it didn’t taste good.

And even then, she was grateful just to have it, dipping the crumbly thing into watery soup.

That was just the other day. So much had changed in just one day, she thought, as she tore the bread in half.

‘This one probably doesn’t even need soup. It’ll taste good on its own.’

The way the bread split in half was pure art.

Feeling her heart race, Rosaria took a bite.

And then…

“It’s insanely good!”

she exclaimed with genuine awe.

She was moved.

The soft texture that melted on her tongue couldn’t even be compared to what she’d eaten before.

‘What I ate before wasn’t bread. Calling it bread is an insult!’

It felt like her entire 8-year life had just been invalidated.

Without noticing how quiet the room had become, Rosaria scarfed down the bread as if it would vanish.

A piece of bread as big as her face disappeared in an instant.

As she reached out for another, she finally realized how quiet it had gotten.

‘Huh? What’s going on…?’

Rosaria froze in place and slowly rolled her eyes to look around.

Everyone was staring at her.