Chapter 12
While I stood by praising Veloa, the Duke quickly pushed forward with the work.
“Dean.”
“Yes, Your Excellency.”
At the Duke’s call, the red-haired man standing nearby bowed his head.
“Handle it thoroughly.”
“Yes. I’ll capture them all by today.”
“And don’t forget what I mentioned last time.”
“Yes, sir!”
The man called Dean had eyes burning with determination.
He looked ready to uproot everything this time.
I guess Preston really was a thorn in their side.
Seeing how fired up he already was.
‘Well, works for me.’
Quick action, quick happiness, right?
When I smiled sweetly at Dean, he frowned and left the room.
Does he hate me?
‘Understandable.’
Given my bad reputation, it wasn’t surprising if people disliked me.
Ah, just the thought of getting rid of that Preston guy makes me feel so relieved.
‘But… what was that thing he mentioned last time?’
I was quietly wondering about it when—
“Annette, I’d like to speak with Miss Tekins for a moment.”
Suddenly, the attention shifted to me.
“Hm.”
While wrapping a bandage around my finger, Annette cleared her throat again.
“You do know this is my room, right, Your Excellency?”
“I’m well aware.”
A curt reply that bordered on rude. But Annette didn’t say more and simply stood up.
“Make it short, please.”
Before closing the door, Annette gave me a sidelong glance.
“Good luck.”
And that was it. With a click, the door shut.
“Let’s have a little talk.”
Now I was left alone with Duke Leandro.
Gasp!
“Miss Tekins.”
Creeeak.
The Duke sat down in Annette’s chair, crossing one long leg over the other.
Maybe it was because his legs were so long?
Even just sitting there, he radiated an intimidating pressure.
‘Just like last night.’
I forced my gaze away and put on a strained smile.
“I feel like this will be a long conversation…”
“…I feel like we already talked plenty…”
“Miss Ermia Tekins.”
His already heavy voice became even heavier.
There was no trace of playfulness.
I shuddered slightly.
“You’re well aware how suspicious you look, aren’t you?”
I dropped my gaze to the floor but… yeah, I knew.
The Duke was probably staring at me right now with sharp, predator-like eyes.
“Do you have nothing to say about this?”
It sounded like a suggestion, but it was essentially an order.
Tell me everything you know.
“…”
I stayed silent. Honestly, I was suspicious enough to warrant this.
I hadn’t even been at the Duke’s estate for a full day, yet already there was a scene with a maid, an embezzling accountant was caught, and even my troublesome uncle got dealt with.
‘Too fast.’
All of this should’ve played out slowly over at least several months.
But it had all happened in just a few hours.
From the Duke’s perspective, it was only natural to be suspicious of me.
‘What should I say…’
I rolled my eyes. Duke Leandro wasn’t someone I could fool with a sloppy lie.
He’d see right through it.
So I had no choice but to talk.
“To be honest…”
A past I wanted to hide, something I wanted to bury deep.
“…Well, as you probably already know, I… um… I was briefly in prison because of the mining fraud case. Really, just for a short time.”
It wasn’t even something I directly did.
But why was this so embarrassing?
I kept lowering my head.
“Of course… there were accomplices involved. But during that time, I never once saw Milton.”
My voice kept cutting off as I felt like I was exposing my dirty laundry.
Fraud. Accomplices. Prison.
Things far from what normal people dealt with.
And what I was about to say next was even more humiliating.
“When the verdict was about to come down…”
I squeezed my eyes shut.
“The Count of Tekins… sold me out.”
My amazing half-brother trash had found a way to make money even while I was on trial, taking the fall for his crimes.
“Hey, I came up with a genius business idea. Wanna guess what it is?”
“W-what is it, brother…?”
“It’s you. You’re the business.”
That half-brother trash had smiled slyly.
“I can sell you for a huge price. I’m a genius, right?”
He sold me to the other accomplices so they could pin everything on me.
The accomplices all claimed they’d been tricked by me during their trials.
And I… unable to refute any of it, stayed silent.
My sentence grew exponentially.
If the victims hadn’t received enough compensation…
If I hadn’t been the daughter of the Tekins family…
…If my half-brother hadn’t messed up again and needed me for something else…
I would still be rotting in prison.
“Milton was the first one to take me to trial.”
I forced my stubborn lips open and continued.
“When I first saw him, he didn’t seem like the kind of person who would initiate a lawsuit against me.”
My half-brother had sold me for a ridiculous price.
A price ordinary people could never afford.
“So, I figured there had to be someone pulling strings behind the scenes. When I returned to the Tekins estate later… I heard Preston’s name and became certain.”
That… was a lie.
I couldn’t tell the whole, unfiltered truth.
“If that’s the case…”
After my long, long explanation, the Duke finally opened his mouth.
“Why didn’t you mention Preston’s name from the beginning?”
“Would you have believed me?”
I raised my head and met Duke Leandro’s gaze.
“If I had brought up Preston’s name from the start… would Your Excellency have believed me?”
The Duke fell silent. I lowered my gaze again.
“I just did everything in the way that seemed most likely to earn Your Excellency’s trust.”
I bit my lip after finishing my sentence.
I’d shown all the cards I dared to reveal.
‘Please… let it go here.’
I glanced at the Duke. He silently drummed his fingers on the armrest.
As the tapping sound repeated and the silence dragged on, my mouth grew dry.
“…Understood.”
Creeeak—the chair slid back.
“Just remember… I’m not taking my eyes off you.”
Step, step.
Heavy footsteps, then the sound of the door opening and closing.
Is he gone?
He’s gone!
“Thank goodness…”
Finally, I felt like I could breathe again. Actually, I’d been holding my breath without realizing.
‘I survived.’
I panted and stared at the tightly closed door.
‘Somehow… I made it through. Now to go back to Veloa and… huh?’
“Ah! Veloa!”
I jumped to my feet. I needed to check her wounds.
“Annette!”
I threw the door open and spotted Annette leaning against the hallway wall, casually sipping… water?
No… wait.
That’s not tea… that’s alcohol?
“Looks like your conversation’s over. Just call me Annette. So, what’s the matter?”
“How’s Veloa? Was she badly hurt?”
At my question, Annette paused, then took another sip of… her drink.
No, seriously. That’s alcohol, right?
“Whew… The young lady is fine. Got a bit burned, but thanks to quick emergency treatment, she won’t even have a scar. However…”
Annette continued slowly.
“Her overall condition didn’t look great, so we ran a few tests. Results will come out in a few days.”
“I see…”
“But you do realize your fingers are in worse shape, right?”
Annette shifted her gaze to my fingers, wrapped tightly in bandages.
