Chapter 3
***
“First.”
The man spoke to Celine in a low voice.
A nervous Celine couldn’t open her mouth, or maybe she covered her mouth and only tears trickled down.
“You with blond hair. Get off.”
It was a somewhat coercive voice. The car that had been running came to a squealing halt. The man in the passenger seat got out of the car and kindly opened the door, and Celine bounced out of the car and rolled onto the street. I watched the scene with a bemused look on my face.
‘What am I supposed to do? How could my plan work so easily?’
Originally, the plan was to pretend to be a sacrifice, ‘Take me instead of my sister. I’m the second daughter, I’m weak, my father especially cares about me, and I can’t go out often!’ I also prepared a touching line ‘I am worth more as a hostage, please take me!’
While I was contemplating briefly, the man casually climbed into the seat next to me and spoke.
“You don’t seem to be worried about your sister. It’s strange that you don’t even cry.”
“…… By all accounts, I’m in a more difficult situation than her, so why do I have to worry about her?”
The car departed and he looked at me in silence for a while. After driving for a long time, the car came to a street with gaslit lamps.
As if the dark curtain was removed by the light of the street lamps, the man’s figure appeared clearly and his hair, dyed by the pitch black night, shone with the color of moonlight.
He was a man who was as beautiful as art and had a marvelous appearance, but was somehow empty. The man smiled at me with mesmerizing eyes. His good appearance and charming voice seemed to sway my reason.
Now I remembered it clearly. The description of the man who imprisoned Celine in the original story, a beautiful face with unusual silver hair and cloudy blue eyes.
It was definitely Noah Rothsilde, the Colonel and Duke of the enemy Progen Empire.
“Who are you?”
When I pretended not to know, the corner of the man’s long, beautiful eyes gently folded. His eyes, which seemed to be lacking somewhat, seemed to see through me to the depths of my soul.
“The one who came to save you.”
“Save me……”
I tilted my head at the man’s unfathomable reply.
He’s here to help me? The man who led the abduction of Celine in the original story dumped her in the street without any worries, as if it was me he was targeting from the beginning. What the hell is this situation?
“You are going to be kidnapped today. Come with me.”
If this was not abduction, what was it? First of all, it was true that I was on track with my plan, but the more I interacted with this man, the more question marks there were in my head. He said a word that only he could understand, so I asked him again,
“What do you mean that you are kidnapping me and saving me at the same time?”
A somewhat confused look crossed his face and the man chuckled, touching his lips.
His frosty hair swayed gently.
‘What is so funny?’
I was supposed to be kidnapped by the Duke’s subordinates, but the Duke himself came directly to me, and on top of that, he took me instead of Celine. I wasn’t sure why it was going differently than the original story, and the Duke was also different.
“They were already following me. So I threw the blond hair one as bait.”
The Duke let out an exclamation as he looked at the back of the car.
One of the cars blocked the front of the car we were in, probably following us on a shortcut. We were stuck in the middle of the car that was following us from behind and the car in front of us.
The driver looked back at the Duke as if to ask what he was going to do, but he still had a strange, buoyant look on his face.
“That’s why Bentner’s cars aren’t very good.”
“Did you bring me a car from the neighborhood?”
“That’s the fastest thing that came out now.”
What the hell are these two men talking about in this situation? Two soldiers and Lieutenant Colonel Grenendall got out of the car in front of us and surrounded the Duke’s car, pointing rifles at us.
“Lieutenant. As soon as I get out of the car, I want you to pull into a side street.”
Duke Rothsilde whispered to the driver and took me out of the car. He grabbed me by the shoulders and put a pistol to my head.
At the same time, the driver called the lieutenant, made a slipping sound and drove off to a side street, but Grenendall did not give the order to fire.
“I can’t believe you put a gun to her head. What are you doing? Colonel Rothsilde.”
Grenendall’s cold voice was heard.
The feeling of the pistol against my head was horrifying. I don’t like this creepy back hug.
“I don’t really use it, sorry.”
Noah whispered quietly into my ear as if to reassure me, then he straightened his back and smiled at Jeffery Grenendall.
“Colonel, I think it would be better to get her to safety. So we’ll be going now.”
After a brief word of business, NoaH Rothsilde took me with him and started to run somewhere. From the opposite direction we were running, armed men suddenly jumped out and pointed guns at Jeffery Grenendall and his soldiers.
They seemed to be the Duke’s men. (Duke Noah Rothsilde=ML)
‘Jeffrey Grenendall is not going to die, is he? He’s the male protagonist.’
“Let’s ride this.”
He took me to a place where a seemingly expensive luxury car was parked.
I followed him into the black car. I was a little surprised because it was a car with an internal combustion engine. As far as I know, it was so expensive that not everyone could afford it. The cars I saw from time to time were steam-powered.
“Hold on tight.”
With a squeak and a slide, the car took off and started running at a great speed. Of course, it was not as fast as modern cars, but the speed I could feel was like riding in a mass-produced car, perhaps because of the impending moment.
Unlike the original story, I don’t know why he chose me, but I was happy because I achieved my goal.
Now that I was abducted instead of the precious Celine, I will be able to cross the border smoothly.
“Hey, did I just get kidnapped?”
“I didn’t lie. I told you earlier.”
“What did you mean when you said you saved me?”
“That’s right.”
I still didn’t understand why he said he saved me.
“Get some sleep. We’ll be there when the sun comes up.”
Trees and buildings passed faintly outside the window of the car as it drove at a tremendous speed through the darkness.
First, it would be normal to pretend to be scared and bewildered when kidnapped. And I raised my voice.
“What are you going to do with me?”
“Don’t worry, I won’t hurt you. However, if you run wild and get into an accident, you will get seriously hurt.”
The Duke’s eyes narrowed as he stared at me, who immediately became quiet.
I closed my mouth and rested my elbows and chin on the window sill.
Eventually, I dozed off. I don’t know how much time passed, but I felt a warm body heat on my shoulders and the top of my head, and I raised my eyelids up. A faint scent of musk approached my nose.
“Are you awake?”
I suddenly raised my head as the Duke’s voice echoed close above my head.
It seemed to be asleep, leaning on his shoulder.
He had a cold impression, but his body heat was warm.
The sun rose brightly over the mountain ridge.
Our car was parked in front of a grand mansion.
This was the lovely place where I would be held captive.
“You slept so well that I couldn’t wake you up, even though you were abducted.”
I rubbed my cheeks, feeling embarrassed at the Duke’s words. I thought I shouldn’t be this relaxed when I was being kidnapped, so I frowned and asked with a scary face.
I felt that I shouldn’t be so spontaneous even though I had been kidnapped, so I furrowed my eyebrows and asked with a scared look on my face.
“Where am I? What exactly do you want?”
“A beautiful hostage.”
“You have a different way of looking at things, you think I’m beautiful?”
No matter how I look at it, the aesthetic standard of this world was Celine. Something must have happened to this man’s eyes.
“How worried my father must be about me……….”
I covered my face with both hands and tried to pretend to cry, but no tears came out. He got out of the car, showing no reaction to my acting, then opened the door and held out his hand to me.
“Let’s go, pretty Lady.”
“If it wasn’t for the gun, I wouldn’t be this obedient……”
I shook his hand, saying mindlessly as if it was a pretense. He took me to a room that had a gorgeous but slightly gloomy atmosphere.
It was full of rare objects and bizarre paintings.
A large bookshelf on one wall was filled with books.
“If there’s anything uncomfortable, tell me anytime.”
The faint blue-eyed Duke pushed me into the room and closed the door. There was a clicking sound, it seemed the door was locked.
Paradoxically, I felt a sense of freedom and liberation from my confinement. I finally escaped from that beggarly place.
There are times when you do nothing and receive no interference. I had only a servant to take care of me in the original story, and she visited me three times a day, because no one else came.
In the original story, during her confinement, Duke Rothsilde did not visit more than once. Celine, who was locked up, devised all kinds of ways to escape, but they all failed. But even after she finally defeated the servant and got out of the room, it was impossible for her to escape because there were soldiers outside and the windows were tightly closed with iron bars.
However, I don’t plan on escaping anytime soon, I’m just going to eat and sleep here for as long as I can.
It’s just a matter of finding out from here that my presence will be of absolutely no use to the negotiations.
The Admiral, my father, would be glad to have me killed instead. I’m sure he would say something plausible like, “I will not forget the righteousness of my daughter who sacrificed herself for her country.” And I can see him receiving some kind of award for sacrificing his daughter for his country.
It’s so exhausting. I decided to stop thinking about it for now. I lay down on the soft bed and felt relaxed.
It has all the essentials for an indoor girl. There was a feather quilt, warm cotton pajamas, and warm woolen socks, and I was as good as done for the winter. The heavy marble fireplace burned well and warmed the air in the room.
The food brought by the servants was hearty and satisfying.They said that if I pull the string attached to the bottom of the bell, they will bring me whatever I need.
There were also so many books to read that I would never be bored.
‘I’m glad I got kidnapped!’
I stretched out my arms and waved them up and down excitedly.
***
It seemed like it had been about three days since I was locked up.
In the meantime, I ate, slept, hung sluggishly in bed, idling to my heart’s content.
Noah didn’t seem at all like the original.
Even the maid didn’t even say anything uselessly and I was too lazy to ask.
I learned about the history, culture, economy, and chess here, mostly by reading books. I would love to spend the rest of my life here doing nothing, but there was no way I could do that, so I needed time to figure out this world for the future. The bookshelves were lined with hard books on topics such as philosophy, history, and technology.
While they were certainly useful, it was also very necessary to keep a cool head. The R19 rated novels and romance novels that I usually read would not have existed here.
Sometimes I need that kind of thing for a change of pace and vicarious satisfaction, though. The Duke told me he would give me whatever I need, so I called the maids. It didn’t matter if the Duke wouldn’t come.
A knock sounded from outside the door and a servant named Molly entered with a blank face. She had auburn hair and gray eyes and was in her thirties or so.
Her posture was somewhat calm, but she looked strong, and her tightly closed mouth looked determined. She gave a firm impression so I was a little reluctant to make demands, but I tried my best to speak calmly. Books for the adults will be requested secretly in the future, after we have developed internal friendships.
“Can you bring me some other books? Romance novels, please.”
“Okay.”
Molly bowed slightly, said goodbye, and walked out. She got the books very quickly and brought in 5 of them. Among the books piled up like a prize, the Western-style book placed at the front boasted a strong presence.
<The Great Duke>
Molly stared at the book with a cold expression.
“Why? The Duke……”
“It’s the book the maids had.”
I’m sure they bought it while thinking about the Duke. Oh, that’s good. There were many accomplices, so at least they wouldn’t tell the Duke that I demanded this. Molly left the room with a cold look on her face and a cold wind in her eyes, and I lay down on the bed and started reading a book called “The Great Duke”.
“He promised to marry the Lady when they were very young. What a twist.”
I thought it was just a third-rate adult book, but the story was intriguing and the descriptions were wonderful. After reading for a while, I finally fell asleep at midnight. I had fallen into a deep sleep and was slightly awakened by the bed rustling and shaking. I could smell the familiar scent and feel the warmth of a presence at my bedside.
A man in a dark gray suit vest over a shirt was sitting next to me with a book open.
The silvery-white hair looked familiar.
I finally managed to speak to him.
“When did you come………….”
“I just got here…”
What he was holding was the novel ‘The Great Duke’.
“The Duke….are you learning tricks?”
I muttered dreamily as my grasp of the situation lagged, and then I came to my senses and opened my eyes. I reached out and tried to grab the book, but he dodged my hand with ease.
“I see you like this kind of thing.”
“No, I don’t!”
I was so embarrassed that I tried desperately to take the book from him. Surprisingly, the Duke fell back on the bed with no effort and lifted the book with a relaxed face. Blue eyes stared up at me beneath the book. The silver bangs fell back to reveal a glossy forehead and beautifully shaped eyebrows.
“You are very aggressive.”
The Duke let out a low voice that sounded like a peculiar sigh. It was then that I finally realized that I was on top of him.
Gently, he put down the book, grabbed my wrist, and pulled me toward him.
“Duke?”
He chuckled at the sound of my panicked voice, our faces were so close that I could feel his hot breaths.
“Yes, I’m a Duke, too.”
His voice was somewhat sluggish and drowsy, as if he had just woken up from sleep.