Chapter 5
A week has passed.
So far, Duke Noah Rothsilde had never visited me, and I was content to be alone.
Instead, a secretary by the name of Vincent Ford visited my room from time to time. He was an elegant, gentlemanly, beautiful man with brown hair and wheat-colored eyes, and he assisted the Duke with his land management and business. Vincent always stood neatly, checked my health in a clerical manner, and asked if I needed anything.
I wondered why all the people in this mansion were so cold. The only one that smiled at me was the insane Duke.
Vincent, the grim-faced secretary, opened his tightly closed mouth.
“Miss Claire. The Admiral (the father) has replied that he had no intention of negotiating.”
I knew it. I brought up the answer I had in mind.
“It’s a legitimate threat of a preemptive strike using my death as a detonator. That’s just like my father.”
My aloof appearance seemed to agitate Vincent for a moment.
A normal girl would have gotten scared and started crying and screaming and making a big deal out of it. Besides, a normal person would be mentally exhausted after being locked up for so long, but I was fine. I was actually quite nervous inside, but I pretended to be casual and raised my chin. Vincent, who was staring at me, looked at me in admiration.
“You really don’t cry, do you?”
“Huh?”
“Alright. I’ll be on my way. The Duke will visit you soon.”
There seemed to be a hint of disappointment on his face. Did he expect I would wail like a normal person? Watching Vincent go out, I decided to push ahead with this strategy. Making me cry might be the goal of this crazy Duke.
It was late at night, and I was about to go to bed for another night, when Duke Rothsilde came in with fox fur on one arm. His gorgeous appearance brightened up the dark room.
“I’ve come to have the conversation you like.”
“I’m going to bed.” (*This girl lol)
I sat down on the corner of the bed and looked as tired as I could. Even though he clearly heard me, he pretended like he didn’t and pulled a chair over to sit in the opposite direction. Then, with a look of good news on his face, he started to say the same words as his secretary.
“What should I do? Your father says he doesn’t need you.”
“I can’t help it. If my death helps my country, I should follow its will, but my father will have a cause to kill you. “
In the original story, Duke Noah Rothsilde took Celine without killing her right away, but that was just Celine, who was well worth using. I don’t know what requests the Duke asked of my father, but I already expected my father to refuse to negotiate. Nonetheless, I had to keep emphasizing my value as a hostage.
I didn’t want to be in a situation where I had to escape in this frigid weather. This was a remote place that no matter how much I looked around, I could only see the forest.
Besides, I made the decision after experiencing the bitter cold myself. My goal was to stay here until at least spring, and when the time came that my life was in danger, I planned to steal the car keys and escaped in the most expensive car in this mansion and sell it. I would be able to get by with that money.
He was looking at me in a daze, his elbows resting on the chair armrests, his chin tucked up in a smirk.
“It’s interesting.”
It seemed my method was working. What he showed me was an interest bordering on curiosity. In the original story, he locked Celine up and tortured her mentally, but it was completely different from the way he did it to me.
Unlike me, Celine was very reluctant to be locked up. The Duke used a kind of hope torture method, giving her the wrong guidance, making her wander all night in the forest, or making her memorize the thick law books in a day and placing bets she couldn’t win.
It was very interesting to see how he devastated her mentally by repeatedly giving her hope again if she gave up. Duke Noah Rothsilde was a madman in a gentler guise. I didn’t want to be harassed in such a terrible way, but I was willing to come here because I already knew his way.
He observed his opponents and enjoyed their facial changes and reactions, including their emotions. I had to adjust the highs and lows appropriately so that he wouldn’t get bored. In a word, it’s emotional bargaining.
“If you harm me or bully me, I will…”
I wanted to warn him calmly, but I couldn’t think of anything to threaten him. Because of that face that seemed to expect what a great threat. ‘Is your father coming to scold me?’ He smiled happily as he saw me with my mouth shut. A new audible laugh escaped from his slightly open lips.
“I won’t. It’s not very gentlemanly of me to bully someone who doesn’t resist.”
“You seem to have forgotten that you held a gun to my head.”
“That wasn’t bullying. Do you really want to know what bullying is? I’m quite knowledgeable in that field.”
The Duke fixed his tie and smiled. I realized that our conversation was drifting in the wrong direction. While desperately trying to come up with another topic, I remembered that he had something to check by pointing a gun at me that day. This would be a good time to ask him clearly.
“You said you had something to check while pointing the gun at me. Did you check?”
“Yes, I did.”
I could pretty much guess his intentions, but it was unclear how I was judged. I asked indifferently as if I didn’t care much.
“What was it?”
“Intelligence and the ability to learn.”
‘I beg your pardon….?’
I was stunned by the unexpected answer, but I quickly adjust my expression.
“I’m just ordinary.”
“No, you are not.”
‘You don’t mean my intelligence is horrendous compared to yours.’
Seeing my eyes narrowing more and more with negativity, he continued.
“How many people in that situation would check to make sure their pistol was loaded? They would have pulled the trigger immediately.”
Was that peculiar? I shook my head, feigning nonchalance.
“It was a coincidence. I’ve been tinkering with this and that. If another opportunity had presented itself, I’m sure I would have run away…”
“My princess is smart. Isn’t she?”
The Duke smiled brightly as if in agreement. I could only see that the fatigue of dealing with him, who only asked questions that could not be answered, was beyond imagination.
Observing my lack of energy and gradually slumping shoulders, he began to broach a variety of topics that seemed to serve his purpose.
Of course, there was no context, just useless talk. As we exchanged only awkward words, the Duke swept his lips.
Looking down, the Duke became quiet and seemed to be looking for a subject for the next conversation.
‘By the way, could you please go now? I don’t think you have anything more to say to me.’
The man’s voice was as sweet as a lullaby, and it made me sleepy.
I saw his eyelashes moving, he seemed to have come up with something to ask me.
“How were you when you were in Belford?”
‘Why is he so interested in me?’
“I was fine. My father took really good care of me and tried to do everything for me. Even though he refused to negotiate, I’m sure he’s very sorry and heartbroken………”
“I see.”
‘Why does he keep interrupting me?’
Besides, he asked me first, but he didn’t seem to be interested in my sincere reply. After listening with some indifference, he stood up and placed a white fox fur coat over my shoulders. Unlike faux fur, it felt alive and soft against my skin.
“It’s what I caught.”
“Yes.”
“Next time I’ll catch a bear or a tiger and give you a nice carpet.”
I remembered the bear skin carpet in Celine’s room. The bear’s eyes, empty like a dead fish, still feel cold.
“No, I’m going to die for my country anyway, why should you be nice to me?”
The Duke slowly looked at me as he heard my sarcasm under the guise of my patriotism. His mouth, which had always been curved, was now drawn straight. His expressionless face was frosty, cold, and lonely.
“Do you want to die with value for others?”
“Yes, well…”
‘No, actually, I don’t want to die. Can’t I stay comfortable like this for a long time?’
I deliberately said the words, trying to grasp his inner thoughts, and his eyes subtly grazed mine.
“Like this fur, will it be considered valuable only after death? People are more useless than this when they die.”
I asked, trying to find out what was he planning to do with me in the future.
“If I’m useless to you, you’ll kill me anyway, right?”
“No, I don’t plan on killing you in the future. Just as you did not shoot me in the head.”
The Duke finally smiled beautifully, but I had the feeling that his face wasn’t smiling much. ‘If he keeps me alive, will I be useful in negotiations at a later date?’ I was not familiar with strategy and tactics, so I could not grasp his intentions.
“I’m sure my father is settling up the army by now. I’m sure he has prepared several large battleships, and as such, my death will serve as a fuse to prolong the war, which will eventually become like the Hundred Years War ………..”
“Yes. I also caught a deer today. Do you like venison?”
This man didn’t listen to me at all. He seemed to dismiss my words as a dog’s sound or something.
“If you let me live and send me home, nothing will happen.”
“Do you want to go home?”
“……Yes.”
‘No. I really hope you don’t send me back.’
But It was too early to be relieved just because he didn’t kill me yet. There must be a reason why he was keeping me instead of killing me, even though negotiations have broken down. I must be suspicious of that man because he only spoke and acted in ways I couldn’t understand. I was rolling my head in search of words to grasp the Duke’s intentions, when his long fingers pressed gently on my cheek.
“Do you know…? I’ve been looking for a real princess, not a woman pretending to be a princess.”
“I’m not a princess. I’m not even royalty.”
‘Please don’t even call me that, it’s so embarrassing.’
“Yes, I want to be the only one to call you that. I don’t want to send you back because I like you.”
It was fortunate that he liked me , but I was quite confused by all the things he said. He added while I was struggling to figure out what to say.
“And my princess doesn’t seem to have any intention of running away.”
His mysterious blue eyes seemed to be even closer. His face was so close that I could feel his breath on my cheek. I couldn’t even breathe freely as his body scent tickled my nose. I couldn’t make eye contact and dropped my gaze. All I knew was that he was smiling as I looked at his smoothly raised lips. Eventually, I heard a faint voice.
“This way…. I know you don’t want to leave.”
The Duke smiled like an innocent boy, stroking the fox fur. He always relaxed.
On the contrary, my face turned pale.
‘This man is not normal. He seems to know all my thoughts.’