* * *
Grape, a vassal. With his gentle appearance and a softer heart compared to the other members of the Kalinos family, he was in charge of communicating with outside families. And so, he was tasked with ‘bringing Giselle’ back. When he arrived at the small room in the Florette Mansion, Giselle was leaning back on the sofa, her eyes tightly shut.
“Uh, I-I came to see if the duchess is at the Florette Mansion.”
“Yeah, I’m here. I’m getting a checkup.”
“Pardon? A checkup? What do you mean by that?” Grape looked around in confusion. The room was littered with countless magical medical devices…
“My child, you see…” Count Florette’s face suddenly twisted with emotion.
Giselle tried to wave it off, but the sleeping potion she’d taken for the examination was too strong. Her head lolled to the side, and she fell asleep. Count Florette gazed at Giselle, eyes full of affection, then turned to the vassal of Kalinos.
“Here’s the thing. Tell them I need to examine my child’s health from head to toe, every last bit.”
“Ah, yes. Um… is her condition really that bad?”
“Is my child’s health re-really t-that b-bad…?”
As Count Florette dabbed at dry eyes with a handkerchief, Grape, ever the soft-hearted one, became overly alarmed. Is she really that sick?
And at that moment, Grape saw it. Giyet, the doctor who’d been near Giselle, was clutching a bloodstained handkerchief and scurrying away with quick, hurried steps. Grape’s face went pale in an instant.
“T-That handkerchief, could it be…?”
“What are you asking? Of course it’s my child, sniff. Just step outside for now.”
Come to think of it, she did look unusually pale… Earlier, her cheeks had been rosy, like she’d just eaten a good meal, but now her complexion seemed almost unnaturally white. Could it be.. she’s terminally ill or something? The moment that suspicion crossed his mind, Grape’s face turned even paler than Giselle’s.
Endless examinations. A bloodstained handkerchief. Count Florette is on the verge of tears. Giselle suddenly collapses… All of this might be pointing to something obvious.
* * *
Meanwhile, Vientin returned from the council meeting and strode into a room at the mansion. “Where’s Giselle?”
“Ah, she stepped out for a bit. She’s at the Florette Mansion, so I sent Grape to check on her.”
If that was the case, he’d have time to prepare himself to be as gentle as the ‘man in the portrait’ by the time she returned. Vientin pulled out a freshly laundered white shirt he’d set aside earlier. He checked his reflection in the mirror and gave himself a light smile.
It was his aide, Peterson, who noticed the duke’s odd behavior right away. “Um, Y-Your Grace?”
“What.”
“I-It’s nothing… It’s just, seeing you like that…”
“I plan to greet my wife looking like this, radiating ‘gentle masculinity.’ Why?” He turned to gaze at his reflection in the mirror.
“Brother, when it comes to showing off a physique, white shirts are a must. Ah, if you’re trying to impress her, fufufu. I can lend you one!”
The freshly laundered, spotless white shirt gave off an indecent vibe, as if it might burst at the seams from his muscles at any moment.
It’s a necessary step to establish an exclusive relationship with her.
Next, he tried to soften his expression, aiming for the gentle look of the man in the portrait. Staring intently into the mirror, he lifted the corners of his mouth in a smile.
“Um, Your Grace?”
“What.”
“I-If I’ve done something wrong, please tell me. T-That’s expression, please…” Peterson looked on the verge of tears as he stared at Vientin’s gentle smile.
“You haven’t done anything wrong, Peter.”
After watching Peterson nearly break down, he decided to head out to the training grounds for a little experiment. The sun had already set, and dusk was settling in, but the knights were still hard at work, continuing their drills. Since it was the season when the <Demon Seed> were ominously sprouting, they couldn’t afford to stop training, even late into the night. Of course, among them, there were always a few who preferred joking around. Taking advantage of the darkness, Vientin strode slowly toward them.
“That, Y-Your Grace?”
“What.”
None of them had imagined the duke would approach them. More precisely, the duke was in a shirt that showed off every muscle. They snapped their eyes wide open in shock and dropped to their knees in a hurry.
“We’re sorry! We committed a grave sin by neglecting our training!”
He simply smiled at them with a gentle expression. Even so, he found it odd that the knights watching him kept stumbling over their own feet.
“A-Apologize, Your Grace, it’s just that…”
“I’ll let it slide. Just run a thousand laps around the drill yard.”
“T-Thank you!”
He spoke kindly, then turned his head away. There’s a saying: to make a passing traveler take off his coat, you need warm sunshine, not a cold wind. Seeing them drop to their knees on their own, he figured he must look quite docile indeed.
I’m rather pleased. This is good. At this rate, he was confident he could secure an exclusive status with Giselle.
Just then, Vientin spotted Grape entering the dining hall in the distance, looking like he’d just been sentenced to death. If his memory was correct, Grape was the one he’d sent to Count Florette’s mansion to bring Giselle back. With a puzzled look, he raised an eyebrow and tracked Grape’s movements.
* * *
Grape trudged into the Kalinos Mansion, looking thoroughly dejected. Since Duke Kalinos wasn’t in his office and it was dinnertime, Grape headed straight for the dining hall, assuming that’s where the duke would be. Inside, Garno, Neslan, Yuliana, and Riwes were already eating.
“Grape, unless it’s something urgent, I told you not to report during dinner.”
“Ah, I’m sorry. I have something to report about the young madam, so I had no choice but to seek the duke… My apologies.”
At that, four pairs of eyes quickly turned to him. Yuliana was the first to speak.
“Come here. Even if it’s something trivial, just tell us everything.”
Garno muttered awkwardly. “Ah, I heard those so-called relatives were bothering her again… So, uh, ahem, I baked a pie. When is she coming? The pie’s going to get cold.”
“Those so-called blood relatives, honestly…” As Yuliana, unusually sharp, grumbled, Garno looked away.
Then Neslan chimed in. “Anyway, why hasn’t my daughter-in-law come yet? Did she say she’d stay at the Florette Mansion a bit longer?”
“Where’s Syster?”
The words just wouldn’t come out. He felt like a criminal who’d committed a grave offense for failing to bring Giselle back. “That is… She’s undergoing a checkup.”
“Checkup? What do you mean?”
“Is it because she’s been running around too much?”
Everyone was confused.
Should he say it or not? After a moment’s hesitation, Grape squeezed his eyes shut and muttered, “The truth is, I found a handkerchief stained with blood. They said it belonged to the madam…”
“…W-What?”
“B-But, there’s more.”
“What is it?”
“Count Florette was crying, and the madam was unconscious.”
Clang. The sound of cutlery clattering to the floor echoed through the room. Garno’s face twisted in shock. And then…
“Say that again. What did you just say?” With a voice that sounded as if it had been dragged up from the depths of hell, Duke Kalinos appeared behind them.
Grape’s face went deathly pale. Hi-Hiik. W-What is this… He was even more menacing than usual!
At the moment Duke Kalinos clenched his fist, his dark expression unchanged, his chest seemed about to burst. Pop. With the sound of a button popping off, a glimpse of his solid chest was revealed.
Duke Kalinos strode up to the flustered man and spoke. “Tell me everything in detail. What happened to Giselle?”
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