* * *
Duke Kalinos, his eyes utterly wild, strode straight toward Giselle.
“He-He-Hello? Du-Du-Duke Kalinos?” Giselle’s, or rather Wot’s, voice trembled miserably.
“Why are you so flustered?”
Behind him, Giyet made an X with his arms, as if screaming silently. He was telling her not to say a word.
Trying to get a grasp on the situation, Giselle darted her eyes around and clamped her mouth shut. Duke Kalinos, meanwhile, carelessly stepped on the necks of those rolling around on the floor a couple of times.
“Are these the ones? The ones who kidnapped you, Giselle?”
“Yes… I mean, yes?”
“Ah, don’t worry. I won’t kill them yet. I just need to check if they’re unconscious, since they shouldn’t hear what I’m about to say…”
“T-T-That’s not it!”
“You mean the fact that you’re actually Wot?” With an utterly indifferent expression, he dropped that bomb as if it were nothing.
Giselle’s jaw dropped.
“I already knew. The way your facial muscles move is exactly the same. Had I met you, I would have recognized you at once. The others simply lack discernment.”
Giselle’s mouth fell open again, as if her jaw might dislocate.
“And the way she recklessly put herself in danger. That’s just like you too.”
“But, I still li-lied to you…”
“That doesn’t matter. What matters is that you were kidnapped, and that I worried far too much.” As he spoke, Duke Kalinos wore a look as if he’d just vaguely realized the true nature of his feelings.
Giselle’s situation was much the same. She tried to ignore the way her heart was beating a little faster than usual and quietly murmured, “Yes, so, um. You were really worried about me.”
Duke Kalinos stepped even closer to Giselle. Close enough that their breaths might touch, only about thirty centimeters apart.
“Of course I was. You’re my wife. And I—”
But at that very moment, startled by how close his face had gotten, the paper in Giselle’s hand tore slightly. And then, light began to flow from both Giselle and the grandmother she was holding hands with.
“W-Wait!”
With Giselle’s sharp cry, the two of them were engulfed in light. The teleportation happened at the perfect moment.
In the midst of their emotional reunion, and just as he was about to confess, Duke Kalinos watched as his wife disappeared before his eyes. He curled his lips into a chilling smile. “Just now…”
“Y-Yes?”
“Could it be that Giselle just ran away from me?”
“W-Well, it’s not exactly running away, it was more of an a-accident…”
“I was about to confess my rotten, festering possessiveness and obsession. Maybe she sensed it.” His expression was even more crazed than before.
Giyet was about to say, ‘Maybe Lady Giselle was so flustered that she accidentally tore the teleportation scroll, or maybe the scroll was just so powerful that it activated instantly.’ But he didn’t even have time to explain what really happened. Because Duke Kalinos was staring at the smoke left behind where Giselle and his grandmother had vanished, with a crazed look in his eyes, muttering to himself!
“Coordinates 19X1,019.”
“Y-Your Grace?”
“I’ve realized it now. Without Giselle, I feel anxious.”
“Y-You just realized that…? W-Well, you do look anxious. Obsessively so.”
“Starting today, I’m going to research the optimal way to keep Giselle by my side. So she can never run away again.”
Giyet couldn’t bring himself to say, ‘I think Lady Giselle is probably safe at home,’ so he just mumbled under his breath. “If you ever wish to treat your separation anxiety, please come to see me anytime…”
“I’m not quite that bad. Yet.”
Giyet was left alone. What on earth? He hasn’t even fully accepted his feelings, but he’s already gone completely off the deep end with the obsession? This is scarier than a horror novel. What on earth will happen if the duke awakens even further here? Don’t tell me he’s going to pour all that insane research obsession onto Lady Giselle? Shuddering with a chill, Giyet froze.
In the distance, Kalinos’s knights were running toward the ruined sanctuary. Even as he was leaving, it seemed Duke Kalinos had summoned his men to clean up the sanctuary and hand over the kidnappers’ identities.
Giyet flapped energetically and waved his arms toward the knights in the distance. “Over here! Sirs! The kidnappers are all sprawled out on the ground here!”
But then it hit Giyet…
“G-Grandma teleported away with Lady Giselle, didn’t she?”
* * *
Meanwhile, Giselle and Giyet’s grandmother, who had suddenly arrived at the Kalinos Mansion, stared at each other in a daze. Judging by the massive, roaring oven, it looked like they’d landed in the annex kitchen.
Giselle quickly glanced around to make sure no maids were nearby, then remembered the necklace Coocoo was holding and muttered to herself. “Wow, even tearing just a little bit of the teleportation scroll activates it. The quality is incredible!”
It’s too good… which makes it a problem…
Giselle, recalling the last look she’d seen on Duke Kalinos’s face, like a raging demon, paused mid-dry face wash.
“Ah, Grandma! Since it’d be weird for me to stay here as ‘Wot,’ I’ll quickly undo the disguise spell.”
“Ah, p-please do…”
Giselle, noticing Grandma’s flustered expression, gestured with her chin toward Coocoo, who was likely nearby. Catching on fast, Coocoo deactivated the necklace’s magic, and Giselle’s appearance rapidly changed.
The moment Grandma witnessed the transformation, her legs gave out, and she muttered to herself in disbelief. “Goodness. The duchess really is our little Wot. E-Even seeing it with my own eyes, I can hardly believe it.”
“Ei, there’s no need to call me duchess. Just treat me like you always have, as Wot. Oh, and you know my real identity is a secret, right?”
“O-Of… course.”
As Giselle hurried to support Grandma, whose legs seemed to have given out, the old woman mumbled in a daze.
“Hohoho. Then I suppose I’ve been indebted to the same person twice now. You saved me again. How could I ever repay such kindness?”
“Getting healthy is the best way you can help me. Ah! How about we quickly ask someone trustworthy to ensure your safety? But first, let’s step away from the oven.”
Holding Grandma’s hand, Giselle moved carefully while chatting softly with her. And what was left behind in that spot… was Garno, who had rushed in clutching a steaming muffin.
A devoted admirer of Wot, Garno could recognize her from two hundred meters away. Amazingly, when he thought he saw the silhouette of the famous Wot near the very oven where he’d been baking bread, he quickly suppressed his presence and dashed over.
Gi-Giselle is… Do-Doctor Wot?
Thud. Thump. The bread he’d been holding slipped from his arms and fell to the floor.
Suddenly, every moment up until now flashed through his mind. How he’d obsessed over healers and spoken harshly to Giselle. How he’d picked a fight, making her polish Wot’s statue. But most important of all was the fact that Giselle had saved Neslan’s life…
T-Then… He staggered forward, eyes wide open. Was she coughing up blood because healing was too much for her?
Wot was an extraordinary healer. There were even rumors that, like a saintess from the history books, she gave away her own life force to heal others…
Don’t tell me, Giselle, hiding her true identity while treating people, ended up with only a short time left to live?
Secretly saving people. Coughing up blood. Even when he’d been harsh with her, she never once stepped forward to say, ‘I’m a healer.’ Somehow, it felt like all the pieces of what had happened so far were finally falling into place.
If that’s true, what have I done to someone so saintly? A crushing wave of regret washed over Garno in an instant. He trudged along, eyes fixed on the spot where Giselle had disappeared. He had no idea how he could ever repay this karma.
Just then, as Neslan was out for a walk in the sun for his health, he spotted Garno and waved. “Father, have you seen my second son anywhere…? Huh? W-Why do you look so pale? Are you feeling unwell?”
“Neslan.”
“Yes?”
“I think, so-something dreadful has happened…”
But at that very moment, heavy footsteps echoed behind them. A crisp uniform, hair wildly disheveled in contrast, and eyes seriously bloodshot…
“Son?”
Duke Kalinos looked like a man searching for his bride who had fled a wedding, or a male lead chasing after a runaway female lead from a novel.
“I heard Giselle was spotted near the mansion. Do you know where she is?”
At the mention of Giselle’s name, Garno practically jumped out of his skin. “S-She went that way! Let’s go together! I-I-I have some questions I want to ask her too…”
“Huh? Giselle? Then I’d better come along as well. I’ve been wanting to see her.”
“Lead the way, Grandfather. And Father, too.”
And thus began the three generations’ pursuit of ‘Giselle, who had accidentally run away.’
Comments (0)