I’m Not Doing This With A Friend Chapter 110

 

“Leen!!!”

 

The Duchess’s shrieking cry echoed through the office. The Duke and I stared at each other in disbelief.

 

‘I’m on my knees in front of the Duke, tears streaming down my face.’

 

It was a situation that could easily be misunderstood.

 

The Duchess, who came to me in a flash, pulled me to my feet.

 

“Oh my goodness, Leen, are you all right, what the…!”

 

The Duchess scooped me up as if I were a baby bird and began to glare at the Duke ferociously.

 

I scrambled to my feet and explained, “Calm down, Duchess. The Duke has done nothing wrong.”

 

The Duchess patted me on the back, her expression filled with pity.

 

“Alas, Leen. There is no need to lie in front of me. I don’t know what he threatened you with, but don’t be afraid.”

 

I’ve never been threatened. Likewise, I shook off in disbelief and tried to calm her down again.

 

“I’m not frightened. On the contrary, the Duke was worried about me, wasn’t he?”

 

The Duke jerked his head up at my glance. But the Duchess’s eyes didn’t relax a bit.

 

“Leen, then how can you explain what I saw.”

 

“I was just trying to pick up a pen…”

 

“And the tears in your eyes?”

 

“Dust got in my eyes and…”

 

“That doesn’t sound very convincing with tears in both of your eyes.”

 

It stung. That was something I hadn’t considered.

 

“Even if it were real, I’m furious that he’d have you do something he could have picked up himself.”

 

The Duchess crossed her arms and glared at the Duke.

 

“Ha, what are you doing with all that magic, isn’t it something you could have had someone else do?”

 

“Sylvia, I, I…”

 

Still flustered, the Duke remained silent.

 

Perhaps I should speak up.

 

“The Duke didn’t want to, so I bent down and picked him up.”

 

“Why?”

 

“Yes. Why.”

 

She stared into my truthful eyes for a moment, then, as if pondering something, she spoke quietly.

 

“…I guess you don’t want to be honest with me because my husband is in the room.”

 

I was dumbfounded.

 

‘What is wrong with his wife’s trust in him?’

 

How much does she usually grind him down?

 

“You and I will have a private conversation later.”

 

The Duchess snapped her fingers at the Duke, then at me.

 

In an instant, my vision flipped and the place changed. I saw the Duke’s world-weary face as I teleported away.

 

Aha…

 

I feel so sorry for him.

 

Only when the two of us were alone did the Duchess relax her gaze and knit her eyebrows together.

 

“Leen. I’m sorry I put you through all that trouble.”

 

‘Well, I’ve never been through anything.’

 

My head spun. I’ve only been in the duchy for a day.

 

Maybe it’s a talent to have the Duke and Duchess of Lysianthus, who are rumored to be so well-matched, fighting so quickly.

 

The gift of family breakdown.

 

As I pondered whether I had made the right choice in coming to the duchy, the Duchess muttered something under her breath.

 

“What was Caon doing that he wasn’t even at your side? The woman who is to be his wife is being treated badly by her father-in-law!”

 

…We’ve never even been in a relationship, and when did she get that far behind my back?

 

I had a feeling that if I continued to stand by and watch, it would destroy not only the Duke and Duchess, but also the mother-child relationship.

 

Should I tell her why Carson, who has always been nipping at my tail, wasn’t at my side?

 

I didn’t think the Duchess would be offended, given the way she’s been acting toward me.

 

“The truth is, I have placed a 24-hour restraining order on Caon.”

 

“…A restraining order?”

 

“Well, we had a bit of a falling out yesterday, and he got grumpy.”

 

The Duchess’s brow narrowed in an instant.

 

“With what?”

 

Then, as she noticed the bandages around my wrists, a look of horror crossed the Duchess’s face.

 

“Seriously, Caon, the serial wrist…?”

 

“Don’t get me wrong, it’s not an injury…”

 

To think, I have to show this to Carson’s mother. I felt like crawling into a rathole if I could.

 

I squeezed my eyes shut and unwrapped the bandage to show her my wrist.

 

After a moment, I slowly opened my eyes. The Duchess was staring at me with her mouth agape, her face at odds with her character.

 

It was a face that bordered on ecstasy.

 

Oh, please…

 

The Duchess nodded as if she finally understood everything.

 

“Caon wanted to show the others that you were lovers, and Leen was embarrassed by it.”

 

“We’re friends, not lovers…”

 

The Duchess smirked, as if she thought that was cute, and then went back to bandaging me up.

 

“Don’t worry about it. The people who work here are so used to it, they won’t even care.”

 

Used to? There’s no way Carson would have let another woman in here, so…

 

Ah, those two are superb at this.

 

The Duchess, her bandages now neatly wrapped, spoke up, her eyes shining.

 

“A restraining order, by the way, is a very good idea.”

 

“What? A good idea?”

 

“Why didn’t I think of that before?”

 

Huh? I thought…

 

I felt a cold sweat break out on my head.

 

Oh. I’m sorry, Mister, I think I may have let the Duchess know something she shouldn’t have known.

 

…I’ll say it one more time, I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to.

 

This was all my fault, and I promise to help you as much as I could. I was deeply apologizing to him in my heart.

 

‘Leen.’

 

I heard Carson’s voice in my head, calling my name.

 

Again. It was bad enough, but since I’d given him the ban yesterday, the cycle had become more frequent.

 

I didn’t hear the voices at all when I was with him.

 

‘Was Jane right about him being a ghost?’

 

From there, the voices kept poking around in my head. I frowned and rubbed my temples at the constant echoing.

 

Then I glared in the direction of where I assumed Carson was.

 

No, not a guess, but a half-conviction.

 

Whenever I heard a voice calling my name, I instinctively knew where he was.

 

The Duchess, seeing me, asked anxiously, “Are you feeling unwell?”

 

“Nothing, just a little tired.”

 

“You must have tossed and turned to sleep in a strange place.”

 

The Duchess gently placed her hand over my eyes and cast a spell. As the magic circle rose, my eyes relaxed. It was a restorative spell.

 

…That’s very kind of you.

 

“Thank you.”

 

But the voice in my head remained the same, and the inherent tiredness remained.

 

Just then, the Duchess flicked back her pink curls and smiled wryly.

 

“Right. Speaking of which, Leen, why don’t you come with me to see your room?”

 

She had a kind face that matched Carson’s deadly attack.

 

I couldn’t help but nod, mesmerized, feeling my intrinsic tiredness drain away.

 

Perhaps she had saved the country in a previous life.

 

With a face like that, it’s easy to misunderstand, hmm…

 

🍃

 

I cautiously called out for the Duchess, my pupils quaking.

 

“It’s umm… Duchess?”

 

“You called for me, Leen.”

 

She looks up at me, her voice and eyes affectionate.

 

“This is just a guest room, isn’t it?”

 

‘Yes? Please tell me it is.’

 

But what did they say about sad premonitions never being wrong?

 

“Oho, no joke. I say let’s go see your room, this is where you’ll be staying from now on.”

 

The sentence was so harsh, I wanted to rip my hair out.

 

This room, which the Duchess had introduced to me as my room, was not overly expensive… No, it looked like she had taken too much care.

 

My eyes darted to the expensive-looking furniture and decorations.

 

‘What the hell?’

 

Carson’s room was simple and empty.

 

…Shouldn’t we be switching rooms?

 

I spoke up, politely but somewhat firmly, “This is too much for me, and I don’t know when I’ll be leaving…”

 

“It’s not too much. You’re a member of the Duke’s family, you shouldn’t be disrespected if we don’t do this much for you.”

 

I thought about retorting to the ‘member of the duke’s family’ comment, but gave up and came up with another reason.

 

“Caon’s room was much simpler than this one.”

 

“Oh. Caon really only sleeps in his room. He’s been living in my private study since she was a little child.”

 

The Duchess rubbed her chin as if remembering something.

 

“There used to be a couch there, too, but one day I realized it was just a bed.”

 

…The source of the couch in the clubroom.

 

She clapped her hands together as if she’d forgotten.

 

“That’s right. Leen, I heard you like herbs, so I’ve set up a lab just for you.”

 

“That’s not all?”

 

The Duchess turned up her nose, her eyes full of expectation.

 

‘I can’t wait to show you,’ she whispered confidentially to me, her voice filled with laughter.

 

“Your lab is specially set up across the hall from Caon’s lab, so if you’re looking for herbs and something comes to mind, you can go see it.”

 

No, this wasn’t it.

 

“Duchess. I appreciate the favor, but I’m here as your maid, not as your daughter-in-law.”

 

Then, as if in shock, the Duchess’s eyes moistened. Her voice trembled, and she struggled to speak.

 

“…Leen doesn’t like the gift I worked so hard to prepare?”

 

I felt as if I was guilty of death as her poor shoulders trembled.

 

But I could barely keep my composure. It was because of what Carson had told me yesterday, before we arrived at the ducal residence.

 

— ‘My mother has a habit of pretending to cry when she’s at a disadvantage, and my father doesn’t know it, but he gets caught every time.’

 

Fox…

 

I thought Carson was the only one who resembled the Duke, but it turns out they both do.

 

Come to think of it, you were a straight runner. He didn’t know what the Duchess would like, so he just stuck to it.

 

Carson was a fox for a reason, after all.

 

According to the principles of the Master’s Law, I had already lost to the Duchess. But things are a little different here.

 

Here, I caught the Duchess in the act of ‘faking a cry’.

 

If I faked crying, I wouldn’t lose. I thought it would be a good idea to take this opportunity to let the Duchess vent her frustrations.

 

I quickly drew back my tears and looked up at the sky. Then I blinked rapidly and gestured to swallow the tears that threatened to burst.

 

For a moment, I caught the Duchess’s face coloring with embarrassment.

 

‘Alright, here we go. Let’s see who wins.’