I’m Just a Counselor Chapter 86

Jeremiah wasted no time in untying the straps that bound my wrists and ankles.

 

“Does it hurt?”

 

Jeremiah asked as he stroked my ankles, which had been burned by the ropes.

 

I winced at the rough feel of his glove and shook my head.

 

Jeremiah let out a low sigh.

 

“Perhaps Miss Vanessa has something to say to me, and I have something to say to her, but let us rest for now.”

 

“Duke, there is something I must tell you.”

 

There was something else I wanted to say to him, something I had to say right now, even if it could wait.

 

Jeremiah looked at me as if my urgency had caught him off guard. I quickly told him what I had heard from Earl Huons.

 

“Earl Huons wanted to use me to get the Duke to… I mean, I think… is trying to get you to let the slave masters advance north, so if you save me now, you’re walking into a trap.”

 

“Why is that?”

 

“What? It’s obvious…”

 

I could never see Jeremiah being forced to do something he didn’t want to do because of me. To see his beloved land trashed by crime because of me.

 

With so many words rising in my throat, I could barely speak, my lips pursed.

 

But Jeremiah seemed to have already gotten everything I wanted to say.

 

“So, Vanessa, are you trying to tell me that I shouldn’t save you now and just go away?”

 

Jeremiah snorted lowly.

 

“That’s pretty shallow of you.”

 

“…….”

 

“Vanessa. Whatever trap the Earl is digging has nothing to do with me.”

 

“Ah…”

 

“Because whatever traps he has laid for you, I’m confident I’ll destroy them all.”

 

It was an arrogant statement that sounded ridiculous, but since it was Jeremiah who was saying it, I couldn’t help but believe him.

 

Jeremiah saw my jaw drop and shrugged.

 

“Didn’t the Earl do anything else, like hit you?”

 

“…No, he didn’t.”

 

The Earl didn’t lay a hand on me, probably because he wanted to use me as bait.

 

Thank God. If he had tried to do anything, I would have been left to suffer the consequences.

 

At the thought, I felt a deep sense of frustration and depression. Jeremiah’s eyes narrowed behind his mask.

 

“You said nothing happened to you, so why do you look like that?”

 

“It’s just… that if the Duke hadn’t come, I would have been helpless, and I can’t do anything on my own.”

 

I don’t have the special abilities of the protagonist, and I don’t have the luck. I’m reminded once again that the world is not kind to me.

 

Jeremiah blinked at my melancholy muttering.

 

After a moment of silence, he spoke.

 

“Even if I hadn’t come, you wouldn’t have stood there helpless, you would have tried to do something, because that’s the kind of person I know you to be.”

 

“…….”

 

“You’re a person who is never helpless, not even when you’re being beaten.”

 

“But what if it’s all for nothing?”

 

“Don’t worry, I’ll tell you you’re not useless.”

 

Jeremiah smirked at my nonchalant response.

 

“And you can do anything by yourself. You’re the reason I’m having so much trouble.”

 

It suddenly occurred to Vanessa that Jeremiah might have known that Earl Huons was involved in the slave trade.

 

Jeremiah had come to the Islands to deal with that, and he’d been busy with that, and he seemed to know all about it now, in fact.

 

‘Then he must have known when I told him about Gale Huons.’

 

Then it might have seemed funny to him to hear me say that I was going to do something about it on my own. Maybe even angry.

 

Thinking about it made it a little cool to look at him, so I let out a small sigh.

 

“Can you stand up?”

 

“Yes.”

 

I took Jeremiah’s hand. Jeremiah straightened me up as I wobbled, then reached into his arms and pulled out a half-mask similar to the one he was wearing and put it on me.

 

“To give you the short version of the situation, this is a mansion where a slave auction is being held, and my knights are undercover to capture the nobles attending.”

 

“…So that’s what you were here for?”

 

I asked, fiddling awkwardly with my mask, and a small smile tugged at the corners of Jeremiah’s mouth.

 

“No, I’m here to find you.”

 

He said firmly.

 

“Because when I heard you were missing, Earl Huon’s was the first thing that came to mind, and I figured that if it was you, he must have left you here.”

 

“You did…”

 

“I was supposed to be on the other side, but I’m here because of you, Vanessa, so you can be impressed.”

 

Jeremiah jokingly added, but I couldn’t be so nonchalant.

 

Maybe Jeremiah had other plans and I’d ruined them, I thought.

 

What if that’s really the case?

 

My brow narrowed at the creeping worry, but if Jeremiah had risked it to come here, I had to tell him.

 

“Thank you, Duke. For making sure I never regretted trusting you.”

 

“…I’m glad I didn’t disappoint you. I was afraid you might resent me for coming so late.”

 

Jeremiah murmured casually and tapped me lightly on the bridge of my nose.

 

I felt a little embarrassed by the obvious affection in his touch. It was a good thing I was wearing a mask.

 

“So if you think I’m here to find you while I’m doing my job, you’d better change your mind right now.”

 

“…….”

 

“Because you are my target, even if my Templars’ target is something else.”

 

Jeremiah’s words made me feel even hotter.

 

His eyes narrowed slightly. I quickly averted my gaze.

 

“Anyway, from now on, you’re going to have to act like me.”

 

“Oh, okay.”

 

“That doesn’t mean you have to do anything, so stop looking so determined. I’m starting to get scared when you make that face.”

 

Jeremiah, who once again scrutinized my mask, took my hand and opened the door. I was worried that this was a mansion where slaves were auctioned, but the hallway was just like any other.

 

But the atmosphere was quickly dispelled as soon as I entered the hall.

 

The hall, about the size of the three rooms I was in combined, was filled with masked figures like Jeremiah and myself, sitting or standing. I felt their eyes on me for a moment in the dim lighting, and then they were gone.

 

Closing the door to the hall, I leaned close to Jeremiah.

 

“…are all those people here for the slave auction?”

 

“Probably. There’s no telling what they look like under their masks.”

 

Jeremiah’s voice was tinged with unmistakable cynicism.

 

He scanned the hall disdainfully and took a seat at a nearby table. I was about to follow suit and take a seat when Jeremiah called out to me.

 

“Vanessa, not there, but here.”

 

“I’m…?”

 

“Because no matter how I look at it, you don’t look like a customer.”

 

I blinked at him in bewilderment, realizing that he was staring at me, and then, without thinking, I walked over to Jeremiah.

 

Instead of a chair, I sprawled on his lap, and he pulled his cloak over me and hugged me tightly. His gaze broke away from mine.

 

‘Jeremiah looks like he belongs here.’

 

I pouted my lips, knowing that Jeremiah wouldn’t be too pleased to hear that.

 

“By the way, I’d like to get back in my chair now.”

 

Jeremiah whispered, still holding me tightly as I squirmed in his arms.

 

“Don’t move, just stay there, unless you want to get embarrassed.”

 

“No…”

 

“You’ve waited a long time, so let’s start today’s auction!”

 

A loud bang echoed through the hall, cutting off my words to complain to Jeremiah.

 

Thrown off-balance, I pouted my lips and looked up from where I was sitting on Jeremiah’s lap. A man in a tuxedo stood at a podium-like platform at the front of the hall, speaking.

 

His face covered by an ornate mask, he used a wand to raise his voice and declare cheerfully.

 

“I wouldn’t want to bore you any longer, so let’s start with our first prize.”

 

After the emcee finished speaking, a woman appeared on the podium.

 

She stood in the spotlight, wearing a revealing dress and a look of horror on her face. The shackles around her ankles were visible.

 

“Let’s start with 10 gold!”