I’m Just a Counselor Chapter 88

The mansion was surrounded by forest. It looked like a suburban neighborhood, far from the center of the island.

 

He can’t be in the middle of the city doing something illegal.

 

I looked up at the sky and saw a full moon.

 

I suddenly remembered that there were no windows in the mansion. Perhaps they didn’t want me to see outside to make me lose track of time.

 

“Are you finished?”

 

There seemed to be plenty of work to be done outside the mansion as well. One of the bustling knights came to Jeremiah’s side. It was Sir Melvin, commanding the knights outside the manor.

 

“I see Lady Vanessa is safe.”

 

Sir Melvin turned to face me. His tone was businesslike, but the emotion in his eyes was clear.

 

I quickly averted my gaze, feeling as if I were looking at a troubling mess. Sir Melvin clicked his tongue slightly and continued.

 

“The Princess was very worried about you.”

 

“Ah…”

 

I’d gotten so caught up in everything that I’d forgotten about Estella. Of course, Estella would have worried about me more than anyone else.

 

I was tormented by the guilt I felt for her in retrospect.

 

‘What would I say to her when I got back and saw her face? No, I’d have to comfort her first.’

 

“I will listen to the report when you return.”

 

“Yes, Your Excellency. The carriage is ready.”

 

“From Shane?”

 

“From the Winter Crown, too…”

 

For some reason, I didn’t see Shane, but he must have had other instructions.

 

I stopped thinking about Estella and listened, but I couldn’t hear much about what he was doing.

 

Sir Melvin glanced over at me and muttered something in a tone that only Jeremiah could hear.

 

Jeremiah gave a small nod and walked over to the carriage parked in the corner.

 

He first picked me up by the waist and placed me on top of the wagon. I asked, a little bewildered.

 

“You don’t have to stay the whole way?”

 

“It’s okay, I have Melvin, and I’m a little tired of dealing with the Imperial Knights, not my own.”

 

Jeremiah closed the carriage door and sat down across from me. With a rattle, the carriage began to move.

 

Jeremiah removed his cloak and gloves and swept a hand through his hair. His hair, which had been black, slowly returned to silver at the ends.

 

He studied me as he ran his fingers through his colored hair, then spoke cautiously.

 

“Of all the things I told you earlier, the one about Viscount Asell…”

 

“As you may or may not know, Viscount Asell had already disappeared before I came to the north, and afterward, Earl Huons came to me and demanded that I pay the debts the Viscount owed him, which stripped him of all his property and left him bankrupt and a fallen noble…”

 

“So that’s how it happened, then.”

 

“Yes. But something the Earl said earlier made it sound like Viscount Asell was aware of Earl Huons’s misdeeds, so I thought I’d see if I could find out more… I was wondering if it was some sort of conspiracy between Viscount Asell and his family that led to that.”

 

“That may be so, I haven’t looked into it.”

 

Fortunately, he didn’t scold me for my speculation. I looked at Jeremiah, who was muttering seriously, and shrugged.

 

But after a moment, he sounded very bothered.

 

“Vanessa, you refer to Viscount Asell as just Viscount Asell. Isn’t he a father to you?”

 

“…ah.”

 

“Well, it might have been wrong for your father to fall into the hands of such a man, but… you seem very calm.”

 

From the way he said it, it might sound like Jeremiah was suspicious of me, but he was actually looking at me with great concern. He seemed to think I was too shocked to express myself properly.

 

I shook my head slowly.

 

Of course, I was saddened by the thought that Viscount Asell might have fallen victim to a conspiracy, but… I wasn’t as shocked as he thought I was. In fact, even calling Viscount Asell my father felt a little awkward.

 

“It’s just… I wasn’t that close to him.”

 

“I see.”

 

“So, I guess that’s why it doesn’t feel quite right now…”

 

I knew I couldn’t tell him the truth, so I made it up as I went along. Jeremiah didn’t seem to mind and nodded.

 

“Vanessa. If you ever need someone to help you in the future, I’d like you to call me, if you don’t mind.”

 

I could tell he still thought I was in a state of shock by the way he added this.

 

Maybe Jeremiah doesn’t understand.

 

He’s fiercely devoted to his family, to those in my circle. Perhaps he would be disappointed in me if he knew that I really didn’t care much for Viscount Asell.

 

I hesitated a moment, then finally spoke up.

 

“Not everyone will be like the duke.”

 

I don’t know how he understood my words, but Jeremiah turned away without a proper response.

 

“It will take us a while to get to the ducal residence.”

 

“I suppose so.”

 

The deed had been done, and the guilty would be punished.

 

I welcomed his change of subject, not wanting to dig any deeper and make up a lie when I could end it with that.

 

Then Jeremiah narrowed his eyes and crossed his arms.

 

“So maybe we should talk about something else in the meantime.”

 

I straightened up, feeling like I was about to be interrogated.

 

“Have you met the crown prince by any chance?”

 

“What?”

 

I narrowed my eyes at the bluntness of his question. Jeremiah leaned forward with a questioning look on his face.

 

“Seeing that look on your face, I’m guessing it’s true. So you went to meet the crown prince in secret and ended up getting kidnapped…”

 

“It wasn’t a secret! I was at the cafe and I just happened to see him!”

 

I exclaimed in a freaked out excuse, how many people were in the cafe that day, what’s stealth!

 

Jeremiah looked at me a little dubious as I spoke in a rush, but then nodded as if he understood.

 

I eagerly voiced my frustration and asked afterward.

 

“But I’m Julian…”

 

“…Julian?”

 

“Oh, no. How did you know I’d seen His Highness the Crown Prince?”

 

“Because I thought you had met him before without my knowledge.”

 

His voice rang with a hint of disapproval. I quickly realized when he was referring to.

 

The only time I’d ever met Julian without Jeremiah’s knowledge was when I first met him.

 

I muttered in frustration.

 

“Shane, I thought we were supposed to keep this a secret from him…”

 

“Why would you go after someone? I didn’t find out because of Shane.”

 

“What, then?”

 

“The crown prince himself told me about it, in a very cryptic way.”

 

Jeremiah didn’t even bother to hide the irritation in his voice. I was struck by the feeling that I knew at that moment how Julian had spoken to Jeremiah about it.

 

There was no way Julian would miss an opportunity to tease Jeremiah.

 

‘As if he were on drugs.’

 

No, that’s how he told Jeremiah that something had happened between us.

 

“I can’t believe it. The crown prince wouldn’t just send you a dress.”

 

“No, he didn’t say that!”

 

I denied, this time with a flourish. It was the dress that seemed to be the biggest problem.

 

“If I’d known it was going to be talked about, I might have tried it on.”

 

Whatever the hell Julian had said to Jeremiah, he seemed to have taken it to heart.

 

“Is the crown prince interested in you?”

 

“No, I know the dress is an incredibly expensive gift, but… why do you keep bringing it up?”

 

“So what about you? You say you have nothing with me but with the crown prince? ”

 

“Duke!”

 

For the rest of the ride, Jeremiah was relentless in his probing of my relationship with Julian.

 

When he got really agitated, I blurted out a string of excuses.

 

‘No, but why am I making excuses?’

 

Halfway through, I started to wonder the same thing…

 

Anyway, my excuse time could only end after the carriage arrived at the Snowflake Manor.

 

Jeremiah stepped out of the carriage first, with a look on his face that said, “I’ll let you off the hook for this one, given the effort you’ve put in.” I glared at him as I took the hand he held out for an escort.

 

“You’re such a prude.”

 

I was muttering to myself when Jeremiah whispered.

 

“I’m just jealous.”

 

“You’re…?”

 

“I’m just jealous that the girl I’m interested in is seeing another guy without my knowledge, so don’t get too upset, Vanessa.”

 

“No, I can’t believe you said that.”

 

‘Isn’t that kind of cheating?’

 

I stared at Jeremiah’s sideways face, which looked rather cool, and then turned my head away. I instantly felt a little warmer.

 

Back at the manor, it was relatively quiet.

 

All the knights were gone, and only a few staff who were awake in the middle of the night greeted Jeremiah upon his return.

 

‘I thought Estella would be the first to greet me.’

 

But there was no sign of Estella’s lovely face in the crowd of greeters.