I Accidentally Tamed the Duke

Chapter 6

Zyle bowed at Yurania’s command.

“Yes, Your Grace. I’ll have it ready after I inform His Grace.”

Though it was true that she’d been waiting for Casius all this time, her leaving the house had to be kept a secret in case he started questioning her excursion.

Yurania motioned Zyle to flip the note over, and a moment after he read the words written on the back, his face twisted and blushed red.

“Y-Your Grace. How do you know about—”

The note read,

—I know what you do every morning, Zyle. The carrier pigeon found the wrong room and came to mine. I asked Lina and was told something very interesting.

Yurania smiled like an innocent child and put her forefinger to her lips. Zyle, on the other hand, looked noticeably nervous after reading her note.

She wrote another note and held it out for him.

—Don’t worry. Lina knows how to keep a secret. But I want you and me to go out without anyone else knowing.

That was right—this was a threat.

“I-I’ll get the carriage ready right away. I’ll send a servant up once it’s ready, Your Grace.”

Zyle, who immediately understood that he’d better get things ready for her trip if he wanted his secret kept, rushed out of the room. He worked on writing adult fiction every morning, and his novel depicted a special kind of romance—it was what was called a “BL” genre, or Boys’ Love fiction. It was something Yurania discovered a few days ago when his carrier pigeon had mistakenly made its way to her room. She’d put the publisher’s advice suggesting that he change his routine of writing in the mornings back in the message container attached to the pigeon’s leg, then sent the bird back.

I’ll definitely be able to keep Zyle’s mouth shut with this. It was prohibited to have a side job within the duke’s castle, so Yurania was sure he’d keep her excursion a secret from the duke.

***

A soft knock sounded at the door as the carriage came to a stop.

“We’ve arrived, Your Grace,” Zyle’s voice came from the coach box.

Yurania got up and stepped off the carriage with his help.

They were in the heart of the bustling marketplace, a sight that was both foreign and familiar to Yurania. She’d frequently visited the place when she was young but had been unable to leave the house as she wished from some point on. Yurania had come out in an ordinary-looking carriage after putting on a hat to hide her silver hair, and thankfully, few eyes looked her way. The most she got were glances any stranger might receive.

Zyle escorted her through the front garden of an inn in the corner of the market. Through the wide-open door, she could see that the first floor was filled with boisterous mercenaries having a drinking feast in broad daylight.

“It’s this way, Your Grace. Let me escort you through the back door.”

Yurania reached out with her hand to hold Zyle back. They didn’t have to go that far because the person she sought stood right before her. However, she didn’t forget to let her gaze drift in midair, lest anyone discover she could see again.

The blue-haired man slowly approached them, then, recognizing Yurania, smirked.

“Well, look who we have here. What is the noble Duchess Euclid doing here?”

Sade Kalisto, Yurania’s childhood friend, was the head of the mercenary guild here in the Harunroy Empire. She worried that she might not recognize him because this would be the first time she had met him after losing her sight and speech, but Sade was the same old Sade.

He came to her chuckling, then mockingly tapped a finger on her head and said, “You said you would marry me when we were young, and then you went off to become another man’s wife. Right? Yurania.”

She irritably pushed his arm aside. Sade had been intelligent and resourceful since they were young. The fact that he’d become the youngest mercenary guild head testified to his capabilities. But he died earlier than me in my past life.

The artifact she had destroyed was a barrier protecting the Eamonn Territory. The monsters attacked as soon as the barrier cracked, and the empire tried to hire mercenaries to take care of the uncontrollably increasing number of monsters. However, the mercenary guild had colluded and demanded a high price, and Sade was at the center of it. He was killed by Casius because of that. She had heard all this from Lina while trapped inside the tower. There were a lot of dubious points she hadn’t understood, but it had been impossible for her to ask Sade herself at the time.

“But Yurania, I see you have some mana you didn’t use to have.”

Mana?

Seeing the evident bewilderment on her face, Sade shoved his lips intimately close to her and whispered, “Don’t tell me that you didn’t know? Oh, Count Vincent never fails to surprise me.”

Yurania tapped on Sade’s arm to tell him to explain in more detail.

“Hm. Should I tell you or not?”

“Eugh.” (“Tell me.”)

“Well, hearing your chirping voice firsthand brings tears to my eyes.”

“It would be wise for us to have this conversation elsewhere,” Zyle commented and stepped forward, unable to stand Sade’s rude behavior any longer.

Just then, Yurania quickly grabbed hold of the blue hair before her.

“Ouch!”

“Eugh!”

“All right! Ouch! Nia! Nia! All right, all right! Nia. I’ll tell you everything!”

Sade made quite a fuss and called out Yurania’s pet name. But as soon as she let go of Sade’s hair, his neck was thrown back violently out of the blue.

“Ouch!”

“You mustn’t let go of a ruffian’s neck that easily, Yurania.”

Yurania’s gaze followed the deep voice and trailed upward to land on Casius, who was pressing on Sade’s forehead with his forefinger.

Though Sade’s eyes widened at seeing him, he quickly gave a crafty smile and said, “Oh my, who do we have here? To what do I owe the pleasure of Duke Euclid’s visit?”

“What business does the head of the mercenary guild have with the duchess?”

Even as they spoke, Sade’s head continued bending further backward against the force of Casius’ finger. Yurania pretended to fumble a bit, then grabbed onto Casius. She fervently shook her head to let him know it was a misunderstanding, but Casius simply stared at her and didn’t look like he would let Sade go anytime soon.

How on earth did he know I was here? She hadn’t expected him to show up in this place. They were in a place tucked away in a corner of the market that one would rarely pass by unless an effort was deliberately made to find it.

Could it be? She glanced at Zyle as a reasonable doubt crossed her mind. The way he’d taken out his handkerchief to wipe his sweat away was highly suspicious. Yurania watched Zyle coughing needlessly as she bit her lip.

It was then that Sade stretched his neck left and right after abruptly bending his knees to escape Casius’ hold. Then he cried, “Oow. Ow, ow, ow… I’m pretty sure my bones are broken. Where do I file for compensation?”

“You have quite an imprudent tongue.”

Seeing Casius slowly stretch his arm back out, Sade theatrically waved both arms after quickly jumping back to make space between them.

“Ah. It was just a joke, Your Grace.”

“So, what business do you have with the duchess?”

“Let me enlighten you, as you seem completely oblivious. Ahem, ahem. I’m old friends with Nia.”

Yurania’s mouth went dry at Sade’s insane behavior. She was sure he was thoroughly enjoying himself right now. Whose presence does he think he’s in, behaving so jokingly like that? He must want to die—that was the only explanation for how he acted in front of Casius, even though he knew that he was called the War Demon.

Yurania pulled on Casius’ arm and motioned that they should head back home with the good intention of saving a life. Casius stared hard at Yurania but didn’t listen to her request.

“Friend?” he simply asked Sade in a biting tone.

“Yes, yes. It’s been a while since I’d last seen Nia. I was overly excited that I went too far with the jokes.”

“Being friends doesn’t justify you ridiculing the duchess, Sade Kalisto.”

“Pardon me for the old habit. Isn’t that how all friends are? I pray that Your Grace can forgive me with a benevolent heart.”

Yurania felt uneasy watching Sade smile like a Cheshire cat and tugged on Casius again. Of course, his big frame didn’t even budge. She would have to get rid of the other side if she couldn’t deal with this one.

She shifted her gaze toward Sade and made a motion of slicing her neck with the edge of her hand.

“Get lost.”

And when followed up by raising her hand and pretending to poke his eyes out with her two fingers, Sade flinched and trembled. It seemed like he remembered how she’d poked his eyes when they were young.

“Ah. I just remembered that I had an important meeting. I hope you enjoy your stay here.”

Sade put his forefinger and middle finger together, flicked it off his forehead in a farewell gesture he would’ve been better off without, and instantly disappeared. Only then did Yurania’s bunched shoulders relax. She let out a heavy sigh.

“Yurania, we should return.”

She immediately pulled the corners of her lips into a smile when Casius finally acknowledged her presence.

“You’re smiling as if you’re happy to see me.”

She thought it would help to ease his guilt if she showed him her brightest side.

She wrote on his palm,

—How did you know I’d be here? Did you hear it from Zyle?

“Everything related to you is reported to me. You’ll have to have your own people in the castle if you want to have secrets of your own.”

Was she flattering herself, or did it sound like he was telling her to secure her standing as the duchess?

Yurania wrote down once more,

—If it doesn’t embarrass you, I want to walk.

“I don’t understand. Why would you think I would be embarrassed?”

Everything was fine as long as he wasn’t embarrassed by her lack of character. Yurania smiled lightly, then walked as boldly as possible after taking Casius’ hand. She didn’t forget to pretend that she couldn’t see and feigned struggling a little, too. She’d been quite lively back when she’d been friends with Sade but had slowly wilted away under the oppression of Count Vincent and Erika. Perhaps that was why it wasn’t hard putting on a bright front.

She stopped in the shopping district and slowly wrote on Casius’ palm.

—There’s something I want to buy.

“You don’t need to ask for permission for every single thing. Zyle.”

Hearing Casius call for Zyle, Yurania took a piece of paper and wrote down a list of things for him to get. She returned to the carriage first, but it didn’t take long for Zyle to return with everything she’d asked for.

“Eugh!”

Yurania made a loud noise and called Casius herself for the first time. It must have been quite a shock for him because his eyes marginally widened before returning to their usual size. She gave a small laugh, then whimpered, holding onto his arm.

“Eugh.”

She wanted to roll his shirt up but thought it would be too suspicious if she effortlessly unfastened the tight buttons—that was why she was trying to ask Casius for help.

“Do you want me to roll up my sleeves?”

“Eugh.”

Instead of nodding, Yurania made an awkward sound in reply.