#20. Entering the Grand Duchy (3)
2023.08.20.
“……Huh?”
Unable to understand the meaning of Noah’s words, Dwaine could only blink before shouting nervously.
“Ah, anyway, let’s go again, Your Grace!”
Seeing him cling so persistently, Noah narrowed his eyes.
“Then, will you help me instead?”
“Huh? Me?”
Dwaine’s eyes went wide. It was the first time in his life that someone had said such a thing to him.
*Asking me for help? Saying you need my, Dwaine’s, help?*
He stared at Noah with a blank face. Is our Grand Duke in his right mind…….
“Yes. I need your help.”
Noah spoke firmly and then glanced around. The young ladies from the nearby village, including the maids, were watching them with flushed cheeks. Noah assumed they had come to see Dwaine.
*Just like when we traveled north, he seems to understand women’s hearts well.*
He was so amiable and friendly that every village and estate they passed through had women overflowing with regret at parting with him. At that point, Noah would have merely thought him a womanizer, but the fact that not a single person hated or resented Dwaine was quite impressive.
*He may be unreliable, but there must be something to learn from him.*
There was someone Noah wanted to impress. That was why he wanted to learn the secret to capturing a woman’s heart from him.
Bradley, who had been watching from the side, asked with an incredulous expression.
“Your Highness, do you really want that guy’s help? Truly?”
Noah nodded calmly.
“If Dwaine comes, Jack and you will follow along too. It is a gain for me.”
“I see……”
At those plausible words, Dwaine nodded. Bradley looked at him pathetically before turning his head and gazing at Noah with a meaningful look.
*Will you look at him?*
There was something people overlooked, blinded by his angelic appearance. The Grand Duke was not a gentle or docile character as he appeared.
Just then, a cold voice was heard from behind.
“What is all this?”
“Eek!”
Dwaine jumped like a rabbit and quickly retreated behind Noah to hide. Amy looked at Dwaine displeased, seeing him use Noah—who was only half her size—as a shield.
“Amy. Have you finished looking around?”
As if he had never worn a sullen expression, Noah smiled brightly at Amy. At that, sighs burst out simultaneously from the onlookers.
“Yes. But it’s cold; what were you doing?”
Amy hurriedly took off her cloak and draped it over Noah’s shoulders. Noah pouted at the thick cloak covering his body.
“I’m not cold.”
“That can’t be. But Sir Dwaine was lying down just now……”
Amy scanned Noah from head to toe and made a surprised expression.
“Did Your Highness beat him down?”
At Amy’s words, Dwaine grumbled.
“Am I a bear, to be beaten down?”
Noah pretended not to hear him and smiled again.
“Yes. I beat him down. With my bare hands.”
“My goodness…….”
Joy spread across Amy’s face. Seeing that, Noah felt a ticklish sensation in one side of his chest. Amy lowered her voice and whispered to Noah.
“You did well. We can reduce Sir Dwaine’s salary.”
“No, that’s not it!”
Dwaine shrieked, having been listening intently, but Amy pretended not to hear and urged Noah to leave the training grounds together.
As Noah followed Amy, he glanced back and mouthed *later* to them. Dwaine and Bradley, who were pouting, nodded.
Noah looked at Amy walking beside him and asked.
“You’re not really going to reduce it, are you?”
Amy raised one eyebrow and smirked.
“The garrison guards’ salaries will be decided by Sir Vernon together with Joseph. I was merely giving him a scare.”
“He may look like that, but he’s quite helpful.”
Noah took off the cloak and draped it back over Amy’s shoulders. Amy furrowed her brow at his action. Then Ideon, who was following behind, quickly covered Noah’s shoulders with the cloak he was holding. He was already working hard at playing the role of a squire. Noah straightened his cloak and said.
“I just sparred using Southern martial arts.”
“…….”
Amy’s expression grew subtle. She recalled the Crown Prince’s contemptuous words about the Second Prince that she had overheard while spying.
*To think he has the blood of Southern bumpkins—no wonder the brat is learning techniques that involve rolling on the ground and striking with his hands. For someone who calls himself a prince, it’s unsightly, really…….*
That was right. The Second Prince, Noah, had learned Southern martial arts as a child. And since he had learned them at quite a young age, if he had continued practicing, he would surely be at a high level by now. Amy blinked.
*Surely not on purpose……?*
Noah slightly raised the corner of his mouth and muttered in satisfaction.
“Now he won’t be able to call me a Morning Star.”
“Morning Star?”
Wasn’t that a weapon covered in spikes like a hedgehog? She tilted her head, thinking it was probably related to some technique, and passed it off as nothing significant. Then she glanced at the setting sun.
“Dinner time is almost upon us. Let us hurry, Your Highness.”
“Yes.”
The two quickened their steps.
In the hall of the Grand Duke’s castle, Noah sat at the head table before a wall draped with tapestries embroidered with the Grand Ducal family’s coat of arms, wearing a sulky expression. He did not even look at the various dishes laid out before him, his gaze moving constantly as if searching for someone.
The employees sitting at the long tables placed vertically below the head table followed the Grand Duke’s gaze while pretending not to, whispering among themselves.
“He’s looking for the head maid, right? She said she was stopping by somewhere.”
“Isn’t it the aide?”
“You don’t know a thing. His Highness hasn’t looked for the aide all day today.”
“So that’s why the aide keeps wandering around with a tearful face looking for His Highness.”
At another table where the garrison guards were gathered, Dwaine was complaining about how unjust it was. Soon, the sound of a fist slamming down on the table rang out.
“No, how can this be?”
Bradley, sitting beside him, immediately answered.
“It can.”
“……I wasn’t finished.”
“Is that important? What’s important is that you lost to His Highness.”
“That’s exactly what I’m asking—how is that possible?”
Bradley let Dwaine’s complaints go in one ear and out the other as he ate his food. Even so, his eyes glanced at Noah just like the others. He too had found Noah’s skill unexpected.
Just then, the aide Joseph arrived at the head table and carefully sat down next to Noah, skipping one seat. Noah did not give Joseph a single glance, continuing to stare only at the door of the hall. Bradley narrowed his eyes.
*Dwaine let his guard down, but even if he hadn’t, victory would have been difficult to guarantee.*
He too had trained in martial arts for many years, so he could tell that Noah was quite skilled.
*I’ve never heard that the Second Prince was deeply versed in martial arts.*
In fact, almost nothing was known about the Grand Duke. That aside…….
Bradley fixed his gaze on the head maid who was just entering the hall.
*The Ghost Head Maid, notorious throughout the Imperial Palace, was definitely from the Crown Prince’s Palace—when did she switch sides to the Second Prince?*
Moreover, the Grand Duke trusted her immensely despite her coming from what was essentially enemy territory. Well, when they traveled north, she had served the Grand Duke so meticulously that it would have been impossible not to trust her.
*Did they originally know each other?*
But even so, the Crown Prince’s affection for the head maid had been extraordinary. The rumors had reached the point of calling her the Empress’s headache. At least before he himself left the Imperial Palace that had been the case—perhaps the Crown Prince’s feelings had changed in the meantime.
He clicked his tongue.
*Well, I suppose I’ll find out soon enough.*
“You informed the chef of His Highness’s dietary preferences that I told you about in advance, right?”
Amy, who had returned from touring the castle with Melburn, checked the food the moment she entered the hall. Melburn puffed out his chest and answered.
“Of course.”
“But why isn’t he eating?”
Her steps quickened with anxiety. Just then, Noah saw her approaching and rose from his seat with a delighted expression. Amy was startled and hurriedly tried to dissuade him.
“You must sit and eat, Your Highness.”
Noah sat back down reluctantly and looked up with innocent eyes.
“Amy hasn’t sat down yet.”
“I will eat on my own later, so please eat. The chef prepared dishes that Your Highness particularly favors.”
Amy smiled nonchalantly.
*I suppose he got used to eating together during our travels.*
But now, things were different. Noah was now the Grand Duke in every sense, and the master of this place. Where in the world was a head maid who sat at the head table with her master? However, Noah was adamant.
“Amy is a noble young lady. There is no reason you cannot share the table with me.”
“…….”
She couldn’t say he was wrong, so Amy was at a loss for words. Noah stared into her eyes as if he would absolutely not take back his words.
Joseph, sitting beside him, also looked at her with watery eyes. It was a silent plea begging her not to leave him alone with just the Grand Duke.
“……Then, I shall do so.”
In the end, Amy had no choice but to take a seat between them.
Noah, in a better mood, picked up his glass, drank watered-down wine, and smiled brightly. Exclamations leaked out from below once again. Amy looked at his beaming face before fixing her gaze on the table.
*The Crown Prince never once asked me to eat together either…….*
Separate from the Empress’s warnings, the Crown Prince had taken it for granted that Amy would stand behind him. Having grown accustomed to the Crown Prince, who treated her no differently than a maid while merely paying lip service to affection, seeing Noah made her heart flutter for some reason.