Father!”
Derick raised his voice out of proportion. The jaw with the teeth clenched up.
“For that reason, a crossbow engraved with magic …!”
“After Mrs. Donna, you seemed to have a big heartache because of her work at the ballroom.”
The Duke abruptly cut off Derick’s retort.
“I hear that the slave strangle the knight because he spoke ill of Penelope in public. Did you know that?”
“That’s…”
Derick’s mouth shut. He heard it late and knew. That’s why he went to the military base after being told by his butler that She had gone to practice crossbow. To tell her the news that he have dismissed the profane man who dared to insult the princess.
But when I saw him shooting the crossbow half-touched by a slave cub, his eyes were turned upside down. After all, He couldn’t deliver anything He wanted to tell her.
“…… She’d rather be self-assured after being cursed and come back, so would I scold a kid who didn’t want to attend a hunting competition? What would I do?””
“…..”
“So I comforted her by giving her a crossbow. Cause I can’t let her just stay at home forever?”
Derek was silent for a moment at the words of the duke that followed.
“… …I fired Mark and his gang right away.”
A long time later he opened his mouth in a cool voice.
“It would have been easy if she told father or me, I mean, the butler.”
“…..”
“But it’s her who makes us run into the worst situation every time.”
“Derick.”
The words that had not been said were lost at the call of the Duke.
“Don’t hate her too much.”
“….”
“It’s all my fault in a way that Penelope has become such a nuisance. I brought her here to satisfy my greed and didn’t take care of her properly.”
“…”
“She seem to be growing up now, so take care of yourself. Isn’t she the only younger sister?”
Derick broke the Duke’s last word and clenched his fist.
“I have only Yvonne.”
The sound of a clenched mouth came through the hard-frozen lips. The Duke looked at him like that and sighed and turned his head.
“…..now let go of Yvonne.”
“Father.”
He flipped around the Duke with a face that he couldn’t believe what he had just heard.
How can you say that? For Yvonne, and it’s their biological father, not anyone.
“……it was an inevitable accident to lose the Yvonne.”
But the Duke did not stop.
“I haven’t stopped looking for it once, but not even the witness showed up. It’s time to admit it. That she is no longer in this world.”
“Father!”
“It’s already been six years since Penelope came as a duchess.”
The Duke’s gaze at his distorted son’s face filled with anguish.
“It is true that I have brought her here without asking your opinions, and I have left you alone without caring what has happened to our family.”
“……”
“But how long will you let go of the guilt of Yvonne by harassing and hating her?”
Derick’s blue pupil fluttered at the remark. I’d rather have turned off my nerves, never thought of it.
If it were Leonard, he wouldn’t be doing something childish to the girl who lost her sister and took her place..
“I…”
Derick answered in a tight voice.
“I have never hated and harassed Penelope. Father.”
The only reason I hated Penelope was because of her knuckles and frowning behavior.
So, these days, when she had become so human, there’s nothing I can hate. That’s why I didn’t show much of that……
It was the moment.
—-No, Little Duke.
A dry voice flashed past his ear.
— Did Emily ask you to do this, Little Duke?
— Whatever punishment you give me, I’ll take it, Little Duke.
The kid, who had been calling himself “Brother” all the time, began to call himself “The Little Duke.” Although they remained in front of others, they distinguished themselves thoroughly when they were alone.
I was so annoyed that every time she called me “Brother,” I was disgusted.
— I will live like a rat, so you don’t have to worrying about it all the time.
Now she was busy drawing a line, stiffening her face coldly when she saw him. Derick was shocked by the realization.
“But rather, she hate me…..”
It was the moment when he opened his mouth to speak with a slightly puzzled look.
Bang!
“Father!”
The door of the cabana opened roughly. In between, Leonard rushed in.
“Leonard.”
“There’s a witness who saw Penelope.”
The Duke and Derick were dazzled by Leonard’s words, which he poured out like a rapid fire.
“What? Who is that!”
“The Baron Tullet.”
“The Baron Tullet? He’s……”
“He’s the fiance of Lady Kellin.”
Instead of the Duke that brought back a faint memory, Derick spewed out quickly. He was such a humble man that the Duke could not easily think of. He managed to win the title by lining up to the queen by the distant scheme of the Marquis of Ellen.
Earlier this year, however, the sudden engagement of the baron and the countess was a great sensation in society. Rumors circulated in the daily that the two families, who only have daughters, might have forged a forced union by mobilizing distant relatives for the alliance. Both families made sense because they were allies of the second prince.
“So. Baron Tullet, where the hell did he see Penelope!”
The Duke urged Leonard in an urgent voice. said Leonard, hesitating to open his mouth for a moment with a subtle look.
“He was knocked out in the woods by Penelope’s crossbow.”
“What, what?!”
“It is said that he was looking a goddess of hunting from the moment she was discovered, shedding saliva like a idiot and continuing to wear a crimson hair.”
“Ha…”
The Duke could not speak and opened his mouth. But that wasn’t the end.
“In addition, there are a number of aristocrats who are believed to have lost their minds and woken up.”
What Derick was worried about happened.
* * *
Chapter 8.
Whoo-hoo-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh.
I suddenly woke up with a sudden sense of clarity.
As if it were early dawn, the cave was filled with green dawns. The bonfire, which had been burning all night, had already been extinguished with only acrid smoke rising. Beyond that, Callisto was seen sleeping leaning against the wall.
‘I need to get dress up while he sleeping.’’
Under the cape was still naked, so the feeble wind blowing into the cave felt cooler. I got up from my seat trying not to make a sound. Fortunately, the clothes hung near the bonfire were dried up.
It was when I pick up the clothes before The Crown Prince wake up.
Whoo-hoo-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh.
A cool wind blew with a dreary vibration like a nebula. My bangs shook gently in the wind. As I buttoned my jacket, I hesitated with the sense of incompatibility I felt before I woke up.
‘The wind…’
Not from the outside, but from the inside of the cave. I stared at the other side of the dark cave with my breath. At that moment.
Whoo-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh.
The wind blew me back. It wasn’t an illusion. A really cool wind is blowing from inside the cave.
‘Is there a hole in the other side of the cave?’
If you can feel the wind blowing from the other side up to here, it means that the cave is short and straight. But all that unfolded before me was the black darkness.
The cave in which even a faint light could be seen did not look short at all in length.
Whoo-hoo-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh.
Then a wind accompanied by the nebula blew again from the other side of the cave. I turned and quickly approached the Crown Prince.
“Your Highness, wake up.”
Deep asleep, he didn’t wake up right away. I was reluctant to catch him because he was bare, but I had no choice but to grab him by the shoulder and shake him.
“Your Highness.”
Callisto, however, he did not open his eyes. Suddenly it occurred to me that his skin on the palm of his hand was appallingly cold.
‘Is it because you gave me a cape and slept naked all night?’
In addition, the prince of last night was wearing wet pants, perhaps for his own consideration.
“Your Highness, Your Highness?”
The sight of Callisto, who couldn’t open his eyes even after shaking several more times, made me suddenly scared. Suddenly it occurred to me that he was hit by a citation and a sword yesterday.
“Is, Is he dead?’
I rushed my head to his chest, palpitating. Fortunately, his heart was beating regularly, as if he weren’t dead.
With my hair pulled off, I still slapped the crown prince lightly to wake him up.
‘I can’t help it ’cause he won’t wake up.’
Chakk-.
“Your Highness, open your eyes!”
Chak! Chak, Chak!
The touch, which was close to a slight tap, grew stronger and stronger and stronger. I didn’t do this because I was selfish. I really couldn’t help it. Because the Crown Prince did not open his eyes after a slight tap….
“Your Highness, Your Highness!”
Chak! Chak!
Chak-!
At last the sound of a proper slap on the cheek rang out in the cave.
“Um…”
The crown prince frowned. His eyelids flinched, and soon his red pupil was revealed between them.
“Your Highness, are you alright? Are you sick?”
I asked with a worried look, hastily hiding my hand that had been raised to grind one more time.
“……princess.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
“Didn’t you just… …hit me on the cheek?”
“What? That’s impossible! How dare I do that.”
I shook my head with my eyes wide open. My gaze was nailed in one cheek of the gain.
“That’s odd. I felt like I was hit on the cheek.”
“You must have had a dream. Get up quickly.”
I jumped up before he noticed and brought him his clothes and his lightweight armor. It was a bit of conscience.
“This is not the time to talk about dreams in peace, Your Highness. The wind is blowing from inside the cave.”
“……wind?”
“Yes. I’m sure it’s not even a short burrow….”
Whoo-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh.
At that moment, another cool breeze blew from inside the cave, as if to support my words. The prince, wearing the clothes he had received from me, hesitated and looked over the cave.
“This is.”
His face stiffened.
“Why……What’s wrong?”
“I can feel the magic.”
He made eye contact with me with a serious look on his face.
“It looks like there’s someone in the cave.”
