Guiding the Male Lead out of His Trauma - Chapter 18.2
I made up a reasonable excuse.
“There was something I had to do. I was looking for someone, but it seems they’re not in the Central District.”
“Are they someone important?”
“In a way… yes.”
Upon hearing that, Belled let go of the habitual, formal smile he always wore and instead gave a gentle, sincere one. Somehow, that expression seemed rather meaningful.
“Who knows? Maybe they’re closer than you think.”
For some reason, Belled’s expression made my intuition tingle strangely.
‘What’s this?’
Of course it couldn’t be, but just in case, I tried asking.
“I hope so. Belled, if you ever hear anything about someone named Millia Ernst, could you let me know?”
He tilted his head, not bothering to brush back the hair falling over his eyes, and replied,
“Hmm, Miss Ernst? I feel like I’ve heard that name before…”
Wait, what?
I was about to grab him by the collar in my urgency, but Belled deftly dodged back.
“Ah, I was mistaken. It was someone else with a similar name.”
“…Hah.”
He’s not teasing me, right?
‘No, it seems like he is.’
When I glared at him hard enough to make it clear I wasn’t in the mood for jokes, Belled quickly raised both hands in surrender.
“Alright, fine. More importantly, why were you looking for me?”
“Oh, the master asked for you, Miss Ortis. Earlier, he told me to prepare a sedative for Cassiel, so I came to let you know and pick up some ingredients.”
Is today just a day for running into people I’d rather avoid?
Well, there aren’t that many people in this house I’m comfortable around to begin with.
‘Acteon is… Well, compared to Cassiel or the Duke, he’s not so bad.’
I made no attempt to hide how much I didn’t want to go, and simply nodded sourly.
Belled advised me not to let my distaste show so obviously, then went off to handle his own business.
The place where Hyacine and I were staying was in the west wing, some distance away from the personal rooms where the Brondearn family stayed.
Normally, since there was no reason to go the other way, I hardly ever ran into any of the servants, but today, as I passed by, I could feel their eyes flicking toward me.
‘It’s definitely different from before.’
It must be since that day I saved Acteon.
Cadets from the academy occupy an awkward position, neither commoners nor nobles.
It’s not as if the social barrier is as high as with true nobility.
Maybe because they worry I might be trouble if provoked, most of the staff preferred to just avoid me.
The servants here, like Blair or Hannah, had quietly looked down on me on my first day, but now they were clearly keeping to the proper boundaries—not overstepping any lines—so, if anything, I found it less suffocating.
‘It’s all because of those two, Acteon and Cassiel.’
And this change in attitude wasn’t just limited to the staff.
“Miss Ortis.”
Even the real power in this house, the Duke, was no exception.
Surrounded by butlers and deeply engrossed in paperwork, the Duke called out to me.
“I hear Cassiel wants to return to school.”
“Yes, I’ve heard the same.”
“I heard it was you who persuaded him?”
That’s not really true.
There’s no benefit in denying it here, though, so I let my words trail off ambiguously.
The Duke, however, seemed pleased, thinking I was just being modest.
“He’s never budged, no matter how much I scolded or threatened him, so I’m grateful.”
That’s just because you’re always so overbearing with the kid.
With someone like Cassiel, rather than getting angry or threatening, it’s more effective to help him reflect on himself and persuade him gently.
Even my offhanded nagging ended up working too well.
But the Duke didn’t care about my sullen expression at all.
“If only you were A-Class, I would’ve arranged a match with one of them.”
Here we go again.
From Acteon’s anomalous first awakening to Cassiel’s struggle to get over his family’s death, the Duke seized every chance to say this to me whenever he could.
“That would be too much trouble for the Brondearn family.”
“No, someone like you is rare.”
He’s keeping me for quite a while today.
As my eyes darted away, the butlers, probably pressed for time, were starting to tremble as they waited for him to finish.
The Duke had stopped working just to talk with me.
For their sake, and mine as well, maybe it was time to make my escape.
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