Guiding the Male Lead out of His Trauma - Chapter 36.2
Given that I was someone she’d barely even spoken to, to say I wasn’t confused about why she’d summoned me would be a lie.
However, as I watched her, I understood why she had gone so far as to call me here and make such a suggestion.
“The person who was almost friends with my daughter died, and my son has become more and more like his father. Even when I realized things were going wrong, by then the world my son lived in and the world I saw had already become too different.”
“…Ah, it really was the worst.”
“But I saw that child start to change a little. He claimed to dislike you intensely, Miss Ortis, but in fact, you were the one changing him.”
I chose to stay silent, since saying I hadn’t wanted to do that in the first place didn’t feel appropriate here.
“And you’ve changed not only Cassiel, but Acteon as well.”
“Th, Thank you…”
“That’s why I don’t want to see you tied down in a place like this. Above all else.”
She gave me a gentle smile.
Her next words sounded as commonplace and peaceful as talking about the weather.
“Brondearn will soon collapse. If possible, I hope you won’t become involved in this family as one of its members.”
I gaped at her in astonishment.
There was a lot of meaning packed into those words.
But among them, I could grasp her true purpose in calling me here.
“…If I’m not a member?”
“……”
At her unexpected remark, I couldn’t help but let out a laugh.
I decided to erase all my old-fashioned assumptions about the duchess.
She was a person of strong will and strength.
“Then, please get to the point, Madam.”
“Because of you, a rift has formed between the crown prince and Brondearn.”
“I didn’t do it on purpose.”
“It doesn’t matter. What’s important is that there’s a crack now. From the moment you caught the crown prince’s attention, whether you wanted it or not, you became the fuse that will eventually drive them apart.”
I couldn’t help but agree.
After all, I also thought that only by driving a wedge between the two sides and making one destroy the other could I escape my current circumstances.
But since we’re in the same boat now…
“I can accept your proposal, Madam. But shouldn’t I get something in return, too?”
“I can’t give you everything you want, but I’d like to grant you what I can, within my abilities.”
The duchess suggested a very practical reward.
“A fake identity and emigration to another country, for example.”
“That’s true. Even if I succeeded in destroying Brondearn, it might be hard to live here under my real name. But that’s not what I want, Madam.”
The duchess quietly waited for the conditions I would propose.
In some ways, her goal was similar to mine.
Freedom.
Ultimately, she too wanted to escape from this place.
But after Brondearn collapses?
After the crown prince is ruined?
That alone wouldn’t be enough.
Unless something greater changed, we would still be bound by our status as Manifesters, forced to dance to someone else’s tune.
“I also want Brondearn to fall, but I can’t ignore the possibility of failure. As you can imagine, there’s someone I must protect at all costs.”
I desperately wanted to change this system, but I was already someone who should have died once.
Even if it wasn’t truly me, I was someone who had already died.
I couldn’t afford not to prepare for failure.
“No matter what happens to me, please—Hyacinth Ortis, my younger brother. You must protect him, no matter what. That’s all I ask.”
The duchess considered my condition for a long time, then nodded.
“Very well. I will protect your family under any circumstances.”
Only then could I accept her proposal with satisfaction.
* * *
When our exchange ended, the head maid led me back into the corridor.
I’d thought of returning to my room via the duchess’s balcony, but while getting down wasn’t a problem, climbing along the wall to the other side would be.
“This is the time when the fewest people are around. In about two hours, the staff will be getting up, so right now, everyone’s asleep. You won’t run into anyone, so don’t worry.”
“Aren’t the guards patrolling?”
“They are, but their routes don’t overlap.”
So I wouldn’t need to use the balconies again.
The head maid escorted me to the stairs on the third floor, gave me a polite bow, and then returned to the duchess.
I needed to get back as well.
Though I’d be staying here until tomorrow, I definitely didn’t want to wake up early on my day off.
As I moved quietly, aware of the stillness around me, I started down the stairs…
Then I stopped and hid my body behind the curtain at the shadowed window.
‘She said no one would be here. But someone is.’
It was hard to tell in the dark, but the figure was quite tall.
I was unsure if it was a tall woman or not, and rubbed my eyes in disbelief.
Suddenly, the duchess’s words came to mind.
“It’s neroli. Belled said it’s good for sleep and relaxation, so he brought it to me.”
It was none other than Belled himself.
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