Can You Save Me Duke? - 27

Suddenly, Lina smiled at the prince’s question about the Duke of Permanence’s curse.

“… … Yes. A little bit. I heard it was called the curse of God.”

“Then do you know why it’s called the curse of God?”

“That’s… … .”

Lina trailed off.

‘Why are you suddenly bringing up the Duke’s curse?’

The prince’s actions were incomprehensible. However, Alex continued speaking without even noticing her feelings.

“It’s not like that now, but in the past, many children in the empire were born with divine powers. Of course, the Permanence family was one of the families born with strong divine powers.”

“The Permanence family?”

The Permanence family was a family born with divine powers. It was the first time she had heard of it, even though she had lived for 400 years.

“Yes. It was also the family that produced the most divine knights. But from some point on, no more children with divine powers were born from the Permanence family. Did you know? The Permanence family originally had silver hair for generations.”

Suddenly, countless paintings she had seen in the gallery hall storage flashed through Lina’s mind.

Paintings that couldn’t even be hung on the wall. And countless people with silver hair were drawn in them.

“Silver hair is one of the symbols of divine power.”

A symbol of divine power. Lina quietly muttered Alex’s words.

“Well, not everyone with silver hair has divine power.”

People with divine power could be identified by their physical characteristics. And the stronger the divine power, the more distinct it appeared.

Silver hair and golden eyes. Those were the physical characteristics of those with the most ideal divine power.

‘But even the woman who is now called a saint doesn’t have silver hair and golden eyes?’

She thought of the princess of Festius, who was a saint. Maybe now physical characteristics and divine power had nothing to do with each other. Even she had silver hair but no divine power.

Lina, who was playing with her hair, asked.

“Then. Do you know why the Permanence family was cursed, Your Highness?”

“It is said that in the past, a member of the Permanence family committed a great sin that could not be forgiven. It is said that the god, enraged by this, personally cursed the family.”

‘It must have happened more than 400 years ago?’

Since Lina had not first opened her eyes in the Regnator Empire, she did not know much about the events that had happened in the Empire before that.

Also, since she had not even come to the Empire for fifty years, there was much she did not know about the Empire.

Lina, who had been lost in thought for a moment, suddenly stared blankly at the Prince who was telling her this story.

“But why are you telling me this?”

Alex smiled at Lina’s question and said.

“I want you to make this garden bloom once again.”

“… … Yes?”

Lina tilted her head at the prince’s words. And just as she was about to ask Alex another question, she felt a presence behind her.

‘Duke?’

When she turned around, Belige was looking back and forth between Alex and Lina, who had been there for some time. With an expression that said she was very displeased.

‘That face again?’

She felt a strange sense of foreboding as if he was going to kill the prince with his gaze.

“Oh, Belige, you came at a good time. I was just about to go back.”

And Alex must have sensed that gaze as well, because he moved away from Lina.

“Then let’s meet again later.”

Alex winked at Lina and left. An awkward silence flowed in the empty space where Alex had suddenly disappeared.

Lina had not had a proper conversation with the Duke since that day.

The Duke was busy with the work that had been piling up because of Lina, and Lina, who had injured her arm, had been ordered to take a break from work for the time being.

After a while, Lina, who couldn’t stand it anymore, broke the silence first.

“Would you like to… … . walk?”

Lina, who had started walking with the Duke, glanced at the Duke as she walked and asked. Walking side by side like this, it really seemed like she had a special relationship with the Duke as rumored.

‘And that face… … .’

Lina thought of Belige’s expression as she looked at the prince a little while ago. Her eyes seemed to be displeased with something and her brows were furrowed. That face looked like… … .

‘What am I thinking right now?’

Since everyone around her brought up her relationship with the Duke, she felt like she was having strange thoughts without realizing it.

She shook her head to get rid of useless thoughts. Then she carefully brought up the question she had wanted to ask all along.

“Your Highness. My belongings in my room… … . Do you know where they are? I heard that people came and took it away the day I disappeared.”

Given the circumstances, the Duke would know where his luggage was. If only someone hadn’t stolen it along the way. Lina hoped that all the luggage had been safely delivered to the Duke.

“Lawrence must have taken it to investigate. Some are with me.”

“Then, wasn’t there a cookie jar among those luggage? There were a lot of things in it. For example, old rings… … .”

“Are you talking about the orange-colored ring?”

“Yes!”

Lina’s face brightened slightly at his words, knowing that he knew the ring.

I was worried that someone might have stolen it during the delivery process. It seems that the ring is with the Duke.

“Is it something precious?”

“Yes! It’s precious to me! Then when can I receive the ring? If the investigation is over, can you return it now?”

Bellige said calmly, looking at Lina whose expression had brightened noticeably.

“No.”

“… … Yes?”

Lina was flustered. She asked cautiously, but she naturally expected him to say he would return it.

“I have no intention of returning it.”

“Why, why?”

“I lost my precious brooch because of you, and you want me to get the ring back. Isn’t that unfair?”

‘A precious brooch?’

What is that? There was no way the brooch that disappeared from the mansion was precious to the duke.

If it was that precious in the first place, it wouldn’t have been stolen so easily, and the case wouldn’t have been concluded so hastily.

“Bring me the brooch. Then I’ll give you the ring.”

‘How could I bring a brooch that I don’t even know what it looks like?!’

The duke was making up ridiculous excuses to avoid giving her the ring.

The moment Lina opened her mouth to refute the duke’s absurd request, Bellige spoke first.

“I’m leaving early tomorrow morning to inspect the Harren estate.”

Lina’s eyebrows twitched at the sudden change in topic.

“With you.”

‘What?’

She then looked at Belige with a bewildered look at the man’s words.

‘You’re going with me? Why would I… … .’

Lina even wondered if the Duke was in his right mind. The rumors about Lina and the Duke had spread beyond the territory and into the capital.

But in the midst of all this, the two main characters of the rumor were inspecting the territory together. It was like pouring oil on the already blazing rumors.

“Your Highness. Wouldn’t it be better for me to just stay in the mansion? The rumors aren’t very good right now, and I think I’ll only be a nuisance to you… … .”

Lina forgot about the brooch and began to persuade him.

“Why? You’re trying to run away again while I’m out of the mansion?”

The Duke’s words hit the nail on the head, but she quickly fixed her expression as if she didn’t know anything.

“Do you know what? I might change my mind and give you the ring back.”

‘Does that mean you’ll give me the ring back if i go with you?’

Lina pondered the duke’s words for a moment. It would be much easier to leave the mansion if the duke vacated it, but she couldn’t leave the mansion without the ring.

And she wondered if she had a choice in the first place.

‘It’s a bit of a rumor, but I’ll leave anyway once I find the ring, so I don’t have to worry about it, right?’

Lina calmed herself down and began to organize her thoughts. But no matter how much she thought about it, she couldn’t understand it.

The duke’s attitude of dismissing the controversy by saying that he gave me the brooch. And.

‘It seems like he’s using the ring as an excuse to keep me by his side… … .’

Lina stared at the man for a long time, and finally couldn’t hold it in and blurted out the questions that had been floating around inside her.

“Your Majesty.”

Lina’s steps stopped as she walked. When she stopped, Belige also stopped walking and looked back.

“Why do you want to keep me by your side?”

It was a rather impulsive question. He had lied about his identity, and although it was a little unfair, he had stolen things and run away from the mansion.

‘Even though you suspected me of being a spy.’

But why didn’t that man take any responsibility? Belige and Lina’s gazes mingled in the air like a tangled ball of thread.

“What if I really am a spy, as the Duke says?”

At that, Belige opened his mouth as if trying to say something, but couldn’t say anything. And something that had been hazy about his attitude seemed to become clearer.

Lina looked at the Duke with a different look than before. This time, her gaze was even more solemn.

“Is the reason you are doing this to me because of the Duke’s curse?”

Bellyge hesitated slightly, perhaps taken aback by her question again. And after thinking for a moment, she opened her mouth.

However, the man’s answer rather embarrassed her.

“Then?”

‘… … What?’

It was just a random remark. Lina’s eyes widened, not knowing that the man would accept it so easily.

‘Is it really related to the Duke’s curse?’

Belige took a step closer to Lina, who was frozen in shock. The words he uttered made Lina unable to move.

“If what you said was true. You won’t leave?”

“… … Yes?”

She was convinced by the Duke’s appearance.

‘It really was because of the curse.’

Lina thought back to what she had been thinking.

[That’s strange. The Duke originally hated being handled by others.]

The Duke had clearly spent a long time on the battlefield, so he

I heard that he didn’t like receiving things.

‘But he wanted a lot from me.’

Also, physical contact was always the end of such demands.

‘But how?’

She was confused as to how she was related to the Duke’s curse. The man who had been looking at Lina continued to speak.

“You’re right.”

The words he uttered were words that were difficult for her to bear.

“When you’re next to me, the heavy air becomes lighter.”

It was almost like a confession.

“When I hold your hand, my dizzy head becomes clearer.”

As if he was whispering a secret he had kept from his beloved lover.

“The hellish nightmares that constantly tormented me every night will no longer occur.”

In a very romantic voice.

“So. Stay by my side.”

He was saying words that seemed to put shackles on her ankles.

“Continue from now on.”

Only then did all the questions begin to be answered. The reason why he wanted to keep her by his side even though he was afraid of the rumor that he was in love with a maid.

It seemed like that man needed her. Very desperately.