#031
As Chezare demanded, the woman caught her breath. But even that act was too rushed, leaving her winded all over again. Wiping away the drool trickling from her mouth, she bellowed in a piercing voice.
"Your Highness, this wretched maid dared to slap my cheek! Look at this! How calloused must her hands be for my face to swell up like this already?"
What an ungrateful fool—not even recognizing her lifesaver. This was exactly why you shouldn't hand out favors lightly. I'd saved the woman from becoming gargoyle chow, and what did I get in return? Pure snitching.
Of course, she wasn't strutting around with total confidence either. After all, she was the one who'd boasted she could talk her way out of anything with anyone.
Catherine gazed up at Chezare with wide, earnest eyes.
Look into my pure, innocent eyes. It was all for the peace of the ducal residence. I didn't slap her just because I wanted to.
「Catherine, that look you're giving Chezare is way too creepy. Tone it down, okay? It's hard holding back the rage.」
Chezare, for his part, seemed utterly disinterested in the drama. Otherwise, he wouldn't have that serene air about him, like he was just waiting for a fish to bite on the riverbank.
With his slender, warm hand, Chezare gently covered Catherine's eyes.
"What's this hand for?"
"You're staring at me with those intense eyes, and it's making me uncomfortable."
The soft touch of his skin tickled her eyebrows. She brushed his hand away, and a short, low chuckle drifted down from above her head.
"Well, I have a rough idea of the problem anyway."
Chezare's gaze shifted to the woman, about ten paces away.
"So, your name is?"
The reply came instantly.
"Rosie Moore, Your Highness. Your one and only niece!"
"I can't fathom why I have so many 'one and only' relatives claiming kinship. Put them all together, and we could found a whole new nation."
To deliver sarcasm like that with such a beaming smile was a talent in itself. Anyone watching would think he was exchanging pleasantries with a close family member.
Chezare gave a curt nod, and the attendants who'd followed him closed in tight beside the woman. They seized her arms like she was a criminal and turned her toward the opposite direction.
"Your Highness? What is the meaning of— Your Highness!"
"I fully understand your greed for the Moore family's fortune, Miss Moore. I remember your name well—you said you lacked the dowry for your remarriage. But the amount you demanded from me was far too extravagant for a mere viscount's family."
"This can't be happening! I'm your niece! What does a paltry sum like that matter to a grand duke like you...!"
"You know it well—that amount is pocket change to me. But as I made clear yesterday afternoon via messenger: I have no intention of giving you anything. If you're that desperate to beg, make Christopher your honeymoon destination. I'll personally book the hotel and even lend you some staff."
"I didn't come all this way for some petty favor!"
The shrieking woman faltered mid-rant, her words dying in her throat. Her pale cheeks flushed red, as if she'd made a grave mistake. Chezare, naturally, showed no reaction whatsoever to whatever she'd let slip.
"True, you wouldn't cross such a distance for a trivial request. Especially not when I have dozens, hundreds of so-called 'relatives' like you crawling out of the woodwork. If I indulged them all, even my vaults would run dry. Surely you'd spare a thought for your poor uncle."
It wasn't exactly kind, but at least he wasn't outright kicking her to the curb. Amid the thickening tension between them, Catherine—stuck squarely in the middle—started feeling awkwardly out of place. The slap and the ensuing chase already felt like ancient history from some distant land.
"Fetch a carriage and escort the niece back to her estate. Ask her directly which territory it's in."
In the midst of this niece fest, the woman's face drained of color at alarming speed. Violent struggling soon erupted.
"Let me go! Unhand me! I'm the duke's niece! Soon to be a viscountess! You can't treat me like this!"
「Catherine, you probably have no clue what 'niece' even means. From all that fussing, it seems like it refers to the woman who birthed and raised Chezare.」
Chezare smoothly ignored the remark that would have branded him a filial ingrate.
"Miss Niece."
His calm summons made her freeze in shock, her thrashing halting abruptly.
"No noble in any land—let alone imperial royalty—suffers my people to lay hands on them lightly. And yet here you are, showing up on the flimsy pretext of blood ties to beg for charity, carrying on like this... Was your goal perhaps to irritate me?"
The gap between his mild tone and the icy content of his words was vast. With a dismissive wave—as if she wasn't worth another syllable—the attendants hoisted her away and vanished.
Catherine, who'd been reduced to a mere spectator, watched their retreating figures with a queasy mix of awkwardness and discomfort.
"Your Highness, I have a word."
No sooner had the woman disappeared than Glenn appeared out of nowhere at Chezare's side.
"And Miss Catherine, it's been a while."
"Oh, good to see you."
It had been a little time, sure, but not that long.
Glenn dipped his head politely, then turned to Chezare.
"The residence entrance is in somewhat of an uproar. Cardinals from the Pilgrimage Path insist on an audience..."
「Eek!」
"Let them in."
Against the backdrop of Yaong's strangled yelp, Glenn melted away like a ghost, just as he'd arrived.
Cardinals from the Pilgrimage Path. Agents of the pope tasked with slaying monsters. With license to kill sans punishment, so long as they had a plausible pretext. Catherine didn't know who granted such authority, but with demons and monsters flanking her on either side, a nagging unease stirred in her chest.
「I-I'm outta here! Don't you dare follow me!」
Yaong tucked tail and scampered off in a panic. Their camaraderie might be half-broken, but at least one of them would survive—small mercies.
Sudden visitors or not, Chezare remained utterly composed. His porcelain features twisted faintly, but it seemed born of pure irritation rather than any concern over the cardinals.
"Apologies for the unseemly display. As you see, my residence is overrun with unwanted guests."
"No, if anything, I feel bad for jumping to conclusions without knowing better. Sorry."
Chezare shrugged.
"No need to apologize for that. Though I was rather shocked to hear you'd slapped her."
His words conjured the memory of that rainy night, when she'd grabbed a shovel and chased off the imperial knights "for his sake."
Wait, is my image veering into some weird territory here?
She needed a proper excuse, and fast.
"There was a good reason for it."
"I'm sure there was. Probably something absurd, so no need to explain."
Chezare smoothly deflected, his expression saying the details didn't matter either way. Catherine decided not to press further.
"May I touch it for a moment?"
Standing there blankly, she looked up at his question. His eyes were fixed on the necklace with its dangling key.
"Ah, sure."
His fingertips brushed her nape lightly. With the gentlest squeeze, the chain snapped with a faint crack. Chezare threaded the freed key onto a pendant chain and clasped it around her neck. Up close, his shirt carried the faint scent of coffee and old paper—nothing remarkable, yet strangely soothing.
"Now that's more presentable."
Presentable? With this ridiculously oversized pendant hanging off her neck?
Before she could retort, the royal pendant shrank to the size of a thumbnail.
"The size is adjustable via magic."
"...Thanks for the gift, but you're sure I can actually use it?"
"Of course."
No hesitation. Along with it, he handed her a small, thick leather pouch.
Don't tell me this is cash?
Even a rat hole sees the sun sometimes! With his firm assurance, she could spend it guilt-free. Who'd have thought she'd live to own a royal pendant? Sure, she'd traded her life for it... but there were far more things in this world you couldn't buy with mere survival. This hardly felt like a bad deal.
"Your Highness, I've brought them."
Behind the returning Glenn stood two middle-aged men in saffron robes. They had the calm, kindly faces of seasoned veterans, with gentle smiles playing at their lips.
But in an instant, the air turned frigid.
The cardinals, bowing to Chezare, suddenly unleashed razor-sharp glares. Their lion's roar exploded forth—a savage bellow that left ears ringing.
"You demon scum! Foolish wretch—how dare you set foot in this place!"
Chezare was a demon, technically. The real issue was that accusing finger pointed squarely at Catherine.
"Cunning fiend... disguising yourself as a woman to seduce the grand duke!"
What reaction was she supposed to have here? Catherine clutched the leather pouch tight to her chest. She had no idea what was going on, but protecting this bag felt like priority one.
"Um, grandpa? Sorry, but I think you've got the wrong address."
Did "grandpa" offend him? Or did he dismiss her words as lies? Either way, the cardinals erupted in fury.
"Who do you think you're fooling, pretending to be human? What foul scheme brought you skulking into our midst!"
"Foul scheme? No idea about that... I just came for a meal."
She'd tried proving her humanity peacefully enough, but the cardinals' mood remained murderously dark. A scoff came not from her, but Chezare. He stroked his chin with long, elegant fingers, then spoke in mock surprise.
"Senile? Or just mad. Though I suppose it's the same thing."
These were cardinals, no less—powers-that-be in the Holy Agrippa Papacy, elite of the Pilgrimage Path. Catherine watched in fascination as Chezare hurled raw insults right in their faces. She stared even harder at the cardinals, who took it with weary familiarity.
"Grand Duke, you must cultivate proper reverence for our Holy See. That foul mouth of yours never improves with time!"
"It's all because you wormed your way under Shagweed II and corrupted your noble heart. Had you entrusted yourself to the Church, you'd know right from wrong!"
Chezare didn't bother hiding his boredom amid their aged tirades—he just yawned theatrically and sighed.
"This young lady is my guest. Quit wasting my time with nonsense and state your business. Then get the hell out of my residence."