Chapter 2

Translated by Niks

” You…you woke up already.”

His gaze stayed on me.

I didn’t say anything, but the tension seemed to wrap my body.

Soon his lips opened.

“I want to give a reward to my benefactor.”

I’ll kill you right away, saying I’ll be respectful, with the same terrifying expression…

I was scared, even though I’m not nervous.

But I’ve been waiting for this moment all this time!!

I said confidently.

“A re-..reward? T-that’s go-..good!”

He will become a problem to my brother’s revenge, so I have to snack as much as possible.

Originally, even if other people return the favor, It’s still annoying that you can’t get it comfortably. Plus, the Duke particularly has a fearsome atmosphere. I was scared…!

“I-if so then, I am your benefactor. I have one little and precious request.”

The Duke tilted his head at an angle and stiffened.

“I will listen.”

“Well, I think it will be a long conversation. Can we talk somewhere else? This house is small and a little shabby…”

It’s better to talk about at Duke’s Castle, rather than at the Iron-blooded fortress of the Gold District (which is forbidden to humans)

I endured trying to say that.

Because he hasn’t revealed that he is the duke.

Besides, doesn’t it seem too easy to confess your heart?

However, God seemed to be on my side.

“My house is near here. If possible, we can go there and talk.”

I don’t know why, but things were working out my way.

“Then, will I enter the Duke Castle as a benefactor who saved the Duke as planned?”

Once I step into the Duke Castle, it will be easier to say, “Please let me work at the office of the treatment center !”

The Shapeshifters hate and despise humans, but they can’t even spit ferociously at the duke’s benefactor.

If I catch the spies while working at the internal treatment center in Duke’s Fortress and steal details of their background,  then my mission is complete!

After all the calculations, I nodded with a sorrowful look.

Every time his gaze met mine, his breathing was weird, but it didn’t matter.

I inhaled violently and shouted as if to cheer up.

“Yes! It’s good to go to the mansion and talk.”

Wait, does it look too urgent?

But strangely…

“Yeah.”

The Duke seemed more skeptical…. In his fierce eyes, he replied without hesitation.

I tilted my head in a strange sense of incongruity, but he suddenly took my hand.

He held my hand tightly.

His difficulty in breathing disappeared at the touch of our hands.

“What…?”

I can’t discern this situation, what’s with this sudden situation.

At that moment, his blank face leaned in front of my face, and his nose and mine were close enough to touch.

“I was waiting for you to say that.”

And I think that’s what we’re waiting for.

More than that.

“..·…You waited for me to speak?”

Aren’t things going too easy than I thought?

Is this a trap card?

I gathered all kinds of doubts from the altar, and I was on the lookout for putting up all of my breath.

Then he whispered in a slightly harsh voice.

“Yes, I waited.”

I was even more terrified.

There was a guillotine in the castle that executed humans only a decade ago.

Can you enter this easily?

It’s completely suspicious…?

“Calm down, Astel”

Even though it seems more dangerous than Duke Anais had guessed, it shouldn’t be embarrassing for some reason, even if this situation feels like a lovely trap.

In preparation for meeting him, I wrote a script and practiced acting.

I straightened my face and smiled nicely.

His gaze glanced over my face.

“Do you know me?”

“No, I don’t know.”

I took off my pretense and showed a confident expression.

“You seemed to know who I was, but I guess it’s not.”

“No, I don’t! Never!”

And there was one more thing.

“I can’t expect anything, even a little.”

The Duke’s eyes were narrowed, but he no longer asked questions of doubt.

Instead, he slowly spoke to me.

“We will go to the Duke of Anais Castle.”

“Yeah…?”

“Because that castle is my home.”

As far as I knew, he was cold and sober and more aristocratic.

Those perfectly drowsy eyes were staring openly at me, with no way to bend with laughter.

As I had prepared, I replied that the ambassador of the treatment warden had saved Duke Anais from the original ” Blood Revenge.”

“If the castle is your home then…you are the Duke of Anais?.”

He raised his head and spoke.

“That’s right.”

It was a very concise answer.

I put my hand in front of my chest and sighed.

“I have saved Duke Anais! It is the honor of the family. By the way, it was really close to a great crisis in the Northern Duchy. Thank God, I’ve saved  your life with the greatest of my ability.”

It seemed a bit shady but I couldn’t help to not do it.

“…”

“I thought you’re going to die soon, so I didn’t even notice your handsome appearance because I was just focusing on the treatment. Haha”

This dialogue contained a lot of information from the ambassador’s words who saved the duke in the original.

I am not selfish and it was pure coincidence that I had saved him.

Also, I am a perfect human being, and I am a smart gold trader.

After this was an unseen video.

(N: details of the original which was not mentioned the author literally used the word video)

Similar to the original content, he will say, “Okay. Then the detailed story We will share at the Duke Castle.”

With my glistening eyes, the Duke nodded wearily.

And he replied with a sincere glance as if chewing on the information contained in the previous words.

“I’m handsome.”

“Yes, you’re a duke you know…?”

Of course, it is the right thing to say.

Now is not the time to say that…!

However, before he could even point out his reaction that seemed to be out of focus, the Duke opened his mouth first.

“Then, please tell me your name, my dear benefactor.”

Now I have the opportunity to tell him my name.

A little suspicious and something strange came and went. As a result, I did it.

I opened my mouth and trying to say my name.

“Astel, please call me Astel! I’m a commoner working at a treatment center outside the Duke Castle.”

He answered simply.

“Yeah, alright.”

I was worried that his attitude would change because I was a low-status commoner, but fortunately, there was no such thing.

At last, his languid eyes met mine.

“Astel.”

As he called my name in an indifferent tone, my heart thumped and went down, and my face turned red.

Why do I suddenly feel like my heart pricks?

My breathing kept getting quicker, and it felt like something was pressing my chest with an awl.

As a healer, I had unknown chest pain.

“I never fell in love at first sight, but my heart is very uncomfortable.”

I was in doubt, but the duke reached out to me.

I casually put my hand over his hand.

“I’ll go to the Duke’s Castle and talk.”

It was a polite escort that didn’t seem to contain even a little selfishness.

However, when I touched him, a cool energy came up from my fingertips and calmed the mild fever that was burning my forehead.

What is this..??