"Im okay! I am really okay!"
"Wait a minute. Look at me. I think you were hit really hard."
But the man didn't even budge. Rather, as if angry, he grabbed the back of her head and tried to turn her around in earnest.
Eun-woo desperately pushed him away.
"I'm seriously fine! I was just too surprised earlier…!"
The man then withdrew with a dissatisfied expression. But his thick eyebrows were still contorted as if he still had doubts.
Eun-woo's head in front of the Duke turned white like that of a mouse in front of a cat. She hurriedly looked for something to say and worked her brain.
"What brought you here, Duke?"
"I heard that you and the other people from the Marquis's estate had arrived. I was told to have the supplies ready in advance, but I was wondering if you needed anything else."
Eun-woo looked up at the man who quickly returned to having a blunt look on his face.
Having taken off his heavy armor, he was dressed as light as an ordinary noble man. The button on the top of the shirt was naturally loosened. It wasn't the look of a perfect knight who could pierce a needle like before, but he still had a sharp impression. Still, it didn't change that he looked very nice. Eun-woo, who looked up at him with a face that was recalling something, suddenly noticed that he was holding something yellow in his hand.
Her gaze naturally shifted to his hand, and he hid the hand behind his back in a quick motion.
"That is…?"
Eun-woo looked at his face with a strange expression. Then he rolled his eyes.
To her surprise, his earlobes were stained red. As if in trouble, he swept up the flowing bangs with his other arm. He seemed very embarrassed as he looked through the strands to her eyes, at her who still didn't know him that well.
He hesitated like a boy who was caught not wanting to be seen and pulled out that one arm that he had hidden.
"Oh, my. Don't think of anything…"
There were yellow wildflowers where his hand was stretched out. It was a small bouquet of flowers the size of a fingernail mixed with white shamrock and had not even been dusted off.
Eun-woo looked up at him with her mouth opened.
Did he just pick up the flowers for her?
"They were blooming near the Hall… I remembered you liked it."
His earlobes had turned red and his eyes avoided her gaze as he turned his head diagonally.
Eun-woo lowered her gaze and looked at the thin flowers held in his evil hands. Unconsciously, she reached out her hands and accepted the flower he was holding so dearly.
The touch of the flower was cold and moist. Don't tell her he was outside the door with this flower. Apart from the surprise to her heart from earlier, it trembled like a bat.
"… I don't care if you throw it away."
He spat out bluntly. Eun-woo gave strength to the hand that was holding the flower without realizing it. But she couldn't find the right words to say, so only an awkward silence passed.
After being embarrassed for a while, he soon regained his composure and asked.
"Then why are you here alone? Do you need anything?"
"Ah… I'm going to get a paper and a pen.""
He asked with a frown on his forehead.
"You can ask a maid to do it for you. Did you have to come out yourself?"
"Everyone looked busy. It hasn't been long since I moved my luggage… it's a good opportunity too, to look around the mansion…"
She was frightened and hurried to answer.
She was not used to calling a maid, she could not answer with that even if she had to die. She also doesn't want the person in front of her to find out that she wasn't the original Eleanor. It seemed like he wouldn't stand it if she made a mistake and he noticed that something was wrong.
He suggested in an excited tone.
"If you have any questions about my house structure, I'll help."
"No! It's okay. I want to go back now and rest.
Eun-woo waved her hands. She wanted to avoid walking alone with him in the mansion. As if he was wondering, he raised one eyebrow and asked.
"You just said you wanted to look around the mansion."
"I just came out to ask for a paper and a pen. Just that. I wanted to take a look around the mansion later."
She wondered if it offended him, but he replied in a calm voice.
"Okay. You must be tired, so take a good rest. Leave getting the paper and pen to the butler."
"Thank you…"
Eun-woo nodded and looked at his face once. His expression without emotion was only silent. It was like a stone had been thrown into the sea and yet the current didn't rise even once.
Eun-woo glanced at his face and opened the door again. When the door was half open, he suddenly said,
"…. Just let me know whenever you need anything. You can ask through a maid or a butler, or you can tell me in person. Usually, I'll be in the office or in the Hall."
It was a low voice. Eun-woo answered the man's voice coming from behind her back without turning her head.
"Thank you for taking care of this inconvenience…"
She opened the door as it was and entered the room like a chased person. After locking the door behind her, she gasped like a person who had run 100 meters.
Her body couldn't stop shaking. She didn't seem to be herself.
"Oh, my. Miss! I was surprised that you suddenly disappeared. Where did you go?"
A maid folding the bedsheet in the corner approached her with a worried look.
Eun-woo smiled awkwardly and replied that it was nothing. Then another maid found the flowers in her hand and shouted.
"Oh, my. What's that flower for?""
Eun-woo was surprised and hid her hand behind her. Then, she realized that it could look weirder.
She took out her hidden hand again. The crushed flowers in her hands were broken and shaken.
"Oh, it's nothing. It's just…"
"They must have been so pretty… I didn't know that the Duke was such a romantic person. Do you want me to prepare a vase, Miss?"
A quick-witted maid smiled and asked. Then the maids next to her joined, making a fuss.
However, the livelier the maids chatted, the lower Eun-woo's heart sank.
It wasn't just because of her disappointment with herself for taking the favor of the villain Tashian Verk lightly.
The owner of this flower was that he had been picking for Eleanor, not anyone else. She was not the owner of the hand where the flower should be held.
It was a strange feeling. Guilt and envy became a dough and seemed to unite her mixed feelings.
She replied in a strangely gloomy voice.
"…No, I don't need a vase."
The laughter of the maids who were laughing subsided in an instant. They answered politely in unison, saying yes, and scattered in search of their own work.
Eun-woo clenched the crushed flower leaves in her hand and soon put them down as if throwing them away on the cabinet next to the bed.
•••
That afternoon, Johannes, the butler of the duke, visited her bedroom. A woman in her mid-40s, who had her grey hair tied up, introduced herself in a charismatic voice.
"I'm Johannes Vinkert, in charge of the housekeeping here. It's an honor to meet you."
The old butler, wearing silver-rimmed glasses at the tip of her nose, politely asked her if she would like to take a look around the mansion. Eun-woo dissuaded Anit, who was about to follow, and followed her alone.
"The Great Hall on the first floor is connected to the cafeteria. The canteen used by the servants is located at the back of the kitchen. Because there are many people living in the mansion, it is always crowded. In particular, many knights serving the duke family reside here. If the noise bothers you, we can always bring the meal to the lady's bedroom."
As she said the sentence, in the hall connected to the cafeteria, large knights in armored clothes were gathered here and there to drink or concentrate on card games.
Some of them threw their eyes at her, who was wearing a blue dress. With a curious gaze, Eun-woo bowed her head and followed Johannes around.
"The banquet hall is right next to the Great Hall. It's rarely been used in recent years."
As she reached the wide open space along Johannes, she saw a brilliant view with a high ceiling and a huge chandelier hanging. Her mouth fell open at the sight of the luxury and splendor.
It was incomprehensible for Eun-woo to clean up on this large space.
Does the Duke hate banquets?
As Johannes moved again, Eun-woo endured her desire to want to see a little more and followed her.
They then proceeded up the circular staircase winding in the middle hallway to the second floor.
Only then did the noise of the mansion disappear and a long corridor with a little quiet atmosphere came into view. On the wall of the corridor covered with red carpet, portraits were hung carefully and carved golden frames were lined up.
"It's a portrait of the predecessor's servants and spouses."
Eun-woo slowly stepped out into the view of the pictures arranged as nicely as any other art museum.
The characters in the painting used to exclude their spouses, and each had solemnly closed lips, dark hair like black, and deep black eyes.
It was an appearance that clearly showed the bloodline of one family even without exposing it explicitly.
Eun-woo quietly swept across the gold-colored wooden frame with her fingertips. In each frame, the pattern of the spruce tree was also carved with delicate touches. The smooth and hard touch of worn wood and metal had been wound around.
Eun-woo reached the end of the line, looking at the hung portraits one by one.
She was slowly getting curious.
How was the portrait of Tashian Verk painted? Will it contain his cool impression that is freezing to look at?
Eun-woo, who stopped right in front of the place where his portrait was supposed to be, was disappointed. Only empty frames were hung there.
"As far as I know, the Duke has inherited the title for a long time… but his portrait hasn't been completed yet?"
She couldn't hide her disappointment and asked, caressing only the innocent empty frame.
"The portrait was completed a long time ago. But I haven't hung it yet because the Duke hasn't allowed it."
"Why did he do that? He didn't like the portrait?"
Wondering, she asked. Johannes nodded as if it was no longer possible to answer. Eun-woo didn't want to make the atmosphere weird, so she didn't ask anymore.
She withdrew from the empty frame. And shortly thereafter, she found a huge portrait hanging in a much larger and more beautiful frame than other paintings.
At once, she stared at the painting, captivated by it.
It was a portrait of a man.
The black-eyed man, with his long black hair hanging down to his shoulders, looked surprisingly like someone she knew. A stern mouth, a bright face with dark shades, and an arrogant gaze as if looking down at a person from a distant height.
Looking at the man's portrait, she wrapped her arms around her shoulders wrapped in thin shawls in a sudden chill.
"He is the only brother of the Duke, Chief Reinhardt."
Johannes, the butler who had followed her, was heard. There was a subtle pride in her voice.
"It's the fourth time in history produced by the Hellasium Senior Citizens' Association in half a century and the first 'successor' since the United Country."
The unquenchable star of the transport continent, the Great Empire Hellasium.
The group with the highest authority over the political power of the fierce empire, which is incomparable to anywhere else, was neither the parliament nor the judiciary nor even the imperial family. They were a group of elders called the Presbyterian Church.
They were the leaders of the state, consisting of 13 wise men, who decided and were responsible for all the political, economic, and social affairs of the country.
The apex of the elders, the apex of power, and the highest position one could attain as a human being with a finite life. The 'heir' was the only person who was allowed to sit just one level below the throne of God.
"…I didn't know they looked this much alike."
Eun-woo murmured blankly while looking at Reinhardt's portrait.
She knew him of course.
His first and last appearance was ordering the execution of Tashian, a traitor and his younger brother, at the request of Ikshid Fedellamon, the male protagonist and emperor of the novel.