Chapter 7

Their wait was not long.

She and Ray followed the gatekeeper back to the main building of the Ducal House.

‘Seeing that they let us in after looking at the ring, Ray must be his son, right?’

Her mind was tangled with complex thoughts as they headed to the main building.

“As, why are you shaking?”

Ray looked up at her and asked.

Ugh, their held hands must have been trembling.

“Well… Is it because it’s cold?”

“But you’re sweating.”

“That’s because it’s hot.”

“As, you’re acting strange today. Is it because of the nightmare?”

“Yeah, I think that’s probably it.”

She scratched her forehead and mumbled evasively.

It was then that Ray suddenly stopped.

“I don’t want to go in there.”

“Why are you saying that out of the blue?”

“Why did you come to such a place? What’s with the ring? Let’s come back another time. You’re not in a good state today. I have a bad feeling. It’s unsettling.”

Ray was indeed quick-witted.

He must have sensed something strange.

‘Clever kid.’

Actually, the person who wanted to run away the most right now was her.

But she couldn’t.

If she ran away now, she’d have to live her life running away.

“I can’t do that. There’s something I need to confirm right now.”

“What is it?”

Ray’s deep blue eyes stared at her, demanding an answer.

Ha, she let out a small sigh and slowly opened her mouth.

She tried her best to speak in a gentle voice.

“I don’t have much to tell you yet, Ray. But soon you’ll know for sure. So…”

“……”

“Just wait a little longer, okay?”

“Alright.”

Ray was a good child.

Even though he wore a dissatisfied expression, he eventually followed her words.

Holding Ray’s hand, she entered the entrance of the Conver Ducal House.

Inside, they first had to undergo an inspection of their belongings and a body search.

A maid with neatly tied gray hair caught her attention.

The maid’s wrinkled face showed curiosity, then surprise, as she couldn’t take her eyes off Ray.

When their eyes met, the maid quickly turned away, pretending not to notice.

‘The way she’s looking at Ray… I don’t like it.’

While she was staring at the maid avoiding her gaze, a large man blocked her way and spoke gruffly.

“If you have any weapons on you, you must take them out now.”

She had no choice but to remove the weapons she had on her.

Two daggers from her waist, one from her shoe, five shurikens from her jacket, and smoke bomb beads from her pants pocket made the servants’ eyes widen simultaneously.

Was it too much?

She shrugged her shoulders and smiled brightly.

“It’s a dangerous world. You need this much to protect yourself.”

She rambled on, but their faces remained contorted.

The body search wasn’t over yet.

As if that wasn’t enough, they brought a flat stick close to her body to search.

The stick had small magic stones embedded at regular intervals.

‘Is it a magical tool for detecting weapons?’

While she was admiring the clever tool, it suddenly made a strange noise.

Beep-beep! Beep-beep-beep!

The magic stones flashed and made sounds.

Instantly, the servants’ sharp gazes pierced her.

“If you have more weapons, hand them over now.”

“Ha, haha. Yes, alright.”

She laughed awkwardly and began unbuttoning her shirt one by one.

The embarrassed servants turned their gazes.

‘To be surprised by this!’

She pulled out a shuriken hidden in her undergarments.

“Here. Is this enough?”

She placed the shuriken on the table with a clatter and slowly buttoned up.

In fact, there was one more shuriken hidden in her undergarments, but she couldn’t imagine being without any weapons in an unfamiliar place.

Fortunately, the servants didn’t bring the search tool close to her again.

“Ray, wait here.”

Leaving Ray with the servants, she headed to the office where Duke Conver was waiting.

Her heart pounded.

Soon she would meet the protagonist of this world.

Perhaps he was Ray’s father.

If he was indeed the father, Ray would have to live here.

‘Then… would I have to part with Ray? Today…?’

Parting with Ray.

She had never once thought about it in the past seven years.

Ray had only her, and she had only Ray.

Just the two of them in this world.

She had wandered so much with that small child, as if he were a part of her body.

It was something she couldn’t do to a child, but given her circumstances, she had no choice.

Would sending away a child who felt like a part of her body be as painful as tearing off a part of her body?

‘Then it would hurt terribly, ugh.’

Her thoughts were tangled and dizzying.

Tears welled up.

‘Get a grip, Astrid! Nothing is certain yet.’

She forced herself to keep her eyes wide open to hold back the tears as she climbed the stairs.

* * *

As Astrid disappeared upstairs, the maids led Ray to the reception room.

Though he was very surprised by the high ceiling, the luxurious wallpaper, and furniture he had never seen before, Ray tried not to show his surprise and stared straight ahead.

But he couldn’t help his eyes from occasionally darting around.

While waiting on a soft, plush sofa that was too big for a child, an elderly maid with white hair brought milk and cookies.

“Eat while you wait.”

“Thank you, but I can’t eat food given by strangers.”

Ray shook his head and spoke clearly.

The maid dipped a cookie in the milk and brought it to her mouth.

Crunch, crunch, the sound of her eating the cookie echoed loudly.

Ray watched the maid’s actions with wide eyes.

Gulp, the maid swallowed the food down her throat and smiled brightly.

“See, there’s nothing wrong? There’s no poison, so don’t worry. Besides, that woman carrying all those weapons looked very strong. An old woman like me wouldn’t stand a chance against her.”

“Yes, As is really strong.”

“So I’m saying it’s okay to eat.”

Ray’s head tilted slightly to one side.

It was a habit that came out when he sensed something strange.

“Excuse me for saying this for the first time, but the context is strange. I clearly said I can’t eat food given by strangers, but you say there’s no poison and talk about how strong As is, then tell me to eat?”

“What’s strange about that?”

The maid asked, placing her hands on her hips, as if questioning him.

Unlike before, her voice and eyes were quite sharp.

“Something that’s not poison to adults could be deadly poison to children. No matter how strong As is, here…”

“Enough. If you don’t want to eat, then don’t.”

The maid interrupted Ray’s words.

Suddenly, as if a headache was coming on, she pressed her head hard with both hands and frowned deeply.

The wrinkles covering her face deepened.

“Should I call you smart, or should I say you’re lacking? How could you be so much like someone I knew when they were young? Pretty but not really pretty.”

The maid shook her head and left the reception room.

“…‘Pretty, but not really pretty’—that’s a strange thing to say too.”

Ray muttered to himself as he stared at the plate of cookies left on the table.

* * *

The place she was guided to was the Duke’s office.

But the Duke was not there.

Instead, the Head Butler with neatly combed white hair sat across from her.

Adjusting his silver-framed glasses, he finally spoke.

“His Grace, who was out, is returning now. I received word that he will arrive within 30 minutes.”

“I see.”

The news that she had to wait made her feel deflated.

The butler pushed the ring she had handed to the gatekeeper earlier toward her and spoke.

It was Ray’s mother’s ring.

“While you wait, could you tell me about this ring? Ah, since the Master should hear this as well, may I use the communication magic stone?”

“Yes, please do.”

She nodded.

The butler removed the magic stone bracelet from his wrist and placed it on the table.

As the magic stone began to sparkle, the butler spoke.

“This ring is the wedding ring of His Grace and Lady Isabella. I remember it precisely because I handled the order myself.”

‘Isabella? Is that my Unnie’s name?’

She liked the sound of the unfamiliar name.

She thought it suited her Unnie well.

“Seven years ago, I rescued Unnie who had collapsed in the forest. I didn’t know her name. She just told me to call her Unnie. She said she was being chased. I didn’t know anything about her identity.”

“Lady Isabella said that…”

The white-haired butler nodded slowly.

His focused expression encouraged her to speak.

“She soon gave birth to a child, and that child is Ray. Unfortunately, Unnie passed away two months later. Her grave is near our home on Hurt Mountain.”

“You even made a grave for her. Thank you, Miss…”

“Astrid Vaughn.”

“Yes, Miss Astrid Vaughn.”

After finishing her words, she took a sip of tea.

Her throat was dry from the tension.

After a while, the butler spoke again.

“You said you didn’t know Lady Isabella’s identity. How did you find your way here today?”

“The night before last, Geiser’s men invaded our home. They said they were going to take Ray.”

“Oh dear!”

The gentle face of the butler twisted at once.

It was a reaction that came upon hearing the name of the infamous dark guild.

“Fortunately, we were safe. And last night, even Diane Lesper and the Imperial Family came, saying they had to take Ray.”