“I-I was thoughtless…”

Adley looked at the Grand Duke in confusion and hurriedly set down his champagne glass with an apology.

“No, it’s my fault for thoughtlessly trying to drink alcohol.”

When I quickly waved my hand and apologized, Adley became even more flustered and repeatedly apologized to me.

“You get along well.”

The Grand Duke leaned back in his chair crookedly after looking at Adley and me exchanging apologies.

“Bring something else.”

“Ah, then I’ll have…”

“Milk or something children drink.”

Yes… He cut off my words sharply and ordered the servant. Then he leisurely raised the corner of his mouth and stared directly into my eyes while drinking his wine.

He clearly intended to annoy me.

One of the servants standing around the table quickly poured milk into my crystal glass.

Good heavens… milk.

I knew I shouldn’t drink champagne or wine containing alcohol so soon after collapsing, but milk? There must be juice or water available too.

“…What did I do wrong?”

When I leaned slightly toward him to ask where exactly his mood had soured, he responded indifferently with a composed face.

“Everything from start to finish.”

“Everything.”

Right, he wouldn’t like anything I did anyway.

I was wrong to try understanding his reasons.

“…So I wanted to ask if the grand duchess would like to join us at Mertid Square.”

Madame Jeanette carefully broached the subject while reading our moods.

“But I seem to have spoken without properly considering the grand duchess’s condition… You shouldn’t engage in strenuous activities now, so please feel free to dismiss this suggestion.”

What? No! If this opportunity passed, I would lose my chance to go out.

“I want to go!”

I quickly denied Madame Jeanette’s words and looked at the Grand Duke.

“Wouldn’t it be all right for me to go with the l-ladies?”

“You probably haven’t recovered yet?”

What he meant was: Didn’t I tell you that you can’t go out without my permission?

“No, I’m perfectly fine. I want to go out.”

“No…”

“Don’t just say no—please think about it.”

This was the perfect opportunity, since he would silence me with elaborate threats when we weren’t with the branch manager couples.

“Oh, come on.”

I patted his shoulder as if soothing a husband who was overly protective of his wife. I added a shy smile for good measure.

“I’m not a child. You can’t just wrap me up and hide me away like this.”

“When did I ever…”

As he was about to unleash a vicious retort with a fierce glare, I lightly covered his mouth with my hand and smiled brightly.

“I promise I won’t go anywhere without the ladies. That’s fine, right? You’ll all make sure of that, won’t you?”

As his gaze grew even more terrifying, I hurriedly turned to the ladies and sought their agreement.

Madame Jeanette, looking surprised at me covering the Grand Duke’s mouth, quickly began nodding.

“O-of course. The grand duchess will always be with us, so please don’t worry too much, Your Highness.”

“We will protect her.”

Madame Mariette, who had been watching us, also spoke as if soothing a young man deeply in love with his wife, hiding her bewilderment.

His hand slowly pulled mine down, applying slight pressure as if he was properly angered and trying to control himself.

“Everyone seems so eager for my wife to go out.”

He kept holding my hand and placed it on the table.

Unable to pull my hand from his grasp in front of everyone, I had to smile weakly while trapped in his hand.

“I suppose I can’t refuse to let you go, can I?”

The Grand Duke looked down at me with a chilling smile.

“Yes… As everyone knows, I’m just concerned about the grand duchess.”

He began intertwining his thick fingers between each of mine.

Everywhere our skin touched felt like being caught in a dense spider web.

“The hunt starts at dawn. I’ll make sure it ends early.”

Still gripping my hand, he drained his wine with his other hand.

“So I can go to Mertid Square to see the grand duchess, right?”

“Foolish boy! How dare he—does he know who I am!”

Odin, who had stopped in front of a pillow, tried to swat at the cushion with his front paw but lost his balance and plopped down on his bottom.

Because the Grand Duke detested the idea of sharing space with a lion, it was impossible to bring Odin to the dinner hall, let alone the Grand Duke’s bedroom.

Therefore, the grand duchess’s bedroom naturally became Odin’s place.

After watching Odin settle on the bed, I finally perched lightly on the edge.

“I’m sorry for only bringing food back for myself. That’s why I brought this for you…”

I placed a tray of food I had asked Medlin to prepare separately in front of Odin.

“How thoughtful. You have nothing to apologize for, so don’t apologize on his behalf.”

“Still…”

“It’s because that fellow has a terrible personality. An insufferably nasty one. I wonder who he takes after.”

Odin slapped the bed with his tail in displeasure, then sniffed at the food on the plate.

“…Do you have any particular favorite foods?”

“I’m not picky. Just simple things like truffles, caviar, and veal tenderloin would be sufficient.”

“……”

Yes… Now I see where that “insufferably nasty” man got his fastidious personality.

Feeling strangely complicated, I watched Odin eating pieces of steak.

Not only did I have to be mindful of the Grand Duke, but now I also had to serve the family’s founder…

“Don’t you need milk or something?”

“I prefer wine.”

“But you’re still a baby lion.”

“Keck!”

Sure enough, no sooner had I finished speaking than Odin, who hadn’t properly swallowed a piece of steak, began choking.

Sadly, while Odin’s mind might be that of the Hedegen family head, his body was that of a newborn lion cub.

He wiped his mouth with his front paw and spoke softly.

“…Bring me milk.”

For some reason, I couldn’t help but smile at his cute appearance, and Odin looked up at me.

“By the way, what’s in your pocket?”

“What?”

Puzzled by the sudden question, I suddenly remembered the envelope I had tucked into my chemise pocket.

Wondering if he meant this envelope, I looked down at Odin with wide eyes.

“Do you mean this? How did you know?”

When I quickly took the envelope from my chemise pocket and opened it to show him, he wagged his tail slightly in satisfaction, as if confirming.

“Yes, that. What is it?”

“That’s what I want to know. As the founder of this castle, aren’t you like a guardian spirit to be able to appear like this? Shouldn’t you know about everything that happens here?”

“I only know about major events in the castle, not every trivial detail about everyone here. Being able to do that much would be in the realm of gods. If humans did it, it would be voyeurism or spying. I’m a ghost… something like that, I guess.”

Odin got up and approached the envelope, carefully examining the powder.

“Can you tell what it is?”

“No.”

His answer came so quickly that I wondered if Odin was really the helper the system had mentioned.

Should I have found someone else?

“But I do know a place where we can find out.”

“Where is that?”

Odin raised his head and met my eyes.

“Carrisford’s apothecary. It’s the oldest apothecary in St. Berte. It’s in Mertid Square.”

“Mertid Square?!”

“Yes.”

“I’m going there tomorrow, as it happens!”

“That’s good. Take me with you. I haven’t seen it in hundreds of years.”

Huh?

“…You’re a ghost but you couldn’t go there?”

“I couldn’t leave the castle grounds.”

A ghost that can’t leave the castle? Then he’s just a castle ghost.

“…Then, wouldn’t Carrisford’s apothecary be long gone? It’s a shop from hundreds of years ago.”

“Most shops are passed down through generations. Especially in St. Berte, there are many old shops. When they reach a certain age, even the buildings are replaced for them, so succession was natural. There are many policies to guarantee and protect the livelihood of the domain’s people. Even the imperial family followed our example. There’s a good reason why St. Berte is famous. Don’t you know how amazing St. Berte is?”

Of course I didn’t. To me, it was just a place from the original story. St. Berte was one of the assets the male protagonist wanted to reclaim, so its name appeared occasionally in the original work.

“I’m supposed to go out with the branch managers’ wives tomorrow, so I’m not sure if I can bring you.”

“You won’t find Carrisford’s apothecary without me. You need to go with me. Do you have any idea how vast that place is?”

Though he was a ghost confined to the castle, Odin seemed to know St. Berte inside out.

I could verify that tomorrow.

Since we’ve come this far, should I ask one more thing?

“There’s a problem with going to the apothecary. I’m not sure if the Grand Duke will allow it.”

“Of course you have to take me secretly. Carlo, that fellow, won’t trust anything you do, so there’s no point in asking for permission in advance.”

In my previous life, they said it was proper for subordinates to follow their superiors’ decisions without question.

Since Odin, the highest elder of the family, had given permission, wasn’t it the same as having permission from Carlo, his distant descendant and the Grand Duke?

Thinking this way made me feel a bit more at ease. What did it matter if I didn’t have the Grand Duke’s permission when the founder had approved!

Still, it seemed odd that he would say there was no need to ask for understanding from someone who was his grandson’s grandson’s grandson… well, his own bloodline.

Seeing their similarly suspicious natures, Odin and the Grand Duke did seem somewhat alike.

“But the Grand Duke said he would come to Mertid Square too. After finishing the hunt early.”

“Finishing the hunt early?”

Odin flapped his short, cute ears as if doubting his own hearing and opened his eyes wide.

“Hmm, that’s not like him at all. He’s obsessed with hunting—why would he say such a thing?”

“I think he wants to monitor me.”

“Then what can we do?”

Odin pointed with his nose to the soft soup among the dishes I had brought, instead of the steak this time.

After placing the soup in front of him so he could eat comfortably, Odin perked up his ears and gave me a satisfied eye-smile.

The sound of him eating soup continued for a while, and soon he raised his head and proudly declared:

“Let’s sneak out and avoid that fellow’s eyes.”