#9. Chloe, The Same Scent

However, Chloe’s legs stopped after just a few steps.

Running away? What nonsense.

Obviously, after the words “We’re returning to the ducal mansion” came an unspoken command of “Follow me right now.”

Though the Duke had left her behind as if giving her the freedom to choose her next action, unless Chloe was a fool, there was no way she could run away.

Not when she had left behind a guarantor.

This is why guarantors are scary.

If she were to cut the noose around her neck and run away, the noose she left behind would be placed around Kalkus’s neck instead, who had helped her multiple times.

Trudge, trudge.

Though she couldn’t touch it or see it, Chloe took heavy steps toward the Duke’s mansion, feeling as if being pulled by a powerful noose that clearly existed.

* * *

“You came quite quickly.”

A sharp voice greeted Chloe as soon as she entered the Duke’s office.

It was a criticism for arriving much later, having walked slowly without even taking a carriage after the Duke who had left on horseback.

Hello, master who’s holding my leash.

Even so, what cow would run eagerly to the slaughterhouse?

“I apologize.”

However, contrary to her inner thoughts, Chloe apologized with a bow.

Walking slowly had been her minimal resistance.

But now was the time to grovel. Because the Duke was holding documents in his hand.

The documents that made her return here.

As expected, that was it.

The employment documents that Mr. Wilson had. This is why documented evidence is scary.

To think family relations were recorded there too.

Her guess during the walk had been correct. The Duke had discovered her lie because of those documents.

Actually, she hadn’t completely ruled out the possibility that family information might be recorded in the documents.

But even if such things were written there, she thought the Duke would have no reason to look at mere servant employment documents.

After all, she was just an attendant. There was no reason for the Duke to pay attention.

Why… How did the Duke end up seeing those documents? There must be many servants whose names he doesn’t even know. Why did he take interest in the documents of a mere attendant who had only worked for three months and was about to leave?

Well, thinking about the past few days, the Duke had been showing a lot of personal interest in her.

Though he had also driven her away like vermin at times.

“Are you going to keep standing by the door?”

At the Duke’s words, Chloe put down her luggage and moved toward the Duke’s desk.

But she stood with her hands folded neatly over her stomach at a much greater distance than usual. If she got too close, he might say scary things about her having a scent again.

“Chloe Liden.”

“……!”

Words scarier than comments about her scent came out.

Chloe Liden, he said.

She was so surprised she almost answered “Yes!”

“That’s your younger sister’s name.”

“Ah… yes.”

He hadn’t been calling her.

He was confirming the name of Clyne Liden’s younger sister. Though it was actually her name.

So even family members’ names were written in the documents.

Perhaps due to feeling both surprised and flustered, her clasped hands were becoming slippery with sweat.

Now that Sir Joyce had already discovered that the woman who had slept with the Duke was named ‘Chloe’, to think he would also see the name ‘Chloe’ in her documents.

It seemed the Duke had called her not to question her lie about not having a sister, but to ask “Could your younger sister Chloe be the woman I slept with?”

With the same name, it would make sense to be suspicious.

That would explain why the Duke had come all the way to the Information Guild alley to catch a resigned attendant just for lying. She needed to stay alert. One wrong word to the Duke who had pursued her so intently could be dangerous.

“Chloe. The same scent.”

The Duke muttered to himself.

Looking at the Duke’s expression as he muttered, she had a feeling.

The Duke didn’t seem to be asking if the woman he had slept with was the attendant’s younger sister – he already seemed convinced of it.

With the same name and same scent, he believed that Clyne Liden’s younger sister Chloe Liden was that woman.

That cursed scent! How could a human possibly have such a strong scent!

You weren’t the only one smelling scents all night, Your Grace!

I smelled your scent too! But I don’t remember your scent at all!

Why are you the only one being so dramatic…!

‘Huh…? What… is this?’

It was truly strange. This had never happened before, but suddenly she could smell the Duke’s scent.

Was it an illusion?

A symptom of nervous exhaustion from extreme stress?

She had never smelled anyone else’s scent from this distance before. Besides, she was keeping even more distance from the Duke than usual right now.

So why could she suddenly smell the Duke’s scent?

Scent, scent.

Because of the Duke going on about scents, something must have happened to her head or nose too.

Chloe bit the inside of her lip, dumbfounded at the sensation that she couldn’t tell was real smell or illusion.

“Why did you lie about not having a younger sister? You must have known she was the woman I’m looking for.”

As expected… the Duke was completely convinced.

Ridiculously, his conviction seemed to be based more on the ‘scent’ than the name ‘Chloe’.

Even more ridiculous was that regardless of how flimsy the evidence was, it was the truth.

What should she do? Should she just confess that she was the one who spent that night with him? Including that she had hidden her gender for three months?

The familiar dilemma hit her again violently.

“I really hate lies, Clyne Liden.”

“…Yes.”

Though no one particularly likes lies, the Duke seemed to especially hate them as he stared straight into her eyes.

It felt like he was warning, “I will definitely collect the penalty fee!”, that if it was revealed she had violated employment regulations.

Under that gaze, her courage to confess the truth was melting away like snow under summer sun.

“Of course, one might make a mistake once in a while. Like telling a small lie about not having a younger sister who clearly exists. But if that sister is the woman I slept with, that becomes a very serious lie. Fatally serious, to the point of life and death. So it would be better to tell the truth. Clyne Liden.”

“……”

Fatally serious to the point of life and death? Putting life on the line for one night? That’s too much!

But at that moment, she clearly remembered the Duke’s desperate resistance that night.

<Who are you! Don’t do this! Get away! Get off! Get off me…! Ah…, don’t do this!>

Haah…!

She had forcefully taken a man who had resisted so violently saying no.

At the same time, Sir Joyce’s angry words came back one by one.

<Yes, to think he was caught by such an unheard-of person… It’s hard to imagine how much he must be suffering.>

<There’s no way His Grace would have given himself to such a woman first! You know too. His Grace is not someone who would ever do that with women.>

She had taken the virginity of this man who disliked women.

<I’d like to tear that woman to pieces…, hmph! No. She’s not someone I can dispose of.>

Tear to pieces, dispose of…

Just hearing those words made it seem like I had committed an unforgivable sin.

Did she really need to offer her life to take responsibility for one night with the Duke?

Combining the words of the Duke and Sir Joyce, the conclusion of what to do became clear.

She couldn’t die over just one night’s mistake.

“I apologize for not telling you earlier. Actually, my sister Chloe Liden died a few months ago.”

“What?”

The Duke frowned.

“To be precise, she died in an accident right before I moved into the Duke’s mansion.”

“Died… in an accident?”

“When I mailed the employment documents to the Duke’s mansion, it was before my sister died. So she’s listed in the documents, but now that she’s dead, that’s why I said I had no sister.”

If she changed the dead person from Clyne to Chloe, everything would fit together and her lie wouldn’t even be a lie.

“I was also surprised that the woman who supposedly slept with Your Grace had the same name as my sister.”

Before she knew it, Chloe was calmly telling lies.

Perhaps because she was just explaining the circumstances of Clyne’s death as they were, the lies flowed smoothly as if she was telling the truth.

Of course, only the circumstances of death were the same, she had just switched the person who died.

What more could be done about a dead person?

In a way, this might have worked out better.

Even if the Duke didn’t believe her words and sent someone to her hometown to verify, it would be difficult to discover that the dead person was her brother, not her.

Only her mother, herself, and Kalkus knew about her brother’s death.

Her house was in the forest, separated from the village, and family members only went to the village very rarely.

So there probably wouldn’t be anyone who particularly remembered that her family lived there.

Of course Kalkus was an exception, but there was no need to worry about him.

Though Kalkus had opposed Chloe disguising herself as a man to work at the Duke’s mansion, once the decision was made, he became her strongest supporter.

He was the one who got her various items suitable for male disguise, warning her to be extremely careful not to get caught.

“I’m sorry for needlessly suspecting you about your sister’s death. It must be an unpleasant memory.”

The Duke, who had looked somewhat dazed, finally spoke again.

Sorry, he says.

Though she felt a bit guilty at the Duke’s apology, it seemed like sticking to the lie until the end had been the right choice.

Now she would be removed from his suspicion.

Even if Sir Joyce or the Information Guild traced the name Chloe, they would change the direction of their investigation thinking the Chloe from Bergen was dead.

When she was young, she used to complain to her mother about why their family lived so lonely in the forest.

Even when Clyne was killed by unknown attackers, being so deep in the forest meant there was no one to ask for help.

But now she was actually benefiting from their isolated lifestyle.

No one in Bergen would know whether it was the brother or sister of the twins living in the forest who died, or even if there were twins who lived in the forest in the first place.

Still, she would need to live carefully in male disguise for a while after returning home.

“It’s alright, Your Grace.”

Chloe accepted his apology proudly as if she really were a brother who had lost his sister. Though it wasn’t about losing a sister, she did have to recall memories of losing her brother.

“Now that the misunderstanding is cleared up, may I return to my hometown?”

The Duke stared at her.

Silently. For several seconds.

“Your Grace?”

Feeling slightly uneasy about why he was looking at her with such eyes again, Chloe called out to him.

“I have one more question. Once you answer this, you can leave.”

Finally, the Duke opened his mouth again.