#21. Benefactor

“Yes, Your Grace?”

Just as Chloe tried to respond casually, the Duke, who had been sitting until now, suddenly stood up.

Chloe found herself looking up at the Duke and unconsciously took a step back.

“Was your sister, Chloe Liden, blonde with blue eyes?”

“Ah!”

Chloe couldn’t help but tremble.

The Duke had suspected that the woman he slept with was Chloe Liden because of the name Chloe and similar body type. And now Sir Joyce’s investigation results were added to that.

The investigation results showing blonde hair, blue eyes, and similar height.

Though it wasn’t the time to think about such things, she found it fascinating how Sir Joyce had obtained her physical information. Anyway, now that Sir Joyce had reported his findings, she couldn’t lie to the Duke.

“Yes. She did have blonde hair and blue eyes.”

“……”

The Duke stared at her, almost glaring.

Chloe wanted to avoid his gaze but couldn’t bring herself to do so. Somehow, she felt the Duke would be more suspicious if she avoided his eyes.

“You have blue eyes too.”

“……”

“I don’t think I’ve ever properly seen your eyes because of those thick glasses. Take them off.”

“Why my eyes……”

“Just… I suddenly want to see them?”

“I can’t see well without my glasses.”

Chloe was gripped by fear that everything would be exposed if she took off her glasses.

Even though nothing terrible would happen just from briefly removing them.

“That doesn’t matter. I just want to see your eyes once.”

“But there’s no particular need to see my eyes……”

“Take them off.”

It was a clear command. One that would not allow any further refusal. Despite knowing intellectually that her excessive resistance might seem suspicious, she couldn’t remain calm. The fear was so powerful she felt like crying.

Lying about her gender, saying her sister was dead, claiming she was attracted to men and had feelings for the Duke. The lies had piled up too much…

And now tears at a time like this.

Ah! Tears……!

Suddenly an idea struck her.

She squeezed her eyes tight. Not to hold back tears, but to force them out.

Soon tears began flowing from her eyes.

“My eyes were particularly similar to my sister’s. My sister… sob! I should have died instead of her. That weak child died so horribly while I did nothing… hic… Every time I look in the mirror, every time I see my eyes…, I’m reminded of my sister… Ah… sob sob.”

Though it started as an act, it was also her true feelings, so once the tears started flowing, they wouldn’t stop.

“Dead… You’re saying Chloe Liden is deceased?”

Sir Joyce interjected with a bewildered tone.

“Ah! That’s right.”

The Duke answered as he sat back down.

“Ah, I apologize. I hadn’t heard news of her death.”

Sir Joyce glanced at Chloe while bowing to the Duke.

“The death wasn’t reported?”

The Duke asked a question that could have been directed at either Sir Joyce or Chloe.

“Yes. Sniff! Sob. We didn’t have time for that. Hic.”

Chloe, who had been caught up in her emotions, barely managed to control her crying as she answered.

In reality, she hadn’t reported her brother’s death either. She needed his identity for employment, and at the time, they truly didn’t have the capacity to deal with it.

“I was being overly sensitive. I’m sorry, Clyne.”

“No, it’s alright, Your Grace.”

Phew.

At least she had avoided the crisis of having to remove her glasses. An awkward silence filled the room, but it was better than before.

“Well, then the Chloe from Kinden seems most likely. I’ll go to Kinden.”

The Duke broke the silence after a while. He would go only to confirm that the woman he slept with wasn’t there.

Whether he did or not, Chloe was going to leave this mansion now. For that, she needed to tell him about her departure before he left for Kinden.

“Your Grace, about that, may I return to my hometown now? It seems you’ve found that woman, and as I mentioned, I left my mother in the care of a friend, so I think I should go back now.”

“……”

The Duke just stared at Chloe without saying anything.

“Was that woman’s caregiver your friend?”

Sir Joyce suddenly interjected.

“Pardon?”

Woman caregiver?

“Actually, I visited your home but found only a caregiver there. Your mother was away so I couldn’t ask directly about your sister. Even after waiting two days, she didn’t return. The caregiver didn’t know anything about your sister. I thought your sister must be staying somewhere for work… I didn’t know she had passed away. My condolences.”

At the mention of her mother, she could barely hear anything else.

“You say my mother was away? My mother is bedridden…”

Chloe couldn’t understand what Sir Joyce was saying.

A female caregiver? What did he mean her mother went outside? Her mother was clearly in such a condition that she could barely move. It was unimaginable that she could have gone out when she couldn’t even leave her bed.

“Well, this is strange. That you don’t know about your mother’s condition. I heard from the caregiver that she took medicine containing monster core from an extinct monster, famous for its healing effects. Thanks to that medicine, she recently got up from her sickbed. The caregiver said she would stay for a while since she had received advance payment.”

“Medicine?”

What medicine?

The medicine with monster core had only been enough to barely keep her mother alive.

The medicine was known to be powerful enough to save anyone as long as they didn’t die, and if taken sufficiently, it could have helped her mother get up from her bed, but they couldn’t afford enough of it.

Not only was it expensive, but it was also hard to obtain. How did they get that medicine, and what was this about a caregiver who received advance payment?

“Clyne Liden. You have absolutely no work ethic. Always talking about quitting and leaving. I’m starting to regret the money and effort I spent on your mother, given how little loyalty you show to your master.”

The Duke’s words made Chloe’s eyes widen.

“Could it be……”

“It’s the first time I’ve felt unrewarded after saving someone’s life.”

Tears were flowing from Chloe’s eyes again. Different from the tears earlier that were caused by fear or pretense.

Tears that burst forth from deep within her heart.

Her mother had recovered? The Duke had sent that medicine to her mother? He even sent a caregiver? It was truly unimaginable.

“Your Grace, thank you! Sob sob! Thank you. Thank you, Your Grace.”

Chloe bowed deeply to the Duke as tears streamed down her face.

The tears were flowing beyond her control.

She didn’t know how to express this gratitude.

“Your Grace, Your Grace… How can I ever repay this kindness… Sob. Your Grace, sob sob.”

She wanted to say thank you, to promise she would definitely repay this kindness, but the tears wouldn’t stop.

“You look unsightly. A grown man crying with tears and snot. Get out. You’re disturbing me.”

At the Duke’s rebuke, Chloe wiped her tears from under her glasses, but once started, the tears wouldn’t stop.

“Thank you. Thank you, Your Grace.”

“Go cry outside. Come running when I call.”

For someone who had saved her mother, his tone and attitude were remarkably indifferent. However, Chloe felt like kissing the Duke’s feet in gratitude.

“Yes! I’ll leave now. Your Grace, thank you again.”

She followed the Duke’s order to leave, regretful that she couldn’t express more of her gratitude.

He was her benefactor. To the point where she wanted to follow any order he gave.

If he said leave the room, she would leave; if he called, she would come running immediately; if he said don’t leave the room, or the house, she wouldn’t leave.

Any order at all.

In the end, as she left the room, her original plan to leave the Duke’s mansion had completely vanished from her heart without a trace.

Exactly as the Duke had intended.

* * *

“Why did you spend money on that guy’s mother without reason? Especially since Clyne’s sister Chloe is dead.”

As soon as Clyne left, Joyce asked.

“Well.”

Hughgray had no intention of explaining the reason to Joyce. He couldn’t say it was because he had no choice in order to keep Clyne at the mansion.

He couldn’t say it was because he didn’t want to see Clyne feeling indebted to that Kalkus guy. And of course, he absolutely couldn’t say that his heart ached seeing Clyne suffering while thinking about his mother…

And most certainly, he could never say that he couldn’t let Clyne Liden leave the house until he found the woman he had imprinted on.

Because ultimately, it would mean admitting he had gone mad.

How could he tell anyone about his condition — wanting to smell the scent of a male attendant, making him do unnecessary translations every day to keep him in the room, then driving him out when the scent became suffocating?

Moreover, just now, when he saw those tears shed in grief over his sister’s death, his heart had actually, physically hurt. Enough to make him regret pushing the guy so hard.

All of these were symptoms of mental illness following the imprinting, so things would return to normal once he found the woman. He could send Clyne Liden away then, when he was back to normal. Until then, there was no choice.

For now, he had to accept that he had gone mad, and keep him close before he went even madder.

“Your Grace, when will you depart for Kinden?”

Joyce was quite perceptive. Enough to immediately realize that he didn’t want to be questioned further about Clyne Liden.

“We’ll leave early tomorrow morning.”

He needed to confirm the woman’s identity as soon as possible.

Before the next heat cycle hit.