Chapter 39: The Trash’s Escape

 Lloyd kept an eye out.

 Judging by the quiet atmosphere in the house, it seemed the Grand Duke and his wife were away.

 But thinking he couldn’t be certain yet, he ordered through the door.

 “Call the butler.”

 “You mustn’t do this.”

 Despite merely ordering the butler to be called, the voice from outside the door was stern.

 He felt a sudden surge of irritation.

 He wasn’t even asking for the door to be opened.

 What problem could there be with wanting to speak to the butler?

 But even the knight standing guard to monitor Lloyd knew why he was calling for the butler.

 It was to escape from his confinement by using the butler while the Grand Duke and his wife were away.

 “Stop talking and bring him!”

 But his opponent was Lloyd.

 No matter how much the knight acted out of loyalty to the grand ducal family, in Lloyd’s eyes, it only looked like the knight was treating his orders with contempt by not following them.

 Lloyd continued to rage furiously afterward.

 But the knight stubbornly guarded the door.

 Eventually, some servants who sensed the commotion informed the butler.

 Upon receiving the news, the butler came to the doorway and looked at the knight.

 “Wouldn’t it be better to give him some freedom when the master is away?”

 “But the Grand Duke specifically ordered never to open it.”

 “Still, he is the young grand duke. The future leader of the grand ducal family.”

 “Butler, the master of this house is the Grand Duke. Not the young grand duke inside.”

 The loyal knight insisted that the door must absolutely not be opened.

 Lloyd, listening to the conversation between the two from inside, grew even more furious.

 The butler, on the other hand, inwardly smiled, thinking this was an opportunity to get in Lloyd’s good graces.

 “I’ll take responsibility. So please open the door.”

 “……”

 The knight tried to insist until the end that the door should not be opened, but the butler pushed past him and approached the door.

 Then, using the master key that only the butler of the grand ducal family could possess, he unlocked the firmly locked door.

 Inside the opened door stood Lloyd, breathing heavily with discontent.

 For a moment, the knight frowned severely and was about to protest to the butler.

 But before he could, Lloyd approached and struck the knight’s cheek.

 Very mercilessly and hard.

 Not just once, but multiple times.

 The knight who was hit stood still.

 He could have blocked if he wanted to, and he could have subdued Lloyd if he tried, but his loyalty was strong.

 He remembered the oath he took at his inauguration ceremony to devote himself to the grand ducal family and never harm any of its members.

 “Worthless bastard. How dare someone like you treat my orders with contempt!”

 “Young grand duke, I never did such a thing.”

 “Shut your mouth! I didn’t tell you to speak!”

 By now, people from the grand ducal household had gathered around.

 They inwardly sighed at Lloyd’s behavior.

 When would he grow up, as the Grand Duke had said?

 They felt anxious about Lloyd, who never changed from being a troublemaker no matter how long they waited, inheriting the position of the next grand duke.

 Raising a family and maintaining it is difficult.

 But in comparison, destroying it is all too easy.

 Imagining when Lloyd would inherit the position of grand duke, they could only see darkness.

 That’s why the people of the grand ducal family had placed their hopes on Clea Odoi.

 ‘If she became their lady, at least the family line could continue.’

 Apart from being deeply infatuated with Lloyd, she had clear judgment.

 Cold yet resolute.

 Though called a villainess in public, she was still a capable person.

 When she previously visited the grand ducal family, she found a family heirloom that the previous Grand Duke had hidden so thoroughly due to succession issues that it couldn’t be found for a very long time.

 It was an item that could only be found by combining hints hidden in complex records. It was so well hidden that everyone had given up on finding it.

 Not only that, but she also researched the Grand Duchess’s chronic illness and even found a separate cure for it.

 The Grand Duke and his wife felt very grateful and declared they would grant her anything.

 Just finding the family heirloom alone was a favor worthy of whatever she might request.

 However, at that time, Clea gave an answer no one expected.

 ‘Unlike what I heard, she’s a person without any greed at all.’

 With an expressionless face, she said she wanted nothing.

 At first, everyone thought she was showing modesty as people usually do.

 At the same time, they anticipated what she might actually request.

 Land, jewels, the grand ducal family’s support—what Clea truly wanted.

 But her continued response stunned everyone.

 The memory of her leaving the grand ducal family with an annoyed expression, saying she truly didn’t want anything at all, remained a fresh memory for the servants of the grand ducal family.

 “Huff, huff, I’ll remember your face.”

 Lloyd, who had completely battered the knight’s face, looked around with sharp eyes.

 Everyone was looking at him with concerned gazes.

 Lloyd bit his lip and shouted at the knight.

 “Why aren’t you getting lost!”

 “……I will follow your command.”

 “Get lost now!”

 At Lloyd’s words, the knight rose from his place.

 He touched his sore mouth with his hand.

 Red blood stained it.

 The knight felt more doubt than pain.

 He wondered if it was right to remain loyal to someone who treated him this way in front of others.

 The other people present felt the same way.

While being completely loyal might seem natural, the Grand Duke and his wife were always masters who expressed their gratitude.

 Everyone felt concerned that such a ruffian was born under these two people.

 But Lloyd wasn’t intimidated by their gazes; instead, he thought arrogantly.

 ‘No one helped me. No one.’

 Logically, between the Grand Duke and the young grand duke, the Grand Duke took priority.

 Despite knowing this, Lloyd felt dissatisfied that no one was willing to sacrifice themselves for him.

 He turned his gaze toward the butler.

 “I’m going outside, so help me.”

 “Y-young master, please stay inside for now. It’s cold outside.”

 “Am I a three-year-old child? Telling me not to go outside just because of the cold!”

 Of course, the concern wasn’t merely about the cold.

 The butler had intended to let Lloyd roam inside the mansion if he freed him.

 At least within the mansion, he could manage the servants’ gazes to some extent.

 But going outside was a different story.

 If the Grand Duke returned to the mansion and discovered Lloyd was gone, a serious problem would arise this time.

 Thinking of this, the butler tried to persuade him somehow, but he couldn’t break Lloyd’s stubbornness.

 “Prepare a carriage right now. Right now!”

 He left only those words and headed to his room, not the solitary confinement where he had been locked up.

 Then he prepared for his outing with stylish clothes and perfume so strong that seven out of ten passersby would turn around.

 The servants, too frightened to enter, waited outside the door.

 Seeing them, Lloyd asked irritably.

 “Ha, didn’t I say I’m going outside?”

 “Y-yes, we apologize.”

 “There’s not a single useful person in this house.”

 The servants who approached to help with Lloyd’s grooming were having a hard time.

 Having just been freed from solitary confinement, he wanted to go see Aria immediately.

 Whenever he gazed upon her pink hair and bright smile and conversed with her, his stress would melt away.

 As he prepared to leave to meet Aria after a long time, he was smiling just imagining it.

 On the other hand, Lloyd’s mood suddenly soured when he thought of another person after Aria.

 ‘Clea Odoi.’

 Not only was he confined to solitary because of her, but he also got scolded by his parents.

 All because of her, who was nothing more than one of many passing women.

 ‘If you had taken my hand then, none of this would have happened.’

 Lloyd didn’t think about his own mistakes and instead placed all the blame on her.

 Rationally speaking, it was close to absurd.

 Her only fault was accepting all of his childish tantrums and turning a blind eye to them.

 He gritted his teeth thinking about Clea.

 ‘It seems she plans to use Edmund, but I absolutely won’t allow it.’

 * * *

 “That was a satisfying meal.”

 “I’m glad. I was worried about where to take you that would satisfy you.”

 “I would be satisfied anywhere as long as I’m with you.”

 She came outside with Edmund’s escort.

 Time had already grown very late.

 “Shall we walk a bit to aid digestion?”

 “Let’s do that.”

 He headed to the park alongside her.

 True to its reputation for good security, the capital’s park was brightly lit without any dark spots.

 They walked among the densely packed trees and flowers. Unlike when they were at the imperial palace, the two didn’t care about appearances at all.

 “How can the curse be broken?”

 “I don’t know much either.”

 “Well, if you knew, you would have broken it long ago.”

 In truth, she did know. How to break the curse.

 Clea fell into thought for a moment.

 Now she realized it wasn’t because there was no ‘true love’ that it couldn’t be broken.

 If it were according to the method she knew, it would have been broken long ago because of that.

 Among the distorted original story, she felt that the circumstances of her curse might lie with Aria.

 Considering that she might need to break the curse in a way different from what she knew, she inwardly sighed.

 She looked at Edmund.

 ‘At least it’s not as empty as before.’

 Thanks to Edmund beside her, she didn’t have time to feel the void.

 She quietly held Edmund’s hand, feeling the warm temperature.

 Meanwhile, Edmund tried to face reality.

 ‘I should accept Duke Hersher’s request for an audience.’

 He too thought he couldn’t just stay still like this, so he decided to take action.