#5. Side Effects of the Imprint

“Yes! Do you have any instructions for me?”

Chloe turned around and answered while enviously watching Sir Joyce’s back disappear through the closing door.

“You handle the information guild request.”

“Ah!”

She would have to make a request to find herself.

“Yes, understood. Then, I’ll be going now.”

“By the way, are you feeling unwell?”

“Pardon?”

Chloe’s voice cracked a little.

It was an unexpected question.

Come to think of it, she had been so tense that she’d forgotten about her physical condition.

Now that she was asked, she became acutely aware of how her whole body ached.

Actually, it was fatigue from rushing to the ducal mansion early yesterday morning with her unrecovered body.

But was her poor condition noticeable enough for the Duke to see?

“You look pale. And somewhat anxious.”

She wasn’t sure whether to feel honored, burdened, or scared that the Duke would notice her complexion and even worry about it.

“Ah, I’m just tired after returning from vacationing in my hometown.”

Because I was tormented by you all night on the last day of my vacation, Your Grace.

“Ah! Right. Your hometown was far away, wasn’t it?”

Yes, it’s Bergen.

Thinking of her hometown, she realized Sir Joyce would soon be heading to Bergen to look for her.

“Clyne?”

Chloe snapped back to attention at the Duke’s voice.

“Yes. It’s quite far.”

“Where exactly?”

Until now, they hadn’t really had many personal conversations face to face, so she couldn’t understand why today of all days he was noticing her condition and making small talk.

For the past three months, she and the Duke had maintained a strictly employer-employee relationship.

The Duke hadn’t shown particular interest in his servants’ private lives, and rarely asked personal questions.

Well, it wasn’t that there were none at all.

When she asked permission to take 4 days of accumulated leave after working weekends for a month, she had mentioned that her hometown was far and she had a sick mother to care for.

He seemed to remember that conversation.

“It’s Bergen.”

Chloe answered with a somewhat resigned feeling.

After all, both Sir Joyce and the Duke’s servants knew she was from Bergen, and initially, when Clyne was hired at the Duke’s mansion, they had exchanged mail using his  address in Bergen.

Of course, she hadn’t told them about her family relationships besides her mother.

Having disguised herself as her twin brother for employment, she absolutely had to keep secret the fact that Clyne had a twin sister due to the risk involved.

Come to think of it, the Duke lived up to his reputation as having an excellent character by being such a generous master.

When he heard about her sick mother, he had even given her extra vacation money.

That money had allowed her to stay at ‘The Night of the Dog and Cat’ each time.

While going there took all day in one go, it was a place she stopped by on the way back to prepare her mind and body.

She had been grateful for that money, but now it seemed that money had become her downfall.

Because staying there led to the incident with the Duke.

He had been such a good master.

Soon, because of that good master, she might end up being chased out while drowning in debt at best, or worst case, be branded a fraud and sent to prison.

“Bergen… I see. How is your mother who you said was ill?”

“She’s still the same.”

“I see. Do you take after your mother?”

“Pardon?”

“Is your mother beautiful?”

“Pardon?”

“Hmm. For a man, you’re quite…”

“……”

The flow of conversation was strange.

“Ahem! You may go.”

The Duke suddenly cleared his throat and spoke sternly.

“Yes!”

Chloe quickly left.

To go from asking if her mother was beautiful to saying ‘for a man’…

An inexplicable sense of foreboding came over her.

She felt she should at least ask Sir Joyce what the Duke’s intentions might be if he found the woman.

There was no telling when she might be discovered.

* * *

Hughgray held his head in both hands while looking down.

He must have gone mad.

At a time when he should be desperately searching for his imprint partner himself, all his attention was focused on that attendant — Clyne.

He had completely lost it.

Wanting to spend more time with his attendant, he had assigned the information guild errand, and now he was even regretting giving work to someone who was tired!

While listening to Joyce’s report, he hadn’t been in his right mind, too busy observing Clyne’s scent and expressions as he stood slightly behind.

It must be a side effect of the imprint.

Quickly, quickly!

He needed to find the woman as soon as possible.

The only way to calm this strange hormonal chaos would be to find his imprint partner and stabilize.

* * *

As soon as Chloe left the Duke’s room, she dashed towards the mansion’s entrance. The ducal mansion was practically large enough to be called a castle, and since the Duke’s room was on the fourth floor, she had to run frantically to catch Sir Joyce at the entrance.

“Sir Joyce! Sir Joyce!”

Fortunately, Sir Joyce hadn’t departed yet, but he was just about to mount his horse.

“Ah, what is it?”

Sir Joyce pulled on his horse’s reins and looked at Chloe.

“I need to find a woman through the information guild, but do you know which guild would be most suitable? I think it would be best to request from the most capable guild.”

Of course, the information guild was just an excuse to catch Sir Joyce.

“Ah, for information guilds, try Luciel. They’re the fastest and most accurate.”

“Ah, Luciel…”

“Well then, good luck.”

“Sir Joyce!”

She urgently called out to Sir Joyce again as he was about to mount his horse, seemingly in a hurry.

“What, do you have something else to ask?”

Sir Joyce slightly frowned while looking at Chloe.

“Actually, as the Duke’s attendant, I’m curious about something. I think I should know to some extent so as not to disturb the Duke’s mood.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Well, I was wondering what the Duke intends to do when he finds the woman he spent the night with.”

“……?”

Sir Joyce stared down at her.

“Ah, I’m just asking as his attendant for the future…”

“You don’t need to know. Just do your best to keep the Duke’s mood comfortable. Though he may look fine on the outside, inside, he must be in turmoil.”

“……?”

“To think he was caught by such an unheard-of person… It’s hard to imagine how much he must be suffering.”

Person?

“Caught… what do you mean?”

Caught? It was entirely mutual…

“Yes, there’s no way the Duke would have willingly given himself to such a woman! You know too. The Duke is not someone who would ever do such a thing with women.”

Not that… what’s not… ah!

Suddenly, the beginning of that night’s incident, which had been hazy, became crystal clear.

The dark corridor.

Whether from alcohol or something else, she had been seized by strange heat and impulses when she saw the Duke come out into the corridor.

The Duke’s frowning face when he saw her.

Her body moving towards the Duke without her realizing.

The Duke trying to retreat back into his room to avoid her.

She had followed him into that room before the door could close and embraced him.

<Who are you! Don’t do this! Get away! Let go! Get off me…! Ah…, this shouldn’t happen!>

The Duke’s desperate cries of rejection hit her like a massive rock.

That’s right. The Duke had rejected her.

With desperate eyes and voice.

But the one who clung to him even more was…

She wanted to die.

It had been her.

She had physically forced herself on the rejecting Duke, and for some reason, the Duke who finally succumbed to her changed completely afterward. He became more than changed — he became like a beast.

But what was clear was that before becoming a beast, he had rejected her.

“I’d like to tear that woman to pieces… hmph! No. I can’t dispose of someone like that.”

Sir Joyce muttered as if talking to himself, then looked back at Chloe as though he had just remembered she was there.

His eyes, still not free of anger, looked ready to kill the woman when found.

To use such violent words like tearing to pieces and disposing…

Was sleeping with the Duke such a deadly sin?

It was becoming a life-threatening situation.

What Chloe had worried about was being discovered for lying about her gender to get hired.

Of course, sleeping with the Duke was uncomfortable too, but men and women could have such encounters by mutual consent — she couldn’t understand why they were acting like the world was ending just because of that fact.

“Is… that so?”

But in the end, this was all Chloe could say. Sir Joyce’s expression was that serious.

Whether fortunately or unfortunately, Sir Joyce’s expression softened slightly.

“There’s no helping it. What’s done is done and can’t be undone. Anyway, please serve the Duke well. I’m counting on you.”

“Yes…”

Chloe barely managed to answer while trying to control her trembling voice.

Sir Joyce departed, leaving Chloe behind.

Why was Sir Joyce so angry about the Duke’s situation?

Watching Sir Joyce disappear into the distance, Chloe fell deep into thought.

Because the Duke’s virginity was taken? How could virginity be that important? Besides, it wasn’t even Sir Joyce’s virginity. Ah! Perhaps the Duke is someone who wants to remain chaste?

She thought she had glimpsed fear passing across the Duke’s face as he backed away from her.

Come to think of it, considering how much the Duke had avoided women, it wasn’t unreasonable.

Then, had she really broken the Duke?

But for something like that, the Duke seemed rather more composed than Sir Joyce.

<Though he may look fine on the outside, inside, he must be in turmoil.>

Sir Joyce’s warning echoed in her ears.

Well, the Duke wasn’t the type to fully show his emotions.

What should she do?

Now, even the name ‘Chloe’ had been revealed.

Beyond the money, from the atmosphere, she felt this wouldn’t be the end of it.

A feeling that she would have to take ‘responsibility’ for something of the Duke’s.

From what she could see now, that something seemed to be his virginity, but there might be something else, and it was unclear exactly how to take this ‘responsibility.’

If that was the case, there was only one conclusion.