The Story Is Not Over Yet

Chapter 30

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He sent her a letter as Duke Ferial…? If he has something to say, wouldn’t he come at night as ‘Zagnac’?

Azela gave a short answer and held out her hand.
In response to that, the maid gently placed the letter, which she was holding.
The addressee had the words ‘Countess Todd’ written in fine print.

Since it was a letter for her, it should be clean, but strangely, the letter looked like it had already been stained with someone else’s hand.
The seal of the Duchy family, stamped in the center, was broken, and anyone could see that the letter was opened and then folded again.

“Did you read it?”

Azela turned her head to glance at the frozen handmaid.

Her eyes and tone were the same as usual, but the handmaid was startled by her words and shook her head vigorously.
She looked full of fear that Azela might fire her, saying that she had not done her job properly.

“Who read it?”

“Ma, Master and Miss Sylvia…”

Miss Sylvia…

Azela shook her head with a puzzled expression when the employee said that title.

When Daniel read the letter, it was already absurd, but that’s not enough, so even Sylvia intercepted her correspondence and read it? Who did she think she was? Besides, what kind of brain do the employees of this mansion have?

Azela’s gaze fell coldly.

“What did they say after reading it?”

“This, this is fine, so the Master told me to bring it.”

The handmaid answered with a look that she almost cried.

Was this acceptable…? Azela tapped her forehead.
It was a fact that she did not know until now that the correspondence that came to her was being censored like this.
How many letters had been filtered out and never reached her?

For a moment, she felt dizzy.

After marriage, she felt that correspondence from her acquaintances was cut off little by little.
There were times when she was sad or disappointed, though she thought it was because she was busy as she was married.

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However, what if that wasn’t the case and it didn’t get to her…?

“Have it always been like this?”

“…Yes?”

“I was asking if the correspondence that came to me usually arrived through Daniel and Sylvia’s hands.”

As she asked, the maid rolled her eyes with a look of helplessness.
She seemed to be contemplating whether she should tell the truth or if she should tell a lie in good faith.
At that, Azela suppressed her anger and smiled as benevolent as she could, beckoning her to say that it was okay.

Seeing Azela with a generous expression, the handmaid hesitated and opened her mouth.

“Usually, usually only the Master checked… Though for Duke Ferial’s letter, Miss Sylvia said she should also check it.”

In the end, the reason why these clumsy traces remained like today was because Sylvia, who usually did not touch her correspondence, finished it stupidly.
Should she say thank you for this, or should she be upset…?

In the absurd situation, Azela took her trembling hand and took a deep breath.
She opened the letter in her hand, contemplating what to do with them.

The letter was short.
There were only a few letters, although it was short and intense.

Azela, who read it at once, stood up from her seat with a pale blue face.

“When did the letter come?”

Her breathing sped up.
The handmaid answered her urgent question with a surprised expression.

“It, it arrived this morning.”

It was absurd that a letter that came to her in the morning did not arrive until late afternoon, long after the sun had risen.
The reason was simple… It was because Daniel and Sylvia had to read it first.

Azela bit her lower lip and crumpled the letter in her hand.

“Get the carriage ready.
I’m going right now to Duke Ferial’s mansion is staying.”

“Yes, yes! Master.”

There was only one line in the letter.

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[ Duke Ferial was attacked and seriously injured on his way back from the Imperial Palace.
]

That sentence was the only content.

 

 

* * *

 

 

“I heard you were hurt.”

“I was hurt.”

“That it was a serious injury…”

“It was a serious injury.”

Zagnac raised his arm and waved it in front of Azela’s eyes, speaking in a light tone.
Though aside from the scar on the palm of his right hand, no matter how much she looked, she couldn’t see any other scars on him.

Perhaps, noticing her gaze, Zagnac said with a serious expression.

“Do you know how important the hand is to the human body? I can’t eat if my hand hurts.
If I don’t eat, I’ll starve, and then I’ll die.
It is a serious injury.”

“But, you won’t die because you are the devil.
Besides, you have a left hand… Moreover, if the wound is that big, you can eat while holding your cutlery so you won’t starve to death.”

“Well.”

In response to Azela’s absurd rebuttal, he tilted his head to one side and grinned.
Even though it was daytime when the sun was still shining, it felt like she was seeing ‘Zagnac’ at night.

“Actually, you are right.
I was a little tired.
Even as Duke Ferial, I need time to rest.”

“You feel tired?”

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At his words, she gazed at him with startled eyes.
She never thought he would be tired.

Zagnac, noticing the meaning behind her gaze, raised his left hand and pointed to the desk.
As she followed his hand and moved her gaze, the towers of documents piled up on the desk caught her eye.

“It’s like that even if I leave my place for just one day.
So, what can I do? I have no choice but to make excuses for being seriously injured.”

“Then, you say you were attacked?”

“Oh, that one is real.
I had been attacked.
The wound on this palm was also created at that time.”

Saying that he had been attacked, he was still calm.
Shrugging his shoulders, he laid down on his sofa as usual and stretched his long legs out.

“You can heal a wound that is bigger than that.
Just like when you treated me.”

“It is, but… If that happens, the human ‘Duke Ferial’ will be questioned, so there’s nothing I can do even if it’s uncomfortable.”

“It’s an attack… By who?”

When Azela’s asked, startled, he stared at her for a long while without an answer.

It was evident that he was about to say something, but in the end, it ended up with a smirk on his lips.
Seeing his reluctance to answer, she sighed lightly.
She had no intention of forcing him to say what he was reluctant to say.

“By the way, what report did you have in your hand?”

“Ah… That’s right.
I did it on my own while you were away.”

“I heard from Baharf that the documents I had prepared were taken.”

Zagnac stood up from the couch he was lying on and held out his hand.
She felt a sense of detachment as she saw the bandage wrapped around his right hand.

…Had he really been attacked? Who attacked him, and for what reason? If he was the devil, why was he hurt so easily?

Even though Azela looked at him with questioning eyes, he just giggled as usual.

The corners of his lips suddenly drew an arc.

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“Aren’t you going to show me the report?”

Even knowing the reason for her gaze, Zagnac turned away.

Azela exhaled a helpless breath and placed the report she was holding on to his outstretched hand.
As he sat down, he quickly read through a fairly large amount of reports.
Sometimes, he turned the pages so fast that she wondered if he was reading it properly.

“…Is it not good?”

Zagnac didn’t say a word until he turned the last page of the report.
Eventually, in her impatience, she first asked him a sneaky question.
However, he couldn’t take his eyes off the report.

Azela wiggled her fingers in a nervous and anxious mind.

“It’s my first time using something like that…”

“….”

“I looked at the documents you gave me and did my own research and wrote it down… I don’t know exactly what the budget is, and I’ve never been to a boutique shop in the capital…”

Noticing him without a word, she muttered freely without knowing what she was saying.
At this point, what kind of reaction should be normal…?

Then, Zagnac looked back at the page he had read.

Thinking that there must have been something wrong, Azela raised her hand with a bewildered expression and stroked the tips of her well-groomed hair.

“Well, you know I wasn’t going to do it well… I don’t have eyes to see…”

“It’s very well written.”

He spoke up after a while.

Azela glanced at him in surprise at the unexpected compliment.

After giving a brief compliment, he stood up from the sofa.
He hurried past Azela toward his desk, looking through the pile of papers, comparing the other papers with the report she had shown.
Zagnac seemed to be quite keen on it.

It was the first time.

 

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