Chapter 07 – Arrival

The carriage continued to travel while there was complete silence between its passengers.

Gerald could not take it anymore and started to ask series of questions to the young girl.

"I don't mean to pry to your private matters but, may I ask why are you inside the Mystical Forest?"

"Personal reasons." That was her short answer.

"Then what about the place where you came from? Can you at least tell me that?"

"That depends. I've been to a lot of places and have a lot of temporary residences, but if you are asking me of my permanent one...." She trailed off, "That is something that I want to keep for myself."

The Duke kept asking many questions about the girl, but when they encountered some queries she didn't want to respond to, she would say, "Next question."

For some reason, the Duke was now slightly trusting the girl across from him. Maybe because she was his benefactor or their benefactor, to be precise. He opened his mouth to ask again.

"Why do you choose me to help you with your residency? There are other nobles in this kingdom."

Louise leaned on the carriage and closed her eyes before responding.

"No reason."

Then she continued.

"I was at the Mystical Forest when I encountered you. There were other nobles, yes, but you were the only one present. You can say that it's a mere coincidence. I'm just so lucky that you are a Duke, that's all."

"So, you were serious when you tried to leave me during that time?" Gerald recalled.

Louise opened her eyes and stared at the Duke, "Well, you are very suspicious towards me in the first place. Trust is the most important when it comes to partnership. If you don't trust me enough, then we have to part ways."

"You didn't even consider whether I would die or not in that place, did you?" He raised his brows.

"I did help you in the first place. Asking me to protect you while you are suspicious of this mage doesn't sound right, don't you agree?"

The Duke was rendered speechless, but Louise continued.

"Also, you have to understand. I'm in a desperate situation. If you can't say yes to my small favor, then I have to look for a different means of my survival."

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The Duke rolled his eyes and answered.

"Aren't you a mage? Mages were wealthy, weren't they? They do the hunting of the demons, and they were paid quite well. So even in this kingdom, your profession is among the top."

Louise scoffed when she heard this.

"Those were Mages who have a lot of free time at their disposal. But, unfortunately, I'm not as carefree as them. Oh, and one more thing, even if I have a lot of money, why would I buy my residence or rent them when I can have it for free."

"You're a miser," he commented."

"It's called resourcefulness." She retorted.

They were about to continue their bickering when the carriage stopped, and the head of the guard announced.

"You're Grace. We've arrived."

Upon hearing the announcement, Louise waved her hand, and a veil appeared before her. She quietly put it on her face covering almost all of it except for her blue eyes.

She already mentioned some of her conditions to the Duke earlier. She added to her requirement that she doesn't want to live together with his family. She also doesn't want any servant to attend to her.

When Gerald heard all of her conditions, he readily agreed. Her requirements saved him a lot of trouble. He only needed to provide her a place to stay and deliver her food as well. Well, maybe he will give her some allowance. She will become his adopted daughter, after all.

The both of them stayed in the carriage for a few minutes. Then, Charlie, who was waiting on the outside, spoke, "Your Grace?"

Gerald spoke from the inside.

"No need to wait for me. I'll need to escort my daughter to her place of stay. So you all can withdraw."

Charlie answered, "Understood. This subordinate obeys."

He called out the other guards, including the driver of the carriage, and left them.

When Duke Gerald noticed that all of them had already withdrawn, he called out to Louise.

"Let's go. I will escort you to your residence."

They both alighted from the carriage, and the Duke led Louise to an isolated gate that took them almost fifteen minutes to reach. The place was located on the east wing of his residence.

The Duke pulled out a key from his spatial storage and unlocked the door. Louise roamed her eyes around. She observed that the place showed some gloominess as if it had not resided for years. However, though it's pretty lonely, the site itself showed that it was well maintained.

Noticing her action, Duke Gerald explained.

"This is the place where my mother stayed while she was alive."

"I see. Your mother was determined to shut herself from the world, judging from the heights of the gate and walls, " Louise gave her evaluation.

Gerald sighed.

"It happened when my father was commissioned to lead a subjugation in one of the restricted areas of this kingdom. I was ten years old back then. We don't know what happened, but the demons during that time became rampant."

Louise listened to him while they proceeded to walk to the inside of the residence.

"I assumed that he did not make it alive?"

"Dying in line of duty is an honor to us aristocrats. But my mother did not take it well, especially when his remains did not return to us."

The young lady paused and turned towards the Duke, waiting for him to continue.

"There are only a few survivors of that subjugation, but it only took them a week before all of them committed suicide as if they are scared of something."

"That's unfortunate."

"Indeed. I am not at a proper age yet to take over our household during that time. So my mother became the head as the duchess. When I turned fifteen, she handed over all of the dukedom's duties to me and isolated herself in this place."

"Thank you for letting me stay here."

"No worries. Make it your home and protect it on my behalf while you are here."

"Sure."