What on earth is happening in our Duke’s household?
Morgan’s mind was a dazzling mess of chaos.
- The young lady who bought a handsome slave, left him standing outside for an entire day, and then suddenly decided to cut off his hands.
- The second young master, who despises slaves but personally went out to buy a handsome one.
- The third young master, who brought men into his room, stripped them naked, and was now admiring them.
Q. Which of these is normal?
A. …I have no idea.
Morgan couldn’t even avert his gaze, standing stiffly with his back awkwardly bent, like a marionette with tangled strings.
“…I apologize for interrupting such an important moment?”
“What nonsense are you spouting?!”
Morgan, who had been about to close the door and leave, jumped in shock at Gray’s sharp outburst.
“Goodness, young master! I’m an old man now, you can’t just shout at me like that.”
“Sorry for yelling, Morgan. But don’t get the wrong idea and come in.”
It’s a relief that he’s at least aware this is a situation prone to misunderstandings.
Morgan let out a sigh of relief and stepped into the room.
But no matter how much he thought about it, he couldn’t make sense of the situation.
Naked men and the young master?
Moreover, some of them were familiar faces.
The gardener, Eldman.
The kitchen’s junior servant, Cillie.
The errand boy, Paul, who was often tasked with small chores.
And Paul was still a fresh-faced youth, not even twenty years old.
The rest were unfamiliar individuals.
“Young master, why are these men here like this?”
“I think one of these guys did something bad to Solea.”
“Something bad, as in…?”
“Hit her, yelled at her, threw things at her… or maybe all of the above.”
“Good heavens!”
A fire blazed in Morgan’s gentle eyes.
How dare anyone do that to our Lady Solea!
One of the kneeling men cried out, his voice full of indignation.
“This is unjust! Young Lord!”
It was Eldman, the gardener.
“Huh? I haven’t given you permission to speak yet.”
Eldman flinched momentarily but continued speaking in a slightly subdued voice, clearly frustrated.
“I come to work at the mansion and go straight home when I’m done. I’ve only passed Lady Solea a few times during her walks. Why would I commit such a heinous act against her?”
“According to your neighbors, they hear children’s screams at night, begging to be saved and forgiven. How can I trust that you haven’t done here what you do at home?”
Eldman had been an exceptionally diligent gardener who hadn’t missed a single day of work in nearly 10 years at the mansion.
He was always kind to those around him, and if anything, he seemed rather timid.
When others asked him for favors, he could never refuse and would help with everything.
Sometimes he looked troubled, but in the end, he would just smile.
Even when Morgan, frustrated with watching this, asked, ‘Why can’t you ever say no?’ he would just laugh it off saying, ‘They must have been in a hurry to ask me.’
That Eldman was violent at home?
Morgan looked back and forth between Gray and Eldman, unable to believe it.
But as if Gray’s words were true, Eldman, after a moment of silence, asked with wide eyes.
“Which neighbor said that?”
Sparks flew from Gray’s eyes. Yet despite his eyes being full of burning anger, his voice that escaped his lips was ice cold.
“You insolent bastard.”
Gray gripped the scabbard at his waist so tightly that his knuckles cracked.
Morgan almost instinctively defended Eldman.
He had momentarily forgotten, distracted by Gray’s recent cheerful demeanor after growing closer to Solea.
Gray, despite not joining the Bergo Knights after receiving his knighthood, was a man whose overwhelming skill earned the respect of other knights.
It looked as though Gray might cut out Eldman’s tongue at any moment.
“You know that anyone caught committing domestic violence within the Duchy has their wrist cut off, don’t you?”
At last, Eldman began to sweat profusely and stammered out an excuse.
“I-it was merely disciplining the children.”
Morgan saw it.
The vein bulging on Gray’s temple.
“Disciplining? Don’t make me laugh. …So, are you saying you hit Solea too?”
“No! Absolutely not! That’s truly not the case! My principle is to completely separate work and home, and Lady Solea is someone I serve. How could I possibly—”
“So, you admit to being violent at home. Next.”
Gray’s gaze shifted to Cillie, who was sitting next to Eldman.
“I know you’ve been sneaking leftover wine from the kitchen. That, I can overlook. It’s also well-known that you turn into a beast when drunk.”
Morgan knew that much too.
“Do you remember, four years ago, when you got drunk and yelled at Head Maid Marcilla, telling her not to give you orders?”
This was news to Morgan.
Even Eldman, who worked at the mansion, seemed unaware, as he turned wide-eyed to look at Cillie.
Cillie’s face turned pale.
“T-that time, I was too drunk to—”
“Marcilla forgave you. She said she’d let it slide once because you were a pitiful young man with nowhere else to go. She even said if I turned a blind eye, she could move past it too.”
The air in the room grew icy.
Gray slowly crossed his long legs.
“But it seems you’ve caused trouble again recently. This time, you slapped a maid from another household while running an errand.”
“No, that’s—! Young Master! That was because that wench cut in line! I was clearly in line at the grocery store first!”
“Strange. I heard that the maid was there first, just that you didn’t see her because she was short. According to the grocery store owner, that is. They say the owner even explained this right after you hit her. But I heard you left without apologizing, just cursing.”
Cillie’s mouth clamped shut.
A cracking sound echoed as Gray tilted his neck.
“I never knew our house had such…”
His low voice filled the space, sharp as a well-honed blade.
“…pieces of trash.”
Gray slowly raised his hand to scratch the edge of his eyebrow.
A self-deprecating smile played on his lips.
“So, did you raise those filthy hands against Solea too?”
Cillie, now pale as a corpse, desperately cried out.
“That, I swear, has never, not even once, happened!”
“Should I have killed you when you begged only me for forgiveness, not Marcilla, after witnessing that scene? I spared you for Marcilla’s sake, but was that a mistake?”
“Wh-what are you… Y-young Master Gray. I really, never to the young lady… truly n-not, never.”
Taking advantage of the tense atmosphere, Paul quickly cut in.
“Young Master! I don’t understand why I’m even here. I… I have no connection whatsoever with the young lady.”
“No connection, you say, yet you go around talking about Solea?”
Paul, who had been chattering away, fell silent, his lower jaw trembling.
As if confirming Gray’s words, Paul’s dark eyes darted back and forth.
Gray gently moved his fingers on his knee as if playing piano keys.
The movement gradually slowed.
Tap, tap, tap.
Just as the tapping settled into a steady rhythm, Gray spoke again.
“Lady Solea is quite shy, so we always meet alone.”
Paul’s head, which had been bowed, shot up again.
But Gray didn’t stop the rhythmic tapping of his fingers on his knee as he continued speaking.
“When we’re alone, I call her ‘Lea.’ Then her face turns red, more luscious than a ripe apple.”
Morgan felt his head spin at the sight of Gray gritting his teeth as he spoke.
To think they had entrusted errands to such a man all this time.
It wasn’t over yet. Gray let out a small laugh, raised his hand from his knee, and slowly stroked his chin.
“‘When I finally met her, I realized noble ladies aren’t all that special.’ Is that right?”
Sweat dripped down Paul’s bare back.
“Y-young Master. I’m sorry. I truly regret it. It was a mistake. Back when I came to run an errand, I saw the young lady from afar, and I just, I just…”
“Just what?”
“I just liked her, no, I mean, I was curious…”
“You liked her, you were curious. Do you really think such pathetic excuses will work?”
This time, Morgan couldn’t hold back his anger and burst out.
“Did you hurl insults at the young lady with that filthy, lowly mouth of yours?!”
Paul quickly raised both hands, shaking them in denial.
“I’ve never even spoken to the young lady! It’s always the other servants who give me errands! How could I possibly talk to her?”
Whether Paul’s words were true or not, this wasn’t something that could be brushed aside.
No, among the three of them, there wasn’t a single one who could be let off the hook.
Then who were the rest of these men? Morgan had never seen them around the mansion.
As if reading the curiosity on Morgan’s face, Gray spoke nonchalantly.
“They’re the ones I picked out—those with the name ‘Don’ who are the most vile and disgusting.”
Don?
Ah. The man the young lady brought back today was also named Don.
A vision of the horrors that might unfold in the garden flashed through Morgan’s mind.
‘I shouldn’t be standing around here like this!’
For a moment, he had forgotten, distracted by the shocking sight of the half-naked men kneeling and their unethical behavior.
“Young master, a moment please…”
Morgan quickly moved to Gray’s side and whispered.
“Lady Solea has taken an axe to the garden, saying she’ll cut off that slave’s wrists herself. Please stop her. The young lady is too delicate to…”
Before Morgan could finish, Gray jumped to his feet.
“That bastard?! She’s going to punish him herself?”
Gray started rushing toward the door but turned back.
Then he ordered Morgan.
“Deal with Eldman, who habitually commits domestic violence, according to Duchy law. Cut off both hands that beat children, and his feet for kicking and breaking furniture. Ah, and cut out his tongue too—verbal abuse is violence. Make arrangements for the children to work at the mansion since they’ll have nowhere to go. Give them only simple tasks. As for Cillie, he’s tarnished our Duchy’s honor by his behavior, which is equivalent to sullying father’s name. Bury him. And lastly, Paul…”
Gray’s cold gray eyes turned to Paul as he rapidly issued commands.
“How dare you, my sister…”
Gray instantly drew his sword and swung.
Blood cascaded down from above Paul’s eyelids like waterfalls.
“Ahhhhh!”
“Shh. Raise your voice and you might startle my ‘shy’ sister.”
Morgan covered his mouth with his hands.
“Burn that one’s tongue.”
“What did I do so wrong?! Just a few words…!”
The tip of Gray’s long sword instantly went into Paul’s mouth.
Paul couldn’t even tremble in fear, knowing the slightest movement would slice his tongue.
Through his darkened vision, a voice like settled fog cut sharply through the air.
“Words can kill people. They can attack and drain the life from someone just as well.”
Gray quickly withdrew the sword from Paul’s mouth.
Paul clutched his face and fainted on the spot.
“Put the remaining ones in the underground prison. I’ll question them myself when I return, just in case.”
Morgan nodded.
While roughly wiping his sword with a handkerchief before sheathing it, Gray addressed the remaining three men.
“If you’re innocent, I’ll release you soon, so don’t worry.”
The kneeling men couldn’t bring themselves to answer and only nodded.
Gray opened the door and ran quickly toward the garden.
Solea, despite appearances, was rather soft-hearted and would probably struggle to cut off the wrist herself.
So I’ll have to do it for her.
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