Thank You For The Confinement, Grand Duke! - Chapter 27
Translator and Editor: Effe and Nabi
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Chapter 27
“…It’s me. May I come in for a moment?”
Enfrise’s voice was heard, along with a soft knock.
…What should I do? I, I guessed I should say, ‘Come in’? I was crying so much earlier, I wonder if he remembers what I said.
Dangabit, why did I cry seriously?
“Co, come in!”
As I finished speaking, the door handle turned, making a clicking sound, and I unintentionally gulped nervously.
What was this? Why was I so tense?
“Tambor and… Frii are okay. It seems they just fainted for a moment.”
‘Thank goodness.’
While I sighed with relief unconsciously, Enfrise was silently watching me and kept his mouth shut. The same was true for me as well.
After a brief silence, I was the first to speak.
“…I’m sorry.”
“What are you talking about?”
“I said I wanted accessories that suit the dress… Is that intruder pretending to be a jeweler who entered the mansion?”
Enfrise widened his eyes.
Huh? That wasn’t it?
“No?”
“No.”
“Huh? Then how did he get in?”
Enfrise wouldn’t just let Chaperil go anywhere. He must have prepared for something like this. So, how did that man get in here?
“We are currently investigating that. Since we arrested the man, we will find out somehow.”
“Then, what about the jeweler?”
Tambor had gone to return the jewelry box. Wasn’t she going to return it to the jeweler?
“The jeweler never entered this mansion in the first place.”
“But… huh? There were more than twenty jewelry boxes….”
“We collected those as samples. It’s a common practice in noble families that restrict outsiders from entering.”
“Ah, I see.”
Was that abuse of power I had suspected actually happening? Well, whatever. If everyone did it, maybe it wasn’t really an abuse of power.
“…I wouldn’t just let outsiders enter where you are.”
Was it a deliberate remark or an accidental slip?
Either way, it was bad. My heart sank for a moment! Why would you say something that could be taken as restricting or someone?
“Grand Duke, are you saying that on purpose?”
“What are you talking about?”
Enfrise seemed genuinely puzzled.
Oh gosh, did everyone come equipped with the skill of flirting? Just because I occasionally blurted out such words as I did in novels didn’t mean I should say them now!
“No, nothing.”
He was really a scary guy.
Well, as long as it ended in a happy ending, even for a male-oriented, depraved novel. It must be because of that side of him that Chaperil had a happy ending.
“….”
Enfrise stood there silently, just watching me. For some reason, his face looked a bit strange, and I tried to look the other way for a while, though he just kept standing there without leaving or sitting down.
Unable to bear the awkwardness, I spoke first.
“Please have a seat, Grand Duke.”
“…I thought you might have lured me in.”
“Me?”
Why would I? How could I?
“I thought it was just as I initially suspected. You deliberately said that to make me lower my guard.”
He has been trusting me a bit lately, and now this?! Well, it was understandable since misunderstandings happen. I thought the same thing at first. If only I had contacted him through Frii, maybe it wouldn’t have been so bad.
“I’m sorry. To tell the truth…”
Where should I start explaining? After a brief pause, I began to speak.
“That man claimed to know me.”
“You?”
“Yes. He said he came to rescue me. However, I couldn’t remember that man at all and I had no intention of leaving here, so I tried to persuade him.”
“Persuade…?”
“Seeing the situation, I thought you might misunderstand. Maybe the me from before losing my memory did something, so I tried to convince him that I no longer had the intention to escape.”
Pointless lies only worsen the situation. It was a piece of life wisdom I had gained from reading novels.
“Still, the persuasion didn’t work, so I tried to inform you, but Frii… it must have thought I was in danger and attacked that person, but it ended up fainting.”
As I spoke, tears welled up again.
Our Frii, the little one, confronted that big man. It used to pick on Enfrise occasionally, but… If I had been captured, I might never have seen it again… not Enfrise or Tambor either. In my world, those three were everything.
“So, while being captured, I called for the Grand Duke, for Tambor… but no one came…”
Without realizing it, I started to choke up.
Enfrise seemed bewildered. Until a moment ago, he was somehow awkward, and now he was completely different. It was like he was wondering if he should sit up straight, offer me a handkerchief, or pat me on the back. His hands fluttered around, unsure of what to do.
“Why didn’t you come?”
“Well, that’s…”
“You should have stayed close if you were scared I might run away! Why didn’t you come when I called?!”
“I’m sorry.”
I knew it was a bit rude to scold the person who rescued me. I was aware of how freely I told stories. While this mansion was everything to me in this world, I knew it was not the same for Enfrise. He had responsibilities as the Grand Duke and had to take care of the mansion.
Even though I was aware of that…
Still.
“In the future, stay close to me! Understand?”
“Understood.”
“If, by any chance, someone says they’ll rescue me and I might get kidnapped again, you have to stop it, okay?”
“Yes.”
As Enfrise nodded obediently and moved to sit beside me, he awkwardly patted my back the next moment.
I let his touch linger on my back for a long while.
“Ugh.”
My body aches. I used to see characters in novels groaning in pain and thinking, ‘Who groans when they’re hurt!’ while laughing. But now, I was making groaning sounds for real.
This was unbearable.
“Are you okay, miss? Have some warm tea at least.”
“Thank you, Tam… I mean, Lady Tambor…”
I thought it might be a cold, but it felt different. There was no sore throat, runny nose, or coughing. Just a fever.
Although the thermometer showed a mild fever, it was difficult to move because my whole body felt like it was filled with something hot. It was like expecting a burst or a pop when you prick it with a needle, that kind of feeling.
After expressing my displeasure to Enfrise and escorting him out, suddenly…
— Ah.
— Chaperil?!
The ground beneath me suddenly shook.
Oh my goodness, was this an earthquake? Unlike our country, which had an excellent earthquake barrier called Japan, do earthquakes frequently happen here? I wanted to shout, ‘It seems like there’s an earthquake!’ However, in an instant, my head was pounding, and I was plunged into darkness.
When I opened my eyes again, this was the sight I saw.
“The fever doesn’t seem to be going down.”
The worried expression as she touches my forehead looks unfamiliar.
Someone once said it was the saddest to be alone when you were sick. It was probably on an internet community.
However, I disagreed with that statement.
It might be better to be alone when you are sick. Compared to having to do everything alone, even when there are people around you. Until elementary school, I could rest when I had a fever. Still, once I entered middle school, I wasn’t allowed to rest anymore.
— This girl! Who said you could just wander around with a fever? You should have taken care of yourself more properly. Why does our grandson have to suffer because of your mistakes? Stop talking nonsense and go make some food.
If someone overheard, they might have thought I was throwing a tantrum. It was just hearsay about wearing short sleeves and shorts in the summer, but my family made a fuss about it.
Because the grandson insisted on keeping the air conditioner at eighteen degrees all day and indulging in computer games, even though it was summer and I wore a thin autumn cardigan, it was always cold inside the house. It was sweltering outside and chilly inside.
Wasn’t it strange if I didn’t catch a cold?
In any case, due to my grandmother, who wouldn’t let me rest, I had to do all the household chores, even with a fever exceeding thirty-eight degrees. Dragging my heavy body like a soaked cotton swab, I did the laundry and cleaned the house.
In the meantime, if there were even a speck of dust left, I would be scolded for not cleaning properly. Because my body was too heavy, there were times when I neglected stain removal during laundry out of laziness, only to get scolded. I couldn’t remove the food stains on the precious grandson’s white school shirt.
— Sh*t, what’s this? How can I wear this when it’s dirty?”
My uniform was adjusted to two sizes bigger because it was considered a waste, but my younger brother’s uniform was immediately replaced if it had stains.
I felt a bit sad back then.
Anyway, even though I was sick, I had to constantly clean the house that my brother kept making a mess out of.
I wished to be alone.
Out of laziness, I wanted to skip making meals, just order something, or even starve for a few days. Even lying under a sweaty blanket, not bothering with anything, seemed like bliss… Even that was a luxury for me.
For someone like me, who had to do everything alone, the experience of someone taking care of me because I was sick was quite unfamiliar.
“I’m fine now, Tambor. You can go. It’s almost dinner time… the Grand Duke has to have his meal.”
“He won’t eat anything now anyway. Miss, you’re not feeling well, so His Grace wouldn’t have an appetite.”
…Was that so?
I had never experienced that. Skipping meals made the day unbearable for me. Laundry was quite labor-intensive because wet clothes were heavier than expected, and when doing a thorough cleaning, it was really challenging to move furniture.
Whether someone was sick or not, I couldn’t endure a day without eating. Even when I was sick, I made sure to eat regularly. It was even more challenging when I was unwell.
Perhaps for Chaperil…. Enfrise felt that way about me.
Something different from the heat that filled my body, a gentle touch tickled my chest. And with that sensation, I drifted back into sleep.
—
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