I Am The Commander Of The Second Male Lead’s Knights - Chapter 3

After that, Adrian looked straight at Nina. And Nina would grin back whenever she encountered him.

Then, one day, Adrian smiled back too. It was a noble and elegant smile.

The shadow in his eyes did not completely disappear, but it was alright.

‘What did the original novel say…’

Nina sat down, with her legs spread as she was now accustomed to working in the kitchen, peeling potatoes.

According to the description of the original heroine, Fiona, Adrian was always like this.

[ The Duke of Luvwayne was a perfect gentleman with a perfect reputation. An elegant smile, a friendly tone, and an immaculate aristocratic behaviour with a calming voice.

Where Fiona felt cold anger towards his perfect smile and delicate actions. I felt hatred. 

That is why Fiona could never find a way to like the Duke of Luvwayne. ]

But my master is not at that level yet!

Finally, Nina threw the now smooth potatoes into the water and got up with the bucket of potatoes.

As she went back into the kitchen to put the potatoes down, she heard a few sisters chattering.

“I heard she brought in another jeweller again?”

“Yes, this time it’s from the northern island of Badun. She brought in a moonshine pearl necklace.”

“Oh my god, a moonshine pearl necklace? Wow, it’s amazing to even hear about such a treasure.”

“The cost of one such necklace is enough for us to live our lives without working anymore.”

“It seems as though they’ve hired a new swordsmanship teacher for Master Gerald too.”

In the middle of their conversation, they took notice of Nina.

“Are you done peeling? Good job. There should be some bread left in the cupboard there.”

“Thank you.”

Nina, who greeted the older sisters, quickly turned and went to grab the bread out of the cupboard.

The good thing about working in the kitchen is that at least you do not need to starve. All the food left behind by the family was theirs. The other servants were also kind enough to allow the kitchen maids to get the food.

Carrying the bread in her arms, Nina headed to Adrian.

In the course of this year, the family’s treatment of Adrian had deteriorated. The Duke no longer invited him to the family dinners.

No, rather than the Duke not inviting him to the dinner, it’s more so that the Duchess would not let him appear during the meal.

The Duke would enquire about Adrian whenever he did not appear at the table. “What about Adrian?” And the Duchess would reply, “I guess he feels uncomfortable eating together.”

‘What the hell?’

Nina wanted to find out what was going through the Duke’s mind. Acknowledging illegitimate children is not an ordinary thing to do.

Even after making such important recognition, he was neglecting Adrian.

Besides, did he not just gain a new successor after remarrying?

At this point, the easiest and most convenient thing to do would be to arrange for succession, but he did not.

Listening in on the stories of the other maids, they mentioned that they were indifferent towards their other masters, just as indifferent as they are towards Adrian.

Perhaps that was what led to the Duchess feeling more enraged. Of course, the Duke was also indifferent towards the Duchess, so he never interfered with how she ran the mansion and financed the servants working in it.

According to Adrian, the Duke had only called him to his private room once.

“Your mother is dead.”

That was all he said.

‘I’m glad that there were still people around Adrian then…’

Before marrying the Duchess, Adrian, then the only master of the mansion, was said to have been extremely cherished.

‘I’ve heard about this before.’

Anyway, the treatment and Adrian’s situation, in general, only got worse thanks to the Duke’s attitude.

But that was not enough to kick him out of the family table. So the Duchess interfered with the dishes that were given to Adrian.

Even going so far as to tell the cook, “Adrian doesn’t eat together with the rest of the family, so you don’t need to cook for Adrian.” Ever since then, dishes that were originally meant for servants were being sent and distributed to him.

Because no one went to bring up food for Adrian, Nina is now used to secretly carrying food up to him.

Naturally, money was not even allocated to him to buy daily necessities. Adrian’s life would have been so much more difficult if Nina did not carry kitchen utensils when she came up as quiet as a mouse.

“Master.”

Adrian, who was reading an old book in the room, looked up.

Nina took the bread out of her arms and sliced it in half.

“This side is yours.”

Adrian reached out, switching her hard-crusted bread with his soft bread.

“This is all I need.”

“But it’s hard.”

“I’m older than you, so I’m stronger.”

Adrian closed the book, smiling.

Inside the mansion, since Adrian is constantly being ignored, he could enter and leave anywhere he wanted.

As long as he did not run into the Duchess, Gerald or Jayden.

The study in the mansion, that was a place where the three of them would not enter. This small privilege, Adrian enjoyed to his heart’s content.

He read like crazy and trained hard on polishing his swordsmanship.

What Nina was most upset about, however, was the fact that he was eating so poorly during a point of time where he would be experiencing the most growth and as he was growing up.

Nina said, whilst removing the hard crust of the bread.

“It seems as though the Duchess has called in the jeweller again. This time, she bought a moonshine pearl necklace. Do you know what that is?”

“I heard it’s a pearl that’s soft silver in colour, and that it shines dimly at night.”

“Oh, I see.”

Nina opened her eyes wide.

There were so many amazing things in this world.

Then, she whispered to him next few words.

“And that they’re giving the first master a new swordsmanship teacher.”

“Is that so?”

Adrian replied with a grin as Nina stuck out her tongue.

“I would like to change my swordsmanship teacher too…day to day…”

Nina bit her lips.

It was because of his swordsmanship teacher that he was bruised.

Under the guise of teaching, Adrian would constantly get beat up by his teacher. Often, he would hit him so hard that his bones would break.

“Even so, it’s still better than nothing.”

Adrian mumbled, chewing the hard bread and swallowing.

A meal composed of a loaf of bread and water, without any butter or jam.

‘Someday, I will eat all the fluffy bread to my heart’s content.’

Nina has always dreamt of such a future. Even if it’s hard to accomplish now, Nina had a dream.

Adrian opened up his book again and said quietly.

“Nina. You better go now, it’s not good if you stay here for too long.”

“Okay. I’ll be back again soon.”

Adrian looked back at Nina, who greeted him with a smile, left the room. After looking at the door Nina had left through, Adrian sighed.

He was worried about the Duchess finding out about Nina.

Still, he was not able to advise her to stop visiting him.

Finally, he managed to divert his gaze back to the book.

***

It was a long holiday. But Nina had nowhere to go as the kitchen maids were busy dressing up.

“Nina, do you have anything to ask for?”

“No.”

Nina, now twelve years old, still had pigtails.

“How do I look?”

One of the maids asked, showing off the lace on the edge of her clothes. The lace was a masterpiece that she had invested a year ago.

“You’re so beautiful, sister. What if someone asks sister for a hand in marriage?”

“Oh my gosh.”

A soft smile that made the maid feel better. The other maid then commentated.

“Strangely, I get a feeling that everything Nina says is real.”

“That’s because I’m telling the truth.”

When Nina opened her eyes wide, the three girls giggled.

The other maid said to the maid in lace.

“Are you aware? That if you were to go out like that, you may meet with the noble lord right?”

“What’s the point of that? I mean look at that kid.”

‘That kid.’

That is what the people here call Adrian.

“Your mother was an opera singer, right? She’s a beautiful woman, she even received so many presents and flowers that it overflowed the waiting room.”

She pouted.

“What are you doing here then? If your child is like that. You’re too good of a wife. It wasn’t like you didn’t even know that he was there. And yet you decided to get married from the beginning.”

“Sue, watch your mouth.”

“Oh, shut up.”

She shrugged them off and asked Nina.

“Do you understand?”

“What?”

“You. Behave yourself. For people like us, one mistake means you’re out.”

“Yeah, you should stop joking around.”

“But I like you.”

They stopped bagging upon hearing Nina’s carefree words.

“Oh my god. Are you being sincere?”

“I really can’t tell.”

The older sisters promised that they would buy back candy when they came back.

Everyone here is a good person.

Then, Chef Karin, who had just left the kitchen, cried out to Nina who was busy preparing the vegetables.

“Why are you here?”

“I can’t afford to go out and play.”

“As long as you don’t mess up the kitchen.”

“It’s not messy.”

When Nina replied with a serious expression, Karin spared a glance at the vegetables that she was preparing.

“When you’re done trimming the vegetables, there are snacks in the cupboard on the right.”

“Wow!”

“It’s a little secret kept from the other guys.”

“Alright.”

The speed at which her hand moved for trimming quickened. Nina hastily trimmed the vegetables and packed the snacks faster than she had ever before.