Masters, Are You Going To Imprison My Sister? - Chapter 26

Yuria pushed a teacup, a kettle full of hot tea, and a tray with snacks to go with the tea, and headed to the Duke’s office. Ordinarily, another maid was in charge of this task, but today the duke specially ordered her to bring her tea.

The maid in charge was neither sick nor on vacation. She knocked on the office, feeling suspicious.

“Duke, I brought you tea and snacks.”

“Come in.”

Yuria was several times more careful than usual and entered the room. Inside the office were seated the Duke and a person believed to be a guest. Originally, in the Duke family, everyone was informed about it and prepared to welcome them a few days before the guests arrived.

The employees could not be unaware of the guests visiting the mansion. But Yuria couldn’t quite figure out the identity of the person sitting on the sofa. Could he possibly be the duke’s secret guest? So, why did you bring me here? Did my mouth look so heavy that she believed I wouldn’t reveal the customer’s identity?

Yuria, who raised her head after greetings, was so startled that she almost cried when she saw the face of the customer. Why are you here?

It was Alexander.

With dark brown hair and green eyes, he was sitting on the sofa, looking at Yuria with a blank look. His unpleasantly expressionless face wrinkles as they eyes meet.

Why are you making such an annoying face? Rather, it’s not right for me to make such a face, right?

If the Duke had not been present, she would have run to Alexander right away and inquired what he was thinking. Looking at him reminded me of what happened in Count Nigor’s mansion. Yuria strained her trembling hands and poured tea into the teacup. The teacup is filled with a soft crackling sound.

It’s not strange to think. Lala told me the exchanges between Count Nigor and Duke Emus will increase. Did he even send his aide to start the exchange? Yuria put the teacup down in front of the duke and lifted up the assistant’s share of the teacup.

Then the duke said.

“Alexander Walter, do you want to say hello, though? Isn’t that a familiar face? Yuria Hanson has always been your master’s lover, wouldn’t it be against etiquette if you didn’t say hello?”

I really couldn’t help it. It was truly unavoidable that Yuria dropped the teacup on the floor and shattered it, and spilled steaming hot tea on the floor. She bowed her head and quickly apologized.

“Sorry, sorry. I will clean it up quickly.”

The hand holding the skirt trembled.

Now, what did the Duke say? Did she say that I am Count Nigor’s lover? how to…?

Only a few people knew that Yuria was being held by Count Nigor, who locked her up in a room in the mansion and blocked most of the employees from entering. However, if it was the duke’s power, it would be able to easily find out about that amount of information. Then, does the Duke have to work hard to find out information about Yuria, who is only one of the many maids in the mansion? It must have been useless information to her. Yuria couldn’t think any more.

“No need to clean it. Just stand there.”

When she asked to raise her head, Yuria slowly raised her face. Alexander was staring at the Duke with an angry face.

“…What is this?”

“Did you think I didn’t know? You should be thankful for pretending not to know all this time. If we hide this fact, won’t the trust be shaken between us? I mean, I think Yuria Hanson will be a great help in our work. What do you think?”

“It won’t help. She probably doesn’t know anything, and she probably doesn’t know any useful information. She is just… a victim played by the Count.”

“That’s your opinion.”

Yuria could guess quite a lot from their conversation. There is some kind of contract between the two, and the fact is that she may be of great use in that matter. And, nevertheless, Alexander hid Yuria’s existence from the Duke…

The duke was sipping tea.

“Aren’t you curious what we are talking about now?”

She glanced at the duke and shrugged at the duke’s question. She was curious, but she didn’t want to know at all. Because she had heard that it is not uncommon for the maid to hear their master secret.

If I could, I would have run away from this place. She shook her head in a negative way and said it was okay, but the Duke continued.

“As you know, slavery is illegal in this empire. To abolish the slave auction with the previous emperor and exterminate the nobles who held it is one of the most splendid achievements of the duke family. But they say slave auctions are popular in the black market these days.”

Alexander jumped up from his seat. In the process, there was a roar from the table, which was slammed with his fists. His face, drenched in indescribable emotions, was dyed red.

“Duke! Please stop! Please don’t bring that kid into this… .”

“You fool. Don’t put your feelings into working for a cause. When you look at that child, does it remind you of your family?”

“I, I… .”

Alexander pursed his lips as if he wanted to say something, and then sat down.

“… No. Continue.”

“There were only rumors about the slave auction, but no one really knew what it was. Some people may dismiss it as just a stupid rumor and pass it on, but I’m not that lame. I started to investigate, thinking that there must be a reason for such a rumor. Then I found out from a nobleman that Count Nigor might have something to do with the auction.”

“….”

“Then he was found dead the next day. Even if I wasn’t that kind of person. No further information could be obtained from the body. After that I tried to find evidence of the auction or the actual location of the auction, but could not find it. Walter worked hard as a spy, but to no avail. I would have to find evidence or capture the scene before accusing the crime or not. Someone with a power equal to mine must have been Count Nigor’s back. First of all, I’m assuming that the ship behind it is the Duke of Nikerman. Strangely enough, he got along with the Count.”

Slave. At those words, Yuria remembered something. But she tried to think differently, as fear, disgust, and unbearable anger surged from her just peeking at her memories. Alexander was the duke’s spy? Since when? So he felt pity for us and helped us escape? I wanted to evacuate my swollen stomach, but I held it in.

“Why… Are you saying that to me?”

“Because I think you will help. You’ve been with Count Nigor for almost a year, haven’t you? How did I know without asking? Because in this world, if you give money and frighten, you will confide in anything. You must have been nominally lovers, so you would have known the secret circumstances of Count Nigor. Yes?”

Now I know. Obviously, the duke had ordered the tea to come out to inquire about this.

“I….”

Yuria grabbed her stinging forehead. The hand that wiped away the cold sweat was uncomfortably wet. I don’t know. slave? Auction? Black market? She couldn’t have known that. Even if she knows…. She doesn’t want to remember what happened there. Just like no one wants to relive the dream after waking up from a nightmare.

“Didn’t I tell you about the slave auction?”

“I am… that… .”

Without realizing it, Yuria retreated back and forth. She may have acted out and desire to run away. She grabbed the doorknob, but wasn’t confident enough to open it. Because she was afraid of the duke, who lived in fear of her employees and others, and she was not confident enough to handle her wrath after she went on her own.

“Tell me everything you know. If the information is useful, it can be a big reward.”

When she couldn’t speak properly, the atmosphere in the room became heavy in an instant. Yuria thought that it was difficult not only to move, but also to breathe. The duke was expressionless, but uncomfortably, she tapped the table with her finger.

“I don’t know anything… Really…. I am… I just….”

“You don’t know? don’t make that face. Do you not want to speak or do you can’t? Did you receive any threats from Count Nigor?”

I didn’t even receive any threats. However, some memories silence people more effectively than threats. When Yuria started to sweat with a face that looked like she was about to collapse at any moment, the Duke said, “Hmm…‘ she made a sound and sipped her tea. Alexander, unable to see, opened his mouth.

“… Duke. She looks like she needs more time. Those days are not very good memories. She will suffer a lot just thinking about it.”

“Then I’ll give you more time.”

Yuria was able to leave the office only after receiving the Duke’s permission and a request such as threatening not to tell anyone about today’s affairs. Even though we only met for a few dozen minutes, my legs were shaking. Yuria leaned against the wall and slapped with her fists until her immobile legs could move.

So much had happened in that short amount of time, I had no idea what had actually happened.

At this moment, I wanted to see Lala like crazy. She wanted to be held in her little arms and complain that it was hard and painful. As if Yuria possessed, she tried to walk into my sister’s work area, but she stopped. And she wept over her own pity. She sobbed silently, covering her face with her hands.

“… I am a very stupid and pathetic person.”

Even in the midst of this, you are thinking of relying on your younger sister! Isn’t that why Lala keeps trying to solve it on her own? Lala lost her memory. It was all her fault, that she was not as mature as her age, who could not understand what she was doing and turned into a child. Even Lala can now depend on herself, and it hurts so much that her joy has changed for a while from that moment.

If you know how difficult Lala has been but try to rely on it, you are not ashamed. Yuria wiped the tears with her sleeve and slapped hard on her cheek.

She seemed to have come to her senses as much as the tingling pain.

If the duke confided to me like this, it was said that she was likely to tell Lala as well. Lala, too, was the person who stayed in Count Nigor’s mansion for almost a year. Perhaps she had called Lala before calling herself.

Thinking like that, I wanted to see Lala again. This time she was concerned, not because she wanted to depend. As she held the little child in her arms, she wanted to ask if something had happened with the Duke, and whether she had been terrifying to you.

Yuria was searching the mansion to find Lala and found knights approaching her.

They held Yuria with a frown on her face and made her immobile. She asked what they were doing, but there was no answer.

She struggled instinctively, but her body could not beat the knights. How could Yuria even win over a knight who had trained their body so much? The knights grabbed Yuria, who was exhausted, and took her somewhere.

After a while, Yuria realized that they were taking her to the female employee’s quarters, her and Lala’s room.