Duke, Please Fail! - Chapter 59

Episode 59

Leonel couldn’t take his eyes off Nelly Pepper. She seemed quite flustered, rolling her eyes at a color resembling new sprouts in all directions.

‘I wonder what she’s been brewing.’

Leonel was almost certain. While he did have a rather peculiar taste for loading up on salt and sugar, it didn’t mean he couldn’t appreciate the flavor. Besides, the quality of the strawberries Leonel consumed was always meticulously maintained. 

Even if he made them himself, it was all about the juicing, so the taste wasn’t significantly different.

‘But it had an unusually bitter and tangy taste, so I can’t help but be suspicious.’

Even if it didn’t quite align with Leonel’s palate, that was beside the point. He shook what he held in his hand. The color of the liquid swirling inside the glass bottle was somewhat ominous.

“Is this poison?”

“No!”

Nelly exclaimed in surprise, raising her voice. Her expression genuinely looked unjust.

As he remained silent, Nelly, seemingly cautious, added.

“It’s not harmful to your body.”

“Hmm…”

Leonel made a strange sound.

He knew it wasn’t harmful to his body. It was beneficial.

He had already spent several sleepless nights due to nightmares. The sleepless nights were long, quiet, and dark, but enduring that time wasn’t a problem.

However, as the sun began to rise, the accumulated fatigue overwhelmed him. He even showed signs of being unable to concentrate on his work.

An inexperienced but well-intentioned butler had advised Leonel.

‘Master, you must get some rest.’

He nodded and obediently entered the room but couldn’t fall asleep.

He didn’t want to fall asleep. But he had been thinking all along that he needed to relieve his fatigue. Or maybe he had just hoped that someone would break the early morning silence.

At that moment, Nelly knocked on the door.

It was highly unusual for her to bring strawberry juice in the morning.

As a small amount of strawberry juice entered his mouth, Leonel realized that it was no ordinary juice.

“The taste and color are different from usual.”

He remembered Nelly’s face.

The look of expectation. He didn’t want to suspect her. That was sincere. Her gentle touch, careful with his wounds, couldn’t have been false.

And as he drank the juice she gave him, his mind cleared up in no time. His fatigue was somewhat relieved.

“It’s not harmful…”

Leonel emphasized “absolutely” and trailed off. It was probably one of the fatigue-recovery potions she received from Frer.

But it bothered him that she received it from a suspicious character. He could have been playing tricks on Nelly.

“How do you know that?”

“I tested it on mice. I tried it myself too.”

“The mice ran around all day without sleeping. Nelly Pepper, it was your doing.”

Leonel looked at Nelly with newfound suspicion.

He thought they got along without any boundaries, even with the odd ranch keeper, but now she had experimented with the potion on mice.

‘It seems people really can’t judge a book by its cover after all.’

Leonel looked at Nelly, thinking that she was not an ordinary girl, and sat down on the sofa. Even if it was good for his health, secretly giving him medicine was close to deception. It wasn’t right to disturb the sleep of the servants by causing the mice to run around.

But for some reason, he felt like laughing all the time.

Leonel covered his mouth and gestured to Nelly, who was standing there awkwardly.

Nelly sat down diagonally across from Leonel. Even if she raised her head, their eyes wouldn’t meet.

Leonel personally moved closer to Nelly.

“Is there something you want to tell me?”

“What…….”

Nelly asked in a hesitant voice, trying not to meet Leonel’s bright red eyes.

“The reason you gave me the medicine.”

“Instead of medicine… um, how about calling it a health supplement?”

“The reason.”

“I heard from Levance that you haven’t been sleeping well lately…”

Leonel tightly closed his lips.

He thought Nelly had gotten fatigue recovery medicine from Frer for her sake. He remembered when she had asked him if he would drink it when she got the fatigue recovery medicine.

‘I can’t just drink something suspicious.’

So, she had no choice but to give it to him secretly. But did it need to go that far? He thought he could endure it well enough that even close people wouldn’t notice. Even those closest to him hadn’t done anything direct to Leonel.

Nelly Pepper was the only one who had taken care of him to this extent. Moreover, he had even refused her kindness.

“Don’t people usually give up?”

“What, on what?”

Leonel rubbed his forehead and whispered in a low voice. He just lifted his eyes to look at Nelly.

Acting consistently ignorant like that was also a skill.

Nelly knew and Leonel knew that she had made an effort despite being rejected to relieve his fatigue. If she didn’t want to make it obvious, there was no need to dig for reasons.

He shook his head.

“Never mind.”

Suddenly, he remembered Nelly’s touch when she used to treat his throat. Unconsciously, he rubbed his neck and frowned.

In response, Nelly shuddered and hunched her shoulders.

Seeing her like that, Leonel sighed.

‘She’s so scared but tries to act friendly when I turn around.’

He was certain that Nelly Pepper was the most unpredictable person he had ever met.

 From Leonel’s perspective, who had to act according to a plan, she wasn’t a particularly pleasant presence. It wasn’t comforting that she continued to become more friendly despite being such a presence.

“Nelly Pepper.”

“Yes?”

“I’ll give you a warning.”

Leonel stood up from the sofa.

Nelly’s face, looking up at him, lost its color. Her now pale cheeks made him uncomfortable for no reason.

What on earth does she expect with such behavior? Normally, after a few conversations, one’s intentions become clear. But Nelly Pepper remained unreadable. The more they talked, the more confusion deepened.

“It would be best not to confuse me.”

Without even considering the idea of his frowning expression, he clenched the medicine bottle and left the room.

* * *

I sat there, frozen, forgetting to breathe. But as soon as I heard the sound of the door closing behind me, I tensed up and lost my breath. My tension eased as I exhaled slowly.

‘But I don’t think I was noticed, right?’

I was pretty sure. He had warned me not to confuse him, so I was probably in a state of uncertainty. I had thought for sure that my wrist would be in danger this time, but luckily, it wasn’t.

‘I should lay low for a while.’

I realized it wasn’t worth risking my life just to exact revenge. I’ll postpone my revenge for about a week.

The festival was approaching, and work was piling up, so I couldn’t afford to focus on revenge. 

I only saw Leonel during breakfast and dinner. Sometimes, I almost choked on my food because of his piercing red eyes.

‘I want to eat alone…’

I shrugged my shoulders and slowly entered the dining room.

Leonel was sitting at the head of the table, going through some documents. I approached quietly, but he noticed my presence like a ghost and handed the documents to the butler.

“You’ve come.”

“Yes.”

That was the end of the conversation.

Leonel gracefully began his meal.

If he didn’t plan to say anything, why did he agree to have a meal together? Could this be part of some surveillance scheme?

As I ate my steak, thoughts like these swirled in my mind.

Leonel finished his main course and set down his fork and knife. A servant cleared his plate. While waiting for dessert, he spoke.

“An invitation has arrived from the Archduke Landers Filchester Hisbert. He insists that I attend.”

The name was so long that I only caught the first three letters. However, that alone was enough for me to know who had sent the invitation.

He was the husband of Her Majesty the Queen, in other words, the regent of this country.

But why was Leonel suddenly mentioning receiving an invitation? Was he boasting?

“Congratulations. Have a great time at the event.”

“You must come too.”

“…Me?”

“Nelly Pepper. You were specifically invited to join.”

Me? Why? Someone like me, a mere estate manager, would surely be insignificant in such circles.

I had never accidentally crossed paths with someone as high-ranking as the Archduke Landers. 

“Suddenly?”

“Suddenly.”

“Why?”

“He said he liked the fatigue recovery tonic you make.”

Fatigue recovery tonic? Did I make a fatigue recovery tonic? 

When I looked at Leonel with eyes that clearly said I didn’t understand, he lightly clicked his tongue.

“Didn’t you receive it from the ranch keeper the other day?”

Ah, the sleepless night medicine!

When I met Leonel, I was so flustered that I hastily claimed it was a fatigue recovery tonic. I had explained it so carelessly that it was hard to remember. But…

“How does the Archduke know about it?”

“He mentioned feeling tired due to many events lately, so I sent it to him.”

Why would he send it to him? I unconsciously furrowed my brow, as I had no particular desire to go to the capital.

“…That was made by Frer.”

“The ranch keeper praised you for it. Originally, it wasn’t known for its strong fatigue recovery effects.”

Wait, so it had fatigue recovery effects in the first place?

When I looked at Leonel with a surprised expression, he chewed and swallowed some fresh strawberries that had come out for dessert before continuing.

“He said that by putting it in strawberry juice, the fatigue recovery effects were maximized, so he called it the medicine you made.”

So, Leonel was just giving me a warning. It seemed he thought I hadn’t intended any ill will when I had the medicine made because it had fatigue recovery effects.

“Judging by your expression, you didn’t know, did you?”

“…No. Frer just told me to take it with fresh fruit.”

“He mentioned it was a tropical fruit, and strawberries are sweet fruits.”

“Maybe that’s because the Duke always had them for dessert. Strawberries are sour.”