Duke, Please Repent!

Chapter 11

Train travel with the Duke

Translated by Appleot
Edited by Appleot

Chapter 11

Train travel with the Duke (3)

 “…sor, sorry.”

  I have my own excuses. Serpence is a person who can do his job well enough without an aide. And considering what happened with the former aide, I preferred not to touch his work as much as possible…

  ‘Well, these were all just excuses.’

  I shouldn’t do this when I’m working for money. It’s because I know that if I just pass the time and leave work, Serpence will take care of it for me. It’s very comfortable like that and I’ve gotten used to it, but I should stop.

  “It’s fine, just be careful in the future.”

  Serpence had a characteristic benevolent smile. Heck, I was really touched this time.

  “Gee, can I do it now?”

  “It’s fine now.”

  I was immediately rejected. The pen creaked and the sound of paper flipping echoed through the room. I’ve just been pointed out as a joke.

 In this situation, where my boss is working hard right in front of me, trying to stay still alone weighed down on me with a sense of guilt. As I started rummaging through my luggage because I felt like I had to do something, I saw a paper bag.

  “Oops, cookies! I brought some, would you like?”

  I asked Poppina last night to make them, and I got them from Mary at lunch today.

  “I’ve been curious about that too. Why do you keep trying to feed me something?”

  “Yeah? Oh, no. I just don’t like eating alone, why?”

  I’ve been wondering since a while ago, why did he set the day like this today?

  “I’m really fine, so you can eat alone from now on.”

  “Why, why! Why? Maybe it’s because I’ve been fooling around?”

  I’ve tried so hard! Yesterday alone, you ate three macarons, huh? We had a good atmosphere, didn’t we?

  ‘I brought cookies, but why can’t you eat them!’

  No wonder I felt lucky recently…  Somehow I thought it was going too smoothly.

  “I don’t understand why you’re angry.”

  “I’m not angry. It’s not…”

  “Not?”

 Oh, I got so excited. I should just calm down and think. Now what? Even in the midst of me thinking like this, Serpence fixed his glasses and stared at me.

  “It’s just that, watching the duke, he doesn’t have any hobbies…”

  “I don’t have hobbies?”

  “I heard that you don’t have any interests…”

  “Huh?”

  Does he know ‘follow the ending’?

  This is to let the other person know that you are listening and responding to what the other person is saying. And in order to give off a feeling such as ‘I’m happy to see you talking because you’re so cute and lovely’, you repeat the last word of the other person’s words.

  ‘It is also known as a technique to seduce the opposite sex, but…’

  However, the biggest problem with this method of speaking is that if used incorrectly, the other person feels great pressure. Depending on the situation, it is also used for purposes such as sarcasm or ridicule. In fact, when I go to a pressuring interview, I intentionally use this kind of speech.

  “Duke?”

  “Yes, tell me.”

  Serpence still had the usual gentle smile.

  Even on the first day of work, I was the one who was so wary and afraid. But is it because I’ve been seeing Serpence scurrying lately for one more snack?

  Unknowingly, I let my guard down. This child is also a dark-hearted guy.

  ‘He seems really scary today?’

  I was nervous, so my throat started burning up. But in this situation, I can’t even call the staff and ask them to bring me water. I only swallowed dry saliva.

  “It’s been a while since I’ve seen that expression. You looked at me like that on the first day you went to work.”

  “Well, that’s…”

  Serpence leaned forward, placed his elbows on the table, interlocked his hands, and rested his chin on it. Then he opened his mouth with a troubled expression.

  “Are you still afraid of me?”

  “Well, it’s natural for subordinates to be afraid of their superiors, isn’t that normal?”

  I forgot. Originally, the main specialty of Serpence was to dazzle the opponent with his angelic face, and then aim for the gap after letting them lower their guard.

  “The ‘normal’ that Lord Rivelon is talking about doesn’t really mean ‘normal’ this time.”

  “Yes?”

  “You told me that before, Lord Rivelon.”

 “I…I don’t understand what you’re talking about.”

  What did I say to Serpence? It’s faint as if I remember it.

  “It’s like it’s not normal for each other. Please feel free to talk now.”

  He reminded me. On the second day of going to work, I told Serpense, ‘I don’t usually do this.’ I misunderstood that Serpence thought I had a strange taste…

  ‘Oh.’

  I just realized. Serpence got the point of my words then, but he pretended to misunderstand and let the situation go.

  “I, it looks like you have a lot of documents to go through…”

  “No, as Lord Rivelon said, shouldn’t I also take a break from time to time?”

  Serpence laughed brightly.

  “It’s a long-awaited train trip, so let’s have a relaxed conversation.”

  I said two days, but to be precise, I had to spend 50 hours on this train. 49 hours left.

 “I know that Lord Rivelon asks about me. He seems to be very interested in me. That’s why, I’m also curious about Lord Rivelon.”

  “Oh, no! I can’t be the Duke’s direct interest!”

  Serpence let out a small laugh. His eyelashes fluttered and he smiled.

  “No, Lord Rivelon. You are very interesting. So please don’t say such sad things.”

  Crazy deja vu!! Why today? No, it’s not like he’s suddenly doing this today. Could it really be that he was aiming for today from the beginning?

  “Aren’t you going to do it today? I think it’s time to say, ‘Yeah, I’m an interesting person.'”

  Mom, I’m so scared. Please help me, the suspense is so scary! It’s suspense when viewed from a distance, but when viewed up close, it’s literally a thriller!!

“What and how much Lord Rivelon knows. What does he want to know, and what he wants from me. Could you please tell me?”

  That being said, ‘What I know is your past and future, and what I want to know is your taste. What I want from you is to repent and repent so that you can contribute to world peace!’

  “Well, that’s…Sp, spare me?”

  “Why would I kill my aide, I won’t.”

  Serpence’s long, rich eyelashes slightly sank, casting a dark shadow around his eyes.

  “…depending on the answers.”

  I really thought I’ve been doing well. Serpence wasn’t as scary as I had been worried about, and he showed an interesting side. Because of that, I saw possibility, I concentrated on it and got distracted.

  ‘Without being aware that this is his goal…’

  Unlike Humanus, who knew nothing, I knew the past of Serpence. So I was proud that I could open his heart. But all the efforts I put in came back attacking me.

  “I, maybe…”

  “Say it.”

  Serpence with a relaxed expression waited patiently with a gentle smile. He has a lot of time anyway…Is that it?

  “If I said I couldn’t speak, what would you do…?”

  “Lord Rivelon, what do you think I will do?”

 The content of [Master of the Holy Sword] flashed through my mind. Mostly Serpence killing or torturing others. Serpence never killed them easily.

  ‘More painful. More miserable. More brutal. Make them feel even more afraid.’

  The day of the choice had not yet come, but Serpence was already well aware of the methods. He knew it all too well because he had personally experienced it.

  “Actually, I didn’t mean to push you this far.”

  The green eyes behind the round glasses looked sharply as if they knew my thoughts.

  “Lord Rivelon continues to fear me.”

  At the time, I believe that the present Serpence had not yet fully been corrupted. But where is the guarantee that he won’t do anything? Knowing the circumstances in which Serpence grew up and the pain he suffered. Knowing that he was acting. I thought I was looking beyond what others could see.

  “You seem to be having a pretty interesting idea.”

  Seeing me turning white, Serpence smiled. It is still bright outside the window. The warm sunlight came out and embraced Serpence. But I felt the coolness of a snake crawling on my back, and I couldn’t move.

  “So much that I wonder what kind of thoughts you have.”

  It was on purpose. He was holding his breath slowly, deliberately trying to impress fear.

 “Ah, come to think of it, earlier. You said you have no interest in me.”

  Somehow, I seem to know the next line.

  “It looks like you’ll have now. No, you probably already have.”

  After saying those words, Serpence carefully examined my face without saying a word. It’s like saying ‘that’s you’. It felt as if a snake wrapped around my body and kept moving, giving me a chill.

  “The future looks like it will be fun, doesn’t it?”

  “Why no answer?”

  “I’m going to be a little sad.”

  “Answer, won’t you?”

  “Answer. You’d better do…”

  “If I lose interest, I don’t know how I’m going to act.”

  Serpence slowly said one sentence, one sentence. He gave time and gradually pressed. The moment I get caught up in it, it’s over. Should I tell him what I know? Do I have to tell him, and will he even believe me?

  ‘Actually, this is fiction. The holy sword will belong to someone else, and you will eventually fall and become the final boss. And in the end, you will be killed by the prince, the master of the holy sword.’

  That sounds very believable. If I tell the truth, I will die. I have no choice but to say something though.

  ‘Let’s calm down, let’s calm down. I can’t get stuck like this.’

  Talking about the coming future is not helpful in the present situation. The fact that the Holy Sword will choose Humanus is a story too far in the future. All I know of what happened before the day of choice came, was that Zion was hit by a wagon and died.

  ‘This is of course dismissed.’

  As I recalled, nothing was of any use right now. So what happened in the past? Let’s talk about it based on the last recollection I had.

  ‘Even if I don’t have a good way to convince him…’

  If only I could corrode his thoughts little by little and paralyze them. I just have to make sure that he doesn’t have the time to dig into loopholes by using logic.

  ‘Serpence’s only got a lot of scars when he was young, he’s not scary. He hasn’t been corrupted yet. It’s okay, I can do this.’

  I thought as if I was brainwashing myself. The fear seemed to be fading little by little.