Tuk, Tuk—

“…hmm…”

Long fingers tap the desk with a steady beat. The duke read the letter that had been sent to her and spit it out bluntly.

“Fortunately, it’s allowed.”

The Duke invited James Nigor to her mansion and gatherings on several occasions, except for birthday parties. As if he had not yet felt anything suspicious, Count Nigor was in favor of the Duke’s invitation.

‘Even if the investigation was being kept secret, I thought that Duke Nikerman might have sensed something strange and warned the Count… ’

The Duke sip the coffee. The bitter taste of the beans lingers in her mouth. If she had the same heart, she wanted to dig up information from the Count using the method she had been using on the battlefield.

Wouldn’t it be great if she could do whatever she wants?

The Duke of Emers took part in the war as a child and made a remarkable achievement. She was good at bloody battles and devising tactics to embarrass her opponent, but the best thing she did was to make the captured enemy vomit information.

What the hell was the deal? It was difficult to do anything with Duke Nikerman’s hard work to defend and protect him. He was like that on the prince’s birthday last time.

Didn’t he pretend that he wasn’t outwardly and secretly listening to his side?

It’s not the only thing I don’t like.

The auction group seemed to be composed of a point organization, or even if they caught someone who was presumed to be a subordinate, we didn’t really know what they were doing. The point organization is scattered to maintain strict confidentiality, so the members who carry out and deliver orders do not know each other at all. Several organizations within the auction organization perform only their respective roles under the orders of third parties. He’s completely blocked from information other than his own work, and he does not know what his work is related to or what benefits he gets from above.

So, it was frustrating that witnesses and evidence did not come together easily.

Quite a dead end road.

I needed a map to find the way.

No, I don’t mind a little bit of advice.

The Duke put down her coffee. When the bottom of the cup touched the desk without a sound, the assistant approached.

“Duke, I have news to tell you. It is said that this afternoon, Layla Hanson and Yuria Hanson were imprisoned in a dungeon for stealing the things of the young masters.”

“And?”

“According to what I found out, Master Osses paid the maids money to make them tell lies. In fact, Layla and Yuria say they stole nothing.”

“It went very well.”

The Duke was contemplating how to get advice, that is, information from Sister Hanson.

They must have known useful information since they had been living in Count Nigor’s mansion for a long time.

I was going to use a gentlemanly method to get that information, but it wasn’t too bad either.

If they were to bring out the story related to the Count on the condition that you couldn’t properly tell it, you would not be able to bear it without telling it.

I didn’t even tell him the story of Sister Hanson, how could he act so helpful? The Duke thought she should praise Osses after a long time. Even if his intentions were completely out of line with helping the duke.

‘I guess he did this to keep Layla Hanson from leaving the mansion.’

She was noticing that Osses and her sons were very interested in Layla Hanson. It’s because she’s listening to the stories of her aides and servants. There’s nothing she doesn’t know about what’s happening in this mansion.

The Duke rose from her seat.

“Let’s go to the dungeon.”

“All right.”

The Duke and her assistant headed to the dungeon. The knights, standing in front of the entrance, found her and bowed their heads politely. Some of them went ahead of the Duke to light the hallway. The two entered the prison, and thumps echoed in the basement. The sound of footsteps stopped in front of the prison where the girls were kept.

“I am very sorry that this happened. How did it come to be like this?”

The Duke who said that did not show any regret at all. As always, it was an expressionless face that could not read a single emotion.

Layla made a face that she couldn’t understand why the Duke was here, and Yuria opened her eyes wide for a moment as if in bewilderment, but returned with a calm face. Because it reminded her of the suggestion the Duke had made earlier.

During her time in prison, she tried to recall the past. Because she thought she might get her out of here if she could think of anything she could say to the Duke. But she couldn’t remember anything. Every time she tried to think, only the horrific memories of her being captured by Count Nigor and being subjected to undesirable things came to the surface one by one.

As the texture of her lips that had been forcibly overlapped came to mind, goosebumps all over her body and she felt like she was about to cry. She wanted to scream until her throat was sore. In case Layla, who will be in her next room, finds out, Yuria quietly grabbed her head and swallowed her scream. She eventually gave up thinking about it.

The duke let out the knights standing in front of the prison and opened his mouth.

“Yuria Hanson, did you remember something? If it’s a useful story, I think I can get you and your sister out of here.”

“… I don’t have anything that comes to my mind. Really.”

Really?

Really? Yuria questioned herself.

‘No, that’s a lie.’

The truth is, it’s just scary. As she struggled to recall, she might remember something. However, Yuria never wanted to remember what happened at that time. Because it was painful just to think, and even more painful to speak. So she couldn’t tell the Duke anything.

‘Why can’t I tell her…? Lala did a lot for me. Even though I was in this situation and I told Layla that I would somehow get her out, why did I… ’

Being unable to do anything was so painful that Yuria pinched and twisted my hand.

`It’s okay. It’ll be fine if I don’t have to tell her. Master Osses said he would help.’

Yuria didn’t want to think about that she wasn’t sure he would really save us, or that even if he did, the duke could stop him.

The Duke looked down at her with indifferent eyes.

“I don’t think so…. say it again I know you must know something. You must have been with Count Nigor for such a long time, I can’t believe you. You’ve probably heard a little bit about slavery.”

“……”

“Your words will determine the fate of many people. Will you be sold into slavery and suffer for the rest of your life, or will you be rescued and returned to your loved ones? Aren’t they pitiful? Hmm… You don’t look like you want to open your mouth. Should I give you more time? How long?”

Then, Layla came up to the duke and grabbed the iron rod. Along with the rattling sound, there is a sound like the shaking of iron. The Duke turned her gaze to Layla. The bandages on her head, her blood-stained clothes, and her confused face looked very pitiful, but it did not impress the Duke much.

“…What are you talking about, Duke? Count Nigor, slave, give us time… This is all… What do you mean?”

“Hasn’t your sister told you yet?”

The Duke wiped her chin with her gloved hand.

“No, I guess she didn’t have time for that. Almost as soon as she left the office, she was locked up.”

The Duke herself repeated what she had said to Yuria in the office. As the story progressed, the girl’s face became more and more wrinkled.

“Let’s just go. If anything comes to your mind, ask the knights to take you to where I am.”

So the duke left the prison and the knights returned.

In response to her instructions, the knights politely asked Sister Hanson if she needed anything and if there was anything inconvenient. However, both Layla and Yuria did not answer, and the knights kept their mouths shut. There was silence in the basement.

The stillness of this moment made Yuria feel heavy. Because she thought Layla would be angry, who thought she had deliberately hid the duke’s words.

Layla always had a lot to hide.

And she used to get angry when she hid something and didn’t tell her. As expected, an angry voice burst out from the side.

“I thought there was no way out of here… What else is this? Sister, why didn’t you tell me? If you had told me sooner, I wouldn’t have thought of anything before the Duke came. You didn’t say anything because something unexpected happened.”

“… I was out of my mind. It happened so suddenly.”

“Don’t make excuses! You’ve got plenty of time to talk!”

“I’m sorry, Lala. You look so bad… I was going to tell you when it’s okay. Really.”

“…Haaha…”

There was a sigh mixed with laughter. Hearing these, Yuria crouched down on her body.

Layla was angry. Even though she knew she had no right to be angry with Yuria, she was so angry. So she screamed.

The dungeon was filled with the girl’s tearing voice. When the knights heard the sound, their body flinched, and Yuria was startled and shouted Layla’s name over and over again.

Layla Hanson went through so much in one day.

She was forced to kiss someone she didn’t like, and was framed and imprisoned.

In the process of being imprisoned, she received a shock to her head, some memories of the past returned, and even heard shocking words from the duke. Sᴇaʀch* Thᴇ N0vᴇlFire(.)nᴇt website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of nøvels early and in the highest quality.

I thought it was Issley’s fault for being framed, but I was confused when I thought it might be the Duke’s fault.

Although she herself did not notice it, the fact that she was locked up in the same dungeon as when she had been captured by Count Nigor in the past was already stressing her to the top of her head.

Still, it was in an unstable state because of the work of Count Nigor and the young masters. It was not so strange that she exploded at her overlapping misfortune and shock. Thinking of anxiety and fear as anger.

Despite yelling at the wall, Layla still wasn’t relieved.

At first she thought she was angry with Yuria, but she wasn’t. Even in this situation, she was angry with herself, angry with the duke, and angry with the masters.

I was just mad at everything. She couldn’t contain her anger and banged her head against her wall.

Bang bang bang bang!

“Lala…? What is this sound? what are you doing…?”

Bang bang bang bang!

“Maybe you… isn’t it? Don’t do it, Lala… Don’t!”

Bang bang bang bang!

“Stop!”

… Bang—

“… Please…”

As Layla did the same thing over and over again, the knight entered the prison.

As Layla continued to beat her head, the knight entered the prison. They had heard the plea from Duke to treat us well, so they couldn’t just watch her act.

“Stop it. Then big things will happen.”

Even with those words, Layla did not stop her actions. The knight forcefully grabbed her face. Then Laila began to struggle with them.

Because she was screaming and making a fuss, the knight had no choice but to crush her to the floor.

Layla struggled for a while, but after a while, the things that had happened before became so quiet that it seemed like a lie.

The knight confirmed the condition away from her. She didn’t look good at first glance. There was a cut on her forehead, and blood was dripping from her nose as she pressed it to the floor and misplaced it.

The girl was lying motionless.

They decided to bring a doctor after consulting with other knights.

Layla closed her eyes as she heard a knight go out. Then Yuria’s sobbing sound seemed to be heard more clearly.

TL/N: Wow Layla is really brutal

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