Living as a Butler to the Northern Duke chapter 47

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The place the Duke was working on was a small playground.

It had three wooden swings, five or six wooden platforms embedded in the ground to step on, and a couple of wooden climbing bars, like monkey bars.

It was simple, but it was where the children of Roa Orphanage played, nurtured their dreams, and grew hopeful.

“Hmm… How about blue?”

Not being very confident with color schemes, Ed thought that a complementary color would work best.

Upon hearing Ed’s suggestion, the Duke nodded.

“Blue, huh?”

Setting aside the yellow paintbrush, the Duke, who was crouched beside Ed, looked up at him intently.

The Duke’s red eyes were serious and clear, without a hint of ill intent, but being suddenly trapped under Asnel’s gaze, Ed couldn’t help but shift his eyes nervously.

‘Why does even three seconds feel too long?’

The Duke’s eyes were deep and mesmerizing, like rubies or a mysterious lake that darkened the closer you got to the center.

Though his gaze was calm, Ed felt strangely unsettled, as if he were being thoroughly examined.

Unable to bear it any longer, Ed straightened up and brushed it off, shaking his head slightly as if to dispel the Duke’s scrutiny.

He busied himself with finding a paintbrush to cover his awkwardness, planning to finish the remaining swings since the Duke had already worked on two.

‘Yellow and blue, so let’s go with red for the last one.’

Just as Ed picked up the brush, Asnel suddenly grabbed his wrist, gently pulling him closer.

Without meaning to, Ed was drawn to his side, now sitting even closer than before.

Though the pull wasn’t forceful, there was something about it that made Ed unable to resist.

“Ed.”

“…Yes, Your Grace?”

Why is my throat suddenly so tight?

Ed cleared his throat silently, trying to compose himself as he listened to the Duke.

“I just had a sudden inspiration.”

Inspiration?

What kind of inspiration could that be?

Surely, he wasn’t planning to turn me into an old man bent over in this position, right?

“So just stay like that for a little while longer.”

The Duke’s smile as he said this made Ed break into a nervous sweat.

Even though Ed had met the Duke’s gaze countless times before, now that they were face-to-face, it felt like he was being drawn into the Duke’s eyes.

It was overwhelming. He regretted not washing his face before leaving the house, especially after hiking through the dusty mountain trails.

Feeling self-conscious about his disheveled appearance, Ed instinctively shrank back.

He felt smaller under the gaze of the Duke’s strikingly handsome face, which seemed to overwhelm him no matter how many times he looked at it.

The Duke continued mixing white and blue paint, carefully creating a new shade.

He poured both colors into an empty bucket, focusing intently on getting the right mix.

‘What is he doing?’

Finally freed from the Duke’s gaze, Ed sighed quietly and rubbed the back of his neck.

Just then, something—or rather someone—ran up behind him at full speed.

It was Ronen, who had just noticed Ed sitting next to the Duke after playing enthusiastically.

He jumped on Ed’s back, laughing as he clung to him.

“When did you get here?”

“I just arrived.”

As Ed regained his balance, Ronen grinned.

“When we came to Roa Orphanage, Asnel said you weren’t here, so I got worried.”

“Is that so?”

“Yeah, while we were waiting for you, we decided to spruce up the place a bit. I didn’t do all of it, but I painted this part and that one. What do you think? Not bad, huh?”

Ronen pointed proudly to the wooden platforms he had painted.

Then, he noticed the bucket of paint the Duke was mixing and exclaimed.

“Oh! Asnel! This paint is the exact same color as Ed’s eyes!”

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Chirp chirp.

The birds seemed unusually loud that morning.

Ed, waking slowly, rubbed his face with his palm, trying to shake off the remnants of sleep.

He gazed up at the ceiling, still feeling drowsy.

“…”

It took a few moments to fully wake up.

Pressing his fingers under his eyes, Ed got out of bed and slipped his feet into soft indoor slippers.

He drew back the thick curtains that hung over the window, letting the bright morning sunlight flood in through the arched window of the Herins estate.

‘I overslept.’

He must have been worn out from what happened at Roa Orphanage yesterday.

Since he had stopped by the village on his way back from the capital, it was unexpected to run into the Duke and Ronen there.

Even though Ed had been helping paint the swings, he couldn’t take his eyes off the blue paint the Duke had mixed.

It had distracted him all the way back to Herins Estate, even as he packed his things.

‘Seriously, it’s odd. It was such a trivial thing.’

Today was a busy day. He didn’t have time to be thinking about something as minor as paint colors.

There was a schedule to stick to, and he needed to make sure everything was packed.

‘And yet, I was tossing and turning all night because of it.’

It wasn’t something that warranted such attention.

Ed lightly patted his cheeks to shake off the thoughts, then quickly got ready.

By now, the knights of the north were already outside, checking the horses and loading the wagons.

There wasn’t any time to be dwelling on yesterday.

He splashed cold water on his face, shaking off the lingering sleepiness, and slapped his cheeks to wake up.

Knock, knock.

There was a soft knock at the door just as Ed was double-checking his belongings.

“Just a moment.”

Fastening his bag, Ed stood up, slipping out of his soft slippers and into his shoes.

He made sure to pack the slippers in his bag—an unexpected gift from a shoemaker who had recently sent them along with his new shoes.

‘That shoemaker sure managed to make a good profit off the Duke, didn’t they?’

There was no way I could just let this go.

When I tried on the shoes delivered as a gift with a troubled expression, the Duke smiled and lightly tousled my hair.

“How is it? Do you like them? Do they fit well?”

His voice carried a hint of laughter.

The sensation from that moment still felt vivid as Ed lightly touched his bangs.

He shook his head.

“…This isn’t the time for that.”

While others were busy preparing to leave the Count Herins’ estate early in the morning, here he was, sleeping in and delaying everything.

This wasn’t how things were supposed to be.

Ed, carrying a heavy bag with both hands, quickly moved forward, stepping firmly on the solid wooden floor as he walked briskly.

“…”

Turning back before opening the door was a spontaneous act.

Ed took in the scene of the Count Herins’ residence with his eyes.

The large, round arch-shaped windows, the languid morning sunlight streaming through them, and the table positioned in the path of that sunlight.

He tapped his shoes lightly on the wooden floor.

The solid wooden floor lightly stimulated the tips of his shoes.

‘…Even if I ran around like my soles were on fire, the future seemed distant, and life as Ed felt far-off.’

Ed shrugged lightly and turned back.

Grasping the metal handle firmly, he turned it with effort.

“Did you forget anything, Ed?”

Jaynon, who was waiting in front of the door, asked with a grin.

Ed nodded.

The sense of despair and distrust no longer gnawed at him.

“No, nothing.”

His voice was firm.

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As Ed approached the carriage in the garden with Jaynon, Tens opened the door for him. It was the carriage with the Duke and Ronen.

‘It wouldn’t have been a problem to ride in another carriage.’

While Jaynon was organizing Ed’s luggage in the carriage, Ed glanced at another carriage standing behind them.

However, all the carriage doors were already tightly shut, and even if he knocked, it didn’t seem like they would open wide.

With a small sigh, Ed entered the carriage.

Inside, the Duke was seated, and Ronen was by the entrance.

Ed sat opposite Ronen.

It seemed like everyone was hesitant to ride in the same carriage as the Duke, so they had put him, the least experienced, in this one.

‘KTX can rotate seats.’

Carriages couldn’t do that, which was unsettling.

The Duke, leaning on the window ledge, looked at Ed and smiled.

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