I Reincarnated as the Daughter of a Runaway Sub Heroine - Chapter 84

“Ah! Don’t come here! Please go away! Please! I’m begging you like this!”

I silently pleaded with Rose, but she had no way of knowing my feelings and managed to find me anyway.

“Woof woof!”

And even though I had seen her just a few hours ago, she greeted me as if we hadn’t met in ten years and jumped on me.

“Ah, okay! Don’t lick my face! Stop!”

I was overwhelmed by Rose’s storm of affection, and soon my clothes were covered in her white fur. It was only after I was a complete mess that I finally managed to free myself from her.

The problem was that Hyperion was looking down at me with a frightening expression.

“Uh, hi…”

“…”

Looking at his completely unfriendly face, I gulped nervously. For the first time, I understood what Bell and Derek meant when they said, “The young duke can be a bit scary.” Just facing Hyperion’s expression sent chills down my spine.

“Well, you see, there’s a bit of a situation!”

As I shouted in a hurry, Hyperion’s expression grew even colder.

“A situation? What kind of situation?”

“Actually, I was about to sneak over the wall because I had somewhere to go…”

“At this hour? And even beyond the wall?”

“It’s a place that only opens at night…”

“Arcadia Iskas!”

I jumped up and covered Hyperion’s mouth.

“I’ll explain, so be quiet! You’re going to wake everyone up!”

Hyperion roughly pulled my hand away and glared at me with a terrifying look.

“So, what happened was…”

In the end, I confessed my situation to him. I had gone to the information guild, saw a painting, and after finding the artist who created it, I discovered a clue about the Republicans, which is why I planned to attend the masquerade ball.

As I finished my story, a chilling voice echoed.

“I told you not to get involved in that matter anymore, yet you’ve been busy chasing after it.”

“I was definitely going to stop. But what was I supposed to do when I stumbled upon this? In a fortnight, I won’t be here! How could I just let this opportunity slip away?”

That said, I hadn’t acted recklessly. I had some allies who were planning to accompany me, and I had prepared enough scrolls to deal with any unforeseen dangers.

But…

“So, is it a good thing that you got caught trying to sneak over the wall at night?”

“Well, that’s not it…”

I immediately backed down.

In any case, I had no other words to say in front of the owner of this house. Next to me, Rose rubbed her head against my leg as if to comfort me.

“But this really is the last time. After this, I won’t get involved in this matter anymore.”

And I meant it. Since I had informed my father about everything, this matter was already out of my hands. I intended to follow whatever decision he made.

“Do you expect me to believe that?”

“Really! Besides this, I have nothing else I can do anyway.”

Then suddenly, a thought struck me.

What if my father chose to stand by and do nothing? What would happen then? Would I return to the Grand Duchy sooner than expected?

Then what about the dukedom? It was a family that had steadfastly protected the royal family since the establishment of this country. The nickname “Heart of Castoria” wasn’t given for nothing.

In the original story, Duke Acanthus killed my father, his close friend, to protect the direct royal bloodline. The duke would surely do everything he could to protect the kingdom until the end.

What would happen to Hyperion and the Duchess then…?

And what about Persis, who was still annoying but had become somewhat close, along with the other good people?

It seemed that I had unknowingly developed an attachment to this place. With so many people I was worried about, it was hard to deny.

As I was lost in those thoughts, Hyperion’s voice echoed.

“Is this really the last time?”

I looked up at him. His face was no longer angry like before. In a way, he seemed somewhat resigned.

“You won’t do anything dangerous after this, right?”

“Of course not.”

“Good.”

He looked over my clothes, which were covered in dog hair, and clicked his tongue softly.

“Where did you get those clothes? And what’s with that wig?”

“Oh, I bought them separately…”

Hyperion paused as he brushed the dog hair off my shoulders and arms. Unlike the last time when he casually wrapped his arms around my waist, he was now cautious about even touching me.

Of course, it made sense since we were pretending to be in a relationship, but even considering that, he seemed overly careful, as if touching me would lead to disaster.

“Let’s go.”

“Huh?”

I looked at him in surprise at the sudden statement. Go where?

“To the place where the masquerade ball is held.”

My mouth dropped open involuntarily.

“You’re saying you’ll go with me?”

“Did you think I would just let you go there alone? And by the way, you seem to underestimate a magician’s mansion too much.”

“What do you mean?”

Hyperion pointed at the wall.

“It’s not visible to ordinary people, but there are protective spells cast over this entire mansion. The moment you cross that wall, the magic activates. In the past, it would knock you out with a shock, but who knows now? Since my father isn’t here, he might have set a deadly spell.”

“Ugh!”

I covered my mouth with my hand.

“Didn’t you find it strange that the number of guards at the duke’s residence is particularly low?”

Indeed, there were fewer guards than one would expect for such a large mansion. Now that I thought about it, someone from the information guild had mentioned that you shouldn’t mess with a magician’s house, and this was precisely the reason why.

Did I almost die?

A sigh of relief escaped me. There’s no more embarrassing way to die than by falling over the wall of the house where I was staying.

But shouldn’t he have warned me about this for safety’s sake?

Then I quickly changed my mind. After all, the duke and duchess probably never imagined I would be climbing over the wall at night.

“If we’re going to use a carriage, we’ll need to wake the coachman first.”

As Hyperion muttered while looking toward the stables, I opened my mouth.

“We don’t need a carriage. It’s already prepared.”

He turned to look at me.

“Already prepared, you say?”

“Well, the truth is… my companions are waiting outside right now. We can take that carriage.”

“You have companions going to the ball at this hour?”

With a grinding sound of his teeth, Hyperion’s gaze became colder.

I subtly averted my eyes, feeling a trickle of sweat running down my back.

Soon, we confidently walked out through the front gate. Of course, Hyperion had made it clear to the guard at the gate not to tell anyone about this.

Fortunately, the guards seemed to think we were just sneaking out for some fun.

“Don’t worry. I won’t say a word.”

And with a beaming smile, he added,

“Please make sure to return by morning. If the duchess finds out, we won’t be able to help you then.”

Well, I didn’t think the duchess would be that angry if she found out.

I led Hyperion to the prearranged meeting place. Not far from the duke’s residence, a carriage was waiting.

As we approached, the coachman opened the door for us.

“Why are you so late? I’ve been waiting for a while…”

As soon as the carriage door opened, Jakar, who had been ready to scold, noticed Hyperion beside me and raised an eyebrow.

“It seems we have an uninvited guest.”

I looked at Jakar in surprise.

This was the first time I had seen someone stand their ground against Hyperion. Even Prince Persis would unconsciously weaken in front of him.

Hyperion shot a cold glance at Jakar for a moment before reaching out his hand to me. As I accepted his escort and climbed into the carriage, Hyperion sat down beside me.

Soon, the carriage began to move. The two men sitting across from me were glaring at each other as if they were engaged in a staring contest.

It was surprising to see Jakar openly staring at the duke’s son, but what was even more unexpected was Hyperion. Until now, he had never shown any signs of disliking anyone. He had always maintained his courtesy, even in front of the princess.

But now, he was not hiding his disdain for Jakar. Though he remained silent, the two were baring their teeth at each other like wild animals.

“…Maybe you should at least greet each other—”

I cautiously tried to suggest it, but I couldn’t finish my sentence. The atmosphere was far too tense for that.

But why should I be the one to gauge the mood between these two?