Chapter 52

“Such a person who insults a lady becomes a knight, what a worthless thing!”

The Duke’s glared, and I wondered why he was so angry.

“They are knights loyal to father and family, not knights loyal to me, huh?”

It’s been over since I brought the guards myself. I don’t expect loyalty from knights who don’t recognize their masters.

This applies not only to the knights, but to all hired men.

In fact, this level of verbal abuse is nothing compared to the situation of putting food in front of my eyes only to have me starve. Even if this had nothing to do with Eryx and was just passing by, it would be like this.

“Penelope, in the end ……”

But the Duke didn’t seem to think so, he looked at me with blank eyes as if he didn’t know where to start.

“The knights of the …… family are your knights. Because you are a member of Eckhardt, and this matter will not change in the future.”

“For me, Eryx is enough.”

“I’m not just talking about the escort.”

“I understand my situation as well, father.”

I said nonchalantly to the Duke.

“I’ve told you before, I don’t want to trust the safety of my life to people who don’t want to protect me.”

But nothing had changed. Except that Eryx wasn’t put in the quarters of a servant who did odd jobs, and was given the quarters of a knight-in-training.

“Yesterday, the first day of the festival, the only knight guarding me was Illyx.” Not embracing him, but the truth. The guy who insults me and beats up my people will never be my knight.

“Hoo……”

I look at the Duke’s wide-eyed look, and sure enough, was unable to think of anything to convince me. He had nothing to say and exhaled deeply. Seeming a bit tired, he rubbed his eyes and asked.

“…… So, because of what happened yesterday, you bought six hundred wooden swords?”

“There were six hundred?”

I didn’t count them all, so I didn’t know beforehand.

As if knowing why, the butler came to my room in a big shock. Somewhat amusing. I’m going to get a lecture anyway, so I might as well take the opportunity to hint at it and keep Eryx by my side.

“Because it’s pathetic, I bought him a magic sword.”

“Penelope Eckhardt. Gave you a blank check to use on something like that ……”

“Don’t keep lecturing me, Dad.”

I snapped, interrupting the ensuing chatter with a small mumble.

“Isn’t that what you call me to relax.”

Looking like the cute little daughter. Because I really don’t want to hear anymore chatter.

Putting the teacup to my lips, I poured the herbal tea down. The mouth was dry.

“You’re not mad at me for stopping you from talking, are you?”

Getting me to pout was supposed to be difficult. But because of yesterday’s incident, the Duke was angry with me, so I was going to pout.

The situation became bad.

“Why is every day like this ……”

I swallowed my tears and carefully looked at the Duke’s eye color through the teacup in my hand.

“…… Why drink the tea when it’s cold. Be careful of catching a cold, warm up the tea before you drink it.”

I don’t know if it’s fortunate or unfortunate, the duke was more dissatisfied with the tea I drank than me not wanting to listen to his nagging.

He immediately called the maid over to heat up the tea with an expressionless face.

“This time it’s also resolved through food.”

I was relieved. Last time, realizing that apologizing couldn’t solve Leonard either, I began to think of a countermeasure. Repeatedly recalling the bitter memories, apologizing in Normal Mode doesn’t work, instead, I look like a fool.

The difficulty mode was getting harder and harder.

“In the future, I need to discern different approaches depending on the situation.”

While being immersed in his inner thoughts.

“Penelope.”

Suddenly hearing the voice calling me, I snapped out of my thoughts.

“Yes, father.”

“Impossible ……,” the Duke muttered grimly, “slaves won’t do.”

“What?”

“Even after gaining status, that guy is still from a defeated country.”

“What ……”

I was stunned by the inexplicable words. What exactly he meant by his next words, I couldn’t figure out, but he looked serious.

“I wonder what kind of greed is hidden underneath the double-faced face. It seems like there aren’t one or two guys who have their eyes on the Eckhardt males ……”

“Dad.”

I called out to him in a panic.

“It isn’t. Did you think I was keeping Eryx around for any other purpose?”

What a gross delusion that was. He could have killed me.

What a long face! My heart stopped beats as my favorability dropped!

As soon as I panicked, I spoke faster.

“I know I’m worse than the other ladies, but I don’t think that much.”

“Looking at your pretty face, what if.”

“It’s not a fluff novel, so how can I get attached to an escort? And I don’t like people younger than me.”

Anyway, see the end with a guy before the heroine comes back. Then leave the place without looking back.

Probably because the mood was so incredible, the Duke felt embarrassed and coughed dryly.

“Uh, well. Since you said so, I’ll believe you.”

“Don’t worry, dad. That kind of thing will never happen, and it can’t.”

Futile expectations and useless feelings only hindered escape. I never gave up on the opportunity and kept holding out.

“If you’re really worried, don’t go anywhere for a while and reflect in your room ……”

“Reflective enough. This hunting convention, you must attend.”

“What? But ……”

“Don’t stay in the room all the time, take this opportunity to say hello to those ladies of your age as well, and get that bad temper of yours under control!”

The Duke smacked his lips and suddenly blurted out. Suddenly a little aggravated. Thought I was going to be told to stay home. I still had one last expectation that kept nagging.

“…… But Dad, I just got in trouble yesterday.”

“What’s wrong with that! It doesn’t matter if you strangle a knight …… Okay, stop talking about it.”

The Duke gritted his teeth and cut himself off. It was as if saying more would cause him to utter a very heavy expletive, as if he were weighing himself down.

“Che, precious knights being strangled, it doesn’t hurt anyone else, does it?”

“It’s too much.” I pouted.

But in this case, I should also thank the Duke for restraining his anger. It was really sad.

Despite being given the dreadful punishment of having to attend the hunting convention.

“Take this.”

At that moment, the duke suddenly leaned down and picked up something from under the table. It was a large and high-grade wooden box. It was blocked by the table, so it was unknown what it was.

Snap. It seemed to be very weighty. The wooden box rested on the table with a low rattling sound.

It looked more like a bag for storing something than just a box. That’s because there were handles on it that could be lifted and locking buttons.

Then, unlocking it all, Duke opened the bag and turned to me.

“This is ……”

I looked at what was revealed in the bag and was shocked. It was like being in a medieval movie. Ornate bows that shimmered silver rested on a soft cushion. Like brand new, it was very shiny. Beautifully carved with sparkling gems everywhere, it was worth a fortune at first glance.

“This is the stone bow stored for you.”

Suddenly white boxes appeared before his eyes.

[System] Received a reward [A magic stone bow]. Reward?

“What ……”

Looking at the box hovering in front of him, confused for a moment, he suddenly recalled a forgotten memory.

–As a reward [Leonard Favorability +3%] and [Stone Bow].

The stone bow that I got from doing a quest with the damn Leonard was this ah.

“Ah ……”

Breathlessly, he sighed.

But I don’t know if it was a misunderstanding or not, the Duke said smugly.

“This time, the handle was removed for safety.”

Hearing that, I looked down at the stone bow in the wooden bag. Rather than a weapon, it was more of a magnificent decoration hanging on the wall.

“I thought it was for safety? Simply make it so I can’t open the bow ……?”

While I kept thinking about it, the Duke reached for something as if to negate the stone bow. Because his eyes were drawn to the magnificent stone bow, he didn’t notice the unseen black pocket.

“Look at this, Penelope.”

The Duke untied the string of the pocket and opened it for me to see. It was full of round iron beads the size of a thumb. I asked with a puzzled look on my face.

“What is this, father?”

“Enchanted beads instead of arrows.”

“Magic? What kind of ……”

“If you’re hit, the beads will burst, immediately causing a concussion in the brain and you’ll be unconscious for a while. It’s not a lethal attack, and even a woman won’t be hurt much.”

“I see.”

I replied without any sincerity. Although I felt sorry for the Duke who explained seriously, there was no way around it.

Because from the moment I couldn’t avoid participating, I had lost interest.

What hunting …… would be a good thing if I could avoid the crown prince.

I don’t look interested, and the duke’s face stiffens a bit.

“There is one more thing.”

He added in a more somber voice than before.

“The moment you’re hit by the beads, there’s the magic of losing your memory.”

“What …… loss of memory magic?”

Exactly what does the stone bow have to do with the magic of losing memory?

I also stared blankly at the Duke with puzzled eyes this time. He spoke helplessly.

“If you want to shoot, remember to go to a place where no one is around.”

“…… What?”