The Grand Duke's Maid Writes a Consultation Log Today - Chapter 22

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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The Grand Ducal House Maid Writes a Counseling Log Today – Chapter 022
“Because of you, you say.”
Yulias did not press her. He withdrew his gaze from her, lifting his glass to wet his throat.
Until he set the glass back down, Elysia could not easily open her mouth.
Rather, as her expression darkened, he belatedly regretted whether he had probed the wrong question.
“I did not ask to pry.”
“No. I can tell you.”
Staring blankly at her plate, Elysia drew out a memory she had hidden away very deeply.
“……Your Grace. Do you know of the incident five years ago, where monsters launched a surprise attack and the residents suffered damage?”
“If it was five years ago, do you mean the incident that occurred on the outskirts of the North?”
“Yes. Back then, it was an event that occurred without any warning. Usually, when monsters appear, signs are visible to some extent.”
In the first place, because the North is the region where monster appearances are most frequent, the role of the Fortress is more important than anything else.
Even so, the reasons the Grand Ducal House can prepare before monsters appear are largely divided into two.
The first is when a problem arises with the Fortress and a gap is shown.
The Grand Ducal House guards the Fortress and constantly checks this, but if they fail to discover a minute gap, the risk of casualties occurring is high.
Elysia’s father was precisely such a case.
The second is a method of understanding through the weather when there is nothing wrong with the Fortress.
Weather changes manifest, such as lightning striking out of a clear sky, or sunny weather suddenly turning dark to foretell heavy rain or heavy snow.
The people of the North were sensitive to these changes and could prepare countermeasures in advance.
By anticipating in these two ways, the Grand Ducal House had been able to protect the North until now.
“Fortunately, there were no casualties. It wasn’t that there was a problem with the Fortress, nor was there a change in the weather, so it caused a lot of talk.”
However, the monster surprise attack incident that occurred on the outskirts of the North five years ago was known to the public as not corresponding to either of the two.
“That incident had a problem with the Fortress.”
“What?”
At Elysia’s unexpected answer, Yulias’s two eyes widened.
“As Your Grace well knows, anyone other than the Knights Order dispatched by the Grand Ducal House will find it difficult to avoid punishment if they touch the Fortress.”
“Because if you touch it wrong, you don’t know what kind of problem will arise.”
“……At that time, I was fourteen, and my younger brother was four.”
Yulias looked at her without a word.
The atmosphere that had loosened had sunk heavily before anyone knew it.
Elysia was continuing her words with her head bowed down like a prisoner.
“There was a game that was popular in the neighborhood back then. Entering the forest late at night, reaching the vicinity of the Fortress where no one was around, and knocking on it more than three times. It was a dangerous game that mostly boys did a lot.”
“If caught, it would be difficult to avoid punishment.”
“It must have been to test one’s courage. ……And I also played that game.”
“Why?”
“…….”
Elysia clenched her fists tightly with her two hands, which were beaded with sweat.
“I was bullied. Because my mother was from another region, I wasn’t on good terms with the neighborhood children just because I was an outsider. They said if I didn’t go and do that game, they wouldn’t leave my brother alone…….”
“So you entered the forest alone that night.”
“Yes. I know it was a foolish thing to do. And that I deserve to be punished…….”
“What about the thought of informing your parents.”
Yulias added words as if intending to listen to her story further.
Whenever the memory she was forced to bring out grew gradually distinct, Elysia took a heavy, deep breath.
“At first, I ignored it. I told my parents, and the neighborhood children got scolded too. But one day, my brother didn’t come home, so I went out to look for him and…….”
Elysia closed her two eyes tightly.
Even without hearing what came after, a rough picture was drawn inside Yulias’s head.
They might be young children, but at that tender age, under the guise of revenge, they must have dragged her even younger brother along and threatened her.
They probably told him to go instead since his older sister wouldn’t go, or held onto him and didn’t send him home.
“My parents told me to wait at home, but because of me, I was anxious that Joshua might get hurt, so I had no choice but to go out. And, I entered the forest and…….”
Elysia struggled to open her mouth, which wouldn’t budge.
The children she encountered after sneaking past her parents’ eyes to search for him.
And her younger brother, who was even younger than he is now, held captive by the children.
He was a mere four years old.
At the push of the children, the moment she finally entered the forest and reached the Fortress.
She encountered an unexpected Knights Order.
Before she could be caught, Elysia hurriedly couldn’t just knock on the Fortress and even threw stones.
‘You brats! Don’t you know you shouldn’t come here?!’
‘Hey, run away!’
The children scattered in all directions, and her captive brother tripped and fell.
And unluckily, a monster appeared.
The shower that suddenly began to pour down in the dark night was the warning.
What appeared by soaring up above the Fortress was a large bat-shaped monster.
‘Elysia!’
From a place not far away, her parents’ shouting was heard, and a terrified Elysia looked at Joshua.
‘There is only one of them!’
‘Aim for its back. It looks like it intends to swallow the child!’
The patrolling Knights Order moved in perfect order.
The moment the monster opened its mouth wide, its precise target was Joshua, who was lying fallen.
Her mother shielded the frozen Elysia, and her father, who came along, drew his sword and leaped in.
But Joshua could not perfectly avoid the attack.
Of all things, it was a fatal attack aimed straight at his hearing.
In Elysia’s ears as well, a piercing “beep” sound rang through her eardrums for a long time.
The monster was subjugated, and there were no casualties.
But her younger brother fainted, and blood was flowing from his ears.
Watching the sight before her eyes clearly, Elysia, at that moment, instinctively covered her own ears first, making herself feel so utterly…….
“Elysia.”
Elysia, lifting her head with a start, looked up at him, who had approached her side before she knew it.
Without her realizing, cold sweat was trickling down her face.
“I…… I mean, it was my fault…….”
“I know.”
“…….”
“Fortunately, because there were no casualties in that incident, Galpon was not held responsible. There was no punishment either. Of course, a warning was issued and the guard was strengthened further. In a way, it was a game born out of carelessness.”
“But to say it wasn’t my fault is…….”
“Did your parents say that.”
Yulias looked at her intently.
Elysia slowly shook her head.
Even when they focused on Joshua’s treatment, and even when they heard the doctor’s opinion that his hearing would be inferior to an ordinary person’s, her parents did not blame her.
Rather, they were just relieved that both were safe.
‘Elysia, it’s not your fault.’
‘We’re sorry for not paying more attention.’
As she recalled the words her parents had spoken and the memory of being held in their wide embrace, the rims of her eyes turned hot.
“At Galpon’s funeral.”
Yulias opened his mouth slowly.
Elysia was trying hard to blink her two eyes wide, ignoring the burning sensation.
“They said he was a swordsman who prioritized his comrades above anyone else. But Galpon, your father, looked like a father who cherished and loved his family as much as his comrades. Since he was a person who always thought of his family wherever he went.”
“…….”
“Because he must have been a father as sweet as he was strong.”
Yulias recalled her father in his own memory.
A man who talked about his family wherever he went and showed a laugh even amidst difficult situations.
‘So even the young master must absolutely become a sweet husband once you marry. A sweet husband and a sweet father are the best.’
‘I am still a minor.’
The face that laughed heartily was clear even now, three years later.
What kind of words would he have given to Elysia.
What entered Yulias’s sight was her appearance as she clenched her fists.
He could not bring himself to touch that hand, and felt he shouldn’t dare to think of doing so.
Just, what he could do for her right now was.
“It is not your fault.”
Though it might be on the surface, it was a single word of consolation filled with sincerity.
And a hand that fell away after patting her shoulder was all.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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