Villain Family’s Strongest Butler - Chapter 9

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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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Episode 12

I never thought I’d face the Grand Duke again.
‘I wasn’t ready for this.’
This morning, I’d been plotting to return home with his head in hand, but now that we stood face to face, I felt my nerve slipping.
‘Scheming old bastard.’
I should’ve known something was off the moment he offered to build me a Personal Training Ground.
But there’s no use crying over spilled milk.
I followed Norbert into the Office and took my place behind him.
The Office was dim.
‘Does this man spend all his days in a dungeon like this?’
Training the Knight Order, or even taking a walk, or something——
I stopped mid-thought.
The stack of documents on his desk towered well above the Grand Duke’s seated height.
‘Damn. That’s more than what Serohin handles.’
Serohin used to dump half the paperwork on me without a second thought.
‘He does all of this alone?’
Grand Duke… you bastard.
‘I feel bad now for resenting him for staying indoors while others wield their blades in a great house.’
Just then, the Grand Duke removed the Spectacles he’d been wearing at his desk and set them down.
He lifted his head and looked between Norbert and me before addressing the old man.
“What is it?”
Norbert gave a shallow bow and continued.
“I request your permission to renovate my Office in Berdan’s Tower.”
“…….”
Berdan’s Tower? Renovate his office?
‘What in the world is he talking about?’
Unable to make sense of it, I could only dart my eyes between them.
Then the Grand Duke spoke.
“For what purpose?”
Whatever this was, it seemed grave—his voice had dropped lower than before.
‘This is awkward.’
Did he really need to discuss this with me standing right here, old man?
Norbert then answered the Grand Duke’s question.
“If you permit it, I wish to convert it into a Personal Training Ground.”
What?
I stared at the back of Norbert’s head in surprise.
‘This was it?’
This was why he brought me along?
‘So… he’s tearing apart Berdan’s Tower—whatever that is—and turning his own office into a Personal Training Ground for me?’
A man of his word, through and through.
I felt a pang of regret for the suspicion and resentment I’d harbored, however briefly.
‘I misjudged you, old man.’
My eyes welled with genuine admiration as I gazed at the back of his head.
Then, a sudden thought.
‘Wait… hasn’t he even confirmed yet whether I actually memorized the book?’
While I stood there puzzled, the Grand Duke opened his mouth again.
“A Personal Training Ground. And why bring this maid to discuss it?”
“I made Freya a promise: if she reads the Balot Rune’s Book and commits it to memory in a single day, I would build her a Personal Training Ground.”
The Balot Rune’s Book—the thick volume I’d spent all last night reading.
As Norbert finished speaking, the Grand Duke’s gaze shifted to me.
“…….”
“…….”
I met his stare with my own.
‘…He’s going to refuse.’
No, he’d definitely refuse.
I was nothing but a figure shrouded in Unknown Identity, marked by Memory Loss.
I knew well enough that assigning me menial work and keeping Norbert at my side was about surveillance.
‘There’s no way he’d tear down a cherished aide’s office and build me a personal training ground.’
I met the Grand Duke’s gaze head-on, already halfway resigned.
‘I understand, Grand Duke. I should be grateful just to have my life back.’
And yet.
I hoped he’d grant it anyway.
If he’d just allow this, I’d reconsider my plan to take his head when I returned to the Tenasis Empire.
More silence stretched between us.
The Grand Duke still said nothing, his gaze fixed on my face—more precisely, on my eyes—without so much as a blink.
I matched his intensity, boring through his pupils with unwavering focus.
‘How strange.’
Those violet eyes I’d always faced on the battlefield—eyes I thought I’d seen enough of to grow tired of them.
Today, for some reason, those violet eyes felt mesmerizing.
In truth, the Grand Duke’s violet eyes had always kindled bloodlust and exhilaration in me.
Even on chaotic battlefields where allies and enemies tangled together, I’d always found those eyes with ease.
But today, strangely, they called no killing intent—only something else.
Just……
A desire to keep looking.
‘Beautiful.’
Well, that thought did cross my mind for a moment.
That was when it happened.
Zing—
‘Ugh!’
A sudden headache struck.
I closed my eyes and opened them again.
It happened often. Especially when I faced the Grand Duke on the battlefield.
‘This headache is the same even after the body swap.’
I quickly shook my head and looked up again.
At that moment, the Grand Duke turned his gaze from me and put on his spectacles from the desk.
Then he nodded and spoke.
“Don’t tear up that poor office. Give her the floor below instead.”
“I beg your pardon?”
Norbert said in surprise.
“Your Highness, but that floor below…….”
“Do as I say.”
Norbert, who had hesitated for a moment, bowed his head in resignation.
“Yes. ……Thank you, Your Highness.”
The atmosphere was peculiar.
‘What’s this? What’s so special about that floor?’
Whatever it was, it seemed to be quite an important place.
Curiosity stirred sharply in me.
“What exactly is Berdan’s Tower, and what’s this floor below?”
I simply asked outright.
Norbert’s head snapped toward me, and the Grand Duke’s gaze sharpened and fixed on me once more.
I looked between the two of them.
“……Why? Is it somewhere I’m not supposed to know about?”
Norbert shook his head slowly and let out a sigh.
“Your Highness, I apologize. I brought her here without explaining anything…….”
“No.”
The Grand Duke raised a hand, cutting off Norbert’s words.
“Leave the maid behind.”
“……Your Highness.”
When Norbert didn’t move to leave at once, the Grand Duke spoke again, more firmly.
“Go.”
“……Yes, Your Highness.”
Faced with the Grand Duke’s repeated command, Norbert had no choice but to withdraw.
Before he left, he seemed to be trying to tell me something with his eyes…….
It seemed to mean I should watch my tongue.
‘The old man really does care about me now.’
He worries over me entirely.
Though I’m well aware my mouth is as loose as a sieve.
‘The Grand Duke probably already knows that anyway.’
After drinking the World Tree Sap and carrying on like that, there was nothing surprising left to discover.
As Norbert left, a brief silence settled over the office.
“Wasn’t it a personal training ground you wanted?”
“Yes, I did.”
“Then I arranged for you to have one. What’s the problem?”
“It’s not that there’s a problem—I was simply curious about what kind of place the personal training ground would be.”
“Do you need to satisfy every curiosity in order to live?”
“More or less, yes.”
“More or less?”
“Truth be told, I’m barely restraining myself from dying of curiosity about what goes on inside Your Highness’s head.”
…….
“I’m simply too curious about who I am.”
“That’s—.”
“Yes, I know. That’s why I’m trying to grow into someone worthy. So I will make good use of the personal training ground.”
…….
“And my earlier question was only out of curiosity about the personal training ground I’ll be using alone, so please don’t take it as presumption—.”
“Who said you’d be using it alone?”
“……I’m sorry?”
The Grand Duke leaned back loosely against his chair.
Then, lifting one corner of his otherwise expressionless mouth slightly, he spoke.
“I never said any such thing.”
…….
What was he talking about?
Did the Balot Grand Duke Clan share personal training grounds among multiple people?
‘Well, there’s nothing stopping them from doing that…….’
I asked carefully.
“Then… I’ll be sharing it with someone else?”
“The floor below Norbert’s office has its own master. So you’ll be sharing it with that person.”
“Ah, I see.”
I answered in a listless voice, almost muttering.
Who could it be?
If it’s the floor below Norbert’s office, it must be a training ground used by another retainer.
Even if we share it, it should be fine as long as we use it at different times.
I fell deep into thought about who this person sharing the training ground with me might be.
Then the Grand Duke’s voice reached me again.
“Me.”
I lifted my head at those words to look at the Grand Duke.
“……Pardon?”
He answered while still tilting his head at that same angle.
“The master of the floor below. That’s me.”
…….
Woof, woof.
The sound of a dog barking came from somewhere.

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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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