Married To A Savage Duke - Chapter 56-1

There was a heavy silence on the table. Even if Axel heard that he would have to learn how to arrange flowers, he would not have frozen that much. Hawke was the only one focusing on the meal without being swept away by the atmosphere. Axel was the first to speak.

“The boss overslept? Is that possible?”

“More than that, was the boss even capable of sleeping? Someone must have confused it as fainting!”

Axel frowned when Cole expressed his doubts with a puzzled face.

“Just thinking alone must have given you a headache. Isn’t it stranger for the boss to faint?”

Lecter looked at the two idiots as if they were pathetic. Axel turned his glare towards the subordinate who had uttered such strange news.

“Where did you hear that? Did you ask the boss yourself?”

The subordinate trembled.

“Why would I?” He went on, taking a bite out of a fist-sized chicken. “Do I look like I want to be beheaded?”

“I stopped by at the main castle this morning to run errands, but there was a lot of fuss everywhere. I grabbed a passer-by and asked him why. According to him, the boss exited his future bride’s bedroom alone around 10 o’clock or something.”

In this regard, the men around them presented their own hypotheses one by one. There was also an absurd hypothesis that the servant who saw the boss must have been drunk that morning.

Hawke, who was concentrating on his meal at that time, added a word. “It’s all nonsense. The servant who stayed up all night there and witnessed the boss come out late in the morning must have guessed that he overslept. Don’t be dumb.”

Hawke’s opinion was most reasonable. However, it gave each listener endless room for their imagination to run free and some subordinates even exchanged playful glances. Lecter, who was silently sipping orange juice, suddenly stepped in.

“It’s interesting, but let’s not dig deep into other people’s private lives. It’s not just the boss involved.”

Upon recalling Cherryl, who could be bold at times but would easily blush on such a subject, Lector asked his subordinate. “We’d better end this conversation here. Don’t spread it anywhere else.”

“I’ll be careful.”

A subordinate, who might be three or four years older than Lecter, nodded and accepted his suggestion. Lecter, who hadn’t yet taken off his puberty, was treated with respect by a man with a dark beard. The Balkan people had a culture of holding an adult ceremony once a male reached an appropriate age, but there was an implicit rule of treating high-ranking individuals as seniors even if they were younger. Fortunately, the older the seven aides get, the higher their ranking, so the arrangement was clear. Suddenly, Cole, who was looking into the air, murmured loudly.

“I want to see the boss’s child as soon as possible.”

Lecter, who doubted his ears, freaked out a beat late and dissuaded Cole.

“Don’t say that anywhere. If someone hears it, they might faint.”

Already delusional, Cole went on and on.

“A baby who looks like a sister would be as lovely as a fairy. I’d rather she have twins.”

“That’s enough.”

The only person who stopped Cole’s fire was Lecter.

“A baby that looks exactly like sister makes me curious, too.” Axel added in amusement. “What if it resembles the boss?”

Cole, who crumpled his crab stick, smoothed his chin in contemplation.

“Well, wouldn’t it be great if it looks like the boss?”

“Hahaha! There’s no such thing as that in this world! All babies are babies.”

Cole didn’t mind Axel’s sarcasm.

“I want to be greedy because I deserve to live here. When I was on the other side of the border, I was in a hurry working day to day that I couldn’t even afford to live. Did any of us have a normal family?” The air surrounding Cole turned solemn when he mentioned his desolate past. Cole added casually. “I want to see my nephew’s belly button now.”

Now that Cade’s closest aide, Viper, was gone, Hawk, the highest-ranking member of the group, cast a cold gaze at Cole.

“Don’t be foolish. If you’re in a mental state where you keep talking nonsense like that, your swordsmanship skills will soon become dull. If you don’t properly snuff out the enemy’s breath, you’ll easily get stabbed in the back.”

The already gloomy atmosphere subsided further. Cole stared at Hawke with defiance.

“When did I act foolish? If you’re going to say so, you should have cursed me out.”

“What do you think is the reason why we train at the Military Academy every day? We are destined to have blood on our hands until we die since we were born in the Balkans.  A guy who can’t be annihilated even if attacked by thirty monsters in an unarmed state is a filthy shame of our tribe.”

“I just said I wanted to see the boss’s child but isn’t this too much of a sermon? Aren’t you curious about your cute nephew as well?”

“Don’t ask useless questions. Don’t even think about being complacent!” Hawk shouted and stood up, carrying his plate. As everyone watched him walk away, Lecter rested his chin at an angle and watched out of the window. Heavy rain accompanied by thunder was pouring nonstop.

***

Shortly after Cade left the bedroom, Cherryl woke up. As soon as she got up, she called Lucy and asked for breakfast so that she could eat in the bedroom. She also wanted to ask what Rosaline was doing in the guest room. Everyone who heard about the princess’ visit in the morning was quite surprised, but there seemed to be no problem because everyone was good at serving her and she wasn’t being picky. The butler had guided the princess’ escort knights to a guest room and treated them as suitable for the royal entourage. Upon receiving the news, Cherryl took a sip of warm milk. “Fortunately, there seemed to be nothing to worry about. Did you take the princess to the breakfast room?”

“I delivered her meal up there because she wanted to eat in her bedroom. I heard she arrived early in the morning, but she woke up at 7 a.m. sharp.”

“It kind of seemed like that.” Cherryl answered while rubbing her sleepy eyes.