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☾ thirty - two ☾

Even if I may look like this, I'm still a Duke's only daughter.

I may have tormented others in the past, but I, myself, have never been the victim of such acts...

It seemed my father's apprentice saw me as a pushover because I've been treating him rather kindly.

"Tell me." He demanded in a harsh voice, as if he was interrogating me.

"Why? If someone did torment me, are you going to punish them for me?"

His answer was immediate.

"Yes, because I promised to help you."

I let out a sigh. I didn't think he would take what I had said lightly so seriously.

'Ah, really. If you try to help me, I'll end up heading straight for my doom!'

I had been overlooking his arrogance because I didn't want to come off as imposing, but the other nobles would be different.

There were plenty of nobles who brought down capital punishment on commoners just for using informal speech, with the excuse that they were rebelling against a superior figure.

So, if Max, a commoner, tried to use force against a noble, he would immediately lose his head.

'He could just be bluffing...but then again, if it's this guy...it's quite plausible that he'll really carry it out.'

After observing my father's apprentice for a few days, perhaps it was because he grew in the backwoods, but I realized it really didn't seem like he knew anything.

His head seemed blank and empty to the extent where I thought that if I took my eyes off of him, he might accidentally die in a place where I couldn't see.

I nodded to myself.

'Yes, well, I've grown a little attached to him so I can't just let him die.'

Though we weren't by any means close, it was somewhat comfortable to be with this man who treated me without putting up a facade.

I felt like a normal person, not Juvellian, the Duke's only daughter, whenever I was with him.

"Excuse me."

"What."

Seeing him staring back at me when I called him, I continued, "If you want to help me, then talk to me using honorifics in front of others from now on."

"What did you say?"

"I'm already being looked down upon in society, so if you look down on me too, don't you think people would ridicule me even more?"

He stared at me silently.

"Depending on how you use it, words can help make enemies or allies. The nobles are especially sensitive to words. Maybe if the status system was abolished, then you wouldn't have to worry about it, but since that's not the case, I'm just saying that you should be careful."

He continued to stare at me in silence with those crimson eyes of his.

'If you have any complaints, you should just say it. Why are you looking at me so scrutinizingly?'

When I started to feel like his gaze was a little strange, he nodded his head once slowly.

'What a good boy.'

The sight of him nodding his head meekly made me feel like I was watching an obedient child.

I was so proud that I almost patted his head without realizing it.