I Don't Need the Grand Duke's Regret - Chapter 127
Prince Charles had recently suffered from a high fever. It wouldn’t be good for him to be exposed to such a cold place.
Nasir quickly took off his cloak and draped it over the child. He looked at the child, now wearing an adult’s cloak that was far too large for him, and cautiously said,
“Is the Master meeting with the doctor? It seems like he’s getting regular check-ups.”
“Yes. Charles told to go to room with Luce. But Luce gone.”
“I see.”
Nasir listened attentively to the child’s explanation. Despite the significant age difference, his manner remained courteous and respectful. Nasir stood up and extended his hand to the child.
“It’s dangerous to wander around alone. I’ll take you back.”
“Okay.”
Charles reached up to grasp Nasir’s hand, but due to his short stature, he had to stretch his arm as far as possible to reach it.
Seeing Charles struggling to grab his hand, Nasir bent one knee to make it easier for the child.
“Would you like me to carry you?”
“Okay.”
Charles nodded with a flushed face. The sight of the child fiddling with his fingers warmed Nasir’s heart. When Nasir turned to offer his back, Charles immediately climbed onto it.
Nasir adjusted the cloak covering Charles to ensure it didn’t slip off and then stood up. As Charles sniffled and muttered, Nasir listened attentively.
“Worry about Luce.”
“Let’s go to the room first and see if we can find her there. You can ring the bell to call for Luce.”
“…Luce?”
“Yes?”
Nasir, calming the child as he spoke, blinked in surprise at the sound coming from his back. Turning his head, he saw a small hand pointing somewhere.
“Luce, Luce!”
“Just a moment, Prince!”
Charles, spotting Luce, grabbed Nasir’s shoulder and pulled him roughly. As a result, Nasir was pulled in a completely different direction from where he had intended to go.
Without steadying himself, he could drop Charles.
Thus, Nasir had to move as if he was a puppet controlled by the child.
“Luce, Luce! Over there!”
Nasir followed the path Charles was leading him on, unable to make any coherent sound.
Whether it was due to disorientation or not, he couldn’t see a single shadow of Luce.
Nasir walked with a sense of urgency, sweating profusely. The usually composed Nasir was facing what might be the most challenging situation of his life.
“Prince, please don’t pull me. I’ll find her for you!”
“Luce!”
“Prince!”
Nasir deeply regretted not paying more attention to the stories Missus Catarina used to tell about her grandchildren. If he had known, he would have learned how to distract the child.
With no other children around, Nasir felt helpless against Charles’s actions. He had always treated the child as a guest, which made the situation even more awkward.
“Um…?”
Charles, who had been fixated on Luce, suddenly made a dazed noise. Nasir, who had been running breathlessly with Charles in his arms, gasped for air.
Nasir had often teased Ezio about being slow, but seeing how quickly his stamina had been depleted, he realized not to underestimate it.
“Prince Charles. Hah, hah, where… where are we?”
Catching his breath and looking around, Nasir’s expression hardened.
Everything was red.
The walls, the floor, the window frames—everything.
The red room.
Nasir, now in the Red Room he hadn’t intended to enter, quickly turned around in alarm.
Charles’s curiosity should not be focused on this space. Anywhere else would be fine, but not here.
“Why is everything red here?”
“…Let’s go to the green room. I’ll find Luce for you.”
Nasir spoke in a stiff tone, cutting off Charles’s question.
‘I should have blocked the corridor from the start.’
As Charles tried to look back, Nasir raised his cloak to obscure the child’s view. Though Charles mumbled, his growing anxiety made Nasir’s efforts seem futile.
There was a time when Ricardo entered the Red Room wielding an ax.
It was shortly after Armilla’s funeral. Having attempted to end his life at the funeral, he returned to destroy the Red Room with an ax as soon as he recovered.
Riccardo had smashed the walls, the broken frames, and torn curtains with an ax while screaming in anguish.
He said that such a room should have been eliminated long ago. That Armilla should never have been confined here.
The sight of the Master roaring with madness left the servants trembling in fear.
Since then, the Red Room had been largely avoided, with only minimal surface-level maintenance.
It had always been considered an ominous place, but now it was treated as if it didn’t exist at all.
No one spoke of the red room, and when it was unavoidable to mention it, it was referred to simply as ‘that place’.
The place where the Master had attempted suicide.
The place where the Grand Duchess was confined.
The Red Room was, in every sense, a symbol of misfortune.
Among the newly arrived servants, no one knew such a space existed in the Vittore household.
So even Nasir had completely forgotten about it.
“Prince Charles, will you make me a promise?”
“Pomise?”
“To keep what you saw earlier a secret. It will be our secret.”
“Why?”
“Well…”
Nasir, who had arrived in front of the green room, swallowed nervously. He carefully set the child down on the floor and turned his body.
Facing Charles, Nasir cleared his throat and began to speak.
“That room holds a very sad story. If you talk about it, the Master will be very upset.”
“Uncle Wolf?”
“Yes. So please, never tell Uncle Wolf about it.”
Nasir nodded gravely as he spoke. Charles blinked his large blue eyes slowly. Nasir anxiously awaited the child’s response.
“Pomise.”
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