Looking for a Husband to Confine Me - Chapter 44.2
Chapter 44.2
“You didn’t mention what happened at the last ball?”
“…Hmm? What about it?”
“Like why you ended up drinking.”
I had been the one to steer Damian towards Bashar. I had been the one to push Damian away, preventing him from drinking. Although Damian had been the one to reveal the presence of poison, my actions must have seemed odd to him. Considering his seemingly deep connection to the Crown Prince, he could have easily informed them. However, Haroon and Ray’s reactions suggested they knew nothing.
“Well, I didn’t find anything odd about it. So there was nothing to say.”
“….”
Did he truly not suspect me, or did he simply not consider it important? I couldn’t decipher Damian’s intentions.
Tap, tap, tap. Leaning against me, Damian reached out with his left hand. He extended it cautiously, and after confirming I wouldn’t react, he began to toy with my hand. There was no ulterior motive in his touch. He was simply… toying with it.
“I didn’t mean it like that!” I was about to speak to Damian when a sudden voice interrupted me. It was Bashar Kishar.
‘Bashar should be talking with Haroon.’
I was startled by the outburst, a shout laced with frustration. Could he be with someone else? I checked, but Haroon was indeed standing before Bashar. Bashar Kishan’s jaw was clenched, his brow furrowed. Haroon’s eyes were wide with surprise at the outburst.
“That’s not what I wanted from you, Brother!” Bashar continued, his voice now laced with despair. It was softer than before, but the sudden hush allowed it to carry.
“…I didn’t want that from you either, Bashar.” Haroon, finally regaining his composure, responded in a low voice, his tone heavy with disappointment.
“What’s going on…?” I murmured, watching the seemingly quarreling princes.
I hadn’t expected them to fight, especially not Bashar raising his voice to Haroon. He usually acquiesced to everything Haroon said.
“Leave them be. Brothers fight; it’s how they grow.” Damian spoke indifferently, not even glancing at the princes.
But wasn’t that something children did?
Confirming my suspicion that they were indeed arguing, Bashar and Haroon turned away from each other in silence, their expressions grim.
***
A week had passed since Bashar’s assassination attempt. The events of that day had unfolded so chaotically that I sometimes wondered if I’d dreamt it all. However, the lingering aches in my muscles confirmed its reality.
‘I could barely walk the next day.’
The intense exertion in such a short period had left my body stiff and sore. Every step was a reminder of my protesting muscles. “…Out of shape,” I muttered, frowning. Then, I noticed the gaze directed at me. Oh right, I wasn’t alone.
I looked up to see a middle-aged man with a kind smile, observing me. “Is something troubling you, Lady Amelia?”
He had arrived that morning, and I had been attending to him in the Hazel manor’s drawing-room.
I shook my head. “It’s nothing, Butler.”
“If anything is ailing you, please don’t hesitate to tell me. I’ll bring you different medicine.”
“No, what you brought today is more than enough.” I smiled faintly, my eyes sweeping over the items that filled one side of the room: medicine to ease muscle tension, calming tea leaves, detoxifying herbs—all brought by the man before me.
“The young master was very disappointed that he couldn’t come himself.”
“Is that so? Ha, ha…” I responded with an awkward laugh. The man I’d called “Butler” wasn’t employed by the Hazel family.
News of the incident at the Kishan princes’ residence had spread throughout the royal palace the following day. While my involvement in the commotion had become known, I hadn’t initially been concerned. After all, the fact that Amelia of Hazel Manor had been caught up in an incident with the Kishan princes wouldn’t attract much attention.
However, it seemed someone had taken a particular interest. From the next day onwards, I’d received requests for meetings.
“Unfortunately, Chairman Rupert summoned the young master today, so he asked me to come in his stead.” The butler’s employer was none other than Luke Randy.
“I’m truly fine. I’m not injured. I feel bad for troubling you, Butler.”
Regardless of my relationship with Luke, we had known each other for a long time. Consequently, I had also known his butler for quite a while. He seemed to believe that Luke and I were childhood sweethearts, always greeting me with a kind smile. I didn’t dislike him.
‘The problem is that he’s Luke Randy’s butler.’
If it weren’t for his employer, I would have been much happier conversing with him.
Torryy
Who?