章節 12: LADY CUTTING ONIONS

"WHAT are you doing now?"

Zoe clicked her tongue when she saw Isaak looking at her with judgment in his eyes. "Is this the first time you saw a lady cut onions?"

"No," Isaak Viotto said flatly. "But this is the first time a lady asked me to hold a plate while she cuts onion emotionally in front of me."

Yeah, that was their current situation.

The two of them were still in the garden.

A while ago, Dal arrived and informed her that Marquis Rochester was looking for her. Apparently, her father was livid. Her servant also informed her that the marquis seemed to be looking for Isaak Viotto as well.

She knew she would need to face her father's wrath later. Thus, she asked Dal to find an onion and deliver it to her.

[And here we are now.]

"I'm not being emotional," she denied while sniffing. "Duke Viotto, onions produce syn-Propanethial-S-oxide– an irritating gas– when cut. Then it stimulates the eyes' lachrymal glands, so they release tears. Thus, I can't control my tear ducts."

Well, there were ways to cut onions that prevented crying.

But it wasn't like she had time to prepare for it. Luckily, her lovely pastel pink chef knife was always with her. Even if she didn't have a proper cutting board, she was glad that the ghoul duke helped her when she asked him to.

He held the plate that she used as a cutting board just fine. Even if he kept on complaining, it didn't change the fact that he still did as she told him to.

[Get yourself an Isaak in your life.]

"You're speaking nonsense again, Lady Rochester."

"Just call me 'Zoe,'" she said. Zoanne's father and servants (except for Dal) were already calling her by the original character's name. She felt like she would eventually forget her real identity if she allowed even the ghoul duke to call her by another name. "No need for formalities."

"There's a need for formalities here because we're not close."

"Ah, that's true," she said, then she raised her head to meet his gaze. "Am I making you feel uncomfortable?"

"You're only asking that now?"

"I'm sorry for acting like we're close."

"You don't look sorry."

"I am," she insisted. "But I'm desperate. My life is on the line, so even though I know that I make other people uncomfortable, I still do what I have to do."

"That's what desperation means."

"You're not mad at me?"

"I don't get mad– I get revenge on people who annoy me."

She clicked her tongue. "Fine, take your revenge on me later. I should expect it since I invaded your personal space. But for now, help me."

He scoffed. "Isn't that what I'm already doing?"

"I will need more of your help later," she said, sounding a little more serious now than earlier. "But for now, I need to pacify my father."

He raised a brow at her. "Are you cutting onions because you want to make Marquis Rochester think you cried?"

"I like how sharp you are, my lord."

"Are you going to tell your father that I made you cry?"

Her brows furrowed in confusion. "How the heck did you come up with that conclusion?"

"I don't know," he said in a sarcastic voice. "Maybe it's because most ladies cry when they see me, especially when they accidentally meet me when they're alone?"

Well, that was true.

In the novel, some of the naïve young ladies of the empire would cry when they meet Isaak Viotto out of fear.

But there were other ladies who desired the hot ghoul duke, of course.

[Though as far as I remember, those types of ladies only want a passionate night with Isaak Viotto. In short, they see him as a quest or something. So far, those two are the only types of ladies that he met in his life. I can't blame him for being wary of women because of his experience with some of them.]

"Don't worry, you can't make me cry," she said bluntly. "I have high pain tolerance and I've already lived a life full of horror. My heart is already jaded."

"I can see that," he said while nodding. "Is that the reason why you need onions to help you cry?"

"Yes," she said, then she sniffed. She was aware that she wasn't acting like a proper noble lady. But what could she do? She didn't live an elegant life. And it seemed like Isaak Viotto was fine with it. "If I cry, my father won't be able to interrogate me much."

"Just tell the marquis that I threatened you."

"Why?"

"Don't you get it?" he asked while shaking his head. "The fact that you ruined Nigel's plan to "help" me already made you an enemy of my enemies. Do you even know who my biggest enemy here is?"

"I know," she said seriously. "Your enemy is my enemy."

He let out a frustrated sigh. "It seems like you don't know the gravity of the mess that you created."

"That's exactly why I need your help," she said. "I have some important information that I don't know how to use wisely."

It looked like he was about to say something when he suddenly paused, then his gaze went past her. "Marquis Rochester is coming this way. And he seems to be furious."

She put her lovely pastel pink chef knife back into the knife holster attached to her leg. "Grand Duke Viotto, you must go. I'll deal with my father's wrath."

"What do you expect me to do with this plate and onion?"

"Don't throw it away," she said firmly. "Bring it back to the kitchen or something."

"Are you ordering me around?"

"No, of course not. How could I order the great and handsome Grand Duke Viotto around?" she said, then she put her hands together and gave him the best puppy dog eyes that she could muster at the moment. "I'm humbly asking for your help once again, my dear." When his face hardened, she changed the way she addressed him. "Your Grace."

He let out a deep sigh while shaking his head. "You're a handful, Lady Rochester."

"Ah, wait," she said, then she snapped her fingers when she remembered something. "I forgot to tell you about the story that I decided to tell my father as an excuse for what I did tonight."

"And what kind of story did you come up with?"

"I'll tell my father that I found the letters in Miss Ashmore's room, so I sabotaged the plan in order to protect our family."

"That doesn't explain why you needed to help me specifically."

"Oh, I have it covered already," Zoe said confidently, then she winked at Isaak Viotto. "I'll tell my father that I was seduced by you, Grand Duke Viotto."

Isaak Viotto's eyes widened in shock. "Lady Rochester, have you lost your mind?"

***

"ZOANNE Rochester."

Zoe flinched when Marquis Hendrix Rochester called her by the original character's full name.

The marquis didn't raise his voice, but the coldness in his tone made her nervous. She felt like she was about to be scolded by her real father. She was usually chill when dealing with people in this world because she still saw them as characters in a novel.

But aside from Isaak Viotto, Marquis Hendrix Rochester also had a strong presence.

[Anyway, it's nice that Marquis Rochester doesn't yell at his daughter.]

"What was that, Zoanne?" her father asked sternly. "What did you just do at the banquet hall earlier?"

Zoe, still "emotional" from cutting onions a few moments ago, sniffed and acted like she was on the verge of crying. "Father, I was just trying to protect our family. You don't know this, but Miss Ashmore almost caused our downfall."

As expected, the marquis looked uncomfortable once she acted emotionally. His face softened up a bit. And when he spoke, his voice sounded a little warmer than the cold tone that he used a while ago. "What do you mean by that, Zoanne?"

"After I locked up Miss Ashmore in her room, I happened to get a hold of the letters that she secretly exchanged with her "friends,"" she explained between sobs. "I found out that she used my name and my seal to communicate with the nobles that schemed to humiliate Grand Duke Viotto. To protect our family, I had to sabotage their plan."

"There are other ways to protect our family," her father said sternly. "Why didn't you tell me about what you discovered? You didn't have to meddle, Zoanne."

"But I wanted to help His Grace personally, Father."

Her father looked shocked by her declaration. "And why would you want to help the Grand Duke personally? As far as I remember, you don't have any connection with him."

"Father, the Grand Duke and I met while you were away," she said. Well, she and Isaak Viotto really met in an alleyway before. "When I saw him, my heart fluttered. I guess it's what you call attraction at first sight."

Her father looked shocked by her "revelation."

She was suddenly reminded of Isaak Viotto's reaction when he heard the excuse that she came up with.

The Grand Duke looked like he wanted to strangle her.

But Isaak Viotto didn't have the time to argue with her about it because her father was approaching them at that time.

[I'm sorry, Isaak Viotto. But don't worry. I'll tell my father later that you dumped me–]

"Then I suppose Grand Duke Viotto will take responsibility."

It was her turn to get shocked. "Huh?"

Marquis Rochester's sunset-colored eyes glowed menacingly. "Shouldn't the Grand Duke Isaak Viotto take responsibility for seducing my daughter?"

Zoe gulped when she realized how serious her father was. [Oh, no.]

***

ISAAK Viotto felt a shiver down his spine for some reason.

[Why do I feel like someone is cursing me?]

But he set that thought aside first when he reached Nigel Ratliff's room. Yes, he paid a "visit" to his half-brother's residence in the Royal Palace. But he made a little mess because the knights refused to let him in.

"Good evening, Nigel," Isaak greeted his trembling brother standing in the middle of his room. He could also see Nigel touching the sheathe of his sword attached to his hip. That sight made him smirk. "Don't be afraid," he said in a mocking tone. "I'm just here to visit my dear younger brother."

"It doesn't look that way, "Brother,"" Nigel said, then he gulped hard before he looked up at the corpses floating behind him. "D-Do you really have to bring those things with you?"

By "those things," his foolish young brother was talking about the corpses of the mercenaries that Nigel sent after Lady Zoanne Rochester earlier. Yes, he caught the mercenaries and killed them to protect the brave yet reckless young lady.

After that, using his ability to control the wind, he tied the corpses with his thread-like wind as if the dead bodies were kites floating behind him.

"I'm glad that you brought it up, Nigel Ratliff," Isaak said with a "sweet" smile on his face. Then he closed the double doors behind him. "Now, shall we have a heart-to-heart talk, my foolish brother?"

***

NOTE: Hi! Please consider ADDING 'I Won't Let The Ghoul Duke Go Hungry!' to your LIBRARY. Thank you! <3