Rosie's Games

Chapter 271: Bald Moller

"Well—"

Just as she was struggling to answer, Lucas smiled. "There is no need to be flustered, Lady Rosie. Enjoy your meal. Moreover, someone is here to see you."

The sudden soft knock on the door made Rosalind sigh in relief.

"Come inside," Rosalind said. Clearly, the Duke did not like this, but he said nothing.

"Young Madam, Mr. Elias, and Mr. Valentin are here. They said they wanted to talk to you about something important."

"Let them wait in the drawing room. I will be there after I finish my food." Rosalind could only thank Elias and Valentin for coming on time. After all, she did not want to continue this conversation with the Duke. josei

"I really hope you do not mind," Rosalind said when Milith left. "I asked Elias to do something important. I just— I have this suspicion that Clinton Moller is doing something."

"It was already expected that he would try to spy on the abilities of the people around me."

"Not that…" Rosalind swallowed. "I apologize for not telling you. Before I went to see you last night, I first went to the wall that Mr. Etonde was guarding. I remembered Mr. Moller was supposed to be there, but when I asked Mr. Etonde to look for him, Mr. Etonde said that they could not find him anywhere. So, I thought that he was on the wall where you were fighting. And…" Rosalind quickly explained her suspicions. She knew that the Duke was not exactly asking for her explanation, but she felt she should give him one.

Still, she knew that she could not hide anything from him. It would be useless to hide things and create future misunderstandings. The incident with that consort was enough proof of that.

"Hmmm… you are thinking that perhaps the young Moller was responsible for the beast tide?" he asked.

"Does that sound ludicrous?"

"Not at all."

"Do you think I am not crazy?"

"No. That is indeed a possibility."

Rosalind nodded.

The two of them quickly finished their meal. Rosalind expected the Duke to leave or find an excuse not to accompany her as he did not like the fact that she made them her personal guards. To her surprise, however, the Duke accompanied her without saying another word.

Obviously, this immediately made the atmosphere tense. Despite the elegant decorations of heavy brocade and drawn-back curtains, the current atmosphere was not relaxed— in fact, it was anything but relaxed.

The air was thick with tension, the two men seemed to be on edge while Lucas had that nonchalant reaction on his face.

Both Valentin and Elias froze when they saw the Duke. Rosalind concluded that this might be because they saw him kill all the beasts the other night. These two men must be scared of him. She really should tell them that the Duke will not harm them.

"Your Grace, I am—"

"We met again," Lucas said. They were sitting on one of the sofas in the room. There were two large, upholstered sofas in the drawing room and they were arranged to face each other for conversational purposes.

A fireplace with a roofing fire provides warmth and a cozy atmosphere, but it could not help lighten the current atmosphere.

"Your Grace," Valentin forced a smile on his face. "We met again."

"Hmmm…"

"So? Did you find him?" Rosalind asked Elias, who up to this point has not said anything. Elias seemed to fear the Duke, and Rosalind could not blame him. After all, Elias saw the Duke fight hordes and hordes of beasts on his own.

"We did," Elias said. "I took him."

"Is he alive?"

"Yes."

Rosalind smiled. At least Elias did not kill him.

"Barely," Valentin added.

"Barely?"

"You must see for yourself," Valentin said.

"He is breathing," Elias assured. "And alive."

"He has a pulse," Valentin said.

"Alright. Is he alive or not?"

"Alive."

"Barely."

The two men spoke at the same time.

"I think I need to see him," Rosalind said. Of course, when she saw Clinton, she was left speechless.

When Elias said he is alive what he really meant was that Clinton was someone with a pulse, someone who was breathing. This man— Rosalind cannot even call him a man anymore— already looked like a lump of coal. He was a burned human.

The former Clinton Moller, who was very well known for his arrogant attitude, now looked like a burned tree. Most of his skin was burned, his hair was no more, and even his eyebrows were not spared from Elias's fire. He was currently in chains, unconscious and barely breathing.

She looked at him, then towards the apologetic-looking Valentin.

"He cannot control his anger," Valentin explained. "I tried to restrain him."

"That man ridiculed me," Elias said. Again, he avoided the eyes of the Duke.

"I know," Valentin nodded, then he looked at Rosalind and the Duke. "I apologize. Next time, I will restrain him."

"Right," Rosalind just nodded. Then she used her light Blessing to heal him. Healing had always been the greatest skill that the light Blessing had to offer and she always found this very useful in interrogations.

After a few minutes, the man chained up on the floor started moaning before he finally opened his eyes.

"Ah! You— What are you doing—"

"You—"

"Let me go!"

"It seems that you still have the energy to talk," Elias said. "How about I torch your tongue… again?"

"You—"

"Alright, that is enough," Rosalind said. "You two may leave us."

Elias and Valentin left them without a fuss. In fact, it seems that the two were actually happy to leave them.

"You— You are— Duke Rothley? What are you doing here? Why am I even here? Those two people took me while I was in the supply room. And—" Clinton stuttered.

"We know what you did, young Moller," Rosalind said. Since she was the one who dragged Clinton here, she decided to do the interrogation. She looked at Clinton's bald head. Unfortunately, her Blessing could not restore his hair.

"I—"

"I know you are attracting those beasts to the walls."

"What? What are you—"

Rosalind braced herself for the lies. She thought of the ways that she used to torture some of Dorothy's enemies in the past and hoped that it would work for someone who lived in the North.

Suddenly, Clinton's expression changed.

"You know what?" Clinton laughed. "You are right. I did it! I was the one responsible! Now… what are you going to do about it!?"

.....

Clinton Moller is Duke Moller's Son-- Duke of Lonyth

Update: I am feeling better! I will catch up in writing tonight.