The Duke's Imposter Sister

Chapter 32 – Falling Into His Trap (1)

Gris Benedict was at a loss—bewildered of the situation where she felt she was walking on tightrope. Had she painted the picture a little better, she could have smoothly escaped…

In no time, someone knocked on the door. The voice of the civil servant resounded from the outside.

“Pardon me, Your Highness, but it’s time to go to the harbor.”

Upon hearing the words, Stephan avoided her gaze. Duke Vianut took a pocket watch out of his chest and checked the time.

Then, he slowly said, “Come in.”

Stephan greeted Duke Vianut and heaved a sigh of relief. Gris soon followed Stephan’s footsteps. As soon as they came out of the corridor, Stephan wiped out the pulps of cold sweat on his forehead. He furrowed his forehead and uttered to her.

“If something like this happens in the future, I hope you try to avoid it at all cost.”

Deep inside, her blood boiled in anger as Stephan gave her a harsh look. Isn’t he demanding too much? He already used me a lot like I’m a p*mp of a brothel! The only thing that I just want to do is get out of this mansion as soon as possible…

For the first time since she came to the mansion, Gris stood up and glared at him. A greedy human being just like Billton. A scum without a conscience. What the hell are you planning to do with Yuliana?

Stephen laughed as if he had read the thoughts in her mind. “It’s good to evaluate the situation first.”

“…..”

“You should always thank me for saving you from the brothel. You were once trash that men have tasted and discarded.”

Stephan stepped aside and exited the lobby, left with no intention to carry on their conversation. Meanwhile, Gris barely managed the tears of frustration back.

Yet she could only carry on with the education was enforced on her. She could only relax once the cross-stitch, horseback riding, and waltz classes are over. When nighttime came, Gris ate her meal while talking with her grandmother about mundane things like the warm weather.

It was only then she was able to return to her room.

She arrived just in time when Bellin was about to finish cleaning up. Seeing her humming cheerfully while wiping the table, she surmised there must have been something good that happened today.

Bellin’s presence unexpectedly made her feel a little relaxed today. As she hugged the active Teer who had been jumping around the bed, she decided to blurt out her thoughts, “It seems something good happened today.”

That was when Bellin noticed someone came inside. She immediately bowed and greeted Gris. Gris looked at Bellin’s hair, which was clipped with a crystal pin.

“Your hairpin looks pretty. Did you buy it?” Gris was interested because it was her first time to see it.

Bellin smiled brightly as she touched her hairpin and said, “Just a moment ago, Master Quentin gave one hairpin to each of the maids in the mansion. He bought it from a trader he and Duke Vianut saw in the harbor.”

She thought that Quentin was a very generous man for even buying a gift for the maids. Gris drew a smile as she nodded.

Bellin added, “Master Quentin said that Duke Vianut has bought a very expensive thing. It was an earring studded with a gem, red as the blood of a pigeon. The gem was called ruby… He said that it looked very enigmatic, and reddish like the eyes of a witch.”

Gris raised her two eyebrows. While she had seen a myriad of gems when she lived in Grandia, she had never seen a ruby. Perhaps it was because her mother preferred sapphires, so she didn’t have a chance to see it.

“Ruby?”

Eager to know how a ruby looks like, Gris inquisitively asked Bellin. The maid nodded and told her the story that she heard from Quentin.

“There is a legend that a phoenix with eternal life. Finding life dreary, it reborn as a ruby. That’s when the talks began that if you have a ruby, you will escape death.”

“Oh…”

“Maybe because of that legend, the price for rubies are only affordable by the very luxurious. He said that he bought it for twenty gold coins. Maybe it’s a present for the Britin Princess?”

Twenty gold coins was enough to buy a small mansion, and on would still have excess gold coins as change. But of course, it’s worth the investment for the Princess of Britin.

Gris nodded her head as she imagined the ruby. “Yes, it is, maybe.”

As Bellin wiped the chair, she said to herself, “Well…. It could also be that he purchased it for his collection.”

They continued their curious conversation until Bellin finished cleaning the room. Gris asked if she can leave the mansion without a pass or if there was a hole in the wall, but she only got a reply that there was no such thing in the mansion.

Despite the gut-wrenching events, she only fell asleep at dawn and was haunted by dreams of returning to the brothel. Sometime in her past, she had hidden in the kitchen, watching an 0rgy through the open door. But in this dream, she was the prostitute.

Her brain seemed to have believed that because Stephan kept on treating her as such.

The next day, she woke up feeling leery, knowing her day would be the same as yesterday. Bellin came in at dawn and took her to the bathroom and as usual, she took a bath alone and stopped by the dressing room to rummage for a red dress. Then, she came back to her room for makeup.

On other days, she would have admired the magnificent view outside the window, but today, she does not have surplus energy to spare. As each day passes by, slipping through her hands like sand, she felt like falling further into a deep trap. In the beginning, the escape route seemed to very clear with a bright light shining on it, but now it had diminished.

What should I do? I can’t even avoid Stephan nor Vianut.

She sighed. Bellin, who was braiding her hair, carefully asked her.

“Are you not feeling well?”

Gris shook her head and reassuringly answered Bellin. “No, I’m good.”

After a moment of silence, Bellin looked closely at her face. She probably saw a look full of anxiety. But it was too late for Gris to hide it.

“Is your tight schedule too hard for you?”

I wonder what to say. I cannot even ask her how to safely escape the mansion…