Don't Keep a Dog in the Garden - Chapter 5

After sleeping soundly without even eating lunch, by the time she woke up, it was already afternoon, with the sun slowly sinking.

As Cassia stepped out of her room, the butler, Ellen, informed her of an unwelcome visitor.

“Duke Mastiff is here.”

Seeing the slight crease form between his mistress’s brows, he lowered his head as if guilty of a crime.

“Where is he?”

“Saying he was bored, he went to look around the garden.”

Cassia almost scolded him for allowing Whisker to roam freely, but closed her mouth with a sigh. He was not someone who listened to the words of servants in the first place.

She had woken refreshed, but it seemed a headache was coming.

As Cassia rubbed her temple with her hand, Ellen hesitated, then added, “The Knight Commander followed the Duke.”

“Rinox?”

“Yes, Your Grace.”

As Ellen lowered his head in unease, Cassia quickened her pace.

If Whisker and Rinox clashed, the garden would not merely be left in ruins. Judging by Rinox’s murderous mood that morning, one of them might die—and either one’s death would be troublesome.

When Cassia rushed out into the garden, the situation was on the brink of explosion.

A tense murderous aura weighed down the garden, and Rinox’s sword was pointed at Whisker’s throat.

“Rinox!”

Catching her breath, Cassia called out to her knight commander.

Rinox’s large back flinched as he turned toward her, while Whisker, with the sword still against his throat, greeted her.

“Your Grace!”

Even in this situation, Whisker bent his eyes into crescents and waved. It was absurd, but Cassia decided she needed to deal with Rinox’s sword first.

“Rinox, stand down.”

At Cassia’s low command, Rinox lowered his sword reluctantly, watching her face.

Still holding the weapon unsheathed in silence, he stood there stubbornly, and Cassia spoke coldly,

“I told you to wait. You have disobeyed my order twice today.”

“My apologies, Your Grace.”

“Return to your room and reflect.”

“But if you are alone with that man…”

“Do you mean to disobey me a third time?”

“…No, Your Grace.”

Rinox’s large shoulders hunched as he bowed deeply.

Casting Whisker a glare sharp enough to kill, he turned away, sword still in hand, and trudged off.

With a smile on his lips but cold eyes, Whisker muttered as he watched Rinox’s back, “You say you have no hobby of keeping beasts, yet you raise a fine dog.”

“Don’t call my knight commander a beast.”

At Cassia’s sharp retort, Whisker’s gaze deepened. No, it became dangerous.

‘Opportunities don’t come twice.’

When Marquis Orlendo’s house had been caught in the trap, it would’ve been better to eliminate them all. He could have wiped out Rinox along with all the Orlendos, but the Emperor had tucked his tail before the nobles who claimed to be Emperor Slayden’s old comrades.

Swallowing words he couldn’t speak before Cassia, Whisker continued to glare at Rinox’s distant back.

With eyes like a predator watching prey, he was stopped only when Cassia moved to block his line of sight.

As Cassia came into view, a smile appeared on Whisker’s lips. It was a reflexive twitch of the facial muscles, but when he saw her frown, a genuine laugh slipped out.

Those who said the Grand Duke of Diorent was like an emotionless doll simply did not know her.

Such a vivid expression of distaste.

The thought that perhaps she showed such expressions only to him pleased him even more.

“Now that the nuisance is gone, how about a walk?”

In the middle of a garden bursting with summer roses, Whisker extended his hand with a radiant smile. Cassia was utterly dumbfounded.

When she only stared at him with a look of disbelief, Whisker withdrew the hand he had stretched toward her and plucked a single rose in full bloom.

He tucked it behind his ear.

Whisker, smiling broadly with a rose tucked by his ear, looked unexpectedly beautiful. His golden hair glittered in the sunlight, his jewel-like red eyes, even his pale white face—all seemed fresh among the green leaves and colorful blossoms.

If there was a problem, it was that the only witness, Cassia, thought that the madman was doing something insane.

“The garden is truly beautiful, Your Grace. If it were me, I would have trimmed those trees back more, though. Will you really not consider hiring me as a gardener?”

“Don’t covet my garden. Don’t pluck the flowers.”

“Is it not better than snapping necks?”

“Whisker.”

“Yes, Your Grace.”

His eyes sparkled like those of a puppy called by name.

Cassia, staring at those eyes without expression, continued, “A gardener is not one who cuts and plucks, but one who cultivates and nurtures. And in my garden, there’s no need for a dog.”

Whisker felt as though his heart had been pierced by golden eyes that resembled the sun.

Even though he was rejected and denied, his whole body trembled with exhilaration.

Her boldness, unflinching at such a vulgar and cheap provocation, was what he coveted.

If you become Emperor, I would gladly kiss your feet and walk into the flames.

Whisker pulled out the rose tucked behind his ear and offered it to Cassia.

Cassia gave a hollow laugh and asked, “Are you plucking my flower only to offer it back to me?”

Whisker’s smile deepened. “Yes, Your Grace. Since it is yours, I return it to you.”

“If so, then don’t pluck it in the first place.”

“But if I don’t pluck it, I can’t return it.”

Spouting sophistry, Whisker brushed the rose petals against Cassia’s hand.

Red petals and red eyes crushed together against her pale hand, long fingers, and pink nails.

She snatched the rose, covered in tightly packed thorns.

“Duke, I will say this only once. Don’t lay a hand on my body.”

At Cassia’s chilling warning, Whisker’s radiant face wilted.

“It was not my hand, but a flower.”

“That’s why you still draw breath,” Cassia answered shortly and spun around.

Her black hair, smooth as silk spun from night itself, fluttered like a dream before leaving only her cold back in view.

Whisker swallowed a sigh.

When she was younger, she hadn’t been this bad.

Just as rumors of the Emperor’s hunting dog’s madness were famous, so too was Cassia’s misanthropy.

Her relationships were disasters that dragged the Empire into strife.

At best, those who drew near would be bitten to death by the Emperor’s dog. At worst, they would provide the Emperor an excuse to annihilate House Diorent.

Cassia despised the fools who rushed to the false light of the Golden Dawn, knowing full well what awaited them.

And then she grew to despise everyone.

Cassia, glancing down at the innocent red flower in her hand, took a few steps forward without looking at Whisker, and asked, “What brings you here? I didn’t summon you.”

Cassia was a woman gifted at telling people to leave with elegance.

Whisker gave a small laugh and stepped closer as he replied, “I have captured the real culprit. Interrogation is required, so I came to ask if you would join me.”

“The real culprit?”

At his unexpected words, Cassia turned to face him.

Whisker, looking down at the red rose in her hand, answered casually, “Captain of the Guard, Mikhail.”

At his reply, Cassia furrowed her brow.

What had happened in the palace in the span of half a day?

The Captain of the Guard was the one responsible for the Emperor’s safety and commanded all forces inside the palace.

He wasn’t someone who could, nor should, be seized without evidence. Yet now he was said to be locked in the underground interrogation chamber of the Inspection Bureau.

The very place where Cassia had spent the previous night. Unlike her, Mikhail was sure to endure a horrific night.

“Duke, His Majesty ordered you to find the culprit, not to create one.”

“Trust me, Your Grace. To him, those two are the same.”

At Whisker’s confident reply, Cassia pressed her forehead and sighed.

She knew he wasn’t wrong.

If they could cover up this matter by sacrificing Mikhail, perhaps it would be fortunate. Yet she couldn’t approve of resolving it in such a way.

“The punishment for killing a member of the imperial family is death. I can’t let an innocent man be executed.”

It was nothing extraordinary.

She had only spoken aloud the common justice that anyone ought to have.

Yet as soon as her words ended, Whisker’s face twisted strangely.

At first, she thought he was frowning in anger, but upon closer look, it was the face of someone desperately suppressing laughter.