Maybe I was sent to the North to become a stablekeeper.
The act of a horse digging with its forelegs is when there is a strong demand for something. They usually do this when they were short on food or sick.
Ten days after working here, Niall learned that he had to move from the left when approaching a horse, that hiding its tail was an act they did when sick, and that a horse standing with its ears pinned back could bite him.
“Clarice, what is wrong?”
Clarice, the beautiful horse that the Duke cherishes the most, was not in a good condition today. He hadn’t eaten all day and drank little water. Phil had gone to the barn. This was because he was asked to help the cow in the barn give birth.
Hmm, Niall stroked his chin. This handsome stallion with a female name, Clarice, was said to be the Duke’s favorite.
He didn’t know when Phil would be back. He might not return until evening. Niall agonized and approached Clarice with carrots and salt.
“Easy there, Clarice. Easy.”
Niall gently approached Clarice’s left shoulder. Clarice purred lightly.
“Try this, hm?”
Niall looked next to Clarice’s eyes and held out his hand cautiously. Clarisse lowered his head.
“Yes, that’s right. Eat this t… !”
Clarice, pretending to lick the salt, suddenly lifted his forelegs high. Niall fell backward with a whooping sound. Looking down at the fallen Niall, Clarice snorted and stomped the floor twice with his forelegs.
“…… Woah, that surprised me.”
Niall’s heart began to beat again belatedly. He lay down on the soft bundle of straw, threw his head back, and exhaled.
“Are you going to kill me, Clarice?”
Of course, the horse had no intention of killing. Rather, he felt like chasing away an annoying fly. Niall blinked while lying down.
“Fine. If you just wait for the mister to return……”
At that moment, there was the sound of stepping on a dry straw. Is Phil back? Niall smiled and tilted his head back. Black boots appeared in the overturned vision. They were military boots with a metal tip.
It wasn’t Phil.
Who is it?
This stable was different from a kennel or barn. Since it was the exclusive stable of the Duke, it was not a place just anyone could enter. As soon as he realized that a stranger had arrived, Niall was about to stand up but was stopped when a long staff was pointed over him. The cane pressed precisely against Niall’s adam’s apple, and Niall lay motionless like an inverted frog.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
“Pa lr atf olgra alwf P tjnf rffc sbeg ojmf. Qtb lr atlr?”
C nblmf oeii bo nlulijcmf mjwf ogbw atf wjc ktbrf ojmf tf mbeiv cba rff.
Oh, this is bad…… Niall tried to look at the man by raising his eyes up, but the man was so tall that it was difficult to capture everything at a glance, and no matter how hard he tried, he could only see the area around his chest.
“Ccrkfg wf.”
“P jw…”
Lf kjr jybea ab jcrkfg jr bgvfgfv, yea atf rajoo veu lcab tlr cfmx. Ktf wjc rjlv.
“P vlv cba jrx sbe.”
Was it Clarice who you asked, if not me? Niall had a silly thought and was wondering whether or not to say this when he heard Phil’s voice from behind.
“Duke, he is the new stablekeeper sent by the majordomo.”
Niall was lying on the floor and the Duke was aiming at Niall with an iron staff in the gap he had gone to the barn for a while. Phil rubbed his palms restlessly at this unexpected sight. The Duke tilted his head.
“I have never received such a report.”
“It is true, Duke. I am sure that is what I heard from the majordomo before he took over.”
“……”
The Duke tapped his staff on Niall’s adam’s apple. It was an action as meaningless as when one unconsciously tapped the heel of their shoe on the ground.
However, it was extremely painful for Niall to be struck with it on his adam’s apple. He turned my head to the side, but that made no difference. The Duke’s staff continued to follow Niall and hit his adam’s apple.
“Bring him.”
“Pardon?”
Eventually, the Duke made up his mind and gave an order. When Phil, who did not understand at first, asked back, the Duke’s mood changed. Even Niall, lying on the floor, could tell. The air inside the stable tightened like strings being tied together.
“Oh, as in bring the majordomo, I shall bring him right away… Oh, yes, yes!”
Phil gibbered and ran belatedly. Niall gulped when he heard Phil leave the stable. And said in the most polite voice possible.
“Duke.”
“……”
The Duke did not respond.
“I am Niall Giles.”
A man who entered the castle lord’s private stable. Boldness to launch an attack from the start before finding out who the other person is. Military boots and a staff. Proud way of speaking. Niall recognized the man even before Phil called him Duke. This person was the subject of the commission he had to deal with and the Duke who was the lord of this castle.
“It is difficult to breathe. Could you put this away, please?”
The man didn’t answer. Niall, trying to read his mind, carefully reached out his hand and tried to remove the staff, but a stronger force weighed on his adam’s apple.
But it is truly hard for me to breathe? Niall thought to himself and opened his mouth again.
“Duke, do you know Gerard of Galen? I came here at his request. Gerard of Galen. Do you remember?”
“Galen.”
The Duke muttered.
“Gerard.”
The staff hit Niall once again. The thoughtless rhythm repeated. The problem was that the tip of the staff was made of iron, so it was quite heavy. There was a new scratch on Niall’s neck every time he struck it with his staff.
“Are you that attendant?”
Finally, the Duke asked, and Niall quickly replied yes.
Then, this time, the staff was under his chin. The Duke moved Niall’s jaw left and right with his staff. It was an act that resembled the insincere turning of pages. Or poking the firewood of a dying fire.
“Get up.”
When the staff was finally removed, Niall was able to stand up. Niall clutched his aching neck and slowly raised himself so as not to irritate the Duke.
Niall felt the pressure as he stood in front of the Duke. The Duke was already hostile to Niall.
Why should I already be hated by someone who has not even seen me yet? Was I not called to the castle because you needed me in the first place?
Niall heard a short tsk when he was quietly lowering his head, and at that moment, his incurable disease flared up. It was a challenge to those in power. It was Niall’s disposition that prevented him from entering mainstream society, and the temperament his former master cursed as a mental illness that even dogs would not tolerate.
Niall raised his head without permission. A slightly bold gaze scanned the Duke’s body. The Duke wore a short cloak and an overcoat embroidered with gold thread. The brooch that fastened the chest strap was blue iolite with a heart engraved in the middle.
To look that high was what was allowed to Niall, a commoner who was having a private audience with the Grand Duke. However, insolently so, Niall’s eyes went up higher.
“……”
In front of him stood the most beautiful man Niall had ever seen in his life.
The Duke’s hair was a mixture of silver and blue, flowing down his shoulders in a loose curve. As the sunlight fell on it, it glowed as if broken shards were being reflected. He was such a tall man that it made the stable look cramped. His shoulders, wrapped in his uniform, were proud and broad, and his demeanor was imbued with nobility.
A man who had the power to make him want to kneel of his own volition. Everything that one could ever imagine when one heard the word ‘nobleman’ was on this man’s face.
The great noble alpha.
Niall was involuntarily in awe. The Duke had the resoluteness of a statue of a judge made in the olden days. It was this man who seemed to have torn the blue blood vessels and distilled the thickest drop of blood.
Besides, those lips. Weren’t they too red for an alpha’s lips?
Niall stared at those lips. Looking at the red lips that looked like they had bitten a cherry, he swallowed his saliva unconsciously. Those lips were truly captivating.
Suddenly, a fiery pain hit Niall’s cheek. Niall’s head swung to the side. The Duke punished Niall for daring to stare at the face of a great nobleman. He hit Niall in the face with his staff.
Damn it. Niall wiped his torn lips and bowed his head. He impertinently looked at the nobleman’s face for too long, so he deserved to be hit.
“Duke.”
Just in time, the majordomo appeared. He stood behind the Duke with his hands respectfully clasped in front.
“I was called. Is there an order to be carried out?”
“Who is this person?”
“His name is Niall Giles. He brought a letter of introduction from Count Nuberi.”
The majordomo added in a cautious voice.
“Duke, do you remember? There was a man whom the Count said he would send, yes?”
Niall smiled with bleeding lips. He really wanted to look good to the Duke. In any case, he accepted the commission, and Niall had to succeed in it.
When majordomo confirmed it, the heavy air inside the stable dissipated. The Duke had stopped leaking his hostility.
“I shall see you again in the evening.”
The Duke said coldly and turned his back. The majordomo bowed again with his upper body, and Niall raised his head as he pleased and looked at the Duke’s back.
Though he had heard of it Gerard, he didn’t really think he had silver-blue hair.
It was a pretty color that he had never seen in his dreams.
My impression of the duke at this point is not favorable. Good looks do not make up for an abusive attitude.
Thanks for the chapter 🌹
Wtf was that attitude tbh duhhh
Common leader of army, in my opinion
Thank for your translation 💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗
Pra quê isso, duque? 🤨
Well he’s crap