Chapter 237: Chapter 187 Audrey’s Melancholy_1
Upon returning to her room, Audrey let out a long sigh as she sat in the chair. There was no concealing the exhaustion etched in her face.
To Audrey, her life had become a tangled mess ever since her public breakup.
As an aristocratic lady, Audrey went through a rigorous upbringing. She knew that she would inevitably marry into a Duke’s family. For this reason, she devoted herself to learning the decorum, intellect, and dignities that the role of a Duchess demanded.
In truth, she did not harbor any feelings towards the Duke’s son. They first met when they were very young, with subsequent encounters roughly once a year. Yet, Audrey felt that the Duke’s son was rather indifferent towards her. The sentiments were reciprocal; to Audrey, the Duke’s son was a man she was bound to marry out of obligation rather than affection.
Audrey wasn’t surprised. It was common for nobilities to marry for political reasons. She was aware that both her parents had their respected lovers outside of the marriage. It was more a collaboration of political motives than a bond of love.
Nevertheless, when the Duke’s son publicly voided their engagement, she was left feeling lost and anxious.
She wasn’t upset out of jealousy or having been forsaken, but rather a fear of an uncertain future.
After all, for as long as she could remember, she had been carefully groomed to be a Duchess. It was her sole purpose in life.
Now, with the annulment announced by the Duke’s son, her position as the future Duchess vanished, making all her years of preparation purposeless.
What would her future hold?
Audrey was uncertain of her path forward. Despite the shocking reasons behind her shattered engagement, the fact remained she had been abandoned. No matter the justification, it was unlikely she would be able to marry another nobleman.
Would she end up as a pawn in her parents’ political game, shipped off to marry some wealthy merchant? There were instances where noble families arranged for their daughters to marry wealthy businessmen to gain capital. Audrey knew it wouldn’t be impossible for her to become a businessman’s wife—now that she had lost her status within the nobility.
However, when she learned her future from her father, she was taken aback.
“You will become the personal maid of the Dragon Slaying Knight.”
Dragon Slaying Knight.
The name wasn’t foreign to Audrey, considering the uproar caused by the Evil Dragon Fafner’s attack on the royal city. She was deeply impressed by the mighty knight who defeated the giant dragon, a beast even the princess couldn’t stand against. Moreover, she heard from social circles that both King Regnes and King Manaria were considering offering their daughters’ hands to him in marriage.
But that was all Audrey knew.
The respected knight seemed to have no interest in attending banquets or mingling within the nobility—yet nobody complained. Frankly, she was somewhat surprised to see the Dragon Slaying Knight appear at her engagement banquet.
In all honesty, her first impression of Duanmu Huai matched her preconceived image of the Dragon Slaying Knight. He was tall, imposing, and emanated an aura of power.An intimidating face was acceptable, considering he had defeated the Evil Dragon King. The imposing image would be contradictory if he were to have delicate and pretty features.
What followed was the transformation of Audrey from an aristocratic lady into Duanmu Huai’s personal maid. It had been a while now, but it still bewildered her.
“What exactly should I be doing?”
Gazing at her own hands, she murmured to herself. Indeed, that was the problem concerning her the most.
She didn’t know what she was supposed to do.
The Princess was correct; being a personal maid wasn’t just about attending to her master. It was more multifaceted; including managing household chores and interpersonal relationships. In essence, a personal maid was akin to a personal housekeeper, fulfilling the client’s demand within their abilities.
The dilemma was that Duanmu Huai never requested any services from her!
It wasn’t that he was ignoring her, but more like he simply didn’t require her assistance with anything!
In all honesty, she wished he would show interest in her the way other men did. At least then, Audrey would have an idea of her role.
But that could not be further from reality.
Audrey could tell that Duanmu Huai held no special feelings for her. She understood, of course, given that he already had two princesses awaiting marriage, Ann and Greiya—not to mention other beautiful women around him. Moreover… they were all more exciting than she was.
That was right; Audrey knew she was a tedious woman.
If asked about her hobbies, she couldn’t come up with anything that interested her. Because of the need to maintain her figure, she hardly indulged in sweets. Despite having learned the arts, she wasn’t passionate about any specific fields.
From a young age, she worked hard to make herself suitable for the position of “Duchess”, which is Audrey’s only purpose in life.
Audrey lifted her head and looked out the window, where she could see a giant fireball burning fiercely and a metal warship illuminated by the brightness of it – she remembered Duanmu Huai mentioning that it was a star, also known as the sun. The place they are in is called a galaxy, with a sun in each galaxy…
Yes, this is Audrey’s biggest problem.
Following Duanmu Huai, she has experienced many things that she had never imagined before, she even followed Duanmu Huai to visit hell and confront the Demon God. It made Audrey realize clearly that the stature of the master she follows is far beyond that of a common noble. Because of this, Audrey is very anxious. She simply does not know what she, as such a person, can possibly do here.
It was like a poor man who had always lived in poverty in rural areas, coming to the luxurious royal city, everywhere was something Audrey could not understand, could not imagine, could not relate to.
What are these things?
The knowledge she had learned has almost no use in this world. The only thing she can do now is to do trivial things like serving meals and tea to Duanmu Huai.
But this is obviously far from enough.
Actually, Audrey is envious of Ogis and Felin who can freely do their own things, but she is different, it was not Audrey being constrained by her identity, rather even if someone told her “you can do what you want”, Audrey would not know what she wanted to do.
In short, let’s start by reading books.
Audrey thought about this and reached out for the book at the edge of the table, which she borrowed from the library, titled “Astronomy”, according to the princess, it described knowledge about this world called the “Universe”, maybe after learning these, she would be closer to where her master is?
Perhaps… it might be.
While Audrey was concentrating on her studies, Duanmu Huai was contacting the Guardian civilization.
“The prison was invaded?”
Duanmu Huai sat in the chair looking at Cade No. Six in front of him, and the latter nodded.
“We just received the report that the Elder Prison holding the Fallen Baron has just been invaded. It is certain that they are coming for the imprisoned Fallen Baron. We must go there immediately, but due to a lack of manpower from the Guardians… I wonder if the Tribunal could lend a hand?”
“Fallen Ones… That’s the group of wandering pirates.”
Duanmu Huai recalled the Guardians’ records of the Fallen Ones, according to the records of the Guardians’ civilization, the Fallen Ones were once one of the alien races inspired by the Travelers. Later, the Guardians neglected them and they turned into a group of alien pirates, looting and plundering everywhere… However, on a second thought…
“You actually locked up these damn aliens, If you ask me, just kill them directly and there would be no problems at all. I suggest sending the Voice of Truth directly there, fire at the prison, I guarantee all troubles will be solved.”
Duanmu Huai clearly did not understand the idea of the Guardian civilization. To him, the Fallen Barons’ were a nuisance, wouldn’t it be better to eliminate them directly? In games, there are often such stupid things, obviously able to kill, nonchalantly locking them up, then once they escaped, they had to chase after them, once they found them, they had to be killed.
If they are to die sooner or later, why not just kill them directly, why do they have to wait for them to escape and then kill them, isn’t this redundant?
“Although I personally really want to do that, unfortunately, I don’t have the say.”
Hearing Duanmu Huai’s complaints, Cade No. Six helplessly shrugged.
Duanmu Huai stood up.
“I am not busy anyway, I’ll go with you, by the way, you understand the Tribunal’s style, I won’t hold back.”
“Of course, otherwise we wouldn’t be asking for your help… But I thought you were very busy?”
“I have been idle and bored recently, I am almost anxious.”
As Duanmu Huai said this, he stretched out a yawn. He didn’t lie, recently except for handling some paperwork, Duanmu Huai didn’t really had anything to do, he was quite bored, and wanted to find some place to exercise.