15 Chapter-15

The door of the room opened and Sebastian entered with a deep frown on his usually stoic face, and along with that was a file in hands.

"Lord Duke, I have returned."

Sebastian informed and passed the file to Duke. Seeing the look on Sebastian's face, Duke felt weird but still took the file in his hand and began going over that after placing the crumbled letter on the table.

Sebastian who saw that letter had his frown even more deepened, 'Royal Family? Why did they send the letter now...the First Prince had his 10th birthday ceremony not long ago, so there was no need to send a letter in this time period...wait...don't tell me!'

Sebastian silently got lost in his thoughts. He had more knowledge about politics as he worked shoulder to shoulder with the previous Duke, who was most proficient when it came to politics.

The more Duke read the information that Sebastian collected on Kyle, the more he frowned.

But his eyes were open wide in surprise and shock, 'Am I really reading about that kid...who showed such manners and respect before?'

Duke mechanically turned towards Sebastian who was over his thoughts now and his usual stoic look was back on his face.

"Is this real?"

Duke asked while pointing at the documents in his hand. He had a disbelieve written all over his face.

Sebastian nodded, "Yes, Lord Duke. I collected it from the kids and the adults that lived in the slums. Even though some force was required but everything is true."

Duke placed the documents back on the table and leaned on his chair while massaging his temples.

'Why the hell did all the problems appear on the same day...Haa...'

The information on Kyle was too much for him to digest. A kid with having unknown origin was taken care of by a drunkard, who died when the kid turned 7. After which, the kid fought others for food and water but it wasn't enough. The inner circle of slums offered him food in exchange for killing other kids which he did.

'A ten-year-old kid with blood on his hands...When did the territory that father managed so well become like this, and here I am, sitting on my table, signing the documents, and thinking of how messed up everything had become for me? And how many problems had risen for my family...'

Duke silently thought. He had no problem with the black-haired boy having blood on his hands as he himself had some, and even at a much younger age. On the contrary, he felt pity, pity for the boy to suffer like this.

"Sebastian, what do you think?"

Duke asked his loyal attendant without turning his head. A thoughtful look appeared on Sebastian's face before answering,

"Lord Duke, that kid would be a good addition to the dukedom."

"Why?"

Duke asked with a surprised expression while turning towards Sebastian. It was hard for him to believe that his attendant showed such a high evaluation to someone.

"For his intelligence," Sebastian answered with a small smile.

A look of realization appeared on Duke's face as the whole scene of what happened during the day playing in his mind. The whole scene of how Kyle acted appeared in his mind making him realize how much he underestimated the boy.

'Right...'

Duke nodded at Sebastian. But then hesitation appeared on his face and along with that was the worry.

"But is it alright to leave my daughter with the boy?" Duke asked worriedly.

Sebastian shook his head before replying, "We need to keep guard on him first. And, I think Miss Evangeline would be the best choice."

Hearing Sebastian's reply, Duke nodded. It was the best choice for him too.

"Right, Evangeline could help with that."

A smile appeared on his face before guilt washed over him, 'We are relying on her too much...'

Evangeline had helped his family too much, he had seen her since the time he was just a little kid and as he grew, he saw and understood from his Father about the importance of Evangeline on his family.

But alas, he had no other choice too.

"Sebastian, I need you to teach that kid everything you could. If he could become helpful to my family and my Dukedom, then it doesn't matter how much blood his hands are covered in."

Duke ordered with a fire of determination burning in his eyes.

"And we will be visiting Royal Family next month when Lilli will have her awakening ceremony."

Hearing that, Sebastian mentally sighed. He understood that what he thought was true.

"Yes, Lord Duke."

Sebastian respectfully bowed in agreement and then stood behind Duke as the latter started to look through further information on Kyle.

Duke cared for his daughter, and he know that if he threw Kyle out of the mansion just for killing someone, then it would hurt his daughter more than anything. At the same time, he didn't care for the life of some kids he never saw, but if he had interacted with those kids once, then his decision would be different but he never did. No matter how much he cared for his Dukedom, to Duke, his family was his first and main priority.

--------------------

(Timeskip-7 days, or a week.)

(Kyle's POV)

It had been a week since I started living in the mansion. My life got a schedule now, with the morning starting with breakfast after cleaning myself, and then spending time with Little Lady and listening to her talking about different things and playing some games, after which was Lunch. After Lunch, I had to learn the etiquette of how a butler should behave from Sebastian as Little Lady would be taking her etiquette class on how to be a Lady at that time.

After which, I was free. I mean, they can't let a malnourished kid like me learn all the time, but I was not completely free as I was focusing on doing light exercises that would be beneficial for my body.

And after a week of continuous efforts, my body got some flesh in it. It didn't look the same as before.

But the best part was that I didn't have to eat with Duke's family.

Why? Cause Little Lady did her breakfast with her Father in her Mother's room. And during Lunch, which Duke did late as the Duchess need a long time gap in between to eat her food, and Duke always ate with her, so Little Lady had her Lunch in my room.

I was surprised on the first day but quickly got used to it.

And I also managed to gather information in the mansion.

How? Well, let's say that women have the habit of gossiping about everything so I managed to hear bits of pieces that they spread among themselves.

The first thing I managed to know shocked me to the core.

Duke had married another woman. These words were something that I never even managed to hear. During these days, my respect for Duke increased many times after seeing how hard he worked and how he managed his schedule, even though not much but he still did spend with Duchess and Little Lady, something I truly respect.

But Duke marrying another woman never crossed my mind, even in the game, he was shown to be alone after the death of his wife.

Another weird thing that I found was...I was not able to even catch a glimpse of this Second Wife. Even her name wasn't known to me, or more like to any servant. I needed more information but I wasn't able to get near servants for too long as I had other things to do. As for making friends with the servants, it never crossed my mind and it will never be.

Then the third thing was the behavior of the servants. After I lived for three days in the mansion, their disgust and hate for me mellowed out, but it remained the same for Little Lady. They still showed disgust and hate to Little Lady which that little girl handled all in herself.

And, the fourth thing was Evangeline. She had been keeping eye on me. I could say that for sure.

Why? Because she herself told me that like it was nothing at all. But I am not against monitoring, on the contrary, I am happy as it would help me gain their trust more easily.

Well, the last thing that become a problem for me was the lessons that Sebastian gave me. He seemed to like teaching someone so much that he made me learn how to even properly tie the knot of your shoelaces. But at the same time, he was like a kind grandfather.

I guess he saw me as his grandchild that he never had.

But it was interesting to learn about being a butler in-depth too.

You hear nothing, You see nothing, You only serve.

Sebastian told me this thing first. The thing that I need to follow as Little Lady's butler, but am I going to follow that?

No, I am not only going to be her butler but her bodyguard too. Assassins attempts were the common trope for the noble children. And today was the first day I could officially learn some weapon arts, but I already know more than enough techniques, what I needed more was the experience and let my body get synchronized with my memory.

Little Lady will be spending all of her time with her family today as it was Sunday, a national holiday.