Chapter 193

* * *

Claude sat at his desk holding a pen, gazing at the man in front of him.

Soon his hand started trembling, and the ink that had gathered at the tip of the pen wobbled precariously before spreading a black stain on the white paper.

“Are you alright? Young Master.”

Surprised by this, the man in front of him, Isaiah, approached with concern.

“I’m… fine.”

“You don’t look well though.”

“It’s an illusion.”@@novelbin@@

Claude knew it was rude, but he scanned Isaiah Mullern from top to bottom.

Even in the knight’s uniform designed solely for formality, there was a somewhat animalistic aura flowing from him.

‘Moreover, he’s a splendid knight who has been well-tamed since childhood to skillfully hide his claws and is also quite intelligent…’

When recalling the words ‘splendid knight’, Claude frowned.

Well, it was certain that Isaiah was a splendid knight. As proof, didn’t he even grasp the championship of the martial arts tournament?

But whether Claude could readily accept that fact positively was a slightly different issue.

“Um, Young Master…?”

“What is it? As you can see, I’m very busy. I’d appreciate it if you could quickly tell me why you came to see me.”

“First of all, your pen holder is broken.”

When he looked down at his remark, indeed half of the pen holder was snapped off and rolling on the desk.

“It seems there was something infuriating in the documents.”

‘The infuriating one is you.’

On top of being a capable knight, he was quite popular among the people in the mansion.

Maybe Isaiah was born to prove that God is unfair.

Claude completely succumbed to the inferiority complex he was feeling for the second time in his life.

“…Hah.”

He shook his head for a moment and brushed back his disheveled hair.

“It’s fine, so tell me now. Sir Mullern, what’s the matter?”

“A letter came from my mother.”

Claude hesitated for a moment and then gazed at him right away. With eyes that seemed to be expecting something.

“I came to tell you because you seemed to be expecting it.”

Isaiah lowered his head, looking very apologetic.

“There was nothing about Mel at all. It seems she didn’t go to my mother.”

“…Hmm.”

Perhaps because his expectations were shattered, Claude slumped back into his chair.

‘Well…’

Melody had a reason that could incur the Emperor’s wrath. She wouldn’t bother Isaiah’s family while keeping such a fact.

Still, he had thought there was a slight possibility.

“She didn’t even go to your family… It seems she’s staying in an unknown place.”

Claude stared out the window.

Although he had decided not to pursue her, from time to time, he couldn’t help but be curious and worried like this.

“Sir Mullern.”

Claude quickly turned his gaze before his longing for Melody deepened.

“Thank you for letting me know too.”

“…Well.”

Isaiah had a gloomy face for a moment, but soon answered with a smile.

“I thought you were the one who should know more than anyone.”

“Thank you, Sir. But is the new post manageable?”

Recently, after breaking the bean sprout pot inside the mansion, Isaiah’s post had suddenly changed.

Of course, to be more precise, the appointment came after Loretta started making candy for him.

And it was a very difficult job.

“Honestly, it’s not manageable, but I’m barely surviving.”

His new post was escorting Claude, and his main job was to follow behind him inconspicuously when he went out.

“Um, Young Master, are you really alright? So far, three people have been in charge of your escort, but suddenly it’s just me alone. Aren’t you anxious?”

Isaiah was not only anxious but also struggled to handle Claude’s escort all by himself.

Not knowing his fatigue, Claude answered with a brightly smiling face.

“But you have three famous swords, Sir.”

“I only have two arms to wield swords with!”

“It’s fine, with me it makes four.”

“I didn’t hear you say you would fight directly during the handover.”

“That’s because there was no need to fight then.”

Isaiah closed his mouth for a moment.

Somehow, his tone sounded like ‘Now there is a need to fight.’

“…Then, it would be better to reinforce the personnel even more.”

“I’d like to do that if possible, but… Hmm.”

Claude thought for a moment with his chin slightly resting on his hand.

“…There’s no one I can trust except you, Sir.”

“Huh… For someone like that, it seemed like you were looking at me with scary eyes until a moment ago.”

“I’ll apologize for that. I was a bit jealous.”

Isaiah was a bit dumbfounded at his words, even accompanied by a smile.

“You’re jealous of me, Young Master?!”

After his post changed, Isaiah had realized one thing while constantly following behind Claude.

It was the terrifying popularity of Claude Baldwin!

Flowers and gifts poured in wherever he went.

(Isaiah was in charge of carrying them.)

If the carriage stopped for a moment, someone would definitely sneak up and slip a love letter through the door crack.

(At first, Isaiah thought it was an assassin approaching and was clinging to the carriage ceiling in tension.)

When he went to a banquet, the gazes would stick to him to a ridiculous extent!

(Checking if there was anything nefarious mixed in was also Isaiah’s main task.)

Thanks to that, whenever Claude returned from an outing, Isaiah would come back exhausted.

It was nonsense for such a popular person like Claude to be jealous of Isaiah. Maybe if Isaiah was jealous of him.

Because he, who was already so popular, even snatched away Melody’s attention.

“Young Master, if you’re not reinforcing the personnel because you want to torment me, please stop. I’m already suffering enough.”

At the word suffering, Claude had a strangely pleased smile.

“It’s a misunderstanding. Do you think I would want to torment a splendid knight like you?”

“If that’s not it, I don’t think there’s any other explanation for this terrible personnel arrangement.”

“I told you, it’s not. I really don’t trust anyone other than you.”

“What kind of trust is that?”

“That’s…”

Claude stretched out the end of his words for a moment.

“…I believe there is someone you prioritize over me.”

It was a bad thing for an escort knight to have someone they prioritized over their master.

Nevertheless, Claude highly valued that aspect of Isaiah.

“If a situation arises where you have no choice but to make a certain decision in case of an emergency, I can feel very relieved. Because among the knights who have pledged loyalty to me, you’re the only one who won’t prioritize me.”

In other words, in the worst case, it meant to prioritize Melody.

But somehow it didn’t make sense. Isaiah naturally had a question.

Melody was the daughter of an ordinary baronial family. And under the patronage of the ducal family…

Could something life-threatening happen to her?

“I know you have many questions, Sir Mullern.”

“Young Master.”

“I’ll tell you soon. A journey will be perfect for having a quiet conversation. Father told you, right?”

At his words, Isaiah recalled the order he received from the Duke in the morning.

“Yes, that you’re going to the countryside, Young Master.”

“Countryside?”

Claude laughed and corrected him.

“Belhold isn’t that much of a countryside. It’s at least a mid-sized city. Enough to have a temple built.”

“D-Don’t tell me you’re going to visit a temple in the countryside?”

Isaiah frowned heavily.

Ever since the incident where he dozed off in front of the high priest spread, he had been receiving sharp glances from priests wherever he went.

The relationship between the temple and the ducal family was already not good, and now a knight of the ducal family was clearly looking down on the temple.

It didn’t take long for Isaiah, who was discouraged by this, to further distance himself from the temple.

“Actually, I had no plans to go to the temple, but seeing you so startled, I really want to visit now.”

“You really want to torment me, right? Please stop if that’s the case!”

“No, we must go. I want to offer a prayer at the temple in Belhold for the return of Miss Melody.”

“E-Even if you pray at such a rural temple, it won’t have much effect, Young Master! Please!”

“Why? Maybe Miss Melody will appear with a ‘tada’. If our prayers are truly earnest.”

At Claude’s words, shrugging his shoulders, Isaiah made a tearful face, saying, “There’s no way that would happen.”

* * *

Loretta placed the lump made by hardening sugar water on the windowsill.

Thanks to the pretty green pigment mixed in, it somehow looked like Evan’s mana was gathered.

“Now I just need to dry it here for a few days, right?”

“Yes, Miss. You made it very well. I think it will be a wonderful gift.”

Loretta imagined giving this candy to Evan.

‘You made this, Miss? Really? It’s so pretty…’

He would be delighted, shining his cute eyes brightly.

Maybe he would even add that Loretta was much prettier than this candy.

Evan always praised Loretta like that.

‘Evan, who says that, is the one who’s really pretty though.’

Loretta smiled brightly, thinking of his angelic face.

“Are you that happy?”

“Yes. I imagined giving it to him and it made me happy. I’ll tell him to eat it whenever he’s tired from studying.”

The maid tilted her head at her words as she took off her apron.

“Does Sir Mullern study too?”

“Ah.”

Loretta was so surprised that she stammered for a moment, but quickly regained her composure.

“U-uh, yes! This is a secret, but Sir Mullern studies a lot.”

“That’s unexpected… I thought he was always walking around holding a bean sprout pot.”

“Ahaha.”

Loretta quickly laughed it off and tiptoed to hang the apron on a nearby wall.

“Then I’ll go back to my room, I have to try on the dress I ordered that arrived!”

She hurried to her room. Actually, the dress she was going to try on today was a bit special.

It was the first time Loretta had personally purchased clothes.

Until now, she hadn’t paid much attention to wearing nice clothes. She just happily wore the clothes Claude or Melody ordered for her.

But thinking of meeting Evan for the first time in a while, Loretta somehow wanted to dress nicely.

Something that wouldn’t fall behind the capital’s trends and could show off the young lady’s splendid appearance.

With the help of the maids, Loretta changed clothes and lifted her head to look in the mirror.

The gray tulle lace with a tinge of green fell abundantly near her ankles.

She was worried it might not suit her since she usually didn’t choose such dark colors, but it was needless concern.

Thanks to this dress, Loretta’s face looked much brighter and more radiant than usual.

“It’s like you’ve become an adult, Miss. Shall I style your hair too?”

The maid let down Loretta’s hair that was always tied on both sides, and styled it in a curly shape.

“Wow!”

Loretta stared intently at her reflection, holding the mirror with both hands.

“I… look like a really splendid young lady!”

Wouldn’t this be enough to leave a good impression on Evan who was visiting the mansion?

‘What if Evan likes me so much that he doesn’t want to go back to the Magic Tower?’

Thinking about that, maybe she should look a bit less splendid.

But Loretta shook her head. She still wanted to appear in the best and coolest way to Evan after all.

‘If Evan cutely whines that he doesn’t want to go back to the Magic Tower, I’ll definitely hug him. I’ll absolutely hug him no matter what anyone says then!’

Evan would fill Loretta’s heart with his green mana again this time.

‘If that happens…’

She pressed her small hand firmly near her heart.

She couldn’t feel the mana, but judging by the constant feeling of emptiness, his mana had surely all disappeared already.

‘This loneliness will also disappear a bit. Yes, it will get much better. If I can just meet Evan and fill myself up with that pretty mana…’

Loretta smiled brightly at herself in the mirror.

‘So, let’s hang in there a little longer, Loretta Baldwin.’