MYKBH 06

Chapter 6

Late at night, when everyone else should have been asleep.

Kesenor was in his room with an uninvited guest.

“I heard that her mother died when she was fifteen, when her youngest sibling was born. Viscount Laverose and his wife must have been very much in love, because the Viscount was so devastated that he practically became a wreck.”

“Didn’t they have any close relatives? Usually, even distant relatives would help.”

“Yes. Viscount Laverose’s wife lost both her parents at an early age. She does have a stepbrother, but apparently they weren’t on good terms.”

“Someone who was supposedly so responsible managed to bring his entire family to ruin in just two years.”

“You never know what can happen in life. In any case, Miss Agnes is quite a bit older than her younger siblings, so it seems she did everything she could to keep the family together.”

“And eventually became a tutor.”

“Still, isn’t it fortunate? If the Count’s family of Valdemar hadn’t looked after her, the entire family would have been scattered.”

Although Aser delivered the report dutifully, her expression remained sullen.

“That concludes my report. But when are you coming back?”

Aser was Kesenor’s aide and disciple at the Magic Tower.

She had just arrived here via teleportation from Celestial, the Magic Tower in the north, so a magic circle was still faintly glowing beneath her feet. It would disappear once she returned to the tower.

“The capital should already have received a report by now. They’re very interested in the Tower Master’s every move.”

“I don’t appreciate the Crown Prince’s interest.”

“Well, I don’t particularly want to know what he’s thinking, either.”

Aser shuddered as though she didn’t even want to think about it, then crossed her arms and stood crookedly.

Kesenor was going through the documents Aser had brought.

Each time he turned a page, golden powder scattered across it and a signature appeared. At the same time, the document burst into flames and disappeared.

It had been sealed with magic and sent to wherever it needed to go.

Aser glared at the process with a deeply displeased expression, as though she were watching over a convict forced into hard labor.

“Anyway, I need to know what exactly the Tower Master is planning. The story about that little girl named Amy returning from a rift is certainly surprising, but why her sister? Don’t tell me you’ve fallen in love at first sight with a young lady who doesn’t even have magical power?”

“Leave it alone. Don’t be annoying.”

Kesenor knew that was how it would look to someone who didn’t know the whole story.

He also understood what Aser was worried about.

The Celesta family had married exclusively among mages for generations and produced their descendants that way.

Having two archmage parents did not necessarily mean their child would become an archmage, but a mage was never born to two non-mage parents.

There were occasional mutations, but they were exceedingly rare.

Therefore, Kesenor would naturally marry a mage and pass his title down to the child born from that marriage.

If he failed to do so, even the name of Celestial, including that of its Tower Master and the legendary mages who had left their mark on history, could change.

As a mage of Celestial, Aser was essentially telling her Tower Master not to act recklessly.

Of course she can say that because she doesn’t know anything about the World Tree.

Kesenor scoffed inwardly.

Only his parents and the elders of the Magic Tower knew about the ‘mark’ on the back of his hand.

Aser had no authority to know the secret, and naturally, Kesenor had no desire to casually mention it either.

The World Tree possessed authority capable of shaking the entire world.

In the presence of something like that, didn’t his position as the Tower Master of Celestial seem utterly ridiculous?

And above all, I don’t like being treated like some kind of stud so blatantly.

Although it was something that had been decided from the moment he was born, there were times when it felt suffocating.

Even though he was uncomfortable, he pretended not to hear her and continued processing the mountain of documents.

But Aser eventually added one more remark.

“I really don’t understand. How could you possibly be interested in such a tiny, childlike young lady—”

Kesenor’s eyebrow twitched noticeably.

The finger that had been turning the pages changed direction, and a beam of light shot out, sealing Aser’s mouth shut.

“Mm! Mmph…! Mmmph!”

“I told you to leave it alone.”

He sighed as though she were troublesome and lowered his gaze.

The mountain of documents was gradually shrinking.

Requests from the mages of the Magic Tower begging for more research funding, various requests from the territory, financial matters, and everything else—

As the ‘Marquess of Celesta’ and ‘Tower Master of Celestial,’ Kesenor always had a mountain of work waiting for him.

Just two days ago, he’d been buried in that life.

Processing mountains of documents, burying himself in books as thick as bricks while researching magic, and then training and getting tossed around among the knights so that he wouldn’t lose his physical strength.

It hadn’t even been that long, yet it already felt like a dream.

Kesenor’s gaze lingered outside the window for a moment.

It was pitch-black and quiet outside.

But because of the vast amount of magical power filling his body, Kesenor’s senses were unusually sharp.

Even with the windows closed, he could clearly hear the people in the mansion whispering among themselves, as well as the chirping of insects outside.

Unlike the Magic Tower, which was so quiet it could be oppressive because magic was used to block all sound, this place should have felt extremely noisy.

Yet somehow, this place felt even quieter.

Such a childlike young lady…

It wasn’t exactly wrong.

She had been running through the fields and climbing trees with nine-year-old children, playing with them before coming inside and bickering with them over their studies.

Of course, there were probably difficulties of her own, but to ‘Kesenor Celesta,’ it all felt like something remarkably trivial.

If her greatest concern until now had been supporting her family, even that would be resolved with the gold coins she’d obtained from the dragon’s lair.

Then her future should be quite peaceful.

She said she was a tomboy when she was young.

He intended to make a good impression on her somehow.

He had deliberately tried touching her, and when she seemed uncomfortable with it, he’d apologized.

Not only that, he’d also tried approaching her more gently.

And then he remembered the way Agnes had looked when she’d been pleased by his kindness while desperately trying not to show it.

When he imagined what Agnes might be like if she were simply a normal young lady rather than a tutor—

Kesenor felt something strange.

He turned his gaze back into the room.

Aser was blinking as though she’d seen something that couldn’t possibly be real.

When she reached up and touched the corner of her mouth, she discovered that, at some point, the corners of her lips had curved upward.

Kesenor covered his own mouth with his hand and lowered it again.

“Next, investigate the Valdemar family.”

“Mmph… Mmmph!”

“Something doesn’t sit right with me. According to your investigation, the Countess was doing Miss Agnes a favor out of goodwill. Yet when she spoke to me, she acted as though she wanted to dismiss her as soon as possible.”

Of course, from Kesenor’s perspective, it was something he didn’t need to concern himself with at all.

Once Amy returned, Agnes wouldn’t need to work as a tutor anymore, and she would probably remain on friendly terms with the Countess of Valdemar.

And yet, he had a bad feeling about it.

That morning.

Before going to see Agnes and the children, Kesenor had met with the Countess of Valdemar.

‘Are you asking me to check on the children’s studies?’

‘I know it’s an impertinent request, but since I’m confined to this estate, I have no way of knowing whether the children are learning properly. As their mother, I’m always worried about those immature children, and I can’t sleep at night.’

‘From what you’ve said, isn’t Miss Agnes the one teaching them?’

‘That is true, but the children have grown quite a bit now. They’re difficult children, so it’s hard to send them to a boarding school. How long can they continue running around like unruly little children?’

Yes, that made sense.

It was, after all, nothing more than lessons being given by a young noblewoman.

She must have been frustrated enough to ask me.

Thinking that, he had simply smiled and let it go.

‘Ah, and of course, I’d appreciate it if you didn’t tell Miss Agnes. We intend to make another request of her, so we’d like to speak to her ourselves when the time comes.’

Since he was also curious about what kind of person she was, Kesenor had watched Agnes throughout the day, as the Countess requested.

What exactly is the problem…?

He couldn’t understand it.

The children are the problem, not Agnes.

Agnes was a surprisingly excellent teacher.

With children that troublesome, no one else would be able to teach them better than Agnes, no matter who they hired.

Wouldn’t it make more sense to hold on to Miss Agnes instead?

He understood that it wasn’t easy for parents to look at their children objectively.

But if the Countess intended to act as though she were generously helping a young lady from a struggling family, the children were far too hopeless for that.

Who does she think is going to handle those brats if not Miss Agnes?

And then, at dinner that evening—

‘I heard from the Marquess that Miss Amy is alive.’

‘Miss Agnes, I’m so happy for you! You must have suffered so much all this time.’

Unlike the cold way she’d spoken about Agnes that morning, the Countess treated her with such warmth.

Kesenor couldn’t shake the feeling that there was something two-faced about her.

Well, it has nothing to do with me.

It was an awkward and insignificant life, the sort of life that could be dismissed as nothing more than children’s play.

Even though he knew there was no need to concern himself with it—

‘You have to do better this time. Don’t hurt her, and don’t upset her.’

At that moment, a terrible fear that no ordinary child could possibly have experienced appeared in Amy’s large eyes.

It didn’t look anything like the fear of a six-year-old.

At that moment, the child had clearly been seeing the future.

Apparently, in the future she saw, I must have been an absolute bastard.

If it hadn’t been for Amy’s warning, Kesenor would have thought of Agnes’s life as nothing more than a child’s game and done whatever he pleased with it.

After all, a mere viscount’s daughter was insignificant to the ‘Marquess of Celesta.’

Kesenor picked up the tea sitting beside him.

It was the same tea he’d drunk with Agnes during the day.

He’d heard that it was a herbal tea available only in this southern region.

The tea had already gone cold, and it tasted atrocious.

Aser stared at him as though he were insane and shook her head in disbelief.

Kesenor let out a small laugh and released the magic sealing Aser’s mouth.

Without even mentioning the fact that he’d sealed her mouth shut, Aser immediately began grumbling.

“Is that young lady hiding some kind of priceless treasure or something? You usually prefer having romances with magic, so of course I’m worried when you start bothering yourself with pointless things like this.”

Kesenor gave a low laugh.

“More or less.”

“What?”

“That’s why I need to get close to her before anyone else finds out.”

“Anyone else? Who?”