TLSD 25

Chapter 25

From tomorrow onward, I’ll need to move even more diligently. I should check out the other territories quickly, too, and look into jobs.

She pulled the quilt all the way up to her chin. Instead of the scent of acacia, the bittersweet fragrance of lilacs kept lingering at the tip of her nose.

Outside the window, the boisterous laughter of mercenaries filled the air with a noisy hum, while inside, the room remained dead silent, broken only by the loud, crisp rustle of the bedding.

Stopping her breath for a moment, she gently traced her soft lips with her thumb.

It still felt as though the faint scent of the potion lingered on her lips, where the man had poured it out completely and rubbed it in before sending her off to the village.

Pushing her finger a little deeper into her mouth, her damp, moistened tongue brushed against the tip of her thumb.

Ha-ha-ha-ha!

The rough, boisterous laughter echoing through the night air pierced straight into her burning earlobes.

She buried her face deep into the pillow. Her hot breath poured out like steam against the crisp, rustling pillowcase.

❖ ❖ ❖

“Have you paid your respects to the Lord Duke? Since he insists on staying exclusively at the annex, this old man simply never gets to see his face…”

“It’s right on the back mountain, so what’s with all the fuss about seeing his face? If you want to see my father so badly, go visit him yourself.”

“I have no desire to see him.”

The old butler drooped his thin, sparse eyebrows. Carlos clicked his tongue and unbuckled his sword.

“My father said he needs another maid at the annex.”

“Yes. I was actually in the middle of vetting candidates. I am currently selecting someone with a tight lip.”

“Good. Also, secure a house in the central district of Schweitz. A temporary place.”

“Are you referring to a residence for the young lady of Aquitaine?”

The butler carefully set down the steaming teapot.

“What kind of house shall I look for?”

“Use your own judgment.”

Undressing from his tunic without any attendant’s help, Carlos walked among the sparsely arranged black oak furniture in the spacious room.

“Understated. Then I shall prepare something in the 4th District.”

“The 12th District.”

At the low, deliberate voice, the butler came to a halt.

Carlos tied the cords of his robe and sank heavily into a wingback armchair.

“…Very well. A house happens to be vacant in the 12th District. I shall have her accommodated there.”

“A garden would be nice.”

The butler stopped walking once more. He stared intently at the face of the young master he had served for twenty-six years.

Carlos gripped his teacup and flipped through a stack of documents.

“…Then I shall look for a newly built two-story house with a garden in the most secure central area of the 12th District.”

“Hmph. Do as you please.”

Carlos set aside the monster-trend report he had been skimming through. He took another sip of tea, then tilted his head.

“What is that?”

The butler followed his gaze.

“It is the flower Your Lordship brought back. I instructed a maid to place it in a vase…”

A single white lilac blossom was stuck inside a white porcelain vase on the bedside table. In a room populated solely by stark black oak furniture, its pure white appearance felt entirely out of place.

“Did I bring that back?”

“Yes. You brought it along when unloading the luggage from the carriage.”

Carlos stroked his jawline.

Thanks to Elio’s purification, the petals still retained their vibrant moisture, looking as fresh and snowy as ever.

He stared fixedly at the pristine white petals before rising to his feet. Approaching the terrace, he gripped the window frame and looked out, taking in the central district of Schweitz at a single glance.

His gaze landed on the inn street—the only place glowing brightly even in the dead of night. One corner of his mouth twisted upward into a crooked smirk.

It was a time when even if all the archdragons vanished, monsters still swarmed the land; rugged vagabonds from the harsh Northern continent, wandering mercenaries, and all sorts of rough men would be guzzling alcohol at the inns all night long.

❖ ❖ ❖

“If you require anything further, please do not come all the way to the ducal castle; simply send a letter by post at your convenience. I will assist you immediately.”

“Thank you!”

Elio bowed deeply along with the old butler. Clutching her money pouch tightly to her chest, she bowed a fraction deeper to the coldly intimidating old butler.

When the sound of horse hooves piercing the crisp dawn air finally faded away, she let out a long breath of relief.

She hadn’t expected him to secure a house for her this quickly.

Quickly stuffing the bundle of keys handed by the butler into her front pocket, she shoved her money pouch deep inside her bag.

Gently stroking the blue front gate, she peered into the front yard. Though it was completely overrun with wild, untamed flowers, she couldn’t possibly have been more satisfied.

Fighting the tickling corners of her mouth, she walked a bouncy ten paces before whipping around to look back.

Her composure crumbled, and a bright, radiant laugh burst out.

Look at this! It’s massive…!

She had walked a full ten paces, and she was still right in front of the house…!

While it was vastly smaller than the Count’s estate, it was significantly larger than her sister’s cabin.

Elio beamed brightly, then spun around to the left. In the distance, the majestic silhouette of the ducal castle came into view.

After staring quietly at the castle for a long time, she wrapped her arms around herself and turned away. She ran briskly, as if shaking off a mischievous, lingering sorrow. Struggling to banish from her mind the man who had completely cut off contact ever since she returned to the ducal castle, she followed the path she had memorized yesterday toward the central square.

August brought an even higher frequency of rain. Merchants were frantically making preparations in anticipation of the monster breeding season that surged during the rainy season. To prevent epidemics caused by monsters whose reproductive rates multiplied several times over in the humid weather, they even slipped extra money to healing mages, yet the workforce for purification fell hopelessly short.

Merchants who failed to secure even low-level assistants carried boxes with dark, grim expressions, tore down tents, and muttered darkly about monster subjugation.

Complaints grew louder that the monster situation in Cyprus was looking ominous, with everything coming out of Cyprus turning into a crop failure. Elio peered around the market stalls with a nervous expression.

Would Schweitz really be safe? Isn’t this place right on the doorstep of the Dragon Mountains and the national border, making it the most dangerous region of all? My mana hasn’t even grown much yet…

Swallowing hard, Elio squatted down in front of a shop and pushed back the wide brim of her straw hat.

“Um, how much is this…?”

“One thousand shillings for three bunches! They’re genuinely sweet and delicious! Shall I wrap up three bunches for you?”

Realizing from the shopkeeper’s casual, informal speech that she truly looked like an ordinary commoner, Elio chuckled awkwardly and pulled out her notebook.

She carefully wrote down the prices one by one in her notebook. Since she had to manage everything on her own from now on, she needed to accurately gauge her living expenses.

“Three bunches—no, two… Just one bunch for first, please!”

Faced with food prices much higher than she anticipated, she managed to buy only modest groceries like grapes and milk. She parked her secondhand bicycle—bought at a bargain price thanks to a broken front brake—in front of the bookstore.

Hesitating for a moment, Elio pulled her cheap straw hat down lower over her face and stepped inside the bookstore.

“You’re back again? Why don’t you just buy it already? Are you still debating?”

Elio rubbed the back of her neck with an embarrassed expression and nodded a greeting to the clerk. Since she had spent the entire day yesterday browsing books, the clerk apparently remembered her.

Only after nervously wandering past the shelves of the Monster Encyclopedia did she let out a shallow breath and lean against the red bookshelf.

The Noble Knight’s First Kiss and Between Her Thighs – Vol. 1

She hugged the knight romance novel close—her small, guilty pleasure amidst a precarious life.

❖ ❖ ❖

“Do stop staring. You’ll wear holes in the lady’s face.”

Greta opened a ruby-adorned portable ashtray and tapped out her cigarette ash. She smiled subtly as she watched Carlos, who still couldn’t take his eyes off the Aquitaine portrait splashed across the front page of the newspaper.

“Senior. You’re going to fall right into the newspaper at this rate.”

Carlos chuckled softly, folded the newspaper, and stubbed out his cigar. Greta extinguished hers right beside him and rose to her feet.

Unlike Carlos in his loose tunic, Greta wore a crisply pressed dress uniform, adjusting her shirt buttons as she stood by his side.

Averting her gaze from the portrait of Aquitaine in the newspaper, she matched Carlos’s long strides as they stepped away.

“…The kid’s probably going to be pretty shocked when she sees the newspaper.”

Even though the sunlight wasn’t terribly oppressive, the man, who was unusually sensitive to heat, dripped with sweat.

Greta pulled out the folding fan she always kept in her bag, stirred up a breeze, and spoke in a cool, casual tone.

“You seem to be treating the lady a bit too much like a baby.”

“She’s young.”

Greta gazed calmly at the man’s resolute expression.

“What?”

“Senior. I think you’re developing wrinkles on your face.”

“…What?”

“You’re already twenty-six, aren’t you? Your skin is taking a toll. It’s time to start thinking about your age.”

Twenty-six was by no means an age to start worrying about wrinkles. Yet Greta spoke in a deadpan, serious tone, her eyes crinkling.

“You’re turning that age in a year, too. Why don’t you worry about yourself?”

Carlos muttered indifferently as he walked deep into the blacksmith’s alley.

Greta lowered her gaze from Carlos to her own feet for a moment, then smiled faintly.

“I’m thinking of commissioning a brand-new sword to commemorate turning twenty-five.”

“Good idea. I hear some new mithril just came in anyway.”

At Carlos’s bright, easy smile, Greta smiled back and repeatedly adjusted the cravat tied around her neck. It was a rare smile for her to see.

“Have you checked the prospective matches for the young lady of Aquitaine that I shortlisted for you last time?”

“Find someone better.”

“Even her own older brother wouldn’t fuss over her as much as you do.”

At Greta’s gentle rebuke, Carlos laughed as if conceding the point.

“I have to look after her at least that much.”

Greta inhaled the smell of molten iron piercing the midday humid air and slowly clenched and unclenched her fist.

“…I, too, harbor a sense of guilt toward the young lady of Aquitaine.”

Carlos slowed his pace and looked at Greta.

“Isn’t she a child who took the blame in my stead to preserve our family’s honor?”

Meeting Carlos’s eyes, Greta thought of the young girl brought in because of her.

While secret marriage discussions were quietly underway between Hoffmann and Schüpenhardt, the Emperor’s sudden decree pushed forward a marriage between the Imperial Princess and Carlos.

As a daughter of the honorable Marquessate and a loyalist of the faction supporting the Emperor, Greta could not possibly stand by his side—defying the Emperor and the Princess while bearing the brunt of every scandalous rumor.

Hence, the child brought in as a substitute was none other than the young lady of Aquitaine, wasn’t she? She had learned of the plan in advance from the Duke and her own father.

“Since this was all orchestrated so you could marry me, I believe I share a portion of the responsibility. I am currently considering appropriate compensation that a Hoffmann can offer.”

Carlos silently gazed up at the stifling, turquoise sky. Slowly closing and opening his dry eyes, he brushed back his sweat-dampened hair.

Orchestrated so he could marry Greta…

A faint, bitter sense of irony tugged at his lips.