"If you make Sera fall for you, I won’t forgive you."
"Um, I’m sorry. I don’t understand what you're saying at all."
Edmund raised his fur, giving the warning to the child with a dismissive look, blinking only once.
His eyes, sharp and almost threatening, were strangely soft and gentle in their gaze.
Ugh.
Looking into those eyes, Elodie felt a sudden awareness that she was needlessly tornting an innocent person.
She awkwardly stepped back, unable to do anything else.
"Sera, don’t treat soone who ca to help you like that."
Sera pulled Elodie into her embrace and let out a light sigh.
"I know that the young lord is perfect in every way, but rest assured, I will never fall for him."
Edmund, who had been rejected without even a confession, sat quietly, unsure of how to respond.
He kept fiddling with the sword handle, clearly wanting to escape this awkward situation and swing a sword instead.
Though they were in a carriage, so there was nowhere to run.
...They look like they don’t even care about each other.
Elodie had already expected this, but it still felt the sa upon further reflection.
She stopped being unnecessarily sharp with him and slouched in Sera’s embrace.
"Hey, I have sothing to ask."
"Yes, anything."
"…Why are you so kind?"
"?"
Edmund, surprised by the unexpected question, furrowed his brow slightly and smiled, as if holding back his embarrassnt.
"I'm not that kind."
His answer was flawless.
Normally, a kind person wouldn’t even realize they were kind because they would endlessly self-examine.
"Do you carry sunflower seeds with you?"
Elodie asked casually, genuinely curious if he still carried sunflower seeds like he did in his past life.
"Did the servants tell you?"
Edmund asked in surprise, wondering how she knew.
Instead of answering, Elodie shrugged nonchalantly.
"I don’t have them with now."
"Why?"
"Actually, I used to carry them because I rembered Lady Ratson."
"?"
Elodie was taken aback.
She hadn’t expected her to be involved in this matter at all.
She had thought he simply had a peculiar fondness for feeding mice.
"Why? Couldn’t you find because I’m the daughter of the High Priest?"
Was it because of the guilt of not fulfilling the family’s request?
Knowing Edmund’s sense of responsibility, Elodie asked, thinking he would feel guilty for not having found her.
"No, it’s not that... It’s because you were a child."
"...."
"I didn’t know you, but I hoped at least you wouldn’t starve in a foreign land."
So, he had been buying sunflower seeds and piling them up for every mouse he saw.
What a fool.
If he hadn’t found her by then, he should have thought she was dead by now.
He had done what he could, so there was no need for any further responsibility. He should just forget it.
"I’m glad you’re safe."
Elodie paused for a mont.
Those were the first words Edmund had said when he t Elodie face-to-face.
But this ti, those words seed to carry a very different weight.
As he bent down to et her eye level, Edmund pulled out a neatly wrapped cookie instead of sunflower seeds from his pocket.
"Will you forgive with this?"
When she opened the envelope, she saw the cookie was filled with various nuts.
Elodie raised her eyes.
Edmund was smiling faintly.
"...Stop it."
"What?"
"Stop smiling. You’re making fond of you."
Why was he so kind?
If Elodie were a normal girl, she would have fallen completely for him and made him her first love in that mont.
But since she had already given her heart to Sera, there was no real excitent for her.
There’s no way he acts like this with everyone, right?
If he did, then he truly wouldn’t even realize it, and he would be guilty of sothing far worse.
Elodie stared at Edmund with narrowed eyes.
"Do you not like the cookies?"
Edmund muttered seriously, "Maybe I should’ve prepared sunflower seeds after all."
What a soft-hearted person...
At that mont, Sera, who had been watching the situation, interjected.
"Young lord, I’m truly grateful that you decided to accompany on my personal matters, but…"
The girl’s eyes turned sharper than ever.
"Please don’t try to charm Elodie."
No, Sera. Charm her?
That soft-hearted fool was simply unaware of how kind he was to everyone, with no intention behind it...
"...I didn’t do anything like that."
But Edmund averted his gaze, as if feeling guilty.
Hello?
When he was warned not to make Sera fall for him, he didn’t know how to react, but now he was acting entirely differently.
Perhaps Sera noticed the change, and her tone beca much sharper.
"It looks like we’ve arrived."
But unfortunately, they were already in front of the Bluewood mansion.
"I’ll go ahead and take care of things. You can relax and co out whenever you’re ready."
While the carriage jolted slightly, Edmund opened the door and jumped out in a flash, disappearing in an instant.
Sera glared at the back of the boy with a very angry expression.
She then turned to Elodie and spoke.
"Edmond is a very dangerous person, just like you said."
"Mm..."
"Don’t follow him just because he gave you cookies. Don’t et him alone either. Got it?"
Perfectly treated like a kidnapper.
Wait, wasn’t I the one who thought we should separate Edmund from Sera?
Why had it turned into Sera needing to keep an eye on Edmund?
Elodie had no idea why.
***
“Is it really okay for just the three of us to co without the knights...?”
It was an unnecessary worry.
By the ti Sera and Elodie stepped into the mansion, the situation had already been completely settled.
Every ti they moved deeper into the mansion, they found unconscious knights sprawled out everywhere.
It was as if a typhoon had passed through.
"S-Sera..."
The mont Edmund saw Sera, he pressed a finger down on Count Bluewood's shoulder to pin him in place, stopping him from getting up.
"Don't move without permission."
"Ugh..."
Count Bluewood, still kneeling, couldn’t move an inch.
He was shaking violently, looking utterly humiliated, unable to even make a proper resistance.
"Did you co to rescue or not? How could you do this to your father?"
Surprisingly, it seed like he had no idea what was going on.
Is it because they barged in suddenly?
They hadn’t co to the Bluewood family with any polite warning.
At most, they were just looking for a way to escape, without even the slightest remorse.
I didn’t expect him to be this oblivious, though.
anwhile, the Countess and her daughter, who were clearly the ones leading Sera’s abuse, stayed silent, doing nothing.
Count Bluewood begged.
"Isn’t that right, Sera? You’ve always been such a good, obedient daughter, haven’t you? Didn’t you leave to ask for leniency on our behalf, to beg for rcy?"
Wow...
Elodie was speechless.
She was honestly amazed.
How could soone be so self-centered, interpreting everything in a way that was favorable to them?
Before, he kept insisting that his daughter was nothing more than a servant.
Now, when it beca unfavorable for him, he didn’t even blink before demanding that his child fulfill her duties as a daughter.
At this point, it was clear he had been born without the basic qualities a human should possess.
After placing Elodie down, Sera walked up to Count Bluewood.
"Leniency?"
She chuckled softly.
"Well, I was planning to show leniency."
"I knew it! ...But why is it that the young lord treats like a criminal? Hurry up and tell him it’s all a misunderstanding."
"I just saved you from the brink of annihilation—if this isn't leniency, then what is it?"
"...What?"
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