* * *
‘This is nice.’
Chloe smiled slyly as she looked around the Count’s estate.
‘Way more fun than the Temple.’
The mission assigned to her by the Temple this ti suited her perfectly.
Luxurious dresses, dazzling jewelry, playing the part of a noble.
Chloe narrowed her eyes at the marble laid throughout the mansion.
‘That nouveau riche slave bastard sure knows how to live in style.’
Next to Chloe stood Rosie.
It was because she had offered to show her around the mansion earlier.
Chloe tilted her chin up and leisurely ordered,
“Well then, where do we go? Show around first. I want to see my room too.”
And Rosie, yawning, replied sluggishly.
“Okay. Sure...”
Her face looked gentle, but her speech was slow to the point of being frustrating.
“Zahid and I just got back from the Academy, so we’re terribly tired... but I guess we’ll just have to drag our exhausted bodies all around this big house, huh.”
“What?”
“There must’ve been a reason Linna couldn’t co to the Academy... It must’ve been hard on her, having to endure you the whole ti.”
The tone was polite, but the content was anything but.
‘So cheeky, acting all nice with that innocent little voice...’
In any case, it was a stroke of luck that Julian wasn’t around.
From what she'd overheard, Yuta had knocked him out and taken him away.
‘As expected of Lord Yuta.’
Chloe’s cheeks flushed as she thought,
‘He must be thinking of even from afar. He must’ve heard about my mission. And he’s trying to help ...’
If she succeeded in this mission, she might be promoted to High Priest.
She hadn’t beco one from the start, but still, she had achieved sothing great for the Temple.
‘If I beco a High Priest, I’ll be a worthy partner for Lord Yuta.’
Chloe barely managed to suppress the twitching corners of her lips.
Living here like royalty for a few years didn’t sound so bad.
Spending the Noart Count Family’s money lavishly, that is.
‘I just hope Lord Yuta doesn’t et another woman during that ti... That’s the only thing that bothers .’
Chloe glanced sideways at Rosie, who was yawning loudly beside her.
‘But this girl...’
Her eyes sparkled.
‘She’s been enjoying all this good stuff all this ti? As a re apprentice?’
That carefree-looking face suddenly beca annoying.
‘She’s kinda... hard to look at.’
* * *
That evening, after dinner.
Felide went straight to Caliban and launched into a monologue.
“Rosie, that girl’s not it. Honestly, sure, everyone’s young now, so they’ll let it go—but later, everyone’s going to talk behind her back.”
“What?”
“She forced her way into an engagent with a duke family way out of her league! You know this won’t end well in the long run, Father.”
Felide spoke with spit flying, clearly agitated.
“Your goal is to get into the Grand Nobles Council anyway, isn’t it, Father? Then let’s use this chance to change the fiancée.”
His eyes glead with excitent.
“Chloe is half blood of the Idra Ducal House. It’s a good match. And you saw it earlier, didn’t you? The two of them could actually hold a conversation. Isn’t that the whole point of arranged marriages between noble houses?”
“Since when did ‘one boiled pea of a comnt’ count as a aningful conversation?”
“Uh, anyway! Chloe seems to like him too. Seems the Duke of Dyfenril caught her fancy.”
“Hmph.”
Caliban snorted.
“That brat is handso, I’ll give him that. That’s why Rosie went crazy after seeing his picture in the newspaper, saying she wanted him for herself. Hmm. Seeing him in person, I think Rosie’s taste is actually pretty decent.”
“Father! That’s not what I ant! What does Rosie’s taste have to do with anything here!”
Felide raised his voice.
“Felide.”
Caliban waved his hand as if exhausted.
“You don’t need to shout like that. I already understand your touching paternal instinct to marry off the daughter you just found.”
“No, I’m really thinking of the family’s good!”
“What is this, breeding livestock? I’m tired. Get out. And don’t bring up this nonsense ever again.”
“Our Chloe—!”
Felide shouted, his eyes bloodshot.
“What if she turns out to be truly exceptional?”
“What?”
“What if our Chloe turns out to be as amazing as Julian used to be!”
“Felide.”
Caliban chuckled coldly and spoke in a low voice. His eyes flashed with a sharp warning.
“Don’t say ‘what if’ in front of . I only care about results.”
In that mont, the pressure was overwhelming.
He was no longer the senile old man grinning and doting on Rosie.
“It’s a good holiday season. I’d rather not raise my voice in the house.”
Caliban’s eyes glinted as he warned.
“Get out. Now.”
In the end, Felide awkwardly got up and left.
“Good grief.”
After he left, Caliban pressed his forehead and sighed deeply.
His children really were a failure.
Murlock, Felide, Monica—each one full of greed and none with self-awareness.
Including the disgraceful Valia who had run away from ho years ago, there wasn’t a single child worth anything.
He was just as exhausted from the journey and was about to rest when—
This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.
“Count.”
His aide spoke cautiously.
“Um... the Duke of Dyfenril is waiting.”
“What? For ?”
“Yes. He’s been standing in the hallway the entire ti you were talking with Lord Felide.”
“What’s that brat want? Let him in.”
Before long, Zahid entered with his large wolf.
Despite surely having travel fatigue, Zahid’s eyes were clear and steady.
‘The kid...’
He really did look like he’d been carved from jade.
Those defiant purple eyes looked straight at Caliban.
‘For a runt, he sure has presence.’
He was still young, but his long legs were planted firmly on the ground.
Even after Felide’s shouting match, Caliban’s own aura wasn’t exactly mild—but Zahid stood his ground.
‘A hundred tis better than Felide.’
Even Caliban’s own children would have bowed their heads by now.
‘Looks like our Rosie brought ho a big shot.’
Their eyes t.
“What.”
Caliban was the first to speak.
“Did you co to play peekaboo at midnight or sothing?”
From the start, Caliban didn’t treat Zahid like a duke. He didn’t bother with formalities.
Zahid had never once shown anger at such treatnt.
But this ti, sothing simring could be felt under the surface.
“If you’re thinking of changing my fiancée—”
He paused, his tone hard.
“I ca to tell you that’s not going to happen.”
“Oh? What made you think that all of a sudden?”
“At dinner, the intentions of the other adults were clear.”
Felide and Monica had kept insinuating that “Chloe was a better match for Zahid.”
Caliban suddenly felt like teasing.
“Well, didn’t you not want to get engaged to Rosie in the first place?”
“......”
“You were practically throwing a fit about how forced it was. So I guess you do like her after all? Well, too bad.”
Caliban narrowed his eyes.
“My granddaughter’s going to live with for life.”
“Don’t joke.”
Zahid looked him straight in the eye, his expression unchanging.
“Either way, I’ve said what I ca to say.”
As if determined not to be swayed by wordplay, he added firmly,
“And once I decide, I don’t change my mind. That’s the Dyfenril way.”
“Hm.”
Caliban leaned back deeply in his chair.
The Dyfenril Duchy.
A venerable house marked by the sigil of the Divine Beast wolf.
The previous Duke had those sa eyes. He had been a rather impressive man.
People often described Caliban as a cold, ruthless embodint of ambition.
Once, he might have agreed.
But after eting Rosie, things changed—if only slightly.
“There are still many apprentices like deep in the Temple. Please do your best for those children.”
He found himself wishing, at least, that children could be happy.
Rosie had been one of those miserable children, after all.
“If I provoke him any further, I really might lose my granddaughter.”
Caliban chuckled softly and slowly stood, ruffling Zahid’s hair.
“Go to bed, kid. You’re too young to be shouldering worries like this.”
“I am the head of Dyfenril—”
“Yeah, and that burden alone is more than enough for one person. So forget about your fiancée’s ssed-up family drama.”
What kind of mindset had brought the boy rushing to see him right after dinner?
Caliban clicked his tongue and muttered,
“A wolf pup is still a wolf.”
As expected from the house that carried the Divine Beast of the wolf, Dyfenril was always unbending.
They say wolves choose one mate for life, and remain loyal until death.
The reason that boy hadn’t yet told Rosie—who kept showering him with affection—that he liked her back must have been because he understood the weight of those words.
For him, a simple confession would be the sa as declaring he'd /N_o_v_e_l_i_g_h_t/ only ever look at one woman for the rest of his life.
‘The mont Rosie hears those words... Honestly, his life’s already tied to her.’
Judging by how he barked all the ti but acted like Rosie’s loyal hound...
Caliban rembered seeing him at the Academy, casually carrying Rosie’s things and making sure she ate—and he chuckled.
‘Still, with Chloe’s sudden appearance... I get the feeling Rosie won’t have to wait much longer to hear those words.’
Conveniently, Julian wasn’t around either.
‘When obstacles appear, they just burn hotter—that’s how that house is...’
With that uneasy but inevitable feeling, Caliban clicked his tongue once again.
Reviews
All reviews (0)