“ISN’T NOAH DE CASTILLA running a business?” Belissa mentioned that he’s a robust young man who was running a business.
“Yes, but his family is under such a huge debt that it’s hard to pay back the amount with only the meagre profits of his small business.”
Of course. Noah’s backstory wasn’t good in the original either.
“Then what’s the financial status of the Elrand County now? The lord hasn’t been managing it for seven years, so does it make sense that it’s still being maintained now? Or have the extended family taken over?”
Numerous questions were shot out one after another. Why did my uncle do that?
What happened to the County? Was the family involved with him being out at large?
And why the hell was I…
After agonizing over it, I had a hunch that the Duke had a hand in this situation.
I didn’t know why my uncle acted so recklessly, but I was sure that the Duke knew what was going on in the Elrand territory right now.
Sure enough, the man sitting across from me confirmed my suspicions.
“Right now, the finances of Elrand County are being managed by the Leon Duchy. In addition, the Imperial Family seems to have gotten involved.”
But this was unexpected. Why was the Imperial Family involved?
If the territory’s lord was wanted, it didn’t matter who amongst the extended family was going to be picked to be the next Count. Unless the family committed treason.
And apart from that, I’m still alive.
As Raphael de Elrand, I’m the only living descendant of the departed Count and Countess.
Because I was deep in thought, Cassander, who wouldn’t have been able to intrude into my thoughts normally, shouted loudly.
—Because of this weird ghost, our family’s about to fall to ruin!
Ugh. Seriously.
Why does this man keep calling me a ghost?
Who’s the ghost between us, huh?
—Goodness, oh goodness me. The Elrand County, a founding family of the country, is about to fall to ruin.
Ah, it’s loud.
The crying voice in my head that kept blaming other people was so annoying. I’m going to get a migraine again.
When I pressed my temple with my fingertips, trying to soothe the throbbing, Damian drew closer to me.
“It would be good to wrap this up soon.”
“…Alright.”
I looked at the man in front of me.
“Did you use a fork to get this information? Why is it full of holes?”
It was too vague. I brought it up because there’s a lot of things that didn’t match up.
Isn’t this a place where information was supposedly of quality?
Or was there a more reputable place?
I didn’t even utter these words, but the man became serious.
“Even so, it’s difficult to get intel on the Baron of Castilla. It’s a bit hard to buy out any of their estate’s employees because they don’t have new servants, and all the servants that stay there now have been with the Baron for a long time.”
“Isn’t it enough to pay them? What I want isn’t this wishy-washy information.”
“I apologize about this, but please give me more time.”
“…Sure. Then I’ll be back again, exactly a week later. Will that be enough time?”
The man replied with a serious gaze.
“Of course.”
“Then, I’ll believe in you. If you give me information like this, I’ll spread rumors that this guild gives out inadequate information.”
The man chuckled under his breath.
“I understand.”
Was what I said funny? But anyway, there was something else I wanted to ask.
“E-b-s-s, or abyss. Eye burning spicy sauce, right? It’s the abbreviation*.”
As I got up from my seat, I asked lightly without any thought. However, the man’s reaction was striking.
“H-How did you know?”
No, I mean, is this something to be surprised about?
“Well, it was obvious.”
“Do you know what it is? Have you ever had it in your eyes?”
“You talk too much.”
At that time, Damian blocked the space between me and the man, speaking grimly. The man raised both his hands up in surrender.
Then, I asked back without thinking about it much.
“No, it wasn’t me. But I poured it once…”
Before I could finish talking, I realized just how many times I poured the spicy sauce into someone’s eyes.
It was exactly one time.
When I ran away from the booger king.
No way…
No way.
He’s a prince right now.
But was he still involved with the underworld?
The Emperor won’t sit still.
Somehow, I looked back at the man, who was now fidgeting in discomfort. He looked like a kind enough person considering he’s the face of an information guild.
However, it’s not right to judge a book by its cover.
First of all, the booger king himself looked like an immaculate person just going by his face.
I shook my head and left the room. Damian followed behind me.
After exiting, I looked around, then reached up so Damian could hold me.
With me in his arms, Damian flew as high as he did before, soared and arrived safely back at the balcony of my room, avoiding the knight’s awareness.
“Thank you, Damien.”
“If you need me, then please feel free to call me anytime.”
Damien’s expression betrayed nothing even as I had called in the middle of the night just to use him as a taxi.
While staring at his face, which was neutral as per usual, I asked him a question.
“What’s mana resonance?”
I remembered what Damian mentioned before. At that time, I didn’t pay attention because I thought that I had nothing to do with mana.
I didn’t really feel strongly about it, nor did I think I was connected in any way, but I still wanted to ask.
“It’s a magical power that is a connection between Master’s mana and my own mana. If I move away from Master’s mana range, I will still have my own mana, but I won’t be able to use my abilities.”
“…Isn’t that disadvantageous only to you?”
“It’s only one aspect of this relationship. I feel comfortable with it.”
I didn’t quite get it. If he’s a shapeshifter, wouldn’t he want to live freely?
I think I heard that magical creatures had better instincts than humans, but their population declined as they suffered a lot after being taken as slaves and imprisoned.
But why did Damien say he’s comfortable?
I looked up to stare at his face.
Damian, who was shorter than Lucian but taller than Doggy, was a man who had a firm physique and attractive copper skin.
His light tree-colored eyes looked down at me.
My worries abated as I saw how calm he was.
If I look at him, he was a little unusual, too.
He didn’t talk a lot.
Was it like that because he’s a shapeshifter?
It’s like he knows something that humans would never know.
I bid Damian good night and entered my room. Damian likewise said good night, then flew away from the balcony.
As I entered the room, I carefully closed the balcony door. I took off my robe, but then light powered by magic suddenly illuminated the room.
“Ack—!”
I was really surprised. I was so surprised that it felt like my heart was about to pop out of my throat.
But a large hand reached over my lips. I opened my tightly shut eyes.
It was Lucian.
When I saw him holding his index finger over his lips, I quickly nodded.
As his calloused hand moved away from my lips, I was really, really, really surprised.
“B-Brother?”
Why was he in my room in the middle of the night?
Did he notice that I left? When I looked up at Lucian with an innocent look, I saw him bite his lower lip as though he was in trouble.
Oh, what a sight. I had no choice but to blush even without realizing it.
As expected of the male lead! ARGHH!
How could he make a person excited just by doing something so small? What a natural charmer! I’m pretty sure he’s a kind, gentle male lead now.
“Ray, where did you go so late at night?”
Perhaps it’s because he hadn’t talked for a long while, but his voice was deep and husky.
When he asked so suddenly, I stammered in response without even the time to think.
“No, that’s… Um… It’s because…”
Lucian stopped me before I could continue.
“Just what are you so immersed in that you keep leaving on your own? Can’t you tell me?”
Lucian furrowed his brows so pitifully that I felt sorry right then. I didn’t know how to deal with him when he’s acting like this.
Of course, I surrendered.
“Actually…”
I confessed everything to Lucian without leaving out a single detail.
It’s unlikely that Lucian would talk to the Duke about this, so I just continued voicing my thoughts as well.
“It’s really weird. I just don’t understand what my uncle’s doing. And what is the Duke thinking by being responsible for the Count…?”
We were sitting side by side on my bed. I placed the robe that I wore earlier over the bed, then sighed deeply.
“Brother, think about it carefully. The Duke didn’t tell me anything even though my biological family’s estate is in a mess. Isn’t this why I have no choice but to snoop around to find out the truth?”
Lucian continued to listen to me, then he gently reached out to stroke my cheek.
I didn’t feel anything strange since he’s been doing that a lot these days.
His fingertips felt warmer, but I just thought that he was just naturally fond of touching cheeks like this.
As he reached up with his other hand and held my cheeks with both his hands, he leaned closer with only a hairsbreadth between our noses, then spoke.
“Do you want to go back to the Elrand family?”
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