Chapter 5

“Haa.”

Once she arrived at the Fernande estate, she would have to put on that lovey-dovey act all over again. Who would have thought smiling could be such an ordeal?

While she was worrying about her facial muscles, the estate came into view before she knew it.

“I am Ben, the head butler of the Fernande estate. This way, Lady Elodia.”

“Thank you.”

She exchanged an awkward greeting with the butler who had come to receive her and stepped inside.

The servants unloaded the luggage she had brought.

Just as she was about to enter the main building without incident—

“H-hiiiik! A-a-a toy?”

One of the servants, as if she had seen a ghost, flung the toy box away and fell flat backward.

“……Are you all right?”

She held out her hand to help the woman up.

“M-Miss! We cannot carry this into the main building!”

“…Pardon?”

“The use of artifacts is prohibited within the Fernande estate.”

Another servant added the explanation. All of them set the luggage down on the floor and bowed their heads.

In the awkward situation, she tormented her innocent lips and gathered up the scattered toys as she spoke.

“These aren’t toys fitted with artifacts, they’re ordinary toys. They’re items that are perfectly fine to bring into the Fernande duchy.”

“The thing is, all goods from the Everdeen Merchant Guild must be inspected before being brought in.”

“What? Since when is there such a rule?”

“We apologize, Miss.”

She slowly stood up with the box in her arms and turned toward the butler.

He cleared his throat, then lowered his head while avoiding her gaze. It meant he could not help her.

If she made more of a fuss here, these people would only be put in a difficult position.

So she picked out only a few toys from the box and held them in her arms.

“Then I’ll carry them myself. I’ll persuade Sierd too. You all said it wasn’t allowed, but I’m the one bringing them in. Look—this one and this one. No functions, right? Then…”

She kicked off her shoes and ran just like that.

“What crime has a child committed to deserve growing up without a single toy?!”

And so, inside the Fernande estate of all places, a completely absurd game of tag began. She would have preferred being be the chaser than the one being chased, but what choice did she have?

‘Just wait a little longer, Cesar!’

***

“Huff, huff…… haa….”

“As expected, you truly are remarkable.”

“Hah, this, this…….”

Her throat burned with pain. It was the result of running in a way she almost never did.

When Sierd encountered her entering the courtyard with the box in her arms, he glanced back at the group of servants following behind her and raised a hand.

The servants, who had hurried over at once, bowed their heads and retreated backward. Though rather slyly, they did not withdraw their gaze.

Sierd took the toy box from her as if snatching it away. To others, it would likely look as though he were merely carrying it for her.

In that fleeting moment, Sierd lowered his upper body and dropped his voice.

“Must you cause a commotion every time you come?”

“I’m always innocent. I didn’t bring any artifacts in the first place. They kept saying it had to be inspected and all that, so there was no helping it.”

“‘Innocent’…… I trust you understand how that word is properly used.”

“Of course I do.”

As she bent over her knees and let out rough breaths, Sierd handed the box to the butler.

She opened her eyes wide like a rabbit and followed the box with her gaze.

“Inspect it, and if there’s no problem, let it in.”

Sierd helped her straighten up as she caught her breath, wearing a neat smile.

“All goods from the Everdeen Merchant Guild require inspection, so I ask for your understanding, Elodia.”

“…It’s not difficult to understand.”

There were too many eyes watching, so instead of arguing further, she gave him a smile and moved to stand close beside him.

“If it was urgent, then you should have said why. Does it make sense to tell someone to come at once just because it’s urgent? You must think I have nothing to do, but I’m very busy.”

“Since this is a residence you’ll soon be living in anyway, think of it as adjusting in advance.”

“That’s not the same thing. I came here by clearing time from my work schedule—”

“How much will it take?”

She looked up at Sierd’s arrogant face and slowly twisted her lips.

“You’ve got the wrong person. I have plenty of money. Normally, it’s only natural to set priorities and schedule things according to money, but right now, I would prefer an apology.”

At that moment, Sierd’s aide, who had been watching them from the side, quietly approached. He held out a navy-blue box no bigger than a palm.

Still smiling at the corners of her mouth and using ventriloquism, she tilted her head and asked,

“What is this?”

“It is ‘The Shark’s Tear,’ said to have been discovered two thousand years ago by the Bucket Hat pirate crew.”

With an unconvinced expression, she opened the box. Inside the velvet case rested a mysterious blue gemstone.

The Shark’s Tear. It was the jewel said to have been sold by the Bucket Hat pirate crew before they disbanded and vanished without a trace.

The hand holding the box trembled slightly.

“Is this… really the legendary gem, The Shark’s Tear?”

“It is a jewel that truly exists. His Grace prepared it for you, Lady Elodia.”

“…….”

She carefully secured the Shark’s Tear, then quietly slipped her arm through Sierd’s.

“It is quiet at last.”

“Don’t misunderstand and think you can always buy me with money. I’m accepting this because I consider it reasonable compensation for this deal.”

He tilted his head slightly and raised one eyebrow.

Meeting his eyes, she gave him a smiling glance before stepping into the estate.

***

The office of Duke Fernande.

“You’re saying Cesar has stopped speaking again?”

“Yes. He only opens his mouth in front of you, Elodia.”

“Why are you only telling me something this important now?”

“…….”

Instead of seeking an answer from Sierd, she turned her gaze toward his aide.

“Henry.”

“S-”

Sierd called his name as if telling him to be quiet, but Henry, with a gentle expression, replied in a mild voice,

“His Grace only learned of it a short while ago as well.”

“……I had heard that your greatest weakness was your son, Duke Fernand, but perhaps that was just a false rumor. If this is how little you usually speak with your child…….”

“Since Young Master Cesar cannot speak, they haven’t had many conversations even normally. And the Young Master is quite mature for his age, so when he’s alone he prefers studying.”

Though she had asked Sierd, once again it was Henry who answered.

An aide who even worried about their married relationship—at least that much about him was admirable, as he was good at his job.

‘The excuse he added afterward sounds plausible, but…’

“He seemed like such an innocent child when I met him last time… What about the nanny?”

“Young Master refused the care of strangers, so at the estate, the Dowager Duchess personally raised him herself. At present, as the Dowager Duchess is away, a servant brought from the estate is attending to the Young Master.”

“That really is… a worrying situation.”

Speaking calmly, she bit the hair tie she had around her wrist and gathered up her hair in one hand.

When she tied her hair up high, Sierd narrowed his brows. He looked at her as though worried about what kind of trouble she was about to start this time.

She turned her head sharply and asked Henry,

“Where is Cesar right now?”

***

Knock knock.

Knock knock knock.

Why was there no answer?

“They said he was studying with his tutor. Is the teacher not there either?”

The servant who had guided her to Cesar’s study had already left, and she had no idea how to get back to Sierd.

To someone with a terrible sense of direction, a grand estate was no different from a maze.

‘Something may have happened to Cesar, so for now, I should go in.’

When she opened the door, the first thing that entered her sight was the back of an adult man. For an instant she caught sight of a rod that looked something like a conductor’s baton, but it vanished into the man’s arms in a flash.

‘What was that just now? An artifact?’

The man turned around. He was a middle-aged man with brown hair and a sharply curled mustache, giving off a crafty impression. With a frown, he swept his gaze up and down over her worn suspenders outfit. He seemed openly displeased by the sudden intrusion of an unwelcome guest.

It would do her no good to earn the dislike of the teacher instructing the child, yet things had already started off on the wrong foot.

She smiled as gently as she could.

“Hello, Sir. I am Elodia. I stopped by because I urgently needed to speak with Cesar. Just a moment ago, I knocked…….”

“You must not enter without knocking. You are disturbing the lesson, so please leave at once.”

“What?”

I have knocked several times!

‘Is he deaf?’

Unlike that somewhat dangerous inner thought, she put on a bright smile.

The tutor shoved his clenched hand into his pocket and turned back around in a slanted posture.

Cesar was sitting quietly at the child-sized desk. The way the child looked up at her was innocent and guileless.

On the desk lay a thick book and a pencil.

“Were you reading him a storybook? But the book looks rather thick…….”

“I know the Young Master better than anyone. Please leave at once.”

The tutor let out a sigh, then pointed outside the door with his index finger.

Caught off guard and nearly forced out, she looked back and forth between Cesar and the teacher for a moment, then awkwardly smiled and tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear.

Even Cesar, whom she had expected to come running to her at once, merely looked at her quietly with his lips tightly shut.

“I came rushing over because I wanted to greet the child, but I ended up committing a discourtesy. I apologize, Sir. Then I will greet you properly another time.”