The more maddening thing was that he wouldn’t listen to anyone but Eclise.
He would say without hesitation to use him as bait to bring down the family.
The fact that it was a genuine sentiment without a hint of doubt was even more problematic.
So it was quite a headache.
Eclise stood up with the intention of putting him in the carriage.
He wasn’t the type to be intimidated by verbal threats anyway.
A sly fox-like guy.
“Grandfather seems to be digging into Uncle’s affairs. Wasn’t there an attack recently?”
Eclise paused and chuckled.
“Really?”
Being under threat of life wasn’t new, so it wasn’t surprising.
One of them must have been the old man.
He responded calmly, but Lexiard was already tearing up some documents from the desk into black smoke.
He smiled at Eclise with feigned innocent eyes.
Those were the documents he had received from Padrid early in the morning for review today.
In other words, ones Eclise hadn’t even opened yet.
It was a clear protest against Eclise who kept pushing him away.
Lexiard, who was looking at the paper scraps scattered all over the floor, lifted his head with a face that seemed to have recalled something.
“Jamie came back with important information, so I got rid of it without asking. If it reached Grandfather’s ears, Uncle would be annoyed. Uncle, did I do well?”
A composure and calmness that a ten-year-old could never possess.
Cruelty.
The resulting eeriness.
And behind Lexiard, who showed composure, black smoke lingered heavily.
It was as if it was protecting Lexiard.
There was no need to ask how Jamie was disposed of.
“…….”
One of the biggest reasons Eclise couldn’t let go of Lexiard was the power he learned about after the kidnapping incident.
It seemed the black smoke hovering in front of him was turning Lexiard into a monster.
Eclise, who had been staring at Lexiard and the scattered papers on the floor, spoke.
“I’ll give you 3 seconds. Pick them all up.”

***

“I am Jin Jein. You can call me whatever you like.”
“I’m Rodi. Brodi!”
Rodi turned back to look at Eclise and Lexiard going up to the third floor and followed Jin.
“Yes, Brodi. From today, you will receive various necessary education. I heard you’re seven years old, is that correct?”
“Yes, that’s right. I’ll soon grow up to be eight!”
Jin, who had a kind but somewhat dry expression, suddenly had a warm smile spread across his face.
“Good. Ah, we are going to the general office now. We will register the necessary information and discuss more there.”
“Yep!”
As Rodi answered diligently and followed with small steps, Jin subtly slowed down his pace.
He hadn’t realized his usual pace was fast, but he heard panting from behind.
Jin knocked on the door when they reached the general office.
“It’s Jein.”
“Come in.”
As soon as the voice from inside was heard, Jin opened the door.
Then he gestured for Rodi to enter first.
Rodi gulped and cautiously peeked her head into the new space.
In the center of the room filled with books and papers was a heavy-looking desk.
A silver-haired man, neatly styled with pomade, was diligently writing something there.
Rodi, following the rhythmic bobbing of the pen with her eyes, met eyes much lighter blue than Jin’s.
“What did Eclise say… hmm? Jin, were you always this short?”
“I’m here, Padrid.”
Jin, who entered late, corrected Padrid’s words.
“Ah, the new recruit… I see. So Jin is in charge.”
“Yes, could you provide the key to the empty safe and the necessary documents?”
Padrid quickly checked a few drawers on the right, then handed a bunch of keys and a stack of documents from the desk to Jin.
“And the pen?”
“Yes.”
“Here.”
While the two moved systematically, Rodi just blinked, not understanding what she was there for at all.
She just thought it was more fun being with Lexiard earlier.
Jin sat next to Rodi with the documents.
“Now, could you fill this out? This key is for the safe you will use from now on. You can set the number yourself in the underground safe room and use it freely. The general office manages it, but you can also go directly.”
“…A safe?”
“You can place necessary items there. You can also store the salary you will receive in the future. And here’s a pen.”
Jin handed a long wooden pen to Rodi.
“Uh…”
As Jin stared blankly, Rodi’s face turned slightly red.
Rodi couldn’t fill out the documents.
“I can’t read or write…”
White was paper.
Letters were just black.
The director had forbidden the teachers from even teaching Rodi letters, so she couldn’t write or even read.
“Ah, I see. I apologize. Please tell me, and I will write it down for you.”
Unlike the embarrassed Rodi, Jin didn’t seem to mind at all and picked up the pen to write instead.
Padrid, who had stopped working and was watching them, had a troubled expression.
“Jin, instead of doing that, why not hire a teacher first?”
Jin and Rodi looked at each other.

***

A little later.
Jin had only gone out and come back, but the general office suddenly became crowded with executives bustling in.
“Wow, hello, little one! Meeting you here again? Remember me? Learning letters? Should I teach you?”
“Wouldn’t I be better than you? You often miss writing reports. You’re the loosest among us.”
“No, that’s not the problem. The biggest reason I should be in charge is that I’m better looking than you. Haven’t you heard? Even babies look at faces.”
“Padrid wouldn’t allow it either. If you taught her, she would just learn all sorts of strange things.”
“What? I’m a good citizen, why are you like this?”
“You’d be a delinquent citizen. Negligent in your duties. You’re the biggest problem.”

“Ha, want to take off the ranks?”
“Is there even a rank difference between you and me, idiot?”
If you think about it, it was just a little late because of the deliberation, but they received the job offer almost simultaneously, so they were practically colleagues.
Ekision and Horas bickered noisily in front of Rodi.
The large figures quickly surrounded Rodi.
Padrid watched Jin, who brought in a bunch of executives instead of the requested teacher, with twitching lips.
“What is going on here?”
Padrid felt a familiar headache and pressed his temples.
Jin bowed apologetically.
“I’m sorry. I was caught on the way.”
“Then why didn’t you escape elsewhere?”
“…Because Horas picked me up. I’ll run away faster next time.”
Jin spoke politely, leaving Padrid at a loss for words again.
Jin was good at his job… really good.
But sometimes it was a bit awkward during moments like this.
When Jin acted blankly like a fool.
When he said sorry with that blank face, sometimes it was puzzling what he was thinking.
Padrid thought it would be better if Jin were a bit more ruthless.
The only people he trusted were Gemvil and Jin Jein.
He didn’t need to consider those fools.
Padrid sighed as he glanced around the room.
Fortunately, his least favorite Hailo wasn’t there.
Well, that’s something.
Lately, Hailo had been teasing him, causing stress to the point where his hair seemed to be thinning.
Maybe it was just his imagination, but when he groomed himself in the morning, it seemed like there was less volume than usual, taking an extra 30 minutes for his hair.
If it turned out his hair was indeed thinning, he would immediately reveal Hailo’s harassment to Eclise and have him expelled.
Of course, it ends as a resolution every year.
“We will hire a professional for education. The new recruit is struggling, so please leave. Otherwise, she might get scared and run away.”
“Why! What’s wrong with us!”
“It’s not bad to get along with us, is it?”

“The pure one would just get contaminated. I hope you don’t mean it. New recruit, stand up. We will assign a proper teacher.”
As Rodi tried to stand up following Padrid’s words, the last visitor entered.
“Wow- everyone was gathered here. My darling is busy. Darling, hello.”
Padrid silently screamed.