Before long, the dark night had arrived.
The lights in the general affairs office were on late again today, but Padrid was particularly unable to concentrate on his work, causing further delays.
“Sigh……”
Finally, he put down the documents he had been staring at for a long time, leaned back in his chair, and covered his eyes with the back of his hand.
“Now, of all times, you’re suddenly talking about a family gathering?”
“Our parents don’t have much time left. Shouldn’t you say your final goodbyes?”
He knew that his parents had been seriously injured in an accident recently.
But Padrid hadn’t gone to see them.
Rather, he had felt relieved, thinking he could finally cut family ties completely.
But then Darka had come to find him.
To say such things when it had been years since he had left, considering himself without a family.
“I just don’t want you to have regrets.”
“I don’t have regrets now. Though you might feel differently.”
Padrid drew a line with his brother Darka, just as he had done in the past.
His feelings wouldn’t change just because they were meeting after a long time.
Even though he tried not to, as the past began to resurface, Padrid’s fingertips trembled.
It felt as if the pain and sensation of forcibly injecting magic back then was still vividly alive.
The feeling of cold, sharp metal being deeply inserted into every joint of his bloodline.
“D*mn it.”
Padrid groaned and thudded his head against the chair again.
The headache was returning.

***

“Lexiard, that one!”
“This?”
“Yes.”
Black smoke swooshed and picked up the puzzle piece Rodi was pointing at.
“Thank you!”
“Which one next?”
“That one!”
When Rodi pointed to a puzzle piece, the black smoke diligently brought it, and Lexiard placed it in Rodi’s hand, continuing their game of matching shapes.
With just one piece left, there was a knock-knock at the door.
“Yes!”
As Rodi answered loudly, the door opened and Bender entered.
In her hands was a tray with a silver dome-shaped lid.
“Oh?”
That was in the box earlier!
“I’ve brought snacks. The master gave them to me directly.”
“Wow!”
It seemed like the contents of the box from earlier had been transferred to the tray.
Though the notebook that had been inside was missing.
“Bender, eat with us too!”
Rodi grabbed Bender, who was about to leave after setting down the tray.
“I’m fine. There are plenty of snacks in the dining hall too.”
She then gave a light greeting and left, saying she still had work to do.
While Lexiard divided the cake onto plates, Rodi placed forks in front of each of them.
“I guess the boss isn’t going to eat. He gave us everything without leaving any.”
“Uncle originally hates sweet things.”
With the fork in her mouth, waiting for the cake to be placed in front of her, Rodi’s eyebrows wiggled.
“But the boss always has candy in his pockets and drawers.”
Lexiard paused while cutting the cake with his fork and stared blankly.
Why is he looking at me like that?
“Feed…”
“Hm?”
“Nothing. I guess he gets bored sometimes.”
“I see.”
Lexiard scooped up some cake and instead of bringing it to his mouth, he held it out to Rodi.
“Aren’t you going to eat, Lexiard?”
“I’m not really hungry.”
“But it looks so delicious.”
As soon as Rodi opened her mouth to receive the cake, her eyes sparkled.
“It disappeared as soon as it touched my mouth.”
Lexiard chuckled and held out another piece.
Rodi ate like a baby chick while completing the rest of the puzzle.
“Lexiard, about Duke earlier.”
“Yes.”
“Do you think he’s a bad person?”
Rodi couldn’t see through a person’s character with her x-ray vision, but she often judged people by feeling.
So far, whether it was her animal instinct or not, she had rarely been wrong.
This feeling greatly influenced how Rodi typically interacted with people.
She was friendly to those whose hearts were sincere despite their clumsy words, and rejected those who seemed kind on the outside but were malicious inside.
That was also the strength that had helped Rodi survive for so long on the streets and in the orphanage.
But with Duke, she couldn’t decide whether he was a good person or a bad person.
“I don’t know. I haven’t thought deeply about it.”
Though he spoke indifferently, Lexiard was sincere.
He thought that if someone was good, you could leave them be, and if they weren’t, you could get rid of them.
But now that Rodi had asked, he began to consider it.
His first impression wasn’t bad.
“I hope he’s not a bad person.”
Rodi mumbled with the fork in her mouth.

***

“Oh? The general affairs office light is on.”
After finishing the cake, Rodi came down to the second floor with Lexiard, saying she would take the dishes to the dining hall herself.
But despite it being nighttime, the lights in the general affairs office were still on.
Rodi grabbed Lexiard and tiptoed toward the general affairs office.
She didn’t open the door.
“Padrid is alone inside.”
She could see Padrid leaning back in his chair with his eyes covered, looking tired, and she didn’t want to wake him by opening the door.
Perhaps because she had just eaten a lot of cake, she could see as clearly as if she had opened the door and looked directly.
If she had known Padrid was there, she would have saved some cake for him.
Sweet things can improve your mood.
Rodi, who had eaten Lexiard’s portion as well because he kept feeding her, regretted it belatedly.
“Ah!”
Rolling her eyes, Rodi pulled Lexiard again.
“Lexiard, we have something to do.”
Rodi urged Lexiard toward the dining hall.
“What are we going to do?”
“You’ll see when we get there.”
When they arrived at the dining hall, they ran into Bender, who was just finishing cleaning up.
That’s fortunate!
She was planning to look for Bender anyway.
Rodi hurried over.
“Bender, please help me!”
“Yes?”
When Rodi, who usually tried to do everything herself, asked for help, Bender quickly dried her wet hands and opened her eyes wide.
Behind Bender were the kitchen staff.
They had just finished eating a light late-night snack with Bender while preparing food for the night shift workers.
“What’s going on this evening, Rookie?”
The sous chef recognized Rodi and greeted her.
“I want to take this over! Bender, Bender.”
Rodi whispered, gesturing for Bender to lend her ear.
Bender’s eyes widened.
“You want to brew tea?”
“Yes! What kind of tea is good for someone who uses their brain a lot?”
Before, she had thought tea was just warm, fragrant water.
But when she went to Gemvil and Jin’s house last time, she properly learned when they brewed tea to help Jin recover his strength.
Tea leaves not only differ in color but also in taste, aroma, and some teas have beneficial effects on the body.
Even though Padrid often stayed up late, he looked particularly exhausted today, and she wanted to help him a little.
As a colleague!
Hearing Rodi’s request, Bender smiled softly, her eye corners curving.
“Hmm, you want to help Padrid, don’t you?”
“Hup, how did you know?”
“Because apart from the kitchen, the only people still on the second floor without going home are myself, Rodi, Lexiard, and Padrid.”
Actually, Bender had gone to the general affairs office earlier to submit a supply order form and had overheard Padrid making a mistake with other executives.
‘He’s not the type to do that, how strange.’
She had simply thought it was odd, but it seemed that wasn’t the case.
Even little Rodi was worried about him.
“I see.”
“I’ll help you.”
When Bender readily agreed, Rodi’s face brightened.
“Thank you!”

***

“Three spoonfuls of tea leaves. One, twoo, threee-.”
Done.
Rodi put the tea leaves into the teapot while Bender went to boil water.
“Can’t you just order it?”
Lexiard, who had been watching the whole time, asked.
“I want to take it to him myself.”
“Is that necessary?”
“Yes. Because I’m going to cheer him up.”
Lexiard frowned as if he didn’t understand.
Why does Rodi always want to do things herself?
He always found that curious.
Even while thinking that, he did feel it would be better if he personally brought something to Rodi rather than having someone else do it.
But he wondered if it was really necessary to do the same for others.
“Hmm.”
Rodi looked at the lonely teacup and teapot, contemplating.
Just tea isn’t enough!
It feels like something more is needed.
After pondering for a while with her chin resting on her index finger and thumb, Rodi got down from the chair and dashed to her room, leaving Lexiard behind.
Then she took out a cookie packet she had put in the drawer.
She had only tasted one of the cookies Lexiard had given her earlier and had put the rest away to save them.
“This is it!”
Rodi ran back to the kitchen like lightning.
As soon as she arrived in the kitchen, she showed the packet to Lexiard.
“Can I give one of these to Padrid?”
“Sure. You didn’t eat them all?”
“No, I was saving them. I just want to give one to Padrid.”
“I’ll buy more next time.”
“Yes! Here we go.”
She climbed onto the chair, took out a perfectly round cookie from the packet, and placed it on the plate.
Lexiard watched Rodi standing on the chair and, unable to bear the precariousness, created a thick defensive barrier of black smoke behind her.
It wasn’t high, but she looked like she might fall at any moment.
“Hehe.”
Placing it next to the empty teacup made it look quite presentable.
Rodi, unaware, focused on the tea for Padrid.