* * *

It’s been a week since Magnus met Serena at the information guild.

Surprisingly, he hadn’t heard a word from her.

‘…Why?’

He was now at the point where his pride was hurt.

No, it wasn’t just about pride.

Now, he was becoming stubborn.

‘What exactly makes me inferior to that information guild master?’

Today, too, after arriving at the information guild, he seriously pondered while processing documents.

He just couldn’t understand, no matter how much he thought about it.

“Roel.”

“Yes, Guild Master.”

“What do you think is the reason?”

What’s this sudden talk about?

Roel looked at Magnus, a bit flustered.

With his arms crossed, he looked very serious.

“I heard an acquaintance of 16 years is starting a new business. But instead of asking me, they asked some other guy. I heard they were rejected there, but they still haven’t said a word to me. Ah, I secretly heard this from an acquaintance there.”

Magnus spoke, even sharing unsolicited personal details.

He acted as if his guild master self and his duke self were separate people.

If Serena had heard this, she would have asked if he was crazy.

But unfortunately, only Roel was here.

“You heard it secretly?”

“Yes.”

“Ah…”

Is he a stalker?

Roel shook his head at the thought that suddenly occurred to him.

No. As the master of the information guild, he must have a wide network.

‘There’s no way he’s such a gloomy stalker.’

Roel tried to shake off the disrespectful thought, quietly organized his thoughts, and then spoke.

“Um… Does that acquaintance have to ask the Master specifically?”

Roel pointed out the fundamental issue.

Magnus fell silent for a moment, as if at a loss for words.

“It seemed like they were meeting the other guy for the first time, you know?”

“Ah… Perhaps. Um…”

Roel quickly gauged the situation.

It was a bit embarrassing to say to the Master, but he decided to be brave.

After all, he was the Master’s right-hand man.

Of course, only Roel thought this way.

“Have you perhaps received birthday gifts or… any gifts during those 16 years?”

“No. I haven’t given any either.”

“Then, did you meet regularly and often?”

“Yes, we had to meet.”

“And still, they asked someone else?”

Magnus nodded at Roel’s question.

Roel made a somewhat serious expression.

“In my opinion… Maybe… could it be that your friend is uncomfortable with you or… something like that?”

“We converse well. When I speak, they always respond.”

“Have you ever spoken to them first?”

“…No, I haven’t?”

Roel covered his mouth with both hands.

‘It seems it’s a one-sided friendship…’

Roel looked at Magnus with slightly squinted eyes. Seeing those eyes, Magnus frowned.

“Roel, you’re making a very unpleasant face right now. What are you thinking?”

“Th-that is…”

Roel hesitated.

He wasn’t sure how to convey his thoughts.

“In my opinion… I think maybe that person doesn’t really like you, Master?”

“Doesn’t like me?”

“Yes. Because the size of people’s emotions differs… Compared to how much you care for and like your friend, maybe your friend’s emotions towards you are smaller…”

Roel spoke carefully, trying not to hurt Magnus’s feelings.

In other words, what Roel wanted to say was:

‘It seems that friend really dislikes you, Master…’

Otherwise, after knowing each other for so long, they would have at least mentioned starting a business.

“…What’s wrong with me?”

Magnus asked Roel.

Roel’s mouth gaped slightly at this bold and shameless question.

“Well…”

“Am I ugly?”

“No, objectively speaking, you’re handsome.”

The Duke of Kelahinum rarely engaged in public activities.

He only went around the imperial palace at most, so ordinary people didn’t know his face, except for the nobles.

That’s why he could run the information guild with his bare face.

Of course, he wore a mask and altered his voice when meeting clients.

Anyway, his appearance was striking enough to make people turn their heads for a second look.

“I’m also rich.”

“Yes…”

“And I think my personality isn’t bad either.”

“Um…”

“I’ve never failed at anything so far.”

“Hmm…”

“I believe my physique is not inferior to anyone’s.”

“Ah…”

“I’m not even promiscuous.”

After Magnus said all that, Roel was at a loss for words.

Sure, someone else might praise him like that, but when he’s saying it himself, somehow…

‘When people brag about themselves so openly, they really seem lacking…’

Roel felt like he finally understood the meaning of learning from others’ mistakes.

“Above all, I’ve been with the other person for 16 years.”

‘Isn’t that why they dislike you?’

He swallowed the words that almost burst out.

Think about it. If someone had seen this side of him for 16 years, it’s understandable that they might come to dislike him.

Roel tilted his head. There was a strange statement mixed in with Magnus’s self-praise.

“By any chance, is the other person a woman?”

“Yes, why?”

“…Ah.”

So it wasn’t a one-sided friendship, but a one-sided love…

‘Unrequited love!’

Roel was moved by the fact that this stern-looking master was experiencing unrequited love.

And he was surprised.

He opened his eyes wide and covered his mouth with both hands.

“…Maybe, she’s too shy to speak up first?”

Unknown to anyone, Roel was an avid reader of romance novels.

“Shy?”

“Yes, how about trying to bring it up casually first?”

So he wanted to support the Master’s unrequited love.

Roel clenched his fists, cheering for Magnus.

“Right.”

After pondering Roel’s words for a moment, Magnus soon nodded.

From his perspective, Serena didn’t seem to have a particularly sociable personality, so he thought it could be possible.

Of course, Magnus knows that Serena doesn’t have an emotion called ‘shyness.’

If there was any emotion in this series of events, it was probably that she found it bothersome to speak, or she found him bothersome, or maybe she found it bothersome to come and meet him.

‘I see, I should go and ask.’

Magnus nodded, naturally ignoring the fact that he might have been pushed aside due to being bothersome.

‘It would be good to have a conversation today.’

Having made up his mind, he stood up and grabbed his coat.

“Master!”

At Roel’s call, Magnus, who was putting on his coat, looked at him.

“When talking to a woman, you must do something called ‘kabedon’ for the best effect!”

Roel sold him a dubious idea.

“Kabedon?”

“Yes, you place the woman between your arms against a wall. And then you have a conversation in that state. If the other person averts their gaze when you’re close enough for your breaths to mingle? Then you’ve almost succeeded! Surely, the other person will surrender, and everything will go smoothly!”

This is because Roel was not only single from birth but also learned about love from third-rate romance novels.

He admired the male protagonists in romance novels. It’s one of the main reasons he admired Magnus.

Because Magnus closely resembled the description of the male protagonists in the romance novels written by his favorite author.

“Is that so? I’ve never heard of such a conversation method before.”

Magnus recalled the speech education classes he had taken.

The conversation method Roel mentioned wasn’t among them.

“It’s apparently the recent trend in social circles.”

Roel sold another dubious idea.

Because this was the social circle in Roel’s delusions.

“When you trap them, make sure to do it with enough force to make a loud ‘thud’ sound.”

“…Is that really okay?”

“Yes, women develop trust in such manly behavior.”

Roel kept selling dubious ideas.

Because he didn’t know that Magnus was a real nobleman.

The social circles in Roel’s delusions and the ones Magnus actually attended were different.

“Is that so? Right, I should try that.”

And Magnus didn’t know the trends.

Because he too was single from birth, never having properly dated anyone.

Thanks to his handsome appearance, many were attracted to him, but because he was engaged since he was 10, he never got close to any young lady.

Even his fiancée, whom he had been with, had nerves thick enough to ignore him back when he ignored her and could enjoy herself alone.

After the accident, she looked at him with almost disgusted eyes.

It was to the extent that they didn’t even hold a wedding ceremony, only registering their marriage on paper.

Anyway, for these reasons, he only knew textbook escorting and bedroom manners.

“Thank you for the advice, Roel.”

“Not at all, Master! I’m just so happy to have been of help.”

In the guild master’s office with only the two of them, there was no one to tell them that this path was wrong.

Magnus headed straight for the ducal residence.