The competition for the seat next to me is quite intense.

Chelsea is one thing, but even Cardien is acting like this.

Above all, what’s most surprising is that neither of them is willing to back down an inch.

Cardien is understandable, but…

‘…Chelsea, are you okay with this?’

I wonder if this is alright, given that Chelsea is a maid and Cardien is the master of the house.

Of course, from what I’ve seen so far, Chelsea doesn’t seem to be an ordinary maid.

‘Anyway…’

We can’t stay like this forever, and I have something to say to Cardien, so I slipped in between the two tense figures.

“Um, Chelsea. As His Grace said, since His Grace is here, don’t worry and I’ll see you later at the mansion.”

“……”

Chelsea stared at me silently at my words.

Eventually, she nodded and replied.

“I understand. I’ll go ahead and wait there.”

“Thank you.”

I looked at Chelsea with a genuinely grateful expression.

Chelsea took in my appearance before skillfully mounting the horse.

I watched Chelsea with surprised eyes.

‘She’s incredibly skilled.’

She was wearing a maid’s uniform, and Cardien’s horse was particularly large and tall.

Yet she mounted it in one go like that.

‘What exactly is Chelsea’s true identity?’

At least I know she’s not an ordinary maid.

“Well then…”

Chelsea looked down at me from her high position.

The blue glass hairpin adorning her jet-black hair sparkled in the sunlight.

“I’ll be going ahead.”

Snapping back to reality at those words, I waved my hand.

“See you later. Take care, Chelsea.”

“Yes.”

With those final words, Chelsea set off on the horse.

After watching Chelsea’s retreating back, I slowly turned to look at Cardien.

He was looking at me with his arms crossed and a slanted posture, as if something displeased him.

…Maybe I shouldn’t have said I’d stay?

As regret started creeping in, Cardien gestured towards the carriage and said,

“Let’s depart as well.”

“Ah, yes.”

I hurriedly headed towards the carriage.

As I was about to step onto the stairs, a hand suddenly extended in front of me.

A hand wearing a black glove.

I blankly followed the glove with my gaze, and Cardien spoke with his usual indifferent expression.

“Tutor, you kept collapsing last time, didn’t you?”

“What do you mean all of a sudden……”

I looked at him, wondering what he was talking about, when I suddenly remembered the day I collapsed and coughed up blood.

Come to think of it, before coughing up blood, I had stumbled and nearly fallen a few times when trying to stand up, as if it were a precursor.

That seemed to be what he was referring to.

“It was fine then because you were in a chair, but if you fall like that on the stairs, you’ll get hurt.”

“No, that’s……”

“I want to take the tutor with me, not transport a patient.”

“No……”

“My arm is getting tired.”

Cardien gave me a very clear hint, as if asking why I wasn’t taking his hand quickly.

No.

‘It’s not that serious!’

Of course, even then I hadn’t realized how serious my condition was.

But at least I know I’m not in a state where I’m about to collapse on these stairs right now.

However, Cardien didn’t seem like he would listen to anything I said.

‘Sigh… Alright.’

There’s no point in arguing over this.

Above all, I now know that Cardien rarely changes his mind once it’s made up.

“…Then, excuse me.”

“Do as you please, Tutor.”

As I please, he says.

Yet he doesn’t actually let me do as I please.

Grumbling internally, I firmly grasped his hand and climbed the stairs.

But certainly…

‘It is indeed stable.’

In fact, offering a hand when boarding a carriage is one of the basic forms of escort.

But I have so few experiences of receiving such a basic escort that this situation feels unfamiliar and makes my chest tingle.

‘It’s even stranger because it’s Cardien.’

Of course, Cardien probably did this minimal action not as an escort, but because he truly didn’t want to transport a patient.

Once I was fully inside the carriage, Cardien followed.

However, if there was a problem…

‘It’s too close!’

Come to think of it, the carriage I rode with Chelsea was the smallest among the carriages of the Mercedes duchy.

Even though Chelsea was tall, she was still a woman, so I didn’t feel it was cramped on the way here.

‘Why does it feel so narrow with Cardien in here?’

The distance between us as we sat facing each other was so short that I felt our legs might tangle at any moment.

Soon, the carriage started with a jolt.

Cardien was still staring at me intently with his arms crossed.

I rolled my eyes around and then asked the question I hadn’t finished earlier.

“By the way, what brings Your Grace here?”

Although it was a question thrown to avoid awkwardness, I was genuinely curious.

After all, this is Secret Avenue 2.

What business could Cardien have on a street full of clothing shops?

Cardien stared at me fixedly without answering.

His amethyst eyes were full of displeasure.

He’s been giving me that look for a while now.

Why! What is it!

I finally couldn’t hold back and asked.

“Your Grace, are you perhaps angry with me about something?”

Rather than angry, it seemed more like he was harboring some dissatisfaction, but that’s essentially the same thing.

At my question, Cardien let out a hollow laugh as if he found it absurd.

Eventually, he spoke.

“Tutor, you’re attending the baptism ceremony.”

I flinched at those words.

How did he know?

‘…What am I thinking? I expected it would reach Cardien’s ears from the moment I told Winston.’

I just didn’t expect such an immediate reaction.

I nodded slightly.

“Yes, that clergyman gave me an invitation last time.”

“A half invitation, you mean.”

He was referring to the partner invitation.

It was frustrating but true.

I forced a smile and nodded.

“Yes… that half invitation.”

“So you filled the other half with that rotten, mushy lemon-colored guy?”

“Rotten… what?”

I was momentarily at a loss for words at such a crude expression.

So, that rotten, mushy lemon-colored guy…

“…You mean… Mr. Lemon, the library clerk…?”

When I asked in a shaky voice, Cardien sneered coldly.

“…Mr. Lemon, is it. I see you’re close enough to use nicknames.”

“N-Nickname? What do you mean!”

“His name is Raymon, so calling him Lemon, what else is that if not a nickname?”

“……”

I glanced at him cautiously.

It seems Cardien doesn’t know yet that I’m aware of Lemon’s true identity as the Information Guild Master.

By the way…

Raymon is his real name?

I learned an unexpected fact.

‘I thought Raymon was the alias.’

That’s because the name Lemon suited him so well.

But thinking about it again, it would be nonsensical to use one’s real name as a Guild Master name.

So Lemon is indeed a nickname.

‘Even if it is a nickname, is that a reason to be angry?’

It’s not like I called him by a nickname.

I looked at Cardien with confused eyes.

He kept scoffing.

“Now you’re not even denying it.”

Why is he acting like this today?

And I was the one who first asked what business he had on Secret Avenue 2, so why has the conversation flowed in this direction?

As I was struggling to understand the situation, Cardien gazed at me quietly.

At that moment, as the carriage entered under a bridge, the interior became dark.

In the darkness, his amethyst eyes gleamed coldly.

Like a predator sizing up its prey.

For some inexplicable tension, I swallowed dryly.

“…It seems that you.”

Cardien slowly parted his lips.

“Are definitely disrespecting me.”

Is it just my imagination that his voice sounds particularly gloomy?

Not understanding the meaning of his words for a moment, I soon responded in surprise.

“Disrespect? How could I ever disrespect Your Grace?”

“You didn’t disrespect me?”

“No!”

“Then why didn’t you ask me first?”

“…Pardon?”

Ask what?

Cardien continued coldly.

“The clever tutor that you are, you must have anticipated that I too received an invitation to the baptism ceremony.”

Wait, could it be…?

“Yet you ran straight to that lemon-colored guy without saying a word to me. What is that if not disrespect?”

“No, wait, Your Grace… You’re misunderstanding something…”

I think I finally understood why Cardien was in a bad mood.

So Cardien thought that my not asking him to be my partner for the baptism ceremony was a sign of disrespect towards him.

‘Though I don’t quite understand why he considers that disrespect.’

Anyway, it seemed important to clear up his misunderstanding first, so I hurriedly opened my mouth.

But Cardien didn’t give me a chance to speak.

“But you know what?”

Light poured back into the carriage as we passed under the bridge.

I stared blankly at Cardien.

He was smiling a twisted smile as if pleased.

His dry purple eyes were colder than ever.

“It seems that your precious partner won’t be able to attend the baptism ceremony after all.”

His voice spread low.