The Viscount Wants to Go to the Mill - Chapter 23

[No.]

Breck made up his mind firmly.

“Never mind.”

After a brief pause, Lily said that. It was not a good sign.

Before any unnecessary conversation could start, Breck simply kissed her. Lily obediently wrapped one arm around his neck and parted her lips. Not knowing about the past or future, Breck’s desire quickly grew since the present moment felt good.

**

A thunderbolt struck the Verdain newspaper office.

“Stop the serialization of Briston?”

Pulque’s hands trembled. It couldn’t be. Dragon Slayer Briston was the main item sustaining the Verdain newspaper. The salaries for the staff’s rabbit-like children all came from it, and the operating costs of Pulque’s newly purchased four-wheeled carriage were also covered by Briston.

“Why, why on earth?”

The official who brought the document stamped with the administrative seal just shook his head. Pulque hurriedly approached and clasped his hands. It was a pleading gesture, but he also slipped a small pouch into the official’s sleeve. The official shook his hand off but picked up the pouch. It was quite heavy.

There were separate orders from above, but he couldn’t reveal them so easily. He shook his head solemnly. Pulque stealthily added another pouch to his pocket.

This should suffice. Surely it wasn’t filled with silver coins. The head of a small business knew how dangerous it was to disappoint an official.

“This is actually classified information.”

“Yes, yes. I will keep it thoroughly.”

“There is intelligence that Dragon Slayer Revaston might be in our kingdom.”

“Gasp!”

Pulque gasped. He never imagined that Revaston was already living here and had read Briston from the first to the latest chapter.

The official spoke calmly.

“Therefore, anything that might displease him is prohibited. Do not publish anything secretly.”

“Yes, yes. I understand.”

Even though this was a rural town, and the Verdain Weekly was only sold in the vicinity, who knew? There were many strange people in the world. Someone might tell Revaston that there were people making a business out of his name here.

Claims that it wasn’t defamation because the name was changed or that it wasn’t modeled after Revaston were pointless. To be precise, they were moot. Revaston wouldn’t sue the Verdain newspaper under the kingdom’s law because he was displeased. If he were dignified, he would just tell the king to shut down the newspaper, and if he were violent, he would come and overthrow everything.

Pulque returned after seeing off the official and shouted at the staff.

“Tell Mr. Randolph to stop the serialization… No, no! I’ll go myself! Tell Miss Anna to meet me as soon as possible!”

The writer and illustrator would understand if he explained the situation.

The kingdom’s “This is a secret, but only you should know…” spell would spread as “Everyone knows” magic.

“For that reason, the serialization is on indefinite hiatus.”

Anna explained the situation to Lily. Lily murmured, “Hmm,” as if she were impressed.

“It was bound to happen. I’ve often wondered if it was okay.”

“But honestly, who would think Revaston would come to a kingdom like this?”

“Who knows? Maybe his hometown is around here. Nothing about his past has been revealed.”

“That’s true.”

“No one knows if he stayed briefly or is still here, right?”

“We don’t even know where he appeared or why he showed up. We’re just assuming because the royal family said so.”

“At least it’s good that it wasn’t due to a monster attack.”

Anna smiled at Lily’s words.

“Indeed.”

“Anyway, let Pulque know I understand.”

“Yes.”

It was just a hobby, and she did thought about quitting several times. She wouldn’t miss it if it was discontinued.

These days, she enjoyed drawing Breck more than Briston. Though it was a secret, she secretly sketched battle scenes with him as the model, wondering why he was working as a gardener. He had a body that could easily earn a knight’s title anywhere.

Maybe it was indeed a matter of status.

“Sigh…”

Thinking of Breck made her sigh.

Anna noticed she was thinking about her lover but pretended not to know. People are only interested in others’ love stories until they become official. When Lily was struggling to reach out to Breck, Anna had provided transformation earrings, listened to her worries, and encouraged her, finding the process amusing. But now the consultation rights had expired. Any talk from now on would either be complaints disguised as laments or boasts disguised as complaints.

So she ignored Lily’s sigh and asked professionally.

“Mr. Randolph seems to be planning a new work. He’s still preparing, but he sent a letter asking if you’d be interested in illustrating it.”

“Is it another erotic novel?”

“Probably.”

“Then I’ll think about it…”

These days, instead of channeling her overflowing energy into her pen, she was barely managing to draw lines by squeezing out her drained energy. She felt a bit exhausted.

“You know, Anna… Something feels off.”

Lily lamented. Anna looked at her indifferently. Since Lily had started talking, she had no choice but to listen. If she were her older sister, she would have told her to handle it herself, but she was her assistant.

“What’s wrong? Is it not working well anymore?”

“What? No, no!”

Lily’s face turned bright red. It wasn’t that it wasn’t working. She could go on endlessly about how hard it was.

Instead, she was worried that there was nothing between her and Breck but that. After returning from the villa, that anxiety had subsided, but it was creeping back up again. It seemed there might be a limit to meeting in secret.

“It seems like he has something on his mind.”

“Yes.”

“But he doesn’t talk to me about it…”

The fact that the person he confided in wasn’t Cohen or another childhood friend but the stunning Eva also bothered her. But she couldn’t bring herself to say that.

Anna looked at Lily with a feeling of wanting to shake her head. It was natural for a gardener to have concerns when deeply involved with his master. Lily, being the person involved, needed to understand that.

“If it’s serious, it must be a significant concern. Why worry about it?”

“Serious?”

“Considering the status difference, wouldn’t it be a concern? Leave him be until he talks.”

“Even though I said I had no intention of remarrying…”

From Lily’s perspective, that meant she wanted to maintain the relationship for a long time. She was saying she wouldn’t change anything, so he should stay by her side even like this.

“No, it’s not that. I just… felt that it wouldn’t last long.”

Recently, Lily had been feeling that way. Maybe Breck asked about marriage because he was thinking of breaking up naturally.

After taking all her heart, he might have nothing left to achieve. He might feel like finding a new conquest. Clearly, someone more suited to his life was not her.

“You didn’t hear anything specific, did you?”

“No.”

“Just wait. He’ll talk eventually.”

Anna said nonchalantly. Lily drew meaningless circles on the desk with her index finger. She thought Breck probably wouldn’t say anything to her.

**

“It’s hot.”

The man, who was leisurely seated on a luxurious saddle adorned with gold and jewels, muttered. The horse he was riding was a sleek black horse without a single different-colored hair, clearly a prime specimen. It had been a gift from the Marquis of Essen, where he had stayed a few weeks ago.

Sir Wilberg, who was leading the horse a few steps behind as he dared not walk alongside him, spoke respectfully.

“We will arrive soon.”

“I hope they have cold beer. I’ve heard it’s a small town, but they should at least have that, right?”

“They probably have ice. But I’m not sure about the beer. This region tends to drink more wine than beer.”

“I see.”

“They will have some good cold drinks. The market in Arett is not very wealthy, but they are not so poor that they can’t serve a guest a cool drink.”

“I see.”

“There are only a few noble families in Verdain. Only the Viscount Aiden family and the Arett Baronet family. There is also the Baron Ploy family, but they don’t live in the city. It’s an ideal place for a quiet retreat as you wished.”

The man glanced at Wilberg. Wanting a quiet retreat was just a pretext, but this dull-witted fellow seemed to lack insight. Then again, it would have been troublesome if a more perceptive person had been his guide.

‘It’s good that it’s remote, but with only two noble families, there won’t be much to extract.’

Well, one can’t always achieve great success. Taking a break might be nice. Having only two noble families also meant there were very few people who might recognize his identity.