“How much do you trust him?”

Since both Dietrich and I would be in big trouble if the double agent secret was discovered―

“Enough to risk danger for each other?”

“…!”

For some reason, Lynen seemed surprised.

“Each other?”

“Yes.”

“When did you two…”

His lips twitched, then suddenly his expression hardened and he turned away sharply.

Somehow…

‘He seems to be in a bad mood?’

No, I must have seen something wrong. There’s no reason for Lynen to be like that.

Lynen strode away in the direction of the training grounds. Dietrich, who had been watching the situation, quickly left as well.

However, there was still one more person at the scene besides me.

It was Noah, who had been observing the situation from inside the entrance.

I took the first step, telling Noah to come inside as he looked somewhat anxious.

From behind, I heard Noah’s grave muttering.

“I need to step in quickly.”

* * *

In the middle of the night, in a room dimly lit by only a few candles, Caiman was staring at the unlit fireplace.

More precisely, he was staring at the empty interior of the hidden safe beside the fireplace.

A moment later, a teleportation sigil appeared over the flickering shadows on the floor. A man in a black robe emerged from it.

Without turning his head toward him, Caiman spoke.

“You’re late.”

“My apologies, Young Marquis. It took time to control the magical beast.”

“So, did you bring it?”

The dark mage nodded and pulled out a necklace that had been hidden in his clothes.

A black stone the size of a baby’s fingernail was attached to the crude necklace.

Holding it, he chanted a spell and cut his palm with a knife, the flowing blood drawing a magic circle.

A large magical beast appeared within the ominous magic circle.

It was a wolf-shaped magical beast with blood-red eyes and various parts of its body strangely deformed.

“If we tell it to find something like this black stone, it will track it immediately.”

“The item must be recovered and the thief brought back alive.”

“Yes, I will give those instructions.”

When the dark mage gave the order, the wolf magical beast became a translucent shadow and leaped out the window in an instant.

Seeing this, Caiman asked.

“It even has the ability to conceal itself. It must not have been easy to control.”

“Heheh. It’s all thanks to this fragment of Lumen’s heart that you gave me, Young Marquis.”

The dark mage lovingly stroked the black stone.

“With this, there’s no need to bother finding sacrifices, and powerful dark magic can be used with just a little blood.”

“……”

Dark magic requires life force as payment.

The best payment is the caster’s own life force, but that could lead to sudden death at any time.

So usually, they paid the price with other sacrifices instead of their own life force.

But with Lumen’s heart, even just a tiny fragment like this greatly reduced the burden of payment.

“Thank you again for giving me something so wonderful.”

A fleeting sneer crossed Caiman’s lips as he received the thanks.

“I had to give at least that much in exchange for you acting on my behalf. Follow me, and even greater power will come.”

“I pledge my loyalty.”

“Report immediately when the magical beast finishes tracking.”

“Yes.”

“And don’t forget about the white spirit stone matter? We can’t miss the chance to put a leash on those temple people.”

The dark mage raised the corner of his mouth in a smirk.

“Of course.”

* * *

The next day, Calliphe went out immediately.

As soon as she got out of the carriage, the grand temple with its tall spires caught her eye.

‘They said the High Cardinal would return around 4 PM, right?’

This was information Dietrich had obtained.

‘To think he’d bring results in just one day.’

As expected of the underground information network.

“Why did you come here?”

Lynen, who had been dragged along by Noah, asked as he glanced at the grand temple.

‘Come to think of it, should I tell Lynen about the double agent and my plans?’

Calliphe pondered for a moment.

It felt awkward to ask him to move together since it went beyond the scope of their contract. It was also unclear how far Lynen would help.

‘I’ll hold off for now. I can handle this alone for now anyway.’

Having made her decision, Calliphe looked around and made up an excuse.

“This is a perfect place for a walk, isn’t it? There’s even a park right there.”

With the grand temple and park nearby, there were many stalls selling snacks.

“If we walk around here, rumors about our relationship will spread naturally.”

“…Do we really need rumors?”

“It would be strange if we just stayed quiet.”

Calliphe whispered in Lynen’s ear with a playful voice.

“We’re lovers, aren’t we? Don’t forget to show that proud face of being the man I chose?”

“……”

Lynen bit his lip and glared at Calliphe. He looked just like a handsome man who had suffered humiliation from an enemy general.

That reaction was as thrilling as carbonated water, making Calliphe forget her resistance and mischievously wink one eye.

“Got it? Da, r, ling.”

“…!”

Lynen’s body trembled. Goosebumps ran from his head to his toes.

“That horrible―”

“Noah, don’t you want to eat some snacks?”

Calliphe quickly turned to look at Noah.

“Can I have snacks?”

“…Hah.”

Lynen, forced to swallow his anger, glared at Calliphe with a ‘just you wait’ look.

Hehe. Calliphe smiled victoriously and patted Noah’s head.

“Of course. Here.”

Calliphe gave Noah a few silver coins.

“These are yours. I’ll give you some every week.”

“Every week…?!”

So much money every week! Why?

Noah found the best answer from his experiences of seeing and hearing.

“Is this my salary?”

“What?”

Pfft. Laughter escaped simultaneously from both Calliphe and Lynen’s lips.

Covering her upturned mouth with a fan, Calliphe said.

“Something like that. But when children receive a salary, it’s specially called allowance.”

“Allowance…”

Now I’m someone who receives an allowance too.

Suddenly Noah straightened his back and said maturely.

“I’ll definitely repay this kindness.”

“…What kind of books have you been reading lately?”

“Folk tales.”

After answering quietly, Noah scampered off to buy snacks.

In his mind, he was going over yesterday’s red pepper and today’s salty operation.

“Hey, when Calliphe goes out to meet the High Cardinal, you go along too. Bring Duke Ortega as well.”

“The three of us going out?”

“Yeah. We need to make them get closer. Listen well. Physical contact is a must, physical contact! Once you get them close, everything else will work out!”

“…?”

“You should learn well from this opportunity too. Start with indirect kisses first.”

“K-kiss…?!”

“Your face is about to burst. That much is nothing for engaged couples, kiddo.”

Whew, thinking about it again made his face burn hot.

As Dietrich had instructed, Noah bought just one snack. Then he immediately returned and held it out to Calliphe.

“Share this with the Duke.”

“Hm? Why did you only buy one?”

“Well… um… they said they’re out.”

People who had bought the same snacks passed by behind Noah, smiling.

“……”

As Calliphe’s eyes narrowed, Noah subtly avoided her gaze.

What kind of amateur lie was this?

“Why would you… Don’t tell me you’re trying to save money?”

“Ah… yes! If I don’t save, something bad might happen later.”

What? Calliphe was dumbfounded. Her pride was hurt too.

‘To think I looked poor enough that allowance money could lead to trouble!’

As Noah’s sponsor, she couldn’t let this slide.

Calliphe swept her index finger from left to right across the line of stalls.

“I’ll buy you all the snacks from there to there.”

“…!”

Noah frantically shook his head.

“No. It’s fine with what I bought!”

“Who are you trying to kid with one snack? Are you joking?”

Just as Calliphe was about to brush off Noah’s protests and move―

Ding!

[Filial Piety Quest Arrived!]

[Show Noah three instances of getting along well with Lynen (0/3)]

[Reward: 10 Filial Piety Points]

‘Getting along well? Wait, are they saying sharing one snack between two people is getting along well?’

Um… maybe it could be.

But I don’t want to!

[When Filial Piety Points reach 20, one of Noah’s stats will increase slightly.]

[Current Filial Piety Points: 10]

“……”

I was dissatisfied that the villainess’s parenting method could only help others grow, but now there’s a way to raise Noah.

‘I can’t just ignore this!’

Oh, the things I have to do.

“Come to think of it… Noah might… be right?”

Speaking with difficulty, Calliphe turned toward Lynen.

Then she held the snack up to Lynen’s mouth.

“Ah―”

“What?”

“Say ‘ah.’ I’ll… feed you.”

“Ugh…!”

Lynen, turning pale, took half a step back.