The master strode right up to him and lifted his foot as-is. And—
THWACK!
“Ugh!”
Ravi, who had been lying on the bed, rolled off and fell to the floor.
“Master!”
“Impudent brat. You knew your master came, and you’re acting like you don’t know?”
It wasn’t like he couldn’t read the presence of someone who had entered by magic.
“...What brings you here?”
“I heard you were digging yourself into the ground again, so I came to see.”
“......”
“What is it?”
WHOOSH!
With a light flick of his hand, a chair nearby flew over fast. Kador took his seat in it and looked steadily at Ravi.
“Why are you like this again?”
“It’s nothing.”
Ravi turned his head away, avoiding Kador’s gaze.
WHACK!
“Master, are you trying to kill me?!”
“So you’ve still got the mind to defend yourself.”
At that moment, as an ice arrow flew in, Ravi had no choice but to hurriedly cast a defensive spell.
“What’s the problem, I’m asking.”
Kador cast magic again, brought over another chair from the other side, and sat Ravi down in it.
As if having his body move on its own at his master’s magic didn’t feel all that objectionable, Ravi followed obediently.
“Are you going to keep staying silent.”
Kador floated several ice arrows in the air. Seeing that, Ravi let out a long sigh and dropped his head.
“Master.”
“Yes.”
“Me.”
“Yeah.”
“...I might become an orphan.”
Ravi’s head drooped even lower. He looked like he was carrying all the worries in the world by himself.
“So you’re finally getting kicked out of House Sorpel.”
In contrast, Kador’s reaction was utterly indifferent.
“You held out longer than I expected. So when are you getting kicked out?”
“......”
“It’s simpler than you’d think, the procedure.”
“What?”
At the sudden remark, Ravi’s head lifted slightly.
“Taking in an adoptee.”
Ravi’s eyes widened a bit.
“When you’re completely kicked out, come find me. I can at least give you an empty room.”
With that, Kador stood up. Ravi stared blankly for a moment, then eventually let a faint smile form.
“I’m not into it....”
“You little bastard.”
“I have no intention of calling you Father, Master.”
“You rotten bastard.”
After firing one last ice arrow, Kador left the laboratory as-is.
Ravi kept snickering, and then the smile slowly disappeared from the corner of his mouth.
“...So that man showed up.”
He had been young, and the time they spent together hadn’t been that long, but Ravi still remembered that man’s face clearly.
Camilla’s biological father.
“Only now.”
Ravi barely swallowed down the curse that wanted to burst out.
It grated on him. That kid—Camilla—being with him right now.
And that bastard not coming back.
“Damn it....”
A long sigh spilled out of his mouth after the low curse.
WUUUUNG—
But at that moment, he felt a familiar flow of mana.
“Master?”
Kador, who had left just a moment ago, appeared again in front of Ravi.
“Quit moping and help with work.”
“What is it?”
“You know the new recruits are going on an expedition to Guardian’s Tower in a few days, right? Go with them and lead the kids.”
“Me?”
“Yeah, you.”
“...Understood.”
The moment he finished answering, Kador vanished quickly.
Chapter. Going Back
“Into the Academy?”
“Yes.”
At the breakfast table, Dive made the announcement out of nowhere. He was saying he wanted to enter Gracia Imperial Academy.
At the child’s unexpected choice—someone who had been faithfully studying through private lessons all this time—no one could hide their puzzled looks.
“Why all of a sudden?”
“Friends....”
“Friends?”
“I want to try making friends too.”
What followed was just as unexpected, and no one could easily understand it. The child had always liked being alone more than mixing with others.
“Ah....”
Only Camilla could guess why the child was suddenly making this choice.
Not long ago, when the family council had been held, a lot of children had come as well.
They had brought their children around Dive’s age, with the goal of getting them into the head of house’s view even once.
After Camilla exposed Ersh’s embezzlement, turned the meeting hall upside down, and came out, she had been able to see the children playing.
They were gathered in little groups, drinking tea or talking, each spending time their own way.
And... she had also been able to see Dive sitting alone, separated from them.
He carried that old, uniquely chilly air—refusing to allow the children to come near—so different from how he was when he was with King or with her.
It felt like looking at her past self, and Camilla let out a long sigh.
I was like that too.
She didn’t like people approaching her. Because she was afraid of getting hurt.
If even your parents hated you, who would ever like you? With that thought, she shut her heart from the start and refused to get close to others.
Honestly, being alone was more comfortable too.
She wondered if she even needed something like friends. She didn’t want to form complicated relationships and feel mentally exhausted.
But Dive wasn’t like that.
Even while he gave off that chilly air, Camilla clearly read ~Nоvеl𝕚ght~ the look in the child’s eyes—wanting to be with kids his age.
And watching Dive fail to truly mix with them, she realized one thing.
The child’s social skills were extremely lacking. How to be with kids his age—he didn’t know that at all.
So she had suggested one thing. There was a place that was just right for running into and spending time with a lot of people at that age.
“The Academy?”
“Isn’t it boring, taking lessons alone at home?”
“But....”
“You might make friends.”
“...Friends?”
That was the end of it.
In any case, it was something the child had to decide, and she didn’t want it to seem like pressure, so she didn’t say anything else.
But today, the child had come saying he wanted to go to the Academy.
“I really want to go.”
As if he had thought about it for a long time, there was a firm edge in the child’s voice.
The Duke of Escra looked like he was thinking for a moment, and Jainer, as always, only smiled quietly.
[Dive.......]
Only Sharua, the child’s mother, looked at Dive with eyes full of emotion, smiling as if she was proud.
*****
[Thank you.]
Sharua, who felt such joy at even a small change in Dive, kept offering thanks.
[And... I’m sorry.]
“What for?”
Seeing Sharua suddenly bow her head toward her, Camilla tilted her head.
She understood being thankful, but what was she sorry about?
[I knew from the beginning.]
“Knew what?”
Like someone who had committed a great sin, Sharua bowed her head even lower.
[That there was a woman by Kais’s side.]
“...What?”
Camilla didn’t understand her words right away.
A woman by the Duke’s side? Was she talking about Camilla’s mother?
[The moment I saw Kais after he came back with his memories, I knew. That during the one year he disappeared, there was someone else beside him.]
Really? How?
[It was only a little, but somewhere... he was different. More than anything... in everything about him, I could feel the touch of one person.]
“Ah....”
This was what people meant by a woman’s intuition being terrifying. Even from sewing a button onto clothes, she must have felt it immediately.
[But I didn’t say anything.]
She knew there was a woman, but she acted like she didn’t know.
[Honestly, it hurt a little.]
If she had given even the slightest hint back then... with his personality, he wouldn’t have let it go. He would have tried to find that woman no matter what.
[If I had...]
Would Camilla have avoided only meeting her father after so many years, like now?
[I’m really sorry.]
Looking at Sharua bowing her head again, Camilla lightly shook her head.
Was it even something Sharua needed to apologize for? Honestly, Camilla thought she would have done the same.
It had happened because of an accident and memory loss, but either way, Sharua had been his wife.
Why would she give hints about a man who looked like he came back after living with another woman for a whole year?
[Instead, I’ll give you a present!]
“It’s fine.”
A present, my ass. It would be a relief as long as you weren’t making me dig up graves like Hersel.
Of course, that medicine had saved the Duke of Sorpel, but she still didn’t particularly welcome gifts from ghosts.
[No! Please take it!]
Even at Camilla’s refusal, Sharua was extremely firm.
*****
“Welcome.”
As they entered through the large entrance, a man and a woman in suits greeted them politely.
“Welcome to Gracia Central Bank.”
Looking at the two with sales smiles plastered on their faces, Camilla beamed back.
But she couldn’t help swallowing dryly.
Because she knew very well that those two—those ordinary-looking people—were a high-ranking mage who could freely use sixth-circle magic, and a swordsman who radiated aura.
If the skill level of employees greeting customers at the entrance was like this, then...
From the clerks sitting at the windows waiting for customers, to the guards placed all over, there wasn’t a single person she could take lightly.
No wonder there’s never been a thief here.
It really was a bank that boasted the highest security.
“But aren’t you busy?”
Camilla paused on her way toward the counter and turned around.
Looking at the two people stuck right behind her—the Duke of Escra and Count Alton—she slightly shook her head. She’d said she would just go alone.
“I told you. This place is more dangerous than you think.”
“If you enter the password wrong more than three times, you’re detained immediately. For now, we’ll do our best so it doesn’t go as far as detention, using the power of the house.”
...So you really don’t trust me.
The reason Camilla had come here was to change the name on a safe deposit box.
Whose?
A safe deposit box that belonged to Sharua, who was dead.
[My parents left me a safe deposit box. My older brother died early, so I was the only heir.]
So?
[I want to give it to you, Camilla.]
You didn’t give it to someone else? Before you died, don’t people usually sort things like that out?
[I think I was angrier than I realized. That there was another woman by Kais’s side....... So I didn’t tell anyone the password. It was my own small revenge.]
You could give it to Dive.
[He’s too young, so in the end, Kais would have managed it. If that’s the case, I thought it would be better for it to become state property about fifty years later.]
No, but still....
[Of course, it was really a meaningless action. Kais had no interest at all in the assets I had.]
Sure, money was fine, and a gift was fine.
Everything’s fine, but.
She couldn’t help worrying about how she was supposed to deal with this again.
If she brought up a safe deposit box that had been sleeping for a long time, it was obvious what expressions everyone would make.
And if she said she knew how to open it...
But what can I do?
In the end, she did what she always did.
“You saw Sharua’s safe deposit box in a dream?”
“Yes. I saw the password too.”
“......”
“May I open it?”
The Duke of Escra’s reaction was unexpectedly simple. He didn’t demand a detailed explanation and just nodded right away. He only gave her a few warnings about the central bank.
She thought that meant it would pass easily, but then—
“Are you ready?”
“What?”
“The weather has warmed up a lot, but it’s still chilly, Lady Camilla. At least gloves—”
“I happened to get something as a gift. I’ll give it to you.”
“...You’re both coming too?”
Now that it was the actual day, seeing the two of them follow her while setting everything else aside, Camilla lightly shook her head.
Trust my ass.
Still...
I’m letting it go because the gloves are pretty.
These people are terrible liars.
Camilla glanced at the Duke of Escra’s large hand, and a faint smile spread along her lips.
