Chapter 37
Davien, who was worrying if there was a good way, happened to hear a story about hypnosis from a knight. It was about the knight’s younger sister, who had always cried after being dumped by a man. Through hypnosis, she had organized her memories and became okay.
Normally, Davien would have told the knight to stop talking nonsense and made him run a hundred laps in the training yard. But that day was different. Davien found the location of the hypnotist and, knowing there wouldn’t be enough time, forced the hypnotist—almost like kidnapping—and brought him in front of Kae.
When Lloyd heard the news, he barged into Kae’s room, saying hypnosis was ridiculous. The hypnotist, trembling under Lloyd’s terrifying presence, couldn’t even say a word and ran away.
Davien blamed Lloyd for this, and a small fight broke out. As a result, there was some repair work in the mansion for a while.
Lloyd went all the way to the Zeronia Countship, did a series of backdoor deals, and bought a title. It was based on his subordinate’s advice: wealth and honor are the ultimate goals of humans, so this would surely cheer Kae up.
Now, the name “Kae” had the title “Zeronia” added behind it.
However, when Kae happily received the documents proving her noble status and the food brought from Zeronia, she burst into tears the moment she heard “Zeronia.” She didn’t even look at the documents.
Davien clicked her tongue, saying Kae had no sense, and Lloyd, returning, threw the paperwork at his subordinate, forcing him to work overtime. He blamed himself for asking advice from a single man who had never properly met a woman.
Seeing the twins’ antics, the butler quietly suggested to Lloyd and Davien, “Just leave her alone for a few days.”
The twins, listening to the advice of the elderly butler, stayed quiet for a while.
On the second day that Kae was left alone in her room and hadn’t eaten anything, Davien decided she couldn’t let it continue and opened the door.
“Kae, get up… huh?”
The room, which had been dark with curtains drawn, was now filled with bright sunlight. Kae was standing in the sunlight through the wide-open window.
“Good morning, Davien,” Kae said.
Her hair fluttered in the wind, shining in the sunlight.
Kae smiled brightly at Davien.
“Are you really okay?”
Her thin, pitiful body and face showed she was far from okay, but Kae smiled and said she was.
“Thank you, Davien, for letting me stay here.”
“No need to thank me,” Davien said, scratching her head.
Watching her quietly, Kae spoke again.
“I’m planning to work at the Empire Healer’s Clinic in the capital. Since I have no money, I have to work, right? Haha. Davien, I’ll find a place to live once I get a job, so until then, I’ll be in your care.”
Davien paused at her words.
‘Well… I wonder if Lloyd will really let you go. Judging by what he’s been doing lately, he seems completely crazy.’
Davien thought of the popular wedding magazines he had seen on Lloyd’s office desk.
“Oh, and there’s somewhere I want to go. Can we go?”
Kae asked softly, and Davien nodded naturally.
Soon, a carriage was parked in front of the Helderios mansion. Davien, Lloyd, and Kae, dressed in black mourning clothes, got into the carriage.
Davien was annoyed by Lloyd. She had wanted a rare chance alone with Kae, yet the clueless brother followed them. He claimed he was free, so he came along.
But Lloyd carried a pile of documents and started organizing them in the carriage.
“You said you were free. What are those documents?”
Davien frowned at the documents Lloyd was flipping through quickly.
“This is fine. Once I finish these, I’m done,” Lloyd said.
“Sure, sure, of course,” Davien muttered.
For a while, there was silence in the carriage.
While looking at the papers, Lloyd glanced at Kae. She looked pale and thin from not eating for days, and the black mourning clothes made her look even weaker.
His heart ached at her appearance.
He wanted to tell her she wasn’t alone, that he would stay by her side. He wanted to become a family for her, someone who had none.
So Lloyd, carrying the pile of work, waited for the right moment to confess.
If only his clueless little sister weren’t there, he would have confessed already. Lloyd glared at Davien, who sensed it and glared back.
Their silent standoff continued until the carriage stopped. They had arrived at the cemetery located in the Terrina Temple.
As they got off the carriage, a priest, surprised to see the Helderios family crest on the carriage, ran over, bowing repeatedly. Following him, they reached a grave with a white tombstone.
“I’ll be going now,” the priest said, glancing at Kae, and bowed again before leaving.
Kae stared at the tombstone blankly and placed the chrysanthemums she was holding in front of it. Tears streamed down her face again. No matter how much she had cried under the covers before, she couldn’t stop now.
The conversation she had with the Apostle kept coming to mind. The man who looked so good with flowers was no longer in this world.
“Apostle… sniff…”
Kae sat down and buried her face in her hands, crying. Lloyd gently patted her trembling shoulder.
In the carriage back to Helderios mansion, Kae didn’t say a word. Davien, unable to bear the heavy loneliness, finally spoke.
“I’ll show you something when we get home!”
Kae, her face still red from crying, looked up at Davien.
“You can look forward to it.”
Davien’s grin gave Lloyd an unexplainable fear.
At the mansion, Davien led Kae and Lloyd to the knights’ building. She whispered to a passing knight, who went pale, saluted, and hurried off.
Soon, the knight returned, holding a small paper box, looking terrified as if it contained something horrible.
“I… I’ll go now! I still have work to do,” the knight stammered, placing the box on the floor before quickly leaving.
‘What could be in that box?’
Kae felt uneasy seeing the knight’s reaction.
“I heard that for emotional stability, cute animals are the best,” Davien said, smiling.
Kae’s unease grew as Davien opened the box.
Inside…
“Yip yip!”
“Oh my!”
“Isn’t it cute?”
A small fluffy black puppy looked at Kae.
“Whimper,” the puppy squeaked.
Davien picked up the trembling puppy. It shivered in her arms, cold from being in the box.
‘So… cute!’
Its droopy black ears, big round eyes, and small tail were adorable.
“The mother abandoned it. I brought it here because it might die if left alone. Want to hold it?”
Kae felt sorry for the trembling abandoned puppy.
When Davien handed it to Kae, the puppy shivered but crawled into her arms.
Bark! Bark!
Every time it coughed, small flames came out of its mouth.
“Uh… did I just see that right? The puppy just breathed fire?”
It smelled faintly of sulfur.
“Could it be…?”
Lloyd suddenly grabbed the puppy from Kae’s arms. Holding its neck, he inspected it, turning pale, and shouted at Davien.
“Davien! Are you out of your mind? You brought a Hell Hound!”
‘Hell Hound? The monster with fire coming from its eyes and mouth?’
Hell Hounds are high-level monsters, seen only in dungeons or demon realms, with strong magic and fire breath. Many fear them.
“Shut up! You’re scaring my puppy,” Davien said, taking the Hell Hound back from Lloyd.
“This one was weak in magic, so its mother abandoned it. Other monsters were going to eat it, but I thought Kae would like it. Its name is Rova, short for ‘Lloyd’s Fool.’ Hahaha.”
Davien gently petted Rova, who trembled in her arms.
Lloyd’s forehead veins bulged.
“Davien, that’s not a puppy, it’s a monster! Send it back now!”
“But it looks like a puppy. What’s the problem?”
Davien and Lloyd glared at each other.
Rova’s round eyes met Kae’s. Every time Davien touched it, or Lloyd shouted, Rova trembled more. Kae realized why it shivered so much:
‘It’s not cold, it’s scared of Davien and Lloyd.’
A level 1 weak monster trembling in front of old, strong monsters. Kae sighed and held Rova carefully.
“Shall we go inside? Something’s about to happen here.”
With Rova in her arms, Kae headed toward the room, leaving Davien and Lloyd growling at each other.
Soon, loud bangs and sounds of the building breaking were heard. Davien and Lloyd were fighting again.
The knights’ building needed repairs for quite a while after that fight.
