“However, you must take an escort with you. I recommend going with several people, but if that is troublesome, at least make sure to take Ris.”
“Alright. Thank you for being considerate.”
Perhaps because I thought I might be able to go out for the first time in a while, my face brightened slightly without me realizing it.
Seeing that the corners of Rastan’s lips, which had been watching my expression, relaxed slightly as if relieved.
***
Three days later, on the day Rastan left.
Evelyn and Rastan exchanged farewells in front of the main building of the ducal estate.
Evelyn’s face was still stiff compared to before, but the atmosphere between the two was softer than it had been a few days ago.
“Travel safely.”
“You do not need to worry about me. If you go out, you must also be careful.”
Watching their farewell, a Rodin bird with an orange chest sat on a nearby tree.
As soon as the Rodin bird saw the horse carrying Rastan depart, it fluttered its wings and flew toward somewhere.
And only a few hours later, a letter arrived in front of Evelyn.
It was a letter sent by Ifrit.
***
I immediately opened the letter from Ifrit that the butler had handed to me.
‘He is quite perceptive. He sent the letter meant for me directly to the Blake estate.’
He had probably heard at the Imperial Palace that I was engaged to Rastan and guessed that I, who had suddenly disappeared, was staying here.
‘And he even sent it at the perfect timing, when Rastan is not here.’
The letter contained simple greetings along with a brief message saying, “Let us meet tomorrow and have a meal together.”
‘Hmm, what should I do?’
Thinking about it, had I not thrown away the communication device Ifrit gave me because Rastan disliked it?
“I would prefer that you do not bring something given by that man into my home.”
So Ifrit was probably wondering why he suddenly couldn’t contact me.
‘When we met at the Imperial Palace this time, I had only exchanged brief greetings because of Rastan’s pressure.’
Because of Rastan, I had never been able to properly talk with Ifrit.
‘He is such a thoughtful friend, so why does Rastan dislike and guard against him so much? As far as I know, they have never even directly clashed.’
Letting out a small sigh, I recalled once again that Rastan had left the manor today.
There was no way I could hide from him that I had met Ifrit when he returned, but there was no one now who would oppose me going to meet him.
‘Alright. Then, to refresh my mood, should I go out and meet him for the first time in a while?’
Since Rastan himself had told me to go out if I wished, the servants wouldn’t stop me either.
‘Yes, I should say I will go.’
Looking at the letter again, at the end it said, “Send your reply via the Rodin bird.”
‘Huh? A Rodin bird?’
When I raised my head and looked around, sure enough, that very bird was sitting outside the window, tilting its head cutely as it looked at me.
It was nice and cute to see it again after so long, so I smiled slightly and waved my hand.
“Well, that certainly would be faster.”
I quickly wrote a reply and tied it to the Rodin bird’s leg. As if happy to receive a mission after so long, the bird rubbed its cheek against my hand and then fluttered away busily.
The next day, at the appointed time, a carriage from House Pavel arrived in front of the main gate of the ducal estate.
Since I couldn’t go to have a meal with a friend while dragging along numerous escorts, I brought only Ris and boarded the carriage.
‘It’s not like I’m a princess or a high-ranking official. Besides, Ris alone is worth a hundred.’
I had thought we would go to the Pavel’s estate or a restaurant in the city, but when I suddenly looked outside the carriage window, the carriage was heading in a completely different direction.
‘That’s strange. This road is familiar… but the Pavel estate is not this way.’
However, I stayed silent for the moment, worried that Ris might become concerned for nothing. And my question was answered not long after.
‘What? This is the road to my home.’
That was right. The road the carriage was taking was none other than the road leading to the Krone estate.
‘Why? Was there some mistake?’
Could it be that Ifrit had conspired with my father and called me out? To sell me off somewhere else?
All sorts of thoughts flashed through my mind in an instant.
‘No. Maybe my father would, but there is no reason for Ifrit to do something like that to me.’
I suddenly regretted having boarded someone else’s carriage without any suspicion.
“But… nothing is certain yet. And I have Ris with me.”
For now, all I could do was wait anxiously for the carriage to arrive.
The carriage soon arrived at the Krone estate.
“Oh? Madam. Is this not your family home?”
Ris had stayed here with me briefly before I left for the Lansval household, so she recognized the place immediately.
“Yes… I also do not know why we came here.”
At that moment, Ifrit, who had been standing in front of the mansion gate waiting, opened the carriage door with a face as bright as his fine golden hair.
The smile on his kind face was as beautiful as always.
“Welcome, Lyn. Thank you for accepting my invitation.”
I took his hand and stepped down from the carriage, then asked,
“I was surprised when the carriage came here instead of your estate or the city. Why did you call me here?”
“Ah, I’m sorry if you were surprised. I recently purchased this mansion.”
Ah. So this was what Rastan had mentioned three days ago.
“…I had vaguely heard that the mansion was sold, but I didn’t know that you were the one who bought it.”
“Haha, I kept it secret, including my identity and even the fact that this mansion was purchased, in case unnecessary talk spread. Duke Blake’s information network is truly impressive.”
Rastan had spoken of it lightly, as if it were simply a known fact, but it seemed that wasn’t the case.
Ifrit gently curved his eyes and spoke kindly.
“It must be a place full of memories and precious to you, so I didn’t want it to fall into just anyone’s hands.”
They were warm and kind words, but I felt a strange emotion.
‘He doesn’t know how much I was beaten in this house, or how much I cried throughout the years I was mistreated.’
Then again, our interactions with House Pavel had ceased around the time it became certain that I wouldn’t manifest any ability, so it made sense that he wouldn’t know.
Unaware of my thoughts, he continued speaking in a warm voice.
“Since I bought it, you can come and see it whenever you want. You are even welcome to stay here if you wish.”
“Haha… Thank you.”
I answered with an awkward smile, and Ifrit, seemingly unaware of my awkwardness, simply smiled brightly with his eyes.
“Come, let’s go inside. This way… Ah. You probably know the layout better than I do, so I don’t think I need to guide you. Haha.”
We went straight into the dining room. After we sat down, Ifrit also looked after Ris, who was standing behind me.
“You there, your name was Ris, right? You must be hungry too, so sit beside Evelyn and eat something.”
Considering the noble society atmosphere where only the master was cared for and the needs of their servants were usually ignored, it was somewhat unusual.
I also felt sorry that Ris would have to stand behind me guarding while I ate, but as a guest, I couldn’t be the one to make such a request first.
So I felt grateful that Ifrit noticed and took care of it himself.
To the point that I even felt sorry for having briefly suspected him earlier when the road had changed while we came here by carriage.
“No, I am fine…”
“You came with Evelyn, so you are my guest as well. Please eat comfortably.”
I also supported Ifrit’s words.
“Ris, it’s about time you were hungry. The host has offered, so you don’t need to refuse.”
In the end, Ris reluctantly sat down.
The maids who had been serving the meal quickly set a place for her as well.
All of us received wine poured from the same bottle into our glasses, and as we took the various foods laid out on the table onto our plates and ate, my suspicion toward Ifrit completely disappeared down to the very last trace.
While we were eating, Ifrit spoke.
“I deliberately chose this mansion as the place for our meal. I thought it would be a comfortable and familiar place for you.”
“Y-yes. Thank you for thinking of it.”
It wasn’t uncomfortable to the point that I couldn’t eat, but honestly, it wasn’t the most comfortable place in the world either. However, thinking of Ifrit’s sincerity, I acknowledged it for now.
“Count Krone couldn’t repay his debts, so this mansion was put up for sale. I paid a fair price, and I heard that the Count and the young lord repaid their debts with that money and went down to the countryside.”
“I see…”
Although our relationship wasn’t good, when they sold the main family mansion that had been the foundation of the House for generations and left, they could have at least informed me.
When I trailed off as if I hadn’t known, Ifrit tilted his head slightly.
“Hmm. I think Duke Blake probably knew that this estate had been put up for sale. Did he not tell you?”
