Chapter 129……………………………………..
Bait (1)
“Y-Young master…?”
At that word, Temia reacted instinctively. Lowell stopped pulling her along and turned to her, meeting her puzzled gaze.
“He’s from the Trea household. A man who used to be called my father’s right-hand.”
He finished speaking with a heavy sigh, and Temia’s heart grew just as heavy. Unable to move forward or back, she turned her eyes again toward the man staring at them desperately through the still-open door. Taking their eye contact as permission to speak, the unwelcome visitor hurriedly began.
“Count Trea has incurred an enormous debt, and the creditor is looking for the young master. On the condition that you repay it!”
“You came here to ask me to go there? Seriously?”
“Please, just once—help the Trea family. His life is in danger!”
It was certainly a plausible reason to seek Lowell out. But the content itself was far from agreeable. Infuriated by the shameless demand, Lowell let out a disbelieving laugh.
“I thought covering his monthly luxury expenses was help enough. Now that’s not sufficient, and I’m supposed to take responsibility for his life too? Why are you coming to me about consequences of actions beyond his station?”
“Please, young master. The Count is in danger… Please, I beg you. Shouldn’t we at least save a life?”
The uninvited guest’s voice broke. At last, he dropped to his knees and bowed his head to the floor in supplication. It was the worst possible tactic to use on Lowell, who despised emotional appeals above all else.
Still, he possessed enough breeding not to kick an elderly servant and throw him out.
‘Even if I force him out now, he’ll just come back again. In that case…’
After a long sigh, he decided to change his approach. Of course, such a small gesture did nothing to calm the tangled mess inside him. Without bothering to hide his irritation, Lowell frowned and asked,
“So they said they’d repay the debt on the condition that they meet me?”
“Yes. But… they said that if they told you the name, you would certainly recognize it. That you wouldn’t be able to refuse to come…”
“Who is it?”
“Well…”
The words that followed were enough to shock any listener. As the man hesitated and continued, Temia—who had been listening from the side—felt her breath stop in disbelief.
“I believe the name was… ‘Rigma Zachary.’ Do you know him?”
The unwelcome visitor even provided the location where Rigma had confined the Count before finally leaving. It wasn’t that they couldn’t understand the worry etched on his face as he repeatedly urged them—but it wasn’t a simple matter to answer obediently, either. Still, the man had no other options, and so he left with heavy steps.
Afterward, only cold air lingered in the workshop.
Though they had unexpectedly learned news of the very person they had been tracking, Lowell needed time to rein in the anger surging uncontrollably within him before he could feel any relief. Normally even-tempered, he didn’t know how to handle this consecutive string of irritations. Where cold reason should have anchored him, flames of anger raged instead, consuming his thoughts.
There was at least one positive thing.
Unlike before, he didn’t try to vent his frustration recklessly—like spraying potions over the fields just to release pent-up anger.
At least since meeting Temia, Lowell had begun to confront his emotions honestly. Instead of bottling up what he couldn’t release, he tried to speak of it—and solve it together.
‘It’s the first time I’ve thought I’m glad I’m not alone.’
Watching his assistant bustle back and forth in the kitchen in an attempt to comfort him, Lowell rested his head on the table. Observing her constant, diligent movements allowed him to set aside his tangled thoughts for a moment.
“Lowell, get up! You have to eat something.”
Before long, Temia shook his back as he lay there blankly. On the table, the results of her effort had already been laid out.
Her skills were still clumsy, but the plates were piled high with fruits and salads he preferred—less sweet, more cleanly bitter flavors rather than the sugary tastes she herself liked.
It matched his tastes perfectly, and Lowell found that rather adorable.
“This is a bit much. I don’t have that big of an appetite.”
“Still! At times like this, you have to eat more and keep up your strength!”
“At times like this? What kind of time is this?”
He straightened up and speared a piece of fruit with his fork. A green grape rolled across the plate and barely stopped before falling off the edge.
Temia’s eyes followed the grape anxiously—a small act of avoidance. It was a question not easily answered. As she stood there with an aggrieved expression, unable to reply immediately, Lowell smiled faintly.
“My family may be a disgrace, but at least they’ve given us one useful thing. I wondered why Rigma had been so quiet—turns out he was threatening the Trea family.”
“…Even if you say it like that, I know you’re upset.”
“If I think of it this way, I can at least muster a shred of pity for them. So humor me.”
His tone was self-deprecating.
Temia thought of the people of Etval who had always stood firmly on her side and felt gloomy. Not all families were the same—but Lowell’s background was so different from hers that she didn’t know how to comfort him.
‘I barely know the details. I can’t just barge in recklessly…’
Normally, with a life at stake, she would have urged immediate action. But knowing the complicated love-hate feelings Lowell had toward his family, she couldn’t presume to decide for him.
So she simply comforted him with all her heart, hoping his burden would ease even a little.
Fortunately, by the time the plates were empty, Lowell’s complexion had brightened somewhat. Their conversation during the meal had been brief, but it was enough for him to regain control of his emotions.
As he cleared the dishes, Lowell asked,
“What do you think I should do, Temia? If we want to grab Prometheus by the tail, it makes sense to accept the invitation—but I have a bit of a temper. I don’t exactly want to rush over.”
“…I understand.”
“Still, given the situation, not moving right away doesn’t look great, does it? Like you said, the country itself might be in danger, and I’m hesitating because of personal feelings.”
Temia pressed her lips together again. No answer felt entirely right. The issue was too emotionally tangled to give a simple opinion. The only thing she was certain of was that she wanted Lowell to be hurt as little as possible.
At last, she sighed softly.
“Whatever you choose, I’ll follow. Even if you go right away, since he’s connected to Prometheus, it might be a trap. And even if you don’t go, there are other ways to learn about the Trea family’s situation.”
“Hmm…”
“So do what you want. I’m just here to help you. That’s what an assistant does, right?”
Temia remembered the awkward way Lowell had once patted her to comfort her. Just as unaccustomed to comforting others herself, she awkwardly patted him in return, recalling that gesture.
The sight made Lowell smile again, as if she were handling a moody adolescent boy. He grabbed her hand tightly.
“What are you—!”
“You heard the place of confinement is Kallis Land, right? Last time you got lost there. We can’t have that happen again, so let’s go hand in hand.”
“That’s quite the grand excuse this time!”
“It works, doesn’t it? Now, let’s go.”
‘We haven’t even officially started dating yet, and he keeps…! Is this how everyone is?’
Temia stared at the man smiling brightly at her, utterly flustered. As always, he entwined their hands under some ridiculous pretext. He could lie without batting an eye when he wanted to—but at times like this, his jokes were transparently insincere.
The sincerity beneath them was obvious.
The tension that had filled her drained away in a puff of laughter. The mage who kept finding excuses to brush against her was… lovable. Seeing Lowell as he always was calmed her lingering unease. Before she realized it, the air in the workshop had grown warm.
