Chapter 66
Ignitus Manor
Taking advantage of Io stalling for time, I quietly sneaked into the room where the safe was kept.
When I held the ring-shaped key I had secretly taken from the study to the lock, the door opened easily.
Even though I was too young and the key was technically kept by my attendants, they hadn’t bothered to hide its whereabouts from me.
“Miss, this ring is used only to open your personal safe. We’ll keep it in this box for you so you can use it later.”
‘They probably never imagined I’d try opening the safe already.’
Somehow, it felt like I was doing something naughty.
‘It’s fine. It’s my safe, so opening it isn’t wrong, right?’
Creak—
Inside the safe, the eleven gold coins I had received before were neatly arranged.
“Hmm, still here.”
I placed the entire pouch of silver coins I had saved inside, then hurriedly left the safe room, making sure no one saw me.
Fortunately, no one in the manor noticed my little excursion.
“Miss, you’ve been in your room all this time. What were you doing?”
“I was playing a word-matching game with Io. It was so much fun!”
“Hoho, Miss, really.”
‘Good.’
Even the maid who kept coming and going in the hallway didn’t notice my outing. Complete success.
I decided I could use this method again next time.
The next day.
I was sitting on the courtyard rock passing the time when suddenly dust swirled around the rock.
“They’re here!”
It had to be the contact Titus mentioned.
Since the burned-down Cypress was no longer an option, we had agreed to meet on the flat rock in the middle of the courtyard.
‘It can’t be a person… is it an animal raised in Tellus?’
Peeking at me from the low ground, a small, round-headed mole emerged.
“Ah!”
I froze at the appearance of this strange creature.
This was the contact? Did he train a mole?
Well, animals are a clever way to communicate without being noticed.
Beep-beep!
The mole handed me a crumpled note while keeping its bright eyes fixed on me.
‘…Watching it, I think it’s kind of cute.’
Thinking that, I unfolded the note and read it:
**[This is the contact I told you about. I’ll come at the same time every day, so if you have something to say, write it on cloth and give it to this one.
It knows your scent, so as long as you’re outside, it’ll find you.
Don’t worry about secrets leaking. If anyone else catches it, it’ll eat the note.
But be careful not to be caught by the adults. If they see what I sent, it’ll cause trouble.
P.S. Doesn’t the messenger look like you?
Its name is Ululu.]**
Reading the postscript, I frowned.
‘A mole that looks like me? What’s wrong with its eyes?’
I couldn’t believe it, so I decided to ask someone else to confirm.
Carrying the mole, I went to the nearby hallway, and just then Ankuss was walking toward me.
“Ankku. Look at this.”
“Miss? Is that a field mouse? What are you doing with it?”
“No, look closely. It’s a mole.”
Beep!
Ululu squeaked loudly as if protesting being called a mouse.
“A mole? I’ve never seen one in the estate. Did it come down from Mount Ardeo?”
“Do you think it looks like me?”
Then Ankuss burst into laughter.
“Hahaha! Of course not! No matter how round your face is, how could a person look like a mole?”
As expected.
Satisfied with his answer, I was about to turn away when Ankuss added,
“Then, Miss Kalidora, let’s go inside and have a snack!”
…while running off carrying the mole instead of me.
“Ankku! Stop!”
He said it didn’t look like me! That was twice as annoying as just being told it looked like me.
Reaching the corridor and entrance, Ankuss slowed down slightly, giving me an opportunity to quickly grab his sleeve.
“Eek.”
“Come here, Ululu!”
“Already giving it a name? And why such a ridiculous one…”
“Don’t say that about its precious name.”
I hurriedly interrupted, worried Ululu might hear.
Ululu leapt into my arms the moment I opened them.
Startled at being lifted by a stranger, it looked upset.
“Piiiik…”
Ankuss observed this with a curious gaze.
“This mole seems to understand words, as if it’s been trained by someone.”
‘No way, why is it so perceptive?’
Worried it might reveal that it was from Tellus, I quickly hid Ululu in my arms.
“It’s just your imagination, Ankku. That’s all for now.”
I carried Ululu and walked back toward the courtyard.
“Oh dear, Miss, are you upset? But at least have a snack with me…”
I ignored him coldly.
“I, I can’t believe this…”
I heard Ankuss muttering in despair, but I ignored him and kept walking.
‘A mole that looks like me? Never again.’
After losing Ankuss, I pretended to play around in the courtyard, then approached the slate with posted news.
It was news about the gladiator Barbaros’ matches—time to use it.
The slate showed the schedule for this year’s gladiator matches:
[Tournament match: Barbaros vs Pompo]
The first match was in three days; the final in a month.
‘First, get a ticket. Then I’ll tell Titus to meet again on the last day.’
Making money from this would be easy.
Lying on the courtyard rock, I smiled and began writing a reply:
**[Got your letter. I’ll contact you sometimes.
P.S. The messenger is cute, but it doesn’t look like me.]**
“Okay, so now you deliver it to Titus?”
I folded the cloth and handed it to Ululu. It nodded once and disappeared into the ground.
Meanwhile, I tried to cover the ground with my body as much as possible.
‘This is harder than I thought. I must look suspicious.’
Maybe it would be better to meet him on Mount Ardeo instead of the courtyard.
Just then, Ululu popped its head out of the hole again.
“You already have a reply?”
The estate is quite far from Tellus. It’s fast.
Titus’ response was surprising:
[Really? I thought you came here yourself with the reply.]
“…….”
Why is everyone saying the same thing? Does he know Ankuss? Could it really look like me?
“Ululu, do you think you and I look alike?”
Beep-beep!
Ululu seemed pleased with my question and let out a cheerful chirp.
‘Sigh, as long as you’re happy.’
I sent another reply, half-resigned:
[Keep your eyes open. I’ll try to get the letters through my assistant too.]
Titus quickly sent another reply:
[Send the handkerchief it carries over here. I’ll train it.]
While scribbling letters with charcoal, I realized something inside me was stirring.
‘…I’m enjoying this.’
In my past life, I had never been able to comfortably interact like this with someone from another family.
Due to daily raids from barbarians, priority was always checking each other’s safety, and even that was risky, so we rarely saw each other.
To casually chat with a friend in peace was something I had longed for.
‘Technically, Titus isn’t exactly a friend since we’re bound by contract.’
I decided to define my relationship with Titus as a “strange sort of friend.”
Meanwhile, Ankuss took Kalidora ignoring him very seriously.
‘She just walked away like that.’
Even though she normally came back smiling after teasing me. Had I teased her too harshly?
Seeing her sulking after hearing she looked like a mole made me feel a bit sorry.
“Oh dear, Miss, are you upset? But still, have a snack with me…”
“Hmph.”
Yet the cuteness won. ‘Hmph.’
Ankuss was willing to tease her more just to hear that again.
‘I’ll do some work, then come back to set her free.’
Thinking this, Ankuss returned to the study.
A few hours later.
Ankuss came back to the courtyard with a handful of ripe olives, only to find Kalidora lying flat on the rock, pretending to play, and froze in surprise.
