Chapter 102
The Marquis Godel seemed to hesitate for a moment, then forced a smile and spoke.
“Haha, no matter how much you are His Excellency’s adopted daughter, even if you try to act all confident—”
“Oh my, it’s true. Lady Frühling!”
I called over Roll-Head, who was passing nearby, and made a heart with my arms toward her, as she wore an expression like she’d just been called a cockroach.
“You know I treat you as special—”
“Eeek! There’s nothing more for me to do now!”
Roll-Head immediately ran off as fast as she could. The Marquis Godel looked flustered.
“Lady Frühling… of the Frühling family?”
“Yes. Though I don’t know why she seems so intimidated by me.”
“…….”
Godel’s face showed a grimace, and he gritted his teeth.
“Is this something to boast about? Really childlike. But such behavior and attitude toward a lady—”
“She’s growing well. Above all, as a young lady of the Schlager family.”
“…….”
“No matter how I grow, father won’t find it unbearable, so please don’t worry.”
I turned away, deciding not to speak any further. I could hear the Marquis fuming behind me.
Who would act childish in front of a student? I didn’t want to either.
By then, Betty had followed closely beside me.
“What’s your relationship? Are you close? Huh?”
“He’s the lord near the Flogel territory. I don’t know why he came up here.”
“Oh my, even provincial nobles who don’t enjoy the social scene come up to the capital around this time to pay their respects to His Majesty!”
True to her role in the original story, she kept chattering without pause.
“They came a bit early. Their clothes are sparkling. Maybe they want to meet other nobles or His Majesty in advance?”
“Hmm, I see.”
“It’s beneficial to establish one’s influence before the formal audience begins. They attend gatherings in advance and exchange rare local products, it seems.”
“…….”
Local products from the Marquis Godel’s territory?
Well, at the last banquet, he reportedly had a contract with some monastery to supply extremely expensive wine.
…But the most valuable thing to Marquis Godel was something else entirely. Right now, it was the Lupe hanging around my neck.
If someone tried to bring out the Lupe from the greenhouse to present it, only to discover it was fake—
Well, I was just imagining the worst-case scenario. But in novels, the “no way” usually happens, right?
Fuming, Marquis Godel turned and left without looking back.
I stared at the back of his head, starting to consider how to inform the Duke about this situation beforehand.
Albion, the Capital
The city where history began by placing a throne on the wide white rock, guided by the ancestor’s revelation.
But legends aside.
For provincial nobles, it’s unnecessarily vast; even a short walk makes the knees ache, and it’s just a hot city. The sunlight reflecting off the white stone floors practically pokes their jaws.
“Bring ice water, quickly!”
The Marquis threw off his cravat as soon as he entered his townhouse.
Because he rarely came to the capital, the townhouse had been neglected for a long time and was dirty.
A maid who was in the middle of cleaning hurriedly brought a glass of water. No ice—she just added a slice of lemon.
Godel gulped the water down and then threw the glass.
“Ah!”
“Can’t understand our language now?”
“Sorry!”
Having appeared without warning and terrified the servants and butler, the maid, muttering curses under her breath, cleaned up the broken glass.
Meanwhile, Godel glared at the ceiling.
Usually, nobles with deep provincial roots don’t come to the capital often. They send reports and pay courtesy visits maybe once a year.
But this time, he came earlier than usual for a reason.
“Damn Mana Pearls.”
The value of Mana Pearls had been slightly dropping. Not enough to notice, but sensitive investors like Godel would have noticed the signs.
The cause: technological advancement.
Steam engine technology, once limited to mines, was becoming increasingly sophisticated. Soon, it was said it could pull dozens of carriages.
With technological progress, the value of Mana Pearls—which once seemed magical—could drop.
Before that happened, he had to deal with his greatest treasure: the Mana Pearl Detector.
Initially, he intended to present it to His Majesty.
But…
“Um, Marquis. As you said, we checked with the capital’s appraiser, and it’s fake.”
“What? That’s impossible. I confirmed with the Godel estate’s appraiser, and I could even use it to detect Mana Pearls!”
“Though it seems like it detects Mana Pearls, it’s actually just a mana detector. It’s a valuable item, but not on par with a Mana Pearl Detector.”
“……”
“It’s well-made, and imbued with the Silver Dragon’s power, so ordinary appraisers wouldn’t notice. Should I wrap it?”
Godel’s dilemma didn’t last long.
Presenting it as a Mana Pearl Detector would only invite embarrassment if the king’s appraiser discovered it was fake.
“How did it come to this…”
He had acquired the item about ten years ago. The merchant who sold it had said:
“It’s made by stealing the power of a long-dead dragon. But there’s no legal issue with the item… I suppose? Hahaha!”
He recognized the risk but, eager to expand his business, bought it without asking further.
It could very well have been a fake.
Godel’s suspicion, however, shifted elsewhere.
“The fake still has the Silver Dragon’s power, they said.”
Six years ago, someone caused a commotion in Godel’s greenhouse. It was the Duke of Schlager, who possessed the Silver Dragon’s power, and the black-haired girl.
The girl had cried about being bitten by a beast dog, so Godel couldn’t investigate properly at the time.
“What if the Duke took the genuine one then?”
Once the suspicion started, it quickly expanded into a hypothesis.
Godel recalled a scene he had seen in the main hall.
“The girl went to a public-like temple school?”
If only his adopted daughter went to public school, it would raise gossip about favoritism. Why send Sol to Gruner Vant, then?
“She said it was because she caused trouble… but the Duke wouldn’t choose Gruner Vant for such a trivial reason.”
A man who used even his children as tools surely had some scheme.
…The word tool echoed in his mind.
“What if he wanted to store a tool in isolation?”
Gruner Vant is a school with restricted access, like a monastery. A cradle separated from the secular world. In other words, a perfect place to hide both precious and unsavory things.
“Could it be that she assists the Duke and handles important documents or items?”
Even at Gruner Vant, she held her chin high—perhaps proud of being part of the Schlager household.
…Though everything would be useless in the Duke’s hands.
For a brief moment, Godel felt sympathy for the girl.
The Duke surely brought her to the capital without warning to use her for his purposes.
“I must coax her… maybe offer to adopt her, or perhaps propose she become our daughter-in-law.”
Of course, he had to act before capturing the little fox.
Thinking of a more foolish-looking student, Godel finished his whiskey.
Meanwhile…
My ears were itching again. Someone was talking about me. But that wasn’t urgent.
“Brother, this kimchi is good. Made with carrots?”
“Yes. I got it cheap because the carrots were a failed crop. Not too sweet, it goes well with kimchi.”
As we carefully examined the contents of the jars,
“……Is this the most important thing right now?”
The Duke frowned beside us.
“And Ignatz, your personality seems to have changed.”
Of course. The one appearing now isn’t Ignatz—it’s Brother Eugene.
The presumed Ignatz personality spoke for a moment:
“The person who immediately asked me, ‘If any male student approaches Sol, deal with him,’ isn’t in a position to complain.”
“…….”
“Hmm, let’s check the kimchi up to this point.”
Brother put the small kimchi jars back into the box—they would go into a secret storage only he knew about.
Before closing the box, he looked at the Lupe, sitting like a troublesome item in the center.
“Do you want me to hide this?”
“Yes.”
We nodded simultaneously.
After choir practice, I had hurriedly called the Duke because I feared Marquis Godel might suspect me of stealing the Lupe—technically true.
The method I tried:
“Tomato, sorry. I need to call the Duke for a family meeting.”
“Qyu? …Qyuu!”
I collapsed face-down on the dirt floor, pretending to be dead.
Tomato tried to inspect my hair, nipped lightly, went inside my clothes, then emerged,
“Qyu, qyuuk, kkuk!”
And began to cry pitifully from above my head.
…Thirty minutes later, the Duke rode a brown horse to the spot where I had collapsed.
Afterward, the priests rushed, asking, “Your Excellency Schlager, have you come to punish the hall? Did we do something wrong?” but it seems the donations smoothed things over.
I found a secluded spot to meet Brother Eugene and explained what had happened with Marquis Godel, while enjoying some kimchi.
Eugene examined the area with the Lupe.
“I’d only heard about it. Truly a remarkable object.”
“Any place to hide it?”
“Nothing’s impossible. Temple knights respect each other’s privacy. Hidden liquor, love letters, or certain books.”
“Don’t say ugly things in front of your sister.”
“Even if I speak politely, raising a child is your responsibility as the father, so it’s already wrong.”
“…….”
I wanted to agree, but the Duke’s glum expression stopped me.
To outsiders, he might look expressionless—but somehow, I could tell the difference.
