Chapter 66
“Did you throw a stone through the window? Who did it?”
“Milady did.”
“Huh?”
“Milady threw a stone at her own room’s window.”
“…Why?”
“She was stressed from studying….”
“….”
“She’s currently at the Count’s residence because the window is being repaired. She asked me to bring her a melon-flavored gelato on my way here.”
“Haha! That rascal! Why does she make her dad do it!”
Judge Cameron chuckled warmly.
He never forgave mistakes from his staff or junior judges, but he was extremely lenient with his only daughter.
So lenient, in fact, that he would sometimes stand in line himself at stores just to buy her a treat.
Today was no exception—he came directly to the gelato shop near the courthouse instead of sending a servant.
“Long time no see, Judge. It should take about ten minutes to get to the Count’s residence from here, right?”
“That’s right. Melon flavor… and what’s this? Do kids like this too?”
“Oh, this is our new creation….”
He was choosing gelato based on the recommendation of the youngest employee, who had worked at the shop for seven years.
Suddenly, he felt someone watching him.
He turned around and saw a man who looked like a bandit staring right at him.
A towering figure, seemingly shaved but with stubble covering his cheeks and neck. Muscles bulging on his shoulders and arms.
Just that was enough to be unsettling, but the man was wearing a sleeveless shirt in this weather!
Even worse, black chest hair was visible across his exposed chest.
“….”
Anyone who’s experienced it knows how unpleasant it is when someone—especially a middle-aged man—stares at you unblinkingly.
It’s even worse if eye contact is made and they don’t look away; the feeling multiplies tenfold.
Judge Cameron had never experienced this before, but he didn’t like it one bit.
Showing his displeasure, he cleared his throat and returned his gaze forward.
“This new gelato looks fine, but my daughter will eat it by herself.”
“Oh, then how about this one?”
But he could still feel the gaze.
Turning again, the bandit-like man was still staring at him.
Cameron made eye contact to signal his discomfort, but the man ignored it completely.
It was as if Judge Cameron was nothing more than a signboard or table in the shop.
“Ahem! Ahem!”
Extremely unpleasant.
Feeling creepy.
Cameron cleared his throat again, picked up the bag of gelato, and left the shop.
Even as he left, the man continued to stare at him without a smile.
‘This guy’s out of his mind.’
Still upset, Judge Cameron walked along the well-lit main road from the Central Court to the Count’s residence.
He had sent the carriage ahead, so he walked.
The man followed.
“….”
Whenever Cameron turned to look, the man would stop. Walk again, and he would stop again.
He deliberately crossed the street, changed direction, but the man continued to follow.
“….”
A chill ran down his spine.
With three minutes left to reach the Count’s residence, Cameron practically ran the rest of the way.
“Master?”
The butler, who had arrived earlier, was surprised to see him.
“Dad!”
His daughter, lying in the second-floor parlor, heard him and tumbled down the stairs.
“Did you get the gelato?”
“You little rascal, didn’t you even see your dad!”
It had been decades since he had run like that.
Catching his breath, Judge Cameron patted his daughter’s head.
Peeking cautiously through the curtains at the window, he saw no sign of the man.
Finally, he relaxed.
That evening, his exasperated daughter assumed the dormitory repairs were finished, ate her gelato, and left. His wife had gone to the southern villa to escape the capital’s bitter cold.
“Then have a comfortable night, Master.”
After the butler gave a polite farewell and left the study, Cameron sat alone in the first-floor study with his feet up on the hearth.
Knock knock.
“Huh?”
Knock knock.
“Who….”
Knock knock.
“….”
A chilling sensation ran down his spine—someone knocking on the window.
The study window opened directly onto the garden outside.
Knock knock.
“…Who is it?”
As Cameron got up awkwardly, the man from earlier that evening—hairy and muscular—flashed through his mind.
Question:
Who was the hairy, muscular man who threatened Judge Cameron?
Of course… it was me.
★★★★★
If you can’t empathize because it’s “someone else’s problem,” let’s make you experience it firsthand!
Magical Saint Seraphina!
Transform into a muscular man!
★★★★★
“I’m really mad.”
Have you ever been through something like that?
“From a victim’s perspective, you didn’t do anything, yet you’re harassed.”
I once had a stranger staring at me while I was going to school. So I stared back.
The old man got flustered and asked what I was looking at.
I said, “You were staring at me, so I just looked back.”
Apparently, that’s allowed with adults.
But then, what about me? Am I allowed to stare back?
I don’t even stare at passing dogs! I want to, but I restrain myself!
And yet, that man went to someone else’s workplace, stared for hours, and actually committed a crime!
And they dismiss it?!
“I won’t let the judge get away with this.”
Fuming, she swung her arms.
“He needs to experience this himself.”
To look as threatening as possible, she puffed herself up, bulking her muscles—but couldn’t cross her arms because her muscles got in the way.
“Make the nose hair stick out a bit, make the stubble as dark as possible…”
Cassian chimed in:
“Wouldn’t it be better to add chest hair too?”
“Oh, thickly?”
“Curly, actually.”
“Ugh.”
After pretending to vomit at Cassian and swinging a toy hammer, she doubled the chest hair.
Now, her chest hair seemed more than tofu.
Looking down at Cassian’s thick scalp, she said:
“I’ll follow him until the second trial.”
Isn’t it extreme to intimidate someone who’s a father figure?
A woman who’s never felt unsafe walking alone at night wouldn’t get a stone thrown at her.
Passing a dark carriage on a deserted street, feeling uneasy, she would never have taken a detour… but now, she could.
‘The best part of my super strength is being free from this fear at night.’
But she remembered how scared she used to be.
“So let’s make our respected judge realize it too.”
“Let’s do it.”
“Let’s dooo it.”
The three of them stacked hands and shouted, “Justice served!”
“But Cassian.”
“Hm?”
“Sleeveless is way too cold…”
“Should we put on long sleeves even now…”
“No, I’ll overcome the cold with my passion for justice…”
Wiping away a tear, she ran to find Judge Cameron.
She made a strong first impression at the gelato shop.
And afterward, she occasionally went to see him, never speaking or touching, just staring.
When he was in court, she watched from the corner.
When he went home, she followed, staring.
Even on holidays, she pressed her face against windows, staring.
She couldn’t watch all day due to work but did so whenever she could.
Judge Cameron lasted three days.
After three days, he reported her to the city guard.
The response:
“Excuse me, the judge? Who… haha. Haha.”
“You see, just staring isn’t enough to file a complaint. There’s nothing we can do.”
He tried sending a burly servant to remove her.
But she just smiled and disappeared, only to return.
A week later, Judge Cameron’s gray hair noticeably thinned.
‘I guess you understand now, Judge?’
Having caught a cold from wearing a sleeveless shirt in this weather to look insane, she followed Cameron, who now walked cautiously, checking his surroundings.
But then…
“Sir Arden! Sir Arden! Help me!”
She hadn’t expected things to escalate this far…
