Chapter 87
Einar immediately hid the seal he had found on Wilhelm’s desk inside his coat.
Then, on purpose, he shoved the piles of documents on the desk onto the floor and opened all the other drawers as well, scattering their contents everywhere.
That way, the idiot Wilhelm wouldn’t be able to tell right away what was missing.
Not long after, Wilhelm burst into the office, kicking the door open with a loud bang, his face twisted in fury.
“Einar, you bastard…!”
Wilhelm immediately started spewing curses as he lunged at Einar.
He had always been emotional and slow to think, but his reaction was even more violent than Einar had expected, making Einar step back in slight surprise.
Unable to control his own weight, Wilhelm staggered awkwardly over the desk, and the few items that had still been on it clattered down to the floor.
With his face flushed red with rage, Wilhelm shouted,
“You—! You son of a—!”
Einar frowned and grasped the decorative sword he had swung earlier in one hand.
Wilhelm flinched and stared at him.
“For someone who keeps calling me names, your own behavior earlier wasn’t exactly gentlemanly either, Wilhelm.”
Einar spoke calmly, pointing the decorative sword straight at him.
“I trust you won’t set foot in the eastern lands again without my permission.”
Staring at the sword tip aimed at him, Wilhelm barely managed to squeeze out words.
“…Haha. Seeing you go this far, that woman must be pretty precious to you, huh?”
“Shut up, Wilhelm.”
At words not even worth listening to, Einar pushed the sword tip even closer.
Even as his face turned pale, Wilhelm didn’t stop talking.
“But you know, Father already knows all about you bringing a woman back. He seemed quite interested in her too. Before long, you’ll probably meet her formally at a banquet. Let’s see if you can still act like this then.”
“…What?”
“No matter how high and mighty you act, I’m the heir, little brother. If I want her, do you really think some woman wouldn’t come to me?”
“……”
“Once I officially go through the succession process, you won’t be anything at all.”
With eyes filled with malice, Wilhelm spoke as he slowly edged out of Einar’s striking range.
Little did he know that the marquis was already mistaking Lily for the woman of the inverted seal and planning to deal with her.
The priest sent from the capital was a much younger man than expected, and thankfully seemed to have enough stamina left even after the long carriage journey.
“We can’t afford to take things easy when we’re chasing a dark mage of all things! Let’s depart at once!”
Thanks to the enthusiastic priest, Cliden and Rosie were able to head straight for the Portrey Marquisate.
Naturally, there were two carriages—one carrying the priest and the holy water, and another for Cliden and Rosie.
The road to the marquisate was well maintained, and there were no major issues with resting or having meals along the way.
Since they had set out after hearing all sorts of warnings about dark magic and how dangerous the marquisate was, Rosie had expected countless hardships and crises along the journey. So she found herself unexpectedly gazing out at the rapidly changing scenery.
Unlike the peaceful and quiet Beidos, the sights outside were bustling and immense, vaguely reminiscent of the capital of Bianche.
As if reading her gaze, Cliden spoke.
“Portrey is the largest and busiest city in the eastern region. It has a very different atmosphere from Beidos.”
“I see. Then… is that the Portrey marquis’s residence over there?”
Rosie pointed toward a sharp, towering structure in the distance. Cliden nodded.
“Yes.”
“It looks like a castle.”
It was far too large to be called a mere residence, and perched on a steep cliff at a high elevation, so imposing that one had to crane their neck to look at it properly.
In fact, in the eastern region, many people openly referred to the Portrey residence as the Marquis’s Castle, so Rosie’s impression wasn’t entirely wrong.
“It looks close, but is it still far?”
“Yes. We’ll probably reach the main gate by this evening.”
“Wow…”
Rosie’s mouth fell open.
Just how enormous did a castle have to be to look like that?
Cliden spoke to her again.
“Once we arrive, we’ll unpack and likely have dinner with the marquis. I’ll introduce you as my fiancée, so keep that in mind.”
“…Is that really okay?”
Rosie blinked.
Being treated as his fiancée informally at an inn and being officially brought along to a banquet at the marquis’s residence were completely different matters.
Cliden looked unconcerned.
“Yes. It’s fine. More importantly, that way we’ll be assigned the same room, and I can protect you if anything happens.”
“Ah, I suppose so.”
Rosie nodded slightly.
She wanted to believe that Einar wasn’t a dark mage, but it was only natural to prepare for the worst.
“If something dangerous happens, I should make sure not to get in your way, Cliden….”
She said it almost absentmindedly, scratching her cheek.
If something truly did happen, her very presence would only become a burden to him.
At that, Cliden stared at her for a moment before speaking.
“More than that, there’s a problem with that form of address.”
“…Pardon? What do you mean?”
‘Cliden-nim,’ I mean.”
Rosie blinked.
If she didn’t call him Cliden-nim, then what was she supposed to call him?
“Between people who are engaged, a form of address that creates that much distance—”
Cliden trailed off slightly as he looked at her. Her clear green eyes were filled with confusion.
‘Cli-den!’
Now that he was conscious of it, she kept overlapping with the image of that little child from the past.
“Call me Cliden.”
At his words, Rosie’s green eyes grew as wide as saucers.
She had improved a lot compared to before, but she still found it difficult to grow close to others and act affectionately.
The fact that she still called Einar ‘Manager’ said it all.
Seeing her flustered expression, Cliden tilted his head and asked,
“Do you dislike it?”
“No, it’s not that I dislike it, but how could I possibly call you that so casually…?”
As Rosie struggled, Cliden offered another alternative.
“If calling my name makes you uncomfortable, I’m also fine with endearments like ‘dear’ or ‘darling.’”
Her face turned even redder at that.
Dear or darling…!
‘Well, Countess Kikern does call the count that… but…’
There was no way she could call Cliden something like that.
Rosie hurriedly shook her head.
“I-I’ll just go with Cliden….”
‘Cliden is better than dear or darling, at least!’ she thought, clearing her throat softly.
The corners of Cliden’s lips lifted slightly as he looked at her.
Soon enough, the carriage drew close to the marquis’s estate.
The knight guarding the entrance let their carriage pass and hurried off somewhere, likely to inform the household of their arrival.
“This is…”
The house of Einar’s family—the Portrey Marquisate.
Swallowing dryly, Rosie felt her tension rise.
Just then, she felt Cliden gently take her hand. As if by magic, her nerves settled.
“Don’t worry.”
Cliden said this as he opened the carriage door.
“I’ll protect you.”
