CH 36

Edric had great expectations for interpreting the ancient slabs.

This is because he often thought of Lobel, who was smiling with Manellano while holding stone slabs.

Lobel would obviously enjoy it more if he were with him because he loved the stone tablet so much that he laughed so hard with that punk.

However, interpreting ancient stone slabs was not as interesting as expected.

‘… It’s heavy, and my hands hurt.’

Edric stretched his numb hands.

He had to hold the stone with his left hand without a break and move the fountain pen with his right hand. The movement itself was easy, but it was like a kind of labor.

He often felt this way when he helped his mother in his hometown. It was a job to create two eyes with buttons on the face of a teddy bear.

The unhappy past came to mind, but Edric didn’t bring it out of his mouth.

The first reason was that Lobel was working harder than he was, and the second reason was his pride.

Manellano was the most dignified and noble boy he had ever seen.

He hated to admit it, but he was also the most good-looking boy he had ever seen.

‘He even offered Lobel the servant job directly—’

He was glad Lobel turned down the offer, but apart from that, he felt bitter.

No matter how much Lobel liked him, he was a human too, so he might have made the comparison inside.

Even if they were with the same nobleman, the two boys were different in their natural origins and dignity.

Although he was proud of himself, there were times when he followed that punk and made an arrogant expression when he looked in the mirror.

But…It literally just stopped at the level of following. Regrettably, no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t catch up with the slack in his body in a short period of time.

In the meantime, he didn’t want to bring up the unpleasant stories of the past. Maybe Lobel will also feel dirty when hearing it.

He wanted to hide it. This was a weakness that Edric himself didn’t know about.

And he had one more thing to hide.

“Lobel, I’m going to the bathroom, too.” (t/n : It seems that ‘bathroom’ is just an excuse to leave the room for a moment.)

As soon as Edric finished the second task, he spits out this lie.

It was a word that he had practiced dozens of times from Lobel while he went to the bathroom earlier, so, fortunately, it flowed naturally.

Lobel was always on the fast side in all actions, including walking.

Even in the brief moment of spitting out the words, Lobel, standing close in front of his master’s shoes, smiled and responded to the words.

“Yes, thank you for your hard work. I’ll bring you some water to wash your hands.”

“That’s not what I meant.”

“….?”

Lobel, who was organizing gloves that turned black enough to find no original color due to long stone slabs’ interpretation, blinked in wonder.

Edric took a breath for a moment, and then he spoke to Lobel in a firm tone.

“I’m going to the bathroom, too.”

“Bath…room?”

“Yeah. Bathroom.”

He emphasized it even more strongly, just in case he was caught lying.

Lobel is also quick-witted, so he will be caught if he sees even a small gap.

In fact—He’s quite often caught trying to hide a few things.

Lobel may not have expected it at all, but he was more careful in front of him than in front of others. So was the action, the tone, the expression.

Then Lobel looked as if he had heard something out of the ordinary.

—It was an absurd assumption, but he seemed to have noticed his lie.

His conscience was pricked when he followed his eyes as if he were serious.

But Edric didn’t change his mind. He wouldn’t have used this lie as an excuse if he had.

He quickly pulled on the string as if driving a stake through his willpower.

Then Crimson, who had been waiting outside the door for a while, came in as if he had been waiting.

“Yes, Young Master.”

“I’m going outside, so you help me. Lobel will stay here.”

“Yes, yes. I’ll take you there.”

Crimson acted as if he knew everything.

He stood straight behind his wheelchair and grabbed the handle. Lobel didn’t even have time to step up.

Edric was relieved inside. He thought he was slow, but he was faster than he looked.

When he saw the servants talking outside earlier, he simply said, “Come up” through the window, but they came to him like this.

But Edric didn’t even praise him.

Although Crimson might be useful right now, it wasn’t meant to be used for long.

This is because he often acts unnecessary and intrusive.

It was like that before, too.

‘….’

Edric’s expression turned cold for an instant.

He felt his stomach twist again as he recalled Crimson stroking Lobel’s head outside.

If he had this kind of guy for a long time, he thought he would get angrier, let alone get better.

Anyway, now was the time to put it to good use rather than throw it out. So, Edric endured the feeling of twisting in his stomach and said.

“Let’s go, Crimson.”

“O, oh! Wait! Wait for a second!”

Lobel blocked the wheelchair before it moved a single inch.

He has an expression like ‘U, ugh. This doesn’t seem right—’

Edric purposely kept his eyes on Robel’s hands because he might change his mind if he made eye contact.

Fortunately, just looking at Lobel’s warm hands earlier seemed to melt the guilt and anxiety a little.

However, upon closer examination, Lobel’s fingernails were amazingly similar to the owner’s.

All ten fingernails were large and smooth even though his wrists and fingers were thin.

As he looked at each shape as if they were engraved in his eyes, he heard his bewildered voice.

“That… Young Master. Can’t you go to the room attached to the terrace and use the bathroom?”

“Lobel, are you going to disobey my orders?”

As Lobel kept trying to stop him, Edric eventually brought out the last resort.

Ironically, this was just the thing that Lobel gave at dawn.

[If the aide or other people come to you and make an unreasonable request, say no, and then say this. ‘Are you disobeying my orders?’]

[…Why?]

[Here, there are only three people who will disobey the Young Master’s orders. ]

[That… It’s Lobel… The Duke and that woman?]

[No way, it can’t be.]

Lobel said, pulling the corners of his mouth together as if he had heard a funny joke, then picking one by one with his fingers.

[The Duke, the Duchess, and Sir Blivan.]

The two of them were holding hands while they were talking.

When Eric heard about it, he thought it was really strange.

He thought that the person who disobeyed the most was truly missing—.

Anyway, he had no idea it would be so useful.

‘… You’re not going to get mad, are you?’

Instead of accepting what he told him, he was at a loss for words.

Certainly, there was no sign of resentment or anger against the owner, even though he seemed embarrassed.

Edric, who quickly fixed his eyes to the original position, was deeply relieved inside. He’s glad Lobel wasn’t angry.

“T, then… Can’t I follow you too?”

“Hey. Are you going to follow the Young Master to the toilet?”

Crimson, who couldn’t watch any longer, argued as if he were crazy.

Then, as if when he had ever only looked at Lobel’s hand, Edric quickly turned his head and glared at Crimson fiercely.

“What’s up with your attitude when talking to Lobel?”

The spirit flinched at Crimson’s large body.

This is because Edric’s expression was rougher than when he said he wouldn’t eat or throw things.

Whatever the mercenary life was like, it was nothing like dealing with the aristocracy.

No, by the way, what did I do to Lobel?

Come to think of it, Crimson felt unfair, but then he apologized.

“Hmm… hmm. I apologize.”

“Enough. Let’s just go. Lobel, get out of my way.”

Edric said firmly, fearing that he might get caught again.

Then Lobel couldn’t catch anymore. He stood aside so that the wheelchair could move even though he looked embarrassed.

Edric purposely fixed his eyes only on the front. His heart pounded again with guilt as he passed Lobel on his way to the open door, then he clenched his hand on his lap.

Soon, the wheelchair wheel being pushed by Crimson reached the hallway.

And as the wheel was about to turn in the direction of the bathroom, Edric gave an order.

“Go where the Duke is.”

******

“Once again, the Young Master did it in the end.”

The aide’s voice overflowed with pride.

The Duke, on the other hand, had a face without much emotion. He leaned against the window and scanned the wad of paper slowly.

The slowly setting sunset made his cheeks reddish.

The aide carefully added, looking at the side profile that resembles Young Master but is different.

“Isn’t that an amazing achievement considering he’s only recently learned to write?”

He defended his poor handwriting, which was no better than a three or four-year-old child.

Instead of answering, the Duke turned over the paper. The moment the paper stayed between the long fingers was not long.

The aide looked at it and thought to himself.

‘After all, blood can’t lie.’

Since a long time ago, the Duke has had the ability to learn anything faster than others.

So, wouldn’t the Young Master be able to read and write quickly like the Duke?

So the aide smiled proudly again, and the Duke laughed low.

“… It’s fun.”