Zeldryn was still staring at the blood staining his palm.
But after a few moments, his gaze shifted toward the bed.
The food Hera had brought earlier was still there.
Maybe because he'd been too busy thinking about mana, Kera, the invitation letter, and even his own experiment, he hadn't had the chance to touch it yet.
Zeldryn walked over.
On the tray were chicken and several kinds of vegetables.
There was quite a lot of chicken.
Zeldryn stared at it for a moment.
‘That's quite a lot.’
But at least the amount was still reasonable for one person to eat.
Unlike the food that had been served in the dining room before.
Back then, the amount had been so excessive that it felt like food meant for several people at once.
‘This is still normal, at least.’
Zeldryn picked up the tray and carried it toward the table.
He moved some of his notes aside to make enough room.
After sitting down, he immediately started eating.
Chicken.
Vegetables.
And several other side dishes.
Zeldryn ate them quite eagerly.
His body had just been healed by Kera, but hunger was still hunger.
However, after a few bites...
Zeldryn felt the same problem again.
‘Hmm...’
He slowly chewed the chicken in his mouth.
It wasn't bland.
There was clearly seasoning on it.
But it couldn't exactly be called savory either.
It felt like something was missing.
Something difficult to explain.
Zeldryn had grown far too accustomed to food from the modern world, filled with all kinds of spices and flavor enhancers.
Now, every time he ate food in this world, his tongue always felt like something was missing.
He then tried the vegetables.
They looked fresh.
The texture wasn't bad either.
But...
Still.
‘Why doesn't it taste that good?’
Zeldryn himself didn't know.
Maybe the food wasn't bad.
Maybe Reka's tongue had simply been spoiled too much by modern food.
Even so, Zeldryn kept eating.
He had no intention of becoming picky just because the taste didn't suit him.
Besides, the body he currently occupied was still twelve years old.
It was still growing.
Even though all of its wounds and bruises had already been healed, this body still needed enough food.
Especially for bone growth and physical development.
‘I don't want this body ending up malnourished either.’
Zeldryn continued eating until he had finished everything he was capable of eating.
A few moments later...
He leaned back slightly in his chair.
“Phew...”
Full.
Zeldryn then stood up.
Without thinking much about it, his hands automatically picked up the dirty plates and the food tray.
He intended to carry them to the kitchen.
But after taking only a few steps...
Zeldryn stopped.
“...Wait.”
He looked at the plates in his hands.
Then at the door.
Then back at the plates.
‘Wouldn't it be weird if I carried my own dirty plates to the kitchen?’
He was a young noble lord.
There were plenty of servants in this mansion.
Normally, the servants would obviously be the ones to collect the tableware after he finished eating.
The problem was...
Who would come inside?
The old Zeldryn had far too many strange rules regarding his room.
The servants were even used to waiting for permission before approaching or entering.
Zeldryn sighed.
“What a pain.”
In the end, he still carried the plates toward the door.
But he had no intention of taking them all the way to the kitchen.
Zeldryn opened the door.
CREAK.
He stepped out of his room.
Then he bent down slightly and placed the tray along with the dirty plates right beside the door.
‘At least if a servant passes by, they'll probably take them later.’
Done.
Zeldryn stood back up.
Now there was something far more important to do.
Find Kera.
A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
‘Time to find that bastard.’
Zeldryn began walking through the second-floor corridor.
TAP.
TAP.
TAP.
But after only a few steps...
His pace gradually slowed.
Until eventually, he stopped.
“...”
Zeldryn stared at the long corridor ahead of him.
‘I do want to meet him.’
He looked in one direction.
Then the other.
‘But...’
His expression slowly changed.
‘Where the hell is he?’
Kera hadn't told him where he was staying at all.
The man had only said that he would be staying in this mansion.
Then he left.
Slamming the door behind him.
And that was it.
No information about his room.
No information about what place he would be using.
Nothing.
Kera had only said that he would give Zeldryn a gift because he'd managed to become a Level 1 Manholer candidate.
“ARRRGHH!”
Zeldryn ruffled his hair.
“That damn bastard.”
Even when he wasn't around, Kera still somehow managed to make his life more troublesome.
Zeldryn finally changed his objective.
In that case...
Find Hera first.
Maybe Hera knew something about Kera.
Or at least knew which room had been given to him.
Zeldryn started walking again.
He slowly made his way through the mansion corridor.
Along the way, he encountered several servants.
Zeldryn briefly observed them.
After the matter with Henry and Aeglo had been resolved, he had actually hoped that things in the mansion would gradually improve.
He didn't expect all the servants to suddenly respect him.
That would be too much.
The old Zeldryn's reputation had been built over years.
There was no way it could disappear in just one or two days.
But at the very least...
He wanted their view of him to improve slightly.
That alone would be enough.
Several servants walking from the opposite direction noticed Zeldryn.
They immediately lowered their heads.
“G-good morning, Lord Zeldryn,” one servant greeted him.
“G-good morning, Lord,” another followed.
Zeldryn was about to walk past them as usual.
But...
!!??
Something felt wrong.
Zeldryn looked at their faces.
‘Huh?’
‘What the hell is this?’
They were indeed greeting him politely.
Their words weren't any different either.
But their expressions...
Were different.
They lowered their heads because they didn't want to cause trouble.
Some even looked like they were hoping Zeldryn wouldn't notice their existence.
But now...
That fear was still there.
However, there was something else.
Strange looks.
Expressions that made it seem as though they were looking at something disgusting.
And for some reason...
Zeldryn felt that those gazes were also filled with extremely bad assumptions about him.
‘Why are they looking at me like they're looking at some pervert?’
Zeldryn frowned.
‘What now?’
Hadn't he already dealt with Henry and Aeglo?
Wasn't the situation supposed to start getting a little better?
Why had another problem suddenly appeared?
In the end, Zeldryn didn't return their greetings.
He simply walked past them.
However, after passing the group of servants, Zeldryn deliberately slowed his pace.
Little by little.
He kept some distance.
‘If something really is going on...’
Zeldryn listened carefully.
‘They might talk about it after I leave.’
A few steps.
No sound.
A few more steps.
Then...
Sure enough.
A quiet voice came from behind him.
“Did you hear?”
Zeldryn immediately sharpened his hearing.
“About what?”
“Hera.”
Zeldryn's steps became even slower.
The first servant whispered,
“Last night, Hera was called into that perverted Lord's room.”
Zeldryn nearly stopped walking.
‘...What?’
Another servant sighed.
“Phew... poor Hera.”
Her voice sounded sympathetic.
“She's still young. She's not even that much older than my son.”
Another servant joined in with an even quieter voice.
“I also heard she stayed in there for quite a while.”
“What did Lord Zeldryn do to her?”
“I don't know.”
“But considering his reputation all this time...”
Their conversation gradually became quieter until Zeldryn could no longer hear them clearly.
But he already had his answer.
“...”
Zeldryn's face immediately went blank.
‘Shit.’
Now he understood.
The misunderstanding in the dining room back then.
When he had asked one of the servants to tell Hera that he wanted her to come to his room at night.
That servant had immediately misunderstood his intention.
And apparently, the news had spread.
After Hera came to his room, Zeldryn had indeed explained that he only wanted to ask her for information.
But...
The only person who knew the truth was Hera.
The other servants had no idea what had actually happened.
From their perspective...
Hera had been called into the room of a young lord who had always been known as a pervert, late at night.
And Hera had stayed there for quite a while.
Zeldryn rubbed his forehead.
‘This is insane.’
‘Don't tell me this rumor has already spread throughout the entire mansion?’
He didn't know.
But judging from the expressions of the servants he'd just encountered, that possibility was quite high.
Zeldryn briefly considered going back and explaining everything.
But he immediately abandoned the idea.
Pointless.
If Zeldryn himself approached the servants and told them that nothing had happened...
Would they believe him?
Maybe they would nod.
Apologize.
Say that they understood.
Then after he left...
The rumor might transform into something even crazier.
‘No.’
Zeldryn sighed.
There was one person who could explain everything without sounding like she was desperately making excuses.
Hera herself.
If Hera said that nothing happened that night, at least her words would be much more believable to the servants.
‘That means I need to talk to her.’
Now he had one more reason to find Hera.
At first, it had only been to ask where Kera was.
Now he also had to deal with this stupid rumor.
Zeldryn started walking again.
He began searching for Hera throughout different parts of the mansion.
The second-floor corridor.
Not there.
He went downstairs to the first floor.
TAP.
TAP.
TAP.
Zeldryn finally reached the first floor.
The first place he checked was the main hall.
It was the largest hall in the mansion.
Located not too far from the main entrance, it was more commonly used for receiving guests or other general purposes.
Zeldryn stood near the entrance and looked throughout the room.
Hera wasn't there.
“Hmm...”
He didn't stay for long.
Zeldryn then walked toward another part of the mansion.
This time, he passed a room that had already become quite familiar to him.
Another hall.
Unlike the large and open main hall, this one was smaller and located slightly deeper inside the mansion.
Zeldryn still remembered the room very clearly.
This was where Henry and Aeglo had been tied up and forced to kneel before him a few days ago.
This was also the room where he had sat on a stool while interrogating those two bastards.
Most of the servants and guards had even gathered here when all of Henry and Aeglo's actions were finally exposed.
Zeldryn glanced inside.
‘This place again...’
Now the room had already been tidied up.
No Henry.
No Aeglo.
No guard holding a sword.
There wasn't even a crowd of servants waiting for those two to be punished.
But...
Hera wasn't there either.
Zeldryn continued on his way.
His next destination was the dining room.
He entered and looked around.
Empty.
At least Hera wasn't there.
Zeldryn was starting to get annoyed.
‘Why the hell am I the one walking around almost the entire mansion?’
At first, he had only wanted to find Kera.
Then it turned into finding Hera so he could ask where Kera was.
Now he also had to find Hera to deal with that stupid rumor about what happened last night.
Zeldryn could have simply asked one of the servants he encountered.
All he had to say was,
“Where's Hera?”
Done.
It should have been that simple.
But after hearing the servants gossip earlier...
‘No.’
That was a bad idea.
If he now started walking around the mansion asking every servant where Hera was, the rumor that was already bad could become far more chaotic.
Zeldryn could already imagine how the conversation would go.
Lord Zeldryn is looking for Hera again.
After calling her into his room last night, now he's looking for her first thing in the morning.
Zeldryn immediately shook his head.
‘That'll just make it worse, damn it.’
Better to look for her himself.
He tried to remember the layout of the mansion again.
Main hall, checked.
The hall where Henry and Aeglo had been punished, checked.
Dining room, checked.
He had also passed through several first-floor corridors.
Only a few places were left.
Then one extremely obvious location finally popped into his head.
“...The kitchen.”
Zeldryn fell silent.
A few seconds.
‘Wait.’
Hera was a servant.
It was still morning.
If she was working...
Wouldn't the kitchen be one of the most obvious places to look for her?
“...”
Zeldryn rubbed his face.
‘Don't tell me I've been wandering around almost the entire mansion while she's been in the kitchen this whole time.’
He immediately headed there.
The closer he got to the kitchen, the clearer the sounds of the servants' activities became.
The sound of water.
Tableware clinking against each other.
Footsteps.
And small conversations between several people.
Zeldryn finally arrived in front of the kitchen.
He looked inside.
And sure enough.
There were several servants there.
Some were washing tableware.
Some were cleaning the tables.
Others were putting away ingredients.
And among them...
There was Hera.
Zeldryn fell silent.
“...”
Hera was cleaning the kitchen together with several other servants.
Zeldryn stared at her for a few seconds.
‘Well, of course she's here, right?’
She was a servant.
It was morning.
And this was the kitchen.
Zeldryn let out a long sigh.
‘Then what the hell was I doing wandering around almost the entire mansion?’
He started walking toward Hera.
But after only a few steps, Zeldryn realized one problem.
Hera wasn't alone.
There were quite a lot of servants around her.
Zeldryn briefly stopped.
After the gossip incident earlier, their presence made the situation slightly more troublesome.
But he also couldn't just keep standing at the kitchen entrance like an idiot.
In the end, Zeldryn called out to her anyway.
“Hera.”
Zeldryn's voice immediately caused the activity in the kitchen to slow down.
Several heads turned at the same time.
Hera turned as well.
And sure enough.
The moment the servants saw Zeldryn standing there, their expressions immediately changed.
The fear was still there.
But this time, Zeldryn could see something different behind it.
Uneasiness.
Suspicion.
Some of them even looked at him as if they were staring at someone disgusting.
There wasn't even the slightest trace of genuine respect on their faces.
‘...So it's true.’
The rumor had already reached this place too.
Hera, hearing her name being called, finally turned completely toward Zeldryn.
“Lord Zeldryn?”