“Hmm?”
Kera watched Zeldryn, who had suddenly gone silent and turned his face away.
The boy’s expression was far too easy to read.
Embarrassed.
Completely embarrassed.
Kera’s smile immediately widened.
“KUAHAHAHA!”
Zeldryn immediately frowned.
Kera kept laughing as he walked.
“No need to be that embarrassed, brat.”
“...”
“Besides, that’s just how you are.”
Kera glanced slightly toward him.
Then deliberately spelled it out one letter at a time,
“I-D-I-O-T”
“...”
The muscles in Zeldryn’s face immediately tensed.
“Shut up, damn it.”
He turned his face away even more.
‘Bastard.’
The more Kera laughed at him, the more embarrassing that mistake about the date felt.
But the two of them kept walking.
Neither of them stopped.
As they made their way out of the forest, their conversation continued.
Sometimes Zeldryn fired back at Kera’s insults.
Sometimes Kera deliberately found something else to mock him about.
Although...
From an outside perspective, it probably looked more like Kera continuously bullying a twelve-year-old child.
A while later...
Kera finally returned to Zeldryn’s earlier question.
“Hmm...”
He walked with both hands relaxed at his sides.
“You asked whether I’m going to your father’s birthday party, right?”
Zeldryn turned toward him.
“Yeah.”
Kera didn’t answer immediately.
But inside his mind...
‘Of course I’m going, idiot.’
There was no way Kera would let Zeldryn go there alone.
After all...
Protecting this child was one of the reasons he was here.
‘I have to protect you, damn it.’
The image of someone immediately appeared in his mind.
‘If something happens to you...’
Kera let out a small sigh.
‘Lady Anna would definitely be sad.’
But of course...
He didn’t say a single one of those thoughts to Zeldryn.
Instead...
Kera shrugged.
“Ah.”
“Too lazy.”
Zeldryn frowned.
“...Huh?”
Kera kept walking casually.
“Why would I go there?”
Zeldryn stared at his back.
“Why?”
He immediately quickened his pace slightly until he was walking beside him.
“Aren’t you a Manholer from the main residence?”
You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.
Kera glanced at him.
“So?”
“...”
“It’s up to me, isn’t it?”
“...”
Zeldryn stared at him.
For several seconds.
‘This guy...’
His hand even clenched slightly.
‘If he wasn’t a Level 3 Manholer, I would’ve punched him already, damn it.’
But of course...
That was something he could only say inside his head.
If he actually tried to punch Kera, Zeldryn would most likely be the one lying on the ground again.
Zeldryn finally looked away.
“Yeah, yeah, yeah.”
He waved his hand dismissively.
“Do whatever you want, bastard.”
Kera only smiled when he heard that.
They continued walking.
Occasionally talking about small things.
Occasionally insulting each other again.
Until eventually, the trees around them began to thin out.
The forest slowly came to an end.
Ahead of them, the road they had taken earlier came back into view.
It wasn’t the village’s main road.
It was the road connecting the forest area to the Giorry family mansion.
Zeldryn looked ahead.
From a distance...
The mansion was already starting to come into view.
“...”
Although it couldn’t exactly be called an extraordinarily massive noble residence...
For a place to live, it was still extremely large.
Especially compared to the ordinary houses Zeldryn had seen in the modern world.
‘And this is only a mansion at the border.’
Zeldryn continued walking.
The sky above them was becoming more orange.
The sunlight was beginning to sink behind the trees.
The two followed the road until they finally drew closer to the mansion’s main gate.
The two guards standing there immediately noticed their arrival.
One of them straightened his posture slightly.
“H-hello.”
He hurriedly greeted them.
“Good afternoon, Lord Zeldryn.”
Then his gaze shifted slightly toward Kera.
“And Sir Kera.”
“...”
Zeldryn observed the guard.
Something was extremely obvious.
He was nervous.
And it wasn’t just that one guard.
The other guard also seemed to deliberately avoid making eye contact with Kera for too long.
‘Hmm?’
Zeldryn found it a little strange.
But Kera didn’t care at all.
The man simply continued walking through the gate.
Zeldryn didn’t return the greeting either and followed him inside.
But right after passing through the gate...
!!??
Zeldryn suddenly remembered something.
‘Oh, right!’
The problem with the servants.
Training with Kera had filled his mind with mana so completely that he had almost forgotten what had happened in the kitchen earlier.
‘Because of the training, I almost forgot about that stupid rumor.’
Zeldryn frowned slightly.
The rumor about Hera still wasn’t resolved.
In fact, his conversation in the kitchen earlier might have made the situation look even more suspicious.
‘I need to deal with it as soon as possible.’
The problem was...
How?
Hera had already tried explaining.
The servants didn’t necessarily believe her.
If Zeldryn explained it too, it would only look like he was forcing Hera.
If he left it alone...
His reputation would stay like this.
‘How the hell am I supposed to fix this?’
Without realizing it, Zeldryn became lost in thought again.
The two of them entered the mansion.
Not long after...
They reached the main hall.
Kera suddenly stopped.
“Alright.”
Zeldryn turned toward him.
“Hmm?”
Kera casually raised one hand.
“We split up here, kid.”
Then he added,
“And don’t come looking for me again tonight.”
Zeldryn raised an eyebrow.
Kera smiled slightly.
“I’m busy.”
“...”
Zeldryn had no idea what he was busy doing.
And knowing Kera...
Asking would probably only result in another irritating answer.
“Yeah, yeah, yeah.”
Zeldryn waved his hand.
“Whatever.”
Kera began turning away.
But before the man could actually leave...
Zeldryn fell silent for a moment.
“...”
Even though he was irritating...
Even though he was rough...
Even though almost every interaction they’d had since morning had been filled with punches, kicks, insults, and mockery...
Zeldryn still knew one thing.
He had learned a lot from Kera today.
Far more than he could have understood by himself.
Zeldryn wasn’t someone who didn’t know how to be grateful.
So...
“Y-yeah.”
Kera stopped for a moment.
Zeldryn turned his face away slightly.
“At least...”
He looked extremely unaccustomed to saying something like this to the man.
“Thanks for today, bastard.”
“...”
Kera stared at Zeldryn.
Then...
His smile immediately widened.
“Hahahaha!”
“...”
Zeldryn instantly regretted it.
Kera laughed while looking at him.
“So you’ve got a side like this too, huh, brat?”
“Shut up.”
“Hahaha!”
Kera finally turned around again.
Then he walked away toward another part of the mansion.
The direction he took led toward the separate hall.
The room that had previously been used when Henry and Aeglo were punished.
Zeldryn watched him for a moment.
‘Who knows what he’s going to do in there.’
But he didn’t follow.
Kera had already said he wanted to be left alone tonight.
And Zeldryn himself had another problem to think about.
He finally headed toward the stairs.
His destination now was his room.
‘How am I supposed to fix my image?’
Zeldryn didn’t expect years of a terrible reputation to disappear in a single day.
That was obviously impossible.
But at the very least...
He had to find a way to deal with the rumor about Hera that was spreading right now.
‘That one is still new.’
If he let it go on for too long, the rumor could continue growing.
And Zeldryn’s experience today had already proven just how quickly gossip could spread throughout the mansion.
“Hmm...”
Zeldryn walked while thinking.
‘What should I do?’
On his way toward the stairs, he encountered several servants.
The moment they saw Zeldryn...
They immediately lowered their heads.
“Good afternoon, Lord Zeldryn.”
“Good afternoon, Lord.”
Zeldryn only glanced at them.
“...”
They did greet him.
But still...
It didn’t feel good.
Their smiles looked forced.
Their bodies were stiff.
And some of them even looked like they wanted to get away as quickly as possible after finishing their greetings.
‘See?’
‘Nothing’s changed, damn it.’
Zeldryn said nothing.
He kept walking.
Up to the second floor.
Then through the corridor leading toward his room.
The orange sky could be seen through several windows along the hallway.
Until eventually...
Zeldryn’s room came into view ahead.
He approached the door.
But before opening it...
!!??
Zeldryn looked down.
The place where he had left the tray and dirty dishes earlier was now empty.
“...Hmm?”
Zeldryn stopped.
‘The dishes I left here are gone?’
He looked left and right along the corridor.
No one was there.
‘Did the servants already take them?’
Author's Note:
Zeldryn actually thanked Kera.
Historic event detected
Of course Kera immediately laughed at him and made him regret having basic manners XD
We also got a tiny glimpse of what Kera is really thinking. He acts like he couldn’t care less, but apparently protecting Zeldryn is very much part of why he’s here.
And now we're back to the mansion... which means the Hera rumor problem is still waiting for Zeldryn
Also, someone already took those dishes.
Probably completely normal.
Probably.
What do you think Kera is doing in that separate hall tonight? Drop your theories in the comments :)
And if you're enjoying the story so far, a rating or review would help a lot!