🌻 🌻 🌻
WHILE Iris and Kiki were visiting his mother’s grave, Lucas was gazing up at the sunny skies. There wasn’t a cloud in sight. He’d left the dusty gatehouse and was waiting for his wife’s return on a hill, the breeze caressing his body. His trusty butler, Leikzig, silently stood beside him, his long, silver ponytail fluttering in the breeze in Lucas’s peripheral.
“I’m glad you met a splendid wife,” Leik said.
Lucas turned to his butler, taken aback by the sudden comment, but Leik squinted his golden eyes and smiled. His beauty was accentuated under the sunny rays, making him seem almost empyreal.
“Any normal lady would want to cut ties with you immediately, my lord, once they learn all the things you shoulder,” Leik said without restraint as he started to count Lucas’s troubles with his fingers. “We’ve got your birth, and how you got here, and the marriage, and your first impression… Let’s not forget the ordeals that followed soon after. Continuing a mariage blanc is all at your convenience, to boot. Even if you’ve got a handsome face, it can’t cover for all those issues.”
Leik’s words rang true, and Lucas had no reason to refute.
“I know all of that,” Lucas snapped.
“Oh? About your handsome face, I take it?” Leik replied.
“You idiot.”
“But you’ve met a woman who chose to overcome all these hardships and stick by your side. I’m truly glad that there’s a woman out there who understands how splendid my master is.” Leik smirked.
“We’ve known each other for quite a while, now that I think about it,” Lucas said.
“Indeed. At first, I thought you were some sort of hooligan.”
“Yeah? And you were a lot cuter back then, too.”
“Huh?!”
It was unusual for Leik to look so visibly flustered. Lucas let out a hearty laugh. He’d known his butler for quite a while, and it was all so nostalgic to the both of them. When Lucas was still trying to make his wealth under unstable footing, Leik was a hunting dog of the first prince’s faction, dispatched to get rid of the nouveau riche. The butler had no will of his own and was used as a tool for assassination. Yet, Lucas took the hunting dog in, gave him a name, and, despite having zero prior experience, made Leik a butler. That was how desperate Lucas was.
He turned to his butler again, who was clearing his throat several times in hopes of regaining his composure. “I just wanted someone competent,” Lucas said. “I hired you for my self-interest. I didn’t think you’d stay by my side for so long.”
“Well, the same goes for the madam, doesn’t it?” Leik asked, trying to get back at his master by mentioning Iris. “You originally married her as an etiquette coach. Weren’t you lucky that a lady who’s just your type arrived and became your actual wife?”
“Well, I’ll admit that I love her.”
“How terribly boring. It’s no fun to tease you now.”
“It’s a bit too late for me to say otherwise, don’t you think?”
“Then you can be honest with me too. I’m still a cutie, aren’t I?”
“I’ll just shut up now.”
“Aww…” Leik stared wistfully at his master for a short while, hoping for a compliment, but he soon grew bored and gazed into the distance. “That’s just how human relationships go. You can connect with someone out of love but end up parting ways. Sometimes, you can approach someone with a calculating scheme, and you’ll find yourself with an irreplaceable relationship.”
“I suppose it’s fate, in a way.”
“My lord… Please become happy.”
Lucas turned to his servant, who was calmly looking back at him. The butler stood tall and gave a beautiful bow, a respectful attitude that a servant would have toward his master.
“Needless to say, it’s for your sake, but it’s also for your company’s employees and your servants that you spared,” Leik continued. “Everyone will be spared as long as you can attain happiness.” His words were frank, causing Lucas to feel a bit awkward. It threw him off kilter when his butler sounded so earnest and forward.
“Don’t be so sappy,” Lucas replied. “We’re not saying our final farewells. Be less stiff, will you?”
He casually glanced at his butler, who blinked in response; Lucas was sending a signal. Leik, in turn, acted naturally and approached his master, not once letting his thoughts show in his words and actions.
“Aw, come on,” Leik whined. “You bought a new young pup. Guess you can’t teach an old dog new tricks. You’ve got no need for me anymore, do you?”
“Don’t suddenly act overly casual, you idiot,” Lucas replied.
“Well, you did say that I used to be cute.”
“You just had an adorable side when you expressionlessly were hard at work. Besides…”
“What?”
Lucas shrugged his shoulders. “I won’t cut you off after all these years. You finally became a half-decent butler. I still remember the first time you poured me some tea. You used the entire canister of leaves and had a pot bubbling away.”
“And what about you? I was an assassin until the day prior, and right before a business meeting, you ordered me to act like a butler and to just stand there proudly while making tea. You’re the one who sent me an unreasonable request, I’ll have you know.”
“But you didn’t say that you couldn’t do it. Despite having no prior knowledge, you still made your attempt, which made you interesting.”
The two men had been engaged in a meaningless conversation since Lucas’s initial signal. Lucas pretended to straighten his wind-tousled hair as he gazed into the distance. He expertly used his arms to hide his gaze while relaying to Leik the location where Cano’s presence could be sensed. A grove had obscured Lucas’s vision, but he was certain Cano was prowling about there.
Leik pretended to put a troubled hand over his cheek as he discreetly mouthed, “He’s listening in on us, huh?”
Lucas nodded. This entire time, Cano pretended to be keeping guard while casually staying in the direction of the wind—no doubt because the breeze carried Lucas and Leik’s voices, making it easier to hear. Even from a distance, it was safe to assume that the boy could read lips.
“Madam is late,” Leik said. “What should we do?”
“We can relax,” Lucas said, pretending to speak about Iris while sending Leik a signal. “There’s no shortage of ways to kill time.”
For now, he was going to let Cano do as he pleased.
“My lord,” Leik started.
“Hmm?”
“That smile of yours is fitting for a villain.”
“Gee, thanks.”
While they continued to engage in meaningless banter and waited for Iris, they felt a presence from the direction of the gatehouse. When they went to meet her, Iris approached the men, her face pale, a wooden box clutched tightly to her chest.
“Iris, what happened?” Lucas asked.
She was so deep in thought that she looked pitiful. “I understand everything,” Iris said quietly. “Your mother’s journal had the full account of her circumstances.”