She pulled a thin silver chain out from the neckline of her dress. There was a round silver pendant hanging from it with a small red stone, likely a garnet, embedded in its center.
“Master Clark purchased this with his salary as a civil servant. He said he rushed to buy it the day he found out he’d be going to Subartu. He left it in his desk with a letter, asking for it to be given to me if the negotiations failed, if war broke out, or if he didn’t make it back.”
“I see…”
Nonna held the pendant in her palm and looked at me with a radiant smile. “I couldn’t bring myself to refuse someone who cares for me this much. Master Clark said, ‘I’m just a lowly—er, rookie civil servant. It’ll take me decades to achieve anything big.’ And besides, I’m only twelve years old!”
Suddenly, Jeff burst into laughter. Um, is this supposed to be funny? I was so caught up in this emotional moment that I looked at him in surprise.
He somehow managed to speak through his guffaws. “I’m sorry for laughing,” he said. “When Nonna said she wanted to call off the proposal they made as children, I figured Clark wouldn’t give up that easy. And sure enough, he didn’t. It’s that Fitcher blood from my mother’s side. Once they put their minds to something, they don’t back down.”
Jeff let out a sigh and continued, “Still, waiting four whole years for an answer is a long time. Isn’t he worried another young noble might swoop in and take her away?”
“Well…” I couldn’t help but laugh at that one.
Master Clark clearly had no intention of letting anyone else have Nonna. He seemed prepared to eliminate any boys who dared approach her.
“I don’t think he has anything to worry about in that regard,” I said.
“Why do you think that, Mom?”
“It’s a secret,” I said, turning to look out the window.
The view of the capital city, with all its wealth and splendor, stretched out before us. This was to be my new home. Whether Jeff became deputy minister of military affairs or not, I had no intention of leaving his side.
“Master Clark is ready for anything,” I said confidently. And so am I.
I looked at Nonna and said, “Oh, and by the way. The new caretaker of the sheep farm wants to meet you. You know, the sheep simply adore him. They keep rubbing up against him affectionately.”
“What?! They do? But they always run away from me! That’s not fair. Can we go see him tomorrow?”
“Sure, let’s go. You’ll be surprised.”
“Fine. I’m going to pet every single one of them tomorrow!”
“Ah-ha-ha-ha!” I burst into laughter at the thought of Nonna chasing after the sheep in frustration.
The next day, Nonna and I set off for the sheep farm.
“Mr. Miles!” she cried as soon as she recognized him. She ran toward him at full speed. Not only did Miles catch her easily, but he also used the momentum to lift her high into the air, spun her around, and then gently set her back down. It looked like he’d done that before.
I made a mental note to curb this new habit of Nonna’s before someone got hurt.
“You’ve gotten so big, Nonna,” Miles said.
“I’m still growing! Mr. Miles, you moved out of that house, didn’t you? Now someone named Chester lives there.”
“Is that right? So you’ve met him?”
“Yes, he’s taught me all sorts of things.”
That’s news to me. Chester’s been teaching Nonna? What in the world could he have shown her?
Their arrangement had to have started when I’d been at the castle and Nonna had been staying at Lord Edward’s estate. Then it hit me: Chester must have been tasked with keeping Nonna occupied. Lord Edward had probably arranged it to let her blow off steam. That sounded like something he would do.
The mental image I had of Lord Edward knowing everything and having everyone in the palm of his hand grew.
The moment Nonna arrived, the sheep began to shy away in unison. It was hard to believe they were the same creatures that happily flocked over to Miles. They were very wary of Nonna.
“Hey, sheep! Let me pet you! All right, if you won’t come to me, then I’ll go to you!” Nonna yelled as she started chasing them, much to their dismay. She should really change her tactics at this point.
I couldn’t help but laugh as I watched her. Miles stood beside me, looking like he had something to say.
“What is it?” I asked.
“How much have you trained her? Her core strength is incredible for someone her age.”
“She studied Shenese martial arts because she wanted to learn.”
“Really? I’d love to see what that’s like.”
“She’s very strong. If Mike doesn’t give it his all, Nonna can beat him. Of course, in real combat, his experience would make the difference. But when he’s holding back during a sparring match, Nonna has the upper hand.”
“You can’t be serious.”
“I’m afraid I am.”
Miles and I watched Nonna launch her attack on the sheep for a while. Then he murmured thoughtfully, “I get it now.”
“What do you mean?”
“I visited the unemployment office five times before the position for the sheep-farm caretaker was posted. I’m starting to think it was arranged by the Third Order.”
“But that can’t be. We decided to post that job offer ourselves.”
“It is possible. The Third Order seems to regard you very highly. They might’ve kept the job posting hidden to prevent troublesome individuals from applying. And when they noticed me frequenting the unemployment office, they could’ve decided it was the right time to make the notice public. Even when they ordered me to move into the house behind Lady Yolana’s, I was told to protect you and Nonna at all costs in case anything happened. Maybe my employment here is part of their plan. Ashbury’s special forces are formidable.”
Once I heard that, I was suddenly convinced Lord Edward could be behind it.
“It’s true. They’d be terrifying enemies.”
“You don’t have to worry about that as long you have their favor.”
“That’s true.”
Lord Edward was protecting Nonna and me for the sake of this kingdom and Jeff. That was all. But if he ever decided our presence was harmful to Ashbury or his brother, then surely…
I couldn’t help but let out a dry chuckle. It was like Nonna and I were walking on the edge of a sharp blade. One misstep could be fatal.
“I’ll just have to do my best not to get on their bad side, then,” I said.
“You should do that. People who are too smart tend to be ruthless, you know.”
“You’re right.”
I thought Lord Edward loved his brother almost too much. He was deeply compassionate and sharply intelligent. My brother-in-law was formidable indeed.
“Do you have any plans to get more involved with the Third Order again, Miles?”
“There was talk of it once, but I declined. After I found out you had fled the kingdom because of me, I regretted getting involved. I’m glad we met again. But if you’d died in Randall, I would’ve lived the rest of my life lamenting the fact I took that job on a whim. I never want to feel that way again. I’m getting older now, and I don’t want to spend my life living with regret. So managing this sheep farm suits me just fine.”
“I’m counting on you to protect the women working here.”
“You can leave it to me.”
In the distance, I saw Nonna hugging a sheep, which struggled violently in protest. The surrounding flock grew angry and began to threaten her. There were so many that it was dangerous.
“Nonna, come back here!”
“Okay!”
Nonna sprinted back at full speed, brimming with her usual amount of excess energy.
“Why are they so scared of me anyway? I’m nice to them!”
“Because you’re too persistent,” Miles said.
“Hmph.”
“Hey, Nonna? What did Chester teach you?”
Nonna froze, her eyes darting around nervously.
“I promise I won’t get mad, so tell me.”
“Um… How to throw knives and, uh…how to pick locks,” she mumbled.
Miles burst out laughing.
“I deliberately avoided teaching you how to pick locks,” I said.