Chapter 78:
Lived with Such a Face?
Morgan, quietly watching Riche approach, snapped back to reality only when she was right in front of him.
“What’s wrong? Was the early morning training tough?” Riche asked, concerned by Morgan’s absentminded expression.
Morgan smiled lightly.
“Yeah, I guess so. It’s been a while, Riche.”
“What do you mean? We saw each other just yesterday.” Riche chuckled softly.
“Oh, right. We did.”
Perhaps yesterday had felt unusually long. Somehow, it felt like it had been ages since he last saw her.
Morgan asked Riche, “Are you here for a walk again today?”
“No.”
Riche shook her head.
“I don’t think I’ll be able to go for a walk for a while. I’m sorry, Morgan. I was the one who suggested it first.”
“It’s okay. But Riche, is something wrong?”
Morgan felt relieved by her words, but there was still a faint prickling in his chest.
The reason he could ignore that feeling was because his concern for Riche outweighed it.
Not being able to walk together for a while… hopefully, nothing serious was going on.
‘Or maybe she’s pushing me away, since I said I was her enemy.’
Does Riche hate me too?
Morgan forced himself to suppress the fear creeping up within him.
‘It’s something I expected, after all. Don’t get all scared now, Morgan Dayal.’
Riche, seeing Morgan’s worry, shook her head and said,
“No, it’s nothing really. It’s just… hard to wake up in the morning.”
“You’re right. It’s tough to get up in the morning.”
Morgan agreed with her.
He’d come a long way from recently replying to a classmate’s complaint about an early start with,
“Why? You can just get up.”
Meanwhile, Riche hid her embarrassment.
Even though it was just an excuse, saying that in front of Morgan, who trains early every day…
‘What if Ian thinks I’m lazy?’
It’s fine. Human sleep needs vary, you know. But, Contractor—]
Python urged Riche along.
Yesterday, they should have borrowed the ornament from Morgan Dayal, but Riche had been too out of it, so they came again today.
Oh, right.
Riche turned to Morgan and asked,
“Morgan, actually, I have a favor to ask….”
“Sure. What is it?”
“Could you lend me that ornament we were looking at before, just for a bit?”
“Ornament?”
Morgan thought for a moment before realizing what Riche meant.
“That one—” he hesitated to speak.
Seeing his troubled expression, Riche waved her hand.
“Oh, never mind. Don’t worry about it. It’s something precious, and I probably shouldn’t have asked.”
An unnecessary request?!]
Python, listening from Riche’s pocket, popped out onto her shoulder.
Trusting this considerate Contractor was a mistake.
I’ll handle this myself!]
‘Python?’
…]
Python, who had climbed out with grand intentions, stood silent, suddenly realizing that he couldn’t easily borrow the ornament himself.
He couldn’t speak directly in front of Morgan Dayal.
But going back into Riche’s pocket after drawing so much attention felt…
‘There’s pride to uphold as a Great Star.’
He had to do something.
Python extended his paw towards Morgan.
“Beep. (Give it.)”
“…?”
After a moment of confusion, Morgan laughed softly.
He then removed the ornament he’d tied to a leather string as a necklace and handed it to Riche.
“I’ll lend it to you, Riche.”
“But—”
“I still feel bad about what happened with Pican last time. Just return it before too long, okay?”
“…Thank you, Morgan.”
Riche received the necklace with the ornament.
As she held it in her palm, it felt like the weight of the six years between Hamad and Morgan, years unknown to her, pressed down on her hand.
Lost in thought, Riche stared at the ornament.
“…Why?”
Morgan’s question startled Riche, making her look up.
“Huh? What do you mean?”
“You were just staring at it silently.”
“Oh! Sorry, I was just admiring it. I asked Hamad to make something similar for me recently. I’m curious to see how mine will turn out.”
“I see. It’s pretty, right? Hamad has great skills. He’s top of the engineering department at our academy.”
“Uh, yeah… I can tell he’s talented.”
Hearing Ian praise Hamad made her feel a small sting in her chest.
‘Have some conscience, Tuariche,’ she thought to herself.
Since she’d borrowed Ian’s precious ornament, she felt the need to quickly resolve Python’s matter and return it.
Leaving with a promise, she said, “It’ll only take a few hours! I’ll bring it back soon!”
Once Riche left, Morgan continued on his way, lost in thought.
Why did Riche suddenly want to borrow the ornament?
Could she have realized something about the glass shard?
‘No, probably not.’
If she had, she would have likely mentioned the glass shard in passing at least once.
But Riche had never mentioned the mirror or even asked about the “Duke of Gerwer,” something he occasionally heard in his childhood.
‘Maybe it’s because of the ornament she asked Hamad to make for her.’
She had called it beautiful, so perhaps she wanted a closer look.
‘But Riche is even more beautiful.’
Morgan stopped walking, suddenly aware of his thoughts.
Even though no passerby could have possibly heard his inner thoughts, he felt embarrassed, his ears warming up.
As he resumed walking, someone called out to him.
“Morgan Dayal.”
“Oh, Instructor Lodwick.”
He looked as out of place in the bright daylight as ever.
If a hint of decadence were considered a standard of beauty, then Dercadeon was exactly that type.
“…”
Deon’s brows furrowed slightly as he looked at Morgan.
Something about the expression he had seen on Morgan Dayal’s face a moment ago didn’t sit well with him.
His sister’s scolding from yesterday echoed in his mind,
“Brother, don’t bother Morgan.”
He hadn’t intended to cause trouble, especially since he had other business today.
“Can we talk for a moment?”
“Talk? But as a participant, I thought I couldn’t meet with an exam instructor privately.”
At this point, it wasn’t widely known that Deon had resigned from the exam committee.
Deon replied to Morgan, “It’s fine. I quit.”
“You quit?”
“Yeah.”
Deon tilted his head slightly, motioning for him to follow.
But hearing that Deon had quit made Morgan hesitate even more.
Passing by Morgan, Deon leaned in close and whispered in his ear,
“Follow me, Hanneban’s dog.”
Morgan’s eyes widened briefly in surprise, but he quickly hardened his expression and followed Deon.
Deon glanced sideways at Morgan before looking straight ahead again.
“So you’ve been living with that face, Gerwer.”
A Few Hours Earlier.
When Deon woke up, his mood was sour from the start.
Oddly enough, it was because he felt a refreshing energy coursing through his entire body as soon as he woke up.
“That dog,” thought Deon.
It was clear his sister had come secretly at night and cleansed the area.
He hadn’t sensed her presence while sleeping, which meant she’d likely used her ability to mask herself again.
Hearing another presence nearby, Deon opened his door.
“Master Deon.”
Phillip, who was standing at the door, called out with an unusually serious expression—an expression he wore maybe once or twice a year, despite being Riche’s knight.
But this expression also meant he brought useful information.
As Deon entered the room, Phillip followed and closed the door.
“What is it?”
“I’ve identified the person behind the man you captured yesterday.”
After Deon’s battle with Caishan the day before, he and Phillip had left the arena to search for Riche.
They noticed a suspicious figure watching Riche’s quarters from a distance.
Phillip had called out to the figure, who tried to flee, only for Deon to catch him.
“You there, what are you up to—?”
Just as Deon was about to interrogate him, the stranger’s entire body erupted in flames, incinerating him instantly, leaving nothing but charred ground.
“Contact the family to investigate,” Deon ordered.
Phillip promptly reached out to the Lodwick family.
He contacted Jed, who provided further insight.
“Jed, didn’t you say you’ve encountered people like this before? Ones who prefer to die rather than be caught?”
Yes, I did. That was on the continent of Pan. I’ll look into it and get back to you,] Jed had replied.
The following morning, Jed’s update came early.
Looks like a dirty scoundrel has latched onto our young lady Riche. His name is Hanniban Kaisha, and he’s the headmaster of Udik Academy. His subordinates act in the same way—they’d rather die than become a hindrance to Hanniban.]
“Udik Academy? That’s the academy currently in Xelphon.”
Exactly. They’re fearless, aren’t they? Our master is enraged over this—a headmaster might lose his job soon.]
“…Seems like that might happen here, too.”
If Blake Lodwick was enraged, then it wasn’t a small matter. But there was more concern here as well.
Phillip was already uneasy. Who would handle Master Deon’s wrath?
Good luck, Phillip. Here’s the information.] Jed coldly passed on the details, leaving Phillip to absorb every bit of it with dread.
And then he heard something that sent a chill down his spine.
“Master.”
The one who sent a spy to Lady Riche was the headmaster of Udik Academy.
Phillip could feel Deon’s anger radiating toward him as he reported it.
But Phillip, equally furious, barely felt intimidated by Deon’s wrath.
“Apparently, Morgan Dayal is Hanniban’s ‘dog.’”
He was an enemy to Lady Riche.
“Even while getting close to the lady, he kept a sharp blade hidden behind his back.”
Phillip trembled with a surge of betrayal.
At Riche’s Quarters.
Riche and Python were watching the memories contained within the ornament they borrowed from Morgan.
In the center of the room, an image of a maid possessed by Hikenca and a young Ian moved.
Standing in front of the projected Hikenca, Riche asked Python on her shoulder,
“You said you saw something suspicious in Hikenca?”
“Yeah. It’s about to show up.”
Soon, the scene Python had observed would appear. He focused intently on Hikenca’s figure.
“There! Look!”
Python pointed at the moving Hikenca.
Why do you want to take this?]
In Ian’s hand, Hikenca lifted a shard of glass.
As the possessed maid brought the glass shard closer to her face, Riche and Python noticed her right eye, shining in gold.
In the maid’s eye, the glass shard reflected the image of a person—a silver-haired woman lying on a cold floor.
“…It’s me.”
It was a dirty and battered Tuariche, a stark contrast to her current appearance.
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