Chapter 9,
I’m glad you’re feeling better. Deon woke up shortly after returning to the mansion.
“Take time to reflect.”
Deon, who was deeply scolded by Blake, spent a week receiving discipline in a guesthouse room.
Since he had no plans to go out anyway, being confined didn’t matter much to him.
But he was worried about the little boy who resembled a puppy.
“Why would you take a civilian into the Demon Forest? He’s only 7 years old.”
“Too noisy.”
This morning, Zed, who came under the pretext of offering condolences, scratched Deon’s heart and left.
Perhaps because Zed had been raised by Blake since he was little, he treated Deon and the Lordwick family with ease.
He knew exactly where the line was that he shouldn’t cross, making it possible.
“Eek. Seems like our young master is angry. I’ll take my leave now.”
“…What happened to him?”
Zed smiled slyly as he looked at Deon, who seemed outwardly unconcerned but inwardly greatly worried about Liche. Only internally, though.
“Well, he hasn’t woken up yet.”
Although it was midday, the room with curtains drawn on all the windows was as dark as night.
Deon lay on the sofa, repeatedly tossing and catching a fountain pen.
“Hasn’t he woken up yet, after two days?”
The audacious little brat.
Deon now realized that even if he tried to scare Liche away, he couldn’t drive him out of Lordwick Estate.
That kid hadn’t been scared at all from the beginning. It was just an act.
“Darn it.”
Deon narrowed his brow.
Worried.
He was worried that Liche hadn’t woken up, and he was worried about what had happened when he lost consciousness.
“I don’t remember anything.”
He had overexerted himself due to the sudden onslaught of demons.
As a result, he collapsed, and when he opened his eyes again, he was back at the mansion.
“What happened? And why am I not in pain?”
He wasn’t referring to the side effects of using his abilities in the forest.
Deon placed his hand near his heart.
There was no pain that he always felt. The sharp pain as if being slashed by a sword and the suffocating pain around his heart.
It was because of the energy accumulated in his body since he was young. The Lordwick family’s ability users called that energy “Om.”
Deon had a constitution that allowed Om to accumulate well due to his high potential.
That’s why Blake had advised Deon not to use his abilities as much as possible until he became an adult.
Yet.
“I don’t feel any Om.”
It was the first time he felt so refreshed.
What on earth had happened in the forest that made him perfectly fine, while that kid still couldn’t wake up?
“…I should apologize.”
Deon tossed the fountain pen into the air again.
He had thought he would die helplessly in the forest.
That’s why he couldn’t even say sorry. He had hoped Liche would leave him and run away.
“Aren’t you stupid?”
But why didn’t he leave you behind?
If something dangerous enough to make you lose consciousness had happened, you should have left yourself behind and run away.
“Do you know how cute you were in the forest? Miss, well, she was holding Young Master’s hand tightly, you know?”
Deon folded and unfolded the hand that Liche had been holding.
She was holding my hand? What a real idiot.
Thud.
Just then, Deon heard something hitting the windowpane.
The fountain pen, which had slipped from Deon’s hand, hit the curtain next to the window.
Deon’s expression, which had been blank, suddenly turned grim.
“It seems like someone has entered the room.”
The room where Deon was trapped was on the ground floor of a rarely visited guesthouse.
The window where the sound came from was not a path where people passed by but a flower bed.
“They said they hired new knights this time. Did another fearless little mouse sneak in again?”
Lordwick was particularly hostile.
So it wasn’t uncommon for other nobles or imperial families to send spies disguised as servants or knights.
“I need an example.”
This time, using his abilities to warn the enemies might be better than at other times.
Because that brat was in the mansion.
“At least I should keep him safe—”
As he silently approached the window, Zed, who sensed something, opened the curtain.
“Oops!”
“….?”
Someone on the other side of the window shouted in surprise.
What a sloppy spy.
Deon jumped onto the window sill and peered underneath.
“Ouch….”
“You…!”
Liche was lying sprawled on the flower bed.
Didn’t Zed say he hadn’t woken up yet this morning? Did he wake up now?
Deon tried to open the window, but it wouldn’t budge because it was locked.
“Hey, did you fall over?”
So small and clumsy. How did you even fall from the flower bed? You’re not even a month old puppy.
Startled, Deon and Liche locked eyes.
Liche’s round, sparkling eyes briefly observed Deon’s upper body before they widened with relief.
“I’m so glad! You’re okay!”
Liche’s bright voice filled with warmth reached Deon through the window.
Deon furrowed his brows.
Then he reached out for the fountain pen stuck in the wall and fiddled with the window frame.
“What are you doing?”
Meanwhile, Liche sat on the ground, hands resting on her knees, gazing at Deon through the window.
Shortly after, there was a click, and the lock was released.
Deon opened the window and stood in front of Liche.
“Hey.”
“…?”
“Who said you’re okay?”
“Huh…?”
Why the sudden accusation?
Liche looked at Deon in confusion.
Did I make a mistake?
The tension seemed to dissipate, and all the dark energy seemed to be purified, so he should be okay.
Is he still in pain?
Deon lifted Liche, who was worried inwardly, and then kneeled in front of her, offering his back.
“?”
“Get on.”
—
“Young Master has escaped!”
Blake received the report from the knight guarding Deon’s room. He finished signing the documents and left the study.
Thanks to his son, who seemed to attract trouble wherever he went, there was hardly a dull day.
“He should mature before taking the seat of the lord.”
Due to the family history, lords of the Lordwick house usually took their seats at an early age.
Blake became a lord at the age of 16.
Now he was 32, and Deon was 9.
Normally, Deon would inherit the family at around 16.
“About three years left.”
Lordwick sensed that the day would come sooner than others expected.
Since his life wouldn’t last much longer.
“Even if there’s only Deon, it’s okay.”
“I’m sorry. I wanted to leave a family for Deon. Our time allowed may not be long, either for you or for me.”
His wife, who said so, ran away with their second child, who had never cried once.
The day Blake would go to join the family that left first was coming soon.
Until then…
“Is Liche in her room?”
Blake asked Zed, who was walking behind him in the hallway.
Liche had woken up this morning.
If Deon had gone out of the room, he must have gone to Liche.
He had put a guard on Liche’s room just in case.
Nothing serious should have happened.
“I haven’t seen her since she went with Young Master. I’ll ask Anna.”
“Never mind. I’ll know when I go to the room.”
Blake briskly walked down the stairs.
It wasn’t far from the study on the 3rd floor to Liche’s room on the 2nd floor.
He arrived at the door in no time.
Before Blake could knock, the door creaked open.
It was Anna, who was about to leave.
Her face, which met Blake’s eyes, was tinged with melancholy.
“Lord, you’re here?”
“Is Liche inside?”
“Yes, she’s in there.”
“Anna, what’s wrong with your face? You look like you haven’t been to the bathroom in days.”
Anna glanced at Zed and turned her head back.
It was a meaningful gesture that said, “You’d be scared if you saw.”
Indeed. Actions spoke louder than words.
“…”
Blake, who had already witnessed the scene inside the room, stood there like a statue.
Zed stuttered, then, turning into a daze like Anna, murmured.
“Is this a dream?”
What they were seeing was Deon, smiling as he read a picture book to Liche.
—
“I’ve been thinking, Miss. You don’t seem to be human.”
“….?”
Mumbling.
Seated at the table, Liche chewed on the bread Anna had torn for her, looking at Zed sitting in front of her.
Zed, meeting Liche’s gaze, suddenly clutched his chest.
“Ugh. Do you think I’ll fall for that just because you look cute?”
‘Why is he acting like this?’
“What are you saying? You suddenly come over while she’s having breakfast.”
Anna scolded Zed.
Zed defended himself against his sister’s accusation as if he felt unfairly treated.
“Anna, you saw her yesterday too! Remember? Smiling? Our Young Master? Acting like he’s lived a whole life at just nine years old?! How cute must Miss have been!”
Gulp.
After swallowing the last of the bread, Liche spoke to Zed.
“I was just teasing him.”
Yesterday, after waking up, Liche had gone to Deon’s room out of concern, checked that the purification was done properly, and was pleased.
After that, she tried to go back to her room, but Deon, complaining about her short legs, had carried her to her room.
And there was a reason for that.
The picture book Anna had left on the bedside table.
“Hey, you can’t read, can you?”
“….I can.”
“Then read it. If you read it, I’ll believe you.”
Deon’s challenge triggered Liche’s emotions, and she began to read the picture book.
Coincidentally, it was a picture book with lots of dog drawings.
Deon wasn’t surprised to see himself reading smoothly; he just kept repeating phrases like, “This dog looks like you. That dog looks like you.”
And there, the truth of the incident was that when Liche countered, saying, “This dog looks like Deon. That dog looks like Deon,” Deon burst into laughter, amazed.
“To argue with a 9-year-old…”
Even though I’ve lived 10 years longer than Deon.
He felt a slight pang of self-doubt, but strangely, he didn’t want to lose to Deon.
“No, it’s not. Young Master Deon laughed because Miss is cute.”
Zed, who defended himself and countered seriously, made Liche bite her lips and refrain from speaking.
She almost said she wasn’t cute.
‘No negative words allowed.’
Liche reminded herself of the task given to her by Blake.
When Liche woke up, Blake had set some rules for her.
“No using the word ‘slave,’ no saying ‘dirty,’ and also…”
Amidst the many prohibitions, Blake embraced Liche, whose mind was becoming complicated.
“No calling me ‘Lord.'”
“Then…”
If she couldn’t call him ‘Lord,’ what should she call him?
“I told you. Call me ‘Dad.'”
“Yes…?”
“The first time is difficult, but it gets easier from the second time. So give it a try.”
“Uh, uh…”
She couldn’t bring herself to say it.
But Blake wasn’t easygoing either.
Satisfied to finally hear Liche call him ‘Dad’ despite her embarrassment, he left.
“Young Master Deon won’t be coming today. He’s trapped in his room again.”
Zed said he should go now, informing them of Deon’s news, and got up from his seat.
Then, a peaceful day passed.
Blake had lunch and dinner together, took a walk around the mansion with the maids, and watched picture books read by Anna in bed late at night.
“Miss, are you going to sleep?”
Liche, who was nodding off, closed her eyes completely.
Anna quietly got up, turned off the lights in the room, closed the door, and left.
“…”
A moment later.
Left alone, Liche raised her eyelids.
Her silvery eyes gazed into the void.
Retiom.
There was a small but brilliantly shining light there.
Now it’s just the two of us, isn’t it?
