Thanks to Mirisa giving me an absolution, I was left speechless.
And in my place, Axion spoke coldly.
“Truly a complete trash. As expected, I’ve disliked Duke Hesman from the beginning.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, Mel. He looks just like a weasel, I hated that. Originally too! From now on, there’s no way I’ll like him. I’ll spread rumors, whether in social circles or the academy!”
“I will too, M… not pressure, but I’ll spread rumors to people I know as well.”
Carat added more to the conversation.
The atmosphere was increasingly heating up with curses toward Lennox.
I glanced at Prince Cassian to gauge his reaction.
Considering Mirisa directly insulted her own brother, and Prince Cassian being on friendly terms with Lennox.
In the original story, they weren’t actually that close, but were famously known as close friends in social circles.
‘What should I do? Even if they aren’t the closest of friends, insulting a friend is…’
And there’s no way Mirisa and Axion wouldn’t know about the friendship between Lennox and Prince Cassian.
Mirisa tightly held her notebook and her eyes sparkled.
“What does His Highness Prince Cassian think about this situation?”
As their intense gaze met, Cassian washed his face with his hand. It was time for a conviction check.
He quietly opened his mouth.
“It’s worse than I expected.”
What? Worse? This man, wasn’t he not this kind of character…?
I was shocked as I watched him coldly spit out almost swear-like words with a kind-looking face.
I had no intention of defending Lennox, but.
“He’s your friend, isn’t he?”
“I tend to separate personal and professional matters.”
That was his policy, indeed.
However, I wasn’t so naive.
Cassian caught my gaze and whispered softly through his teeth.
“If you really can’t trust my words, let’s consider it a reward for the dreamcatcher.”
‘Ah, the dreamcatcher.’
So the bribery strategy worked, after all. I asked, seemingly probing.
“The nightmares have reduced, haven’t they?”
His gaze quietly met mine.
I blinked and shrugged my shoulders.
“…I had a good dream for the first time in a while.”
I nodded towards Prince Cassian.
‘I’ve cleared my debt.’
Being a sharp person, he might have noticed something different about the magic in the dreamcatcher.
But Prince Cassian was different from Lennox. He might be inscrutable, but at least he wasn’t cowardly or cruel.
I quietly nodded.
Mirisa, who had been staring at us, opened her mouth.
“Prince Cassian. It’s a hold for now. Please continue to improve.”
Mirisa looked around brightly and said,
“From now on, I, Mirisa, will make an effort.”
Why does she sound so serious and cute when she’s saying she’ll work hard to find her husband?
My heart ached at the loveliness of Mirisa.
‘Really, she’s completely different from Lennox. How could such different children come from the same bloodline.’
The girl, with her chubby fists tightly clenched, shouted as she shook her neatly braided hair.
“Okay! There are several conditions to become Meldenik’s lover. You must be good-looking, strong, modest, and genuinely fond of Meldenik.”
It was a perfect set of conditions.
I joked with Mirisa, looking at her cute face.
“It seems like such a person doesn’t exist?”
Mirisa’s eyes sparkled seriously at my words.
“Don’t worry. I’ll find him!”
“We’ll help too!”
I chuckled inwardly. Perhaps this was like a ‘mischievous defense squad’ game?
I wasn’t the kind of adult to douse their innocent fun with cold water.
So, I nodded along to their amusing prank as if keeping time. Children of that age are notoriously fickle, after all.
“Yes, kids. I’m looking forward to it.”
And so, I didn’t realize. I didn’t realize that at my words, the eyes of all the children there had sparkled.
***
On the way home.
A few steps away from the front yard of a stationery store, three little ones gathered, heads together.
It was after they had told Prince Cassian, who had come outside with them, to wait at a distance as they would say goodbye to him separately.
In fact, they were on a very solemn mission, not merely saying goodbye.
“Tell me right away if you find a good person. For starters, I’ll pay close attention to someone who is handsome.”
Mirisa had a tendency to like somewhat handsome faces.
Seeing Mirisa tapping her notebook and speaking, Axion answered seriously.
“My brother is a handsome man too. I’ll observe our brother.”
Carat also spoke up.
“I should look around too.”
Though they were in the same class, they were children from what’s called the ‘playing group’, who hardly ever spoke to each other.
But at this moment, they were one.
“You prevent the Duke of Hesman from approaching Mel.”
Mirisa nodded seriously, and soon, Axion clenched his fist tightly and said,
“That’s good.”
“Starting tomorrow.”
“Let’s search properly!”
The three children, gathered in a circle, thrust their fists out tightly.
Their fists met in the middle with a bang! Their shining eyes were as enviable as those of a general who had conquered the continent.
Down with the adulterer!
Let’s find true love for Mel, who is kind, gentle, cute, and pretty!
***
Carat returned to the dormitory within the academy with enthusiasm.
Ordinarily, noble children would commute from their mansions in the capital by carriage, but those like Carat, who did not own a mansion in the capital, had to use the dormitories.
“I need to find it quickly, a husband for Mel.”
Mirisa took it upon herself to be a fair judge. Axion was already pushing his brother, Prince Cassian, as Mel’s match.
Yet, Carat himself was still penniless.
“How should I look for someone? I want to find someone absolutely perfect.”
The image of Mel floated around in his head like a fluffy cloud.
It’s definitely not because he wants to eat slushies. It’s not because playing with soap bubbles with Mel is so much fun.
It’s absolutely, definitely not because he has a crush on Mel. It’s not because Mel is so angelically pretty that he just wants to help her, earnestly rolling up his sleeves to offer assistance.
Everything he does is merely to eradicate adultery and enact justice!
Greeted in the dormitory with determination, Carat clenched his fist, was none other than a messenger bird from the Lord of the Tower.
“Gasp, a letter has arrived!”
Carat blinked his eyes at the Lord of the Tower’s characteristic languid yet neat handwriting. Indeed, even the Lord’s handwriting is cool!
[Carat, it looks like I’ll be staying at the academy for a long time this time. I finally found what I’ve been looking for for so long.]
“Ugh, coming soon?”
Carat, burning with a sense of justice, decided to do something he had never done before.
He sat at his desk, spread out a piece of stationery, and began to write in elegant handwriting.
[Lord of the Magic Tower, is there a handsome, modest, and decent man in our Magic Tower?]
While writing and deeply pondering, Carat suddenly had a moment of realization. Come to think of it… the most handsome person in the magic tower is…?
“Wait a minute… the Lord of the Magic Tower is the most handsome man I know, and a perfect alpha male.”
For the record, Carat considered himself the second-best man.
Nibbling on his pen and leaving indecipherable marks on the letter, Carat soon decisively tore it up.
Just to be safe, he cast a fire-attributed spell on it to burn it completely, erasing all evidence.
Then, he took out new stationery from the bookshelf and began to write.
[Understood! I’ll be waiting, Lord of the Magic Tower!
By the way, Lord of the Magic Tower, do you happen to have a lover? If not, I would like to introduce you to my friend ‘Mel’! I can vouch for her; she is absolutely not a suspicious person!
-Sincerely, Carat]
Carat’s idea was simple. He wondered if the Tower Master would make a good match with Mel.
The Tower Master and Mel…
No matter how he looked at it, it seemed like not a bad match.
If the Tower Master and Mel became close, perhaps they could create more fun toys? Like playing marbles in the sky…?
Carat clenched his fists tightly and flopped onto the bed.
“When will the Tower Master appear? Will he come incognito with a mask this time too?”
If he reveals his identity, I’ll have to tell Mirisa and Axion during tomorrow morning’s self-study period at school!
Carat was stomping his feet on the bed for a while before he suddenly got up.
“I need to send the letter quickly!”
He folded the letter in an instant and cast a sealing spell on it.
Then, he tied the letter tightly to the leg of the pitch-black feathered bird that was lying as if dead at the corner of the desk.
“Bird, would you deliver this letter to the Tower Master? Oh, and this too.”
Carat wrapped a beer-flavored candy beautifully and hung it on the bird’s leg.
If he tastes this, the Tower Master will surely come to like Mel. It’s an incredible item.
After opening the window and letting the bird out, Carat smiled contentedly.
He was burning with a great sense of mission.
That night, in Carat’s dream, the never-before-seen Duke Hessman appeared as the villain.
Saving Meldenik from the villain was none other than the Tower Master!
And in the happy ending of the dream, Meldenik threw a big, bouncy ball at Carat.
While dreaming a pleasant dream, Carat smiled happily and snuggled under his blanket.
