31. Pure White Lisianthus.
There were three people, but the cost of maintaining the Noble’s dignity was only calculated for one person.
I looked at the amount again to see if the the Duke’s family members’ spendings had been grouped together to process it easier, but it was too little even if considering it was only for one person.
“What the hell is this……….”
It was a strange thing, but Bianca guessed what after looking at the pile of documents.
It was a knight who run the Duchy’s castle all by herself.
Didn’t Creta even introduce herself as the Duke’s lieutenant?
It’s strange that she didn’t die from work.
This mistake was probably natural.
“She is so pitiful.”
Instead of calling Creta and reprimanding her, Bianca put the Duke’s maintenance fee documents aside on one side of her desk.
Since there probably wasn’t just one mistake, I thought I would organize it separately and deal with it all at once.
How many documents did I see?
Knock.
Bianca looked up at the sound of a knock on the door and found Jillian standing there smiling.
“Do you want to go out?”
“Jillian? What’s going on?”
Instead of coming in, Jillian called out to her from outside the door.
“The sun will set soon. How about a short walk before that?”
After hearing those words, I noticed that the sunlight pouring through the window was dim and had a red tinge to it.
I thought I was here only for a moment, but I seemed to have lost track of time.
For the first time in a while, Bianca was so focused on something that she didn’t want to get up, but she put her regrets aside and got up.
Because the documents didn’t have to be done now.
“Let’s go.”
The place Jillian guided us to was a small yard right in front of the main building.
To put it in polite terms, the place with all the last sunlight was ugly, but speaking personally for Bianca, it seemed like a comfortable place.
Because it was in the north, the place was mainly decorated with shrubs instead of colorful horticultural species, and it was shining green in the sun.
“Wow, I never thought a place like this existed.”
Bianca was purely amazed.
She was sure she had seen it before, but she couldn’t remember where, perhaps because she was in no rush to know.
“You’ve never been outside the castle, right?”
“You were very ill when you came here.”
Bianca smiled shyly.
“Still, I toured the inside of the castle with Lord Rappin.”
“I know.”
Contrary to the thought that it would be very cold, there was almost no wind blowing in the front yard, it actually felt warm as the sun was shining.
Bianca quietly closed her eyes.
The sun shining through her thin eyelids was red.
Shr didn’t know how much time passed, but for a moment she felt someone approaching behind her and opened her eyes in surprise.
Bianca soon relaxed her body under the hand pulling her.
A familiar yet refreshing scent.
It was Jillian.
Jillian wrapped Bianca’s shoulders and made her lean against him.
“When spring comes, it becomes quite something to see.”
“It’s still good enough now.”
“It’s short, but it also blooms.”
“Good.”
Was it because of the pouring sunlight?
Was it because of the warmth coming from his half-cuddled embrace?
I didn’t have any memories to dwell on, but I feel nostalgic for no reason.
“What flowers do you like?”
Jillian wrapped his arms around her shoulders and hugged her tightly.
With the feeling of my body being pushed backwards, I was completely trapped in his arms, and a warm exhalation fell on the back of my neck.
Bianca opened her mouth, trying not to get distracted because of the tickling sensation on the back of her neck.
“My favorite flower is…….”
There isn’t any.
Since nothing was allowed for me, there was no time to notice what I liked.
But, if I had to choose…….
“Lisianthus. Pure white Lisianthus.”
The flower that shone in the sunlight was gorgeous and lovely, and now that I look at it, I think it resembles Jillian.
“Lisianthus.”
His voice warmed my ears.
Was it possible for a flower name to be this provocative?
Her face suddenly became hot, but Bianca persevered.
It’s embarrassing, but I really enjoyed this moment where I had his arms all around myself.
“When spring comes, I will fill this place with lisianthus.”
“Great.”
I gave up worrying that the cold wind would freeze the delicate flowers to a crisp.
“So, will you be satisfied with this today?”
At the moment when I thought that his voice had lowered significantly….
Flowers poured down before my eyes.
The white, soft flowers were lisianthus.
Everything as far as the eye could see glowed white.
The short breath I took was sweet and fragrant.
“Magic!”
Bianca cried softly.
Magic was practiced a long time ago by the dragon that hid itself after the death of the founder.
Bianca found it difficult to come to her senses as the ancient legacy unfolded before her eyes.
“How……….?”
She wanted to see Jillian’s face, but he hugged Bianca so tightly that he didn’t allow her to move.
“I’m not a human.”
Even my faint curiosity was completely evaporated by the bitter words that passed by my ears.
‘Baloch is not like a human being’ was a word filled with reverence and jealousy, but it may have been violence to the person involved.
Bianca raised her hand and grabbed Jillian’s arm tightly.
“I am a monster born by eating other people. Are you okay with that?”
Haha.
Jillian burst into laughter as if her clumsy consolation had worked.
In an instant, my shoulder came closer to his chest, and the distance that seemed like it could no longer be shortened disappeared.
When I felt like I was stuck in his arms…
Jillian whispered.
“You are the bride I have been waiting for. You are absolutely perfect.”
Tuk.
The fluttering white lisianthus landed on the top of Bianca’s head.
***
“What you looking at?”
O’Henry suddenly raised his head when he heard a voice calling him.
“Oh, no, it looks like it’s snowing.”
“Snowing?”
The attendant who had called him approached the window and looked up at the sky.
It was the first blue sky in a long time without a single cloud.
“What are you talking about?”
“It’s strange. It definitely felt like snow was pouring down.”
“Hey, Master. Is the work so hard that you are hallucinating?”
O’Henry frowned at the giggling words of the attendant.
“I told you not to call me master!”
“Master Kazel, when you get angry, your forehead wrinkles.”
The guy who was giggling was particularly good at rims and looked good in many places.
His name is Shane.
Like most of those who came in as servants this time, he was the second son of a low-ranking noble family that had nothing left but its name.
Instead of being discouraged by his situation as a servant, he was rather cheerful as he revealed his unusual aspirations.
‘I will become the Duke’s right hand!’
It must be difficult to become a confidant since he was going from Korea and the United States1I believe this one is understandable, the writer may have forgotten that the novel didn’t have any korea or USA😂, so why not aim for being a confidant of a confidant?
That guy’s first target was O’Henry.
Since he (O’Henry) was the only worker on the 3rd floor where no servant was allowed to approach him, the sincere nonsense that he (Shane) would have a bright future ahead of him and the teasing calls of ‘Young Master’ were very annoying, but in fact, they were a great help.
Seeing the two of them bickering without hesitation, the hostile gaze that had been on O. Henry face softened a lot.
O’Henry was grateful, but that was that and this was this.
Apparently, thick bunches of snow were falling into the front yard just a moment ago.
“It’s real!”
“It’s a big deal, my Master. If just standing on the third floor is difficult, what on earth can you do? huh?”
The guy’s giggling voice rang cheerfully through the hallway.
“Stop.”
He thought things were going well because he was assigned to the 3rd floor, the most important floor of the Duke castle.
However, that was a mistake.
There was a lot of surveillance on all sides, and all O’Henry could do was stay where he was, unable to move like an animal caught in a trap.
Today again, after standing around like an idiot, he managed to come down to the first floor using the excuse of lunch.
O’Henry was completely irritated now.
“Ayo, our Master…….”
“Stop it!”
His fierce voice was so loud that it rang through the first floor.
His voice was loud enough that other servants passing by looked at it.
At that moment, Shane’s cheek, which had been teasing O’Henry, turned red.
“Uh, sorry,no, sorry.”2The first sorry was informal, so he corrected himself in the second one using formal speech.
It was only after seeing him apologize with a surprised expression that O’Henry came to his senses.
He had always been annoyed by his teasing, but he had never been as angry as he was today.
“…I told you to stop. It was really snowing.”
The sunlight streaming through the first floor window was still brilliant.
He know he wouldn’t believe it, but there was nothing else to say.
“Okay.”
Shane nodded awkwardly at O’Henry’s words.
It was after Shane got far away after telling him to go…
“Ha…….”
As his eyes watched the golden sunlight shining everywhere, he really wanted to cry.
Nothing worked.
***
That night.
Knock Knock Knock.
The knight who was on guard at the sound of knocking on the castle gate opened the small, palm-sized door at the top of the castle gate and peered out.
What caught his eye was a group of knights that rounded up around fifty people.
the knight were fully armed, and the weapons they wore were unusual.
However, compared to their weapons, their clothes were a mess.
Aside from being dirty, they were wearing thin winter coats that were unbecoming of the Northern Territory.
‘They would be lucky if they didn’t freeze to death before they could properly hold their swords.’
The guard snorted.
“Who are you?”
“We came after seeing the notice that you are recruiting knights. Is the notice decree still in effect?”
“Recruiting notice?”
“Here it is.”
The person standing guard accepted the paper that the knight handed through the small crack in the door.
He was suspicious because it was so worn out and old, but when he received it, it was clear that it was issued by the Baloch territory.
Well, for how long did they fiddle with it?
The guard looked horrified at the sight of notice, that looked to be a hundred years old.
“Please wait a moment. I will inform you after reporting to superiors.”
“Is the public notice decree valid?”
“………Please wait and I will check.”
The public notice was valid.
It was said that one can be ordained regardless of origin, but not many people passed the examination to become a knight in the first place.
After all, a knight was not a mercenary.
To limit the knights’ origins to nobles, they had to be prosecutors with elegant and upright beliefs and philosophy.
Because they had to learn basic liberal arts, military science, and geography, there were not many of them even after the status restrictions were abolished.
But, now not five, but fifty such knights wanted to become Baloch knights at once?
This was suspicious.
The guard quickly glanced nervously at the knights outside the door.
“Please wait a moment.”
Contrary to his polite words, his hand was still on the sheethed sword.
***
“Fifty knights?”
Creta’s expression hardened at the news brought by the security guard who had come riding from the outer castle.
“Are you sure about that?”
“I checked the epaulettes on their right shoulder.”
Since the Termina Empire removed the restriction of ‘origin’, knights who were officially ordained received a token to prove their qualifications.
It was a golden epaulette hanging on their right shoulder.
There was no one who impersonated the epaulettes, as anyone who forged one that was officially issued by the imperial family would be executed for insulting the imperial family, but Creta asked in disbelief.
“……..”
Creta turned her head and looked at Jillian, who was leaning back in his chair.
The person who did not flinch even after being in heavy rain for three days while cutting down monsters was none other than Duke Baloch.
But for some reason, Jillian had turned pale since noon and was having a hard time gathering his energy.
She wanted to let him rest, but there was not possible anymore.
“What should I do?”
Jillian’s closed eyes opened at the cautious question.
Creta, who made eye contact with him, suddenly blinked quickly.
Just now, it seemed like the duke’s eye had been distorted.
Like an angry animal.
***
TL:
I have sometime this week, so I will try to upload 3 more chapters, no promises though! I could get lazy and just sleep the week away乁༼☯‿☯✿༽ㄏ
I hope you enjoyed the chapter, don’t forget to point out the mistakes ~
