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Chapter : 18
Suspicious People for Some Reason (3)
Lowering my head deeply, I fiddled with my hair for no reason.
“R-right? Even you found it unusual, Your Grace….”
Come to think of it, I hadn’t seen anyone else with hair like mine either.
Nineteen years in my previous life, nineteen years after reincarnation.
Even after living a total of thirty-eight years.
“……”
“……”
How long had it been like that?
The presence lingering in front of me disappeared, replaced by the sound of light footsteps.
I cautiously raised my head.
Eclipse had already returned to his original spot.
“It seems I’ve kept you for too long. You may go back for today.”
He placed my teaching materials onto the cart.
I bowed deeply, then hurried out of the office.
“Haah, haah….”
The place I reached at a brisk pace—fast enough to leave me breathless—was none other than the classroom entrance.
I parked the cart by the door and leaned my back against the wall.
‘Why did I get so flustered over nothing?’
When I kept my distance from Eclipse, my thoughts flowed just fine.
But the moment I faced him up close, my mind froze solid.
“Why did you do that, why?”
You were talking so smoothly until just a moment ago—how could you mess up at the very end?!
Pressing both palms against my cheeks, I scolded myself.
That was when—
“Oh? I don’t think we’ve met before.”
A cheerful voice rang out, and an unfamiliar face appeared in front of me.
A man with pale sky-blue hair and vivid red eyes, wearing a friendly expression.
Tilting his head as if puzzled, he soon let out a short exclamation.
“Ah, could it be that you’re the new magic teacher everyone’s been talking about? The one the Saintess personally scouted—am I right?”
I slowly lowered my hands from my cheeks.
It seemed he’d heard rumors about me.
“Yes, that’s right.”
When I confirmed it, the man broke into a bright smile.
“I knew it. Your hair color is so unique—I recognized you immediately.”
…Your hair isn’t exactly subtle either, you know.
Did you forget that your own hair is sky blue?
‘But who exactly is this person?’
Pale blue hair and clear red eyes.
‘With such a distinctive color combination, I should remember him.’
As I mentally reviewed the characteristics of characters from the original story—
“Ash Hart. I work as Saintess Lynette’s etiquette instructor.”
The man introduced himself and bowed politely.
Ash Hart? That name sounded familiar.
As I pondered, my eyes widened.
‘Ah—Ash Hart, the one who used to be a notorious scoundrel in high society, then did a complete 180?’
He was the man who’d nearly ended up on Eclipse’s chopping block.
Since he was supposedly a former delinquent, I’d imagined someone far more carefree and debauched.
‘But he looks so neat and proper…?’
Apparently, he’d gone through some kind of incident.
It seemed he’d truly turned over a new leaf.
As I stared at him, Ash smiled gently at me.
Only then did I snap back to my senses.
I hurriedly greeted him in return.
“I’m Elsie Bloomhire. I look forward to working with you.”
“Likewise, Miss Bloomhire. Let’s get along well as fellow teachers.”
Contrary to my preconceived notions, he was an extremely easygoing man.
A person who made one want to know more precisely because they were suspicious.
To Eclipse, Elsie was exactly that kind of existence.
“Silvern, still no word from Jade?”
“Yes. He’s only asked that we wait a bit longer.”
Eclipse let out a quiet sigh.
Several days had passed since he sent the request, yet there was still no response.
Did it really take this long?
Watching Eclipse’s dark expression, Silvern hastily added,
“The item you requested to be analyzed appears to be a magical artifact created with quite powerful magic.”
“A magical artifact?”
“Yes.”
Silvern nodded.
“But it is strange. For something that even troubles the master of the Mage Tower… how did such an object end up on the floor of Your Grace’s office?”
The item sent for analysis was the purple powder found on the office floor not long ago.
“Of course I’ll help if it’s a request from our Grand Duke. Just leave it to me.”
Jade was the strongest archmage on the continent, and the master of the Mage Tower located in the towering Hern Mountain Range that divided the Grand Duchy from neighboring nations.
Though, for someone of his position, he was excessively frivolous.
“He’s never taken this long before. Still, the results should come soon, so please don’t worry. After all, it is Lord Jade.”
Even the meticulous Silvern trusted his abilities completely.
For such a man to struggle like this—it was rare.
‘Just what kind of object could stump even him…?’
At that moment, someone knocked on the office door.
“Come in.”
The one who entered was Penny, the maid assigned to Elsie.
“I greet you, Your Grace.”
After bowing, Penny handed Eclipse a small paper envelope.
Eclipse opened it and checked the contents.
As instructed, there was a single strand of Elsie’s hair inside.
“Good work. You may go.”
Having completed her task, Penny withdrew quietly.
Eclipse opened a drawer in his desk.
Inside was a glass vial containing pink hair.
‘As expected.’
The hair Penny brought and the hair in the vial were exactly the same color.
‘Nothing has changed.’
He had already suspected as much.
He merely wanted certainty, as he disliked ambiguity.
And now it was clear.
The recent events were directly or indirectly connected to Elsie Bloomhire.
‘That woman… what exactly is she plotting?’
He had allowed her into the estate due to Lynette’s request, but that didn’t mean he could lower his guard.
Above all, there was one thing he simply couldn’t understand.
“Um, is a lifetime contract not possible?”
Yes. A lifetime contract.
No matter how hard he tried, Eclipse couldn’t make sense of it.
Had those words come from any other servant, he might have brushed them off.
For those living hand-to-mouth, a stable job and continuous income were lifelong goals.
No one understood their desperation better than Eclipse himself.
Though he’d lived longer as a noble, he too was originally of common birth.
But—
‘She definitely has another motive.’
If the one who said it was Elsie, the story changed.
Someone who reeked of suspicion—was she really speaking out of mere desire for lifelong employment?
‘Impossible.’
In the office were the hair left behind, the unidentified powder in the vial, and the witch who just happened to save Lynette’s life.
At the end point of all these threads stood Elsie Bloomhire.
Moreover, the purple powder Jade was analyzing had been identified as a magical artifact.
“Running a street stall near her residence to make a living. The main goods sold were…”
“Magical artifacts, Your Grace.”
Before entering the estate, Elsie had made her living selling magical artifacts.
He had heard it directly from her—there was no reason to doubt it.
‘Was that powder also Bloomhire’s?’
That thought made Silvern’s earlier words linger in his mind.
“The item you requested to be analyzed appears to be a magical artifact created with quite powerful magic.”
Created with powerful magic?
‘Was that how she discovered Lynette’s secret?’
She was someone capable of creating an artifact that even troubled the Mage Tower master.
It was entirely plausible.
‘She must have ulterior motives. I can’t let my guard down.’
Her excessive enthusiasm toward Lynette’s education.
Reading every single book he prepared.
Choosing only flattering words to say.
All of it must stem from dark intentions.
And yet—
“I plan to bring in more related books soon. If you don’t mind, would you help me?”
“If there’s anything you need for the lessons, feel free to ask. Don’t worry about the budget.”
Why had he said such things?
Showing goodwill to someone he should have been wary of.
Eclipse closed his eyes tightly and pressed his fingers to his brow.
‘…I must be sleep-deprived. My judgment’s dulled.’
To act as though he’d give away everything just because of a few flattering remarks.
It was embarrassing, no matter how he thought about it.
“Yes. I don’t know who selected them, but they have excellent taste. Every book was of high quality.”
He had fallen neatly into a transparent ploy meant to lower his guard by appealing to his ego.
