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Chapter 31
“Young Master, I want to see the Lord.”
“My father? Why?”
“There’s something I really need to tell him. Can’t you ask him to come back a little earlier?”
“He’ll be back in half a month.”
Arileti shook her head.
Half a month would be too late.
“Earlier. He has to come back by the 20th.”
“…Fine. I’ll send a letter.”
“You have to tell him to return by the 20th. Please!”
“…Alright. I’m sure our little teacher has a reason.”
That was a relief.
Arileti let out a sigh and hugged the rabbit doll tightly. The doll had been quiet for days.
‘I can do this, right, Needle?’
Without Needle’s constant chatter in her head, everything felt strangely silent.
Glen stared closely at the rabbit doll with the needle stuck in its belly.
“That needle.”
Arileti flinched. She had been talking to Needle, who gave no reply.
“It looks much more worn out than last month, Aril.”
When it first appeared, it had been smooth and shiny. Now it was scratched and chipped in many places.
She thought no one would notice since it was stuck more than halfway into the rabbit.
“I keep dropping it…”
She tried to make an excuse, but it didn’t seem to work. Sweat ran down her back.
Why did she feel so uneasy? Had he noticed something? Was he testing her?
‘Or am I reacting suspiciously?’
She was confident in her poker face. In her past life, people had cursed and pointed at her, wondering what she was hiding behind her cold, expressionless face. But for some reason, she felt like Glen could see right through her.
To make matters worse, Glen narrowed his eyes.
“You’ve been acting more spoiled lately. That’s suspicious too.”
“I’m five years old.”
Arileti stretched out her hand.
Five was the perfect age to whine and act spoiled. It wasn’t strange at all.
After a short silence, Glen smiled playfully.
“That’s true. Our little teacher just turned five.”
“Mm.”
“Then shall we go take your medicine?”
“Ugh…”
No, she hated it. The medicine tasted worse every day.
A few more days passed. March 20.
That afternoon, the territory was crowded with people who had come to obtain rare elemental materials.
“Huh?”
A scout guarding the castle wall cried out.
Behind the long line of visitors, a dark group on horseback was approaching. Around a hundred strong men, heavily armed in fur and armor.
When the man at the front pulled the reins, his horse stopped with a snort. The people waiting for entry all turned to look.
“What is all this commotion?”
His deep voice carried far, filled with powerful aura.
The soldiers of Hezite brightened at once.
“My Lord!”
A large, imposing middle-aged man jumped down from his horse. He was about the same height as Glen, but their faces were completely different.
“Young Master, the Lord has returned!”
“Father?”
Glen, who had been walking with Arileti below the wall, leapt up in a single bound. Arileti, who had been sitting on his shoulders, went up with him.
After confirming who it was beyond the drawbridge, Glen grinned and shouted,
“Are you well, Father?”
“Yes, you rascal.”
The old castle gate opened wide.
Arileti grabbed Glen’s hair tightly. Her body tensed on its own.
The father of Glen Hezite, the Young Master — and the lord of this territory — the Margrave of Hezite, had returned.
7. The Snow Monster of the Back Mountain
The Count of Hezite had just passed fifty. He was a strict and serious military man.
Born and raised in the north, he had been in charge of border defense since his youth.
It had been nearly thirty years since he began leading the northern border guard of Berdel.
During those thirty years, the monster attacks that used to come down from the Colden Mountains and raid nearby villages and major northern cities had greatly decreased. In recent years, the entire north had been peaceful.
The imperial family highly valued his achievements and granted him yearly stipends and rewards. Most of it was spent managing the territory and feeding the soldiers, leaving little extra money, but it was enough to maintain stability.
In the end, the reason Hezite had managed to survive all this time was because of the current Margrave.
Russo Hezite, who had spent his life leading knights across battlefields, was somewhat rigid and stubborn.
“Glen picked something up?”
“Yes, well… On his way back from the imperial capital, the Young Master brought a little girl.”
The head steward of the territory, Maia, rubbed her chin. Russo let out an irritated breath.
“If I send him far away, he always comes back having picked up something useless.”
“She was abandoned alone in the middle of a snowfield. It seems the Young Master has already grown attached to her.”
“Attached? What is she, his bride?”
“Haha… You know how kind Young Master Glen is. Especially when it comes to children.”
“I know. Good grief.”
On the border, he was fiercer than Russo had ever been in his youth. But when he saw poor and weak children, he could never just pass by.
“Maybe she reminds him of the younger sibling he never met.”
Russo Hezite sighed for the fifth time that day.
“If he likes children so much, he should hurry up and get married and have his own. He won’t even think about marriage, yet he keeps bringing home other people’s kids.”
Outside the door, Glen, who had been listening, let out a soft snort.
“I’m only nineteen. Why are you talking about marriage behind my back when I’m not here? What a fine adult you are.”
“Do you really like children that much?”
“Is there anyone who dislikes children?”
So it was simply his nature.
Arileti nodded slightly, then suddenly felt puzzled.
Did Glen Hezite have a sibling?
‘A sibling even his father doesn’t know about… is that possible?’
Before she could think further, Glen lifted her up.
“Alright. Shall we go meet him properly? My father.”
This was Arileti’s first time meeting the Count. Her throat went dry.
‘Don’t be scared. You have a lot to ask for.’
To deal with what was coming, she would need the Margrave’s cooperation.
“I sent you all the way to the capital to gather information, and you came back as a nanny. It suits you, you brat.”
That was the first thing the Margrave said to Glen as he entered carrying Arileti.
“Well, this time she’s not an ordinary child, Father.”
“Not ordinary? What, did you bring back the Great Sage of the White Forest?”
“Oh? How did you know?”
“What?”
“This is Lady Arileti, the Time Mage of the White Forest. Teacher, this is the Lord of Hezite — my father.”
The Margrave, Russo Hezite, frowned in annoyance.
Arileti was secretly impressed. His straight posture, sharp eyes, and deep voice gave off strong authority.
A warrior like this rotting away at the frontier. If Arileti of her past life had ever met Russo Hezite, she would have used every method possible to bring him to her side.
“If you keep talking nonsense, I’ll throw both of you out together, Glen. And that includes the other one.”
“You’ve looked outside, haven’t you? The snowstorm has stopped. Thanks to the Sage here.”
“…That was her doing?”
The snowstorm, which was supposed to last until next spring, had ended unusually early.
Only then did Russo Hezite look properly at Arileti.
At first glance, she looked like a pale baby flower — something like an azalea.
Rare in the north and eye-catching at first sight, but nothing more.
He felt no special aura from her.
This tiny child ended the snowstorm? The sage of the White Forest who appears once in a hundred years?
That was hard to believe.
Russo tilted his head slightly toward his aide.
“Send them out.”
