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Chapter 16
“The servant of this house was rude to you, I heard.”
“Yes. I am Carl Suilen, Holy Knight of the Seorus Temple.”
When I raised my hand, the temple’s symbol appeared above it: a golden sun and a blue-eyed owl.
“Greetings to the messenger of God.”
The butler kneeled and kissed the back of my hand. That wasn’t something commoners did—it was a sign that he was also of noble blood.
I leaned back comfortably in the chair and spoke with a slightly different tone.
“I took a flowerpot that was left outside in the yard. When I tried to explain, one of your servants treated me like a peddler.”
Even though I was being arrogant, the butler bowed deeply. His face showed no anger at all.
“I apologize. The young master of this house received the Emperor’s order and has been away for two years. While he’s gone, I must not have kept the servants disciplined enough. I will punish him properly: three months without pay and one year of hard labor. Please forgive us.”
“Tsk. Fine, do that.”
I wasn’t really satisfied, but it wasn’t a crime serious enough for me to take action myself.
“Thank you for your understanding.”
The old butler smiled faintly, hiding his expression behind his calm face.
So—the young master of a knight family, sent away by imperial order two years ago? My father’s face suddenly came to mind.
Where was it that Father and my older brother had been sent around this time?
“Is your master in Verus now?”
“Yes, he is.”
“I see.”
Strange house. Normally, when I asked that many questions, someone would look uncomfortable or at least ask me why. But this butler seemed completely used to my curiosity. He even smiled at me kindly, like a grandfather watching a spoiled young lady.
Maybe he thought I was trying to show interest in his young master.
“…Since I’m here, I’ll have some tea before I go. Send in a maid to serve me. As for the flowerpot, I had my reasons for taking it. I’ll return it when I can.”
“You are always welcome here.”
I didn’t care what the servants thought.
Glancing at my watch, I crossed my legs.
It was still a long time until lunch, but I couldn’t stay too long in a house without its master. I’d have to find somewhere else to spend the time.
After wasting some time elsewhere, I returned.
Even before I opened the purification room’s door, I heard voices arguing inside.
“…It’s scary…”
“What is…?”
“Sir Hayden!”
Sure enough, when I entered, Hayden and Karen were facing each other, raising their voices.
What a noisy pair.
Neither of them even noticed me come in, so I ignored their shouting and leisurely walked back to my desk.
I took out the magical tools I had fetched from the storeroom. There were more than I had expected.
‘Maybe I got greedy.’
Since we had ten years before the goddess appeared again, I had thought of helping Hayden with his work.
But seeing him argue with Karen like that… I got busy sorting the tools in need of urgent purification while their voices grew louder and louder.
“It looks like something’s about to crawl out!”
“I said nothing will come out.”
“At the very least, it looks like some man-eating monster will!”
“I told you that won’t happen.”
I gave up on sorting and looked toward them.
Karen and Hayden were locked in a fight, neither willing to back down.
“What is it this time?”
I leaned my chin on my hand and asked. Mei, who had been solving a crossword puzzle, put it down.
“Poor Hayden has been caught in a black widow’s web.”
“….”
Hah. Sticking too close to Jin has made Mei’s tongue sharp.
“This has been going on a while.”
A black widow, huh?
Whatever Hayden said, Karen was clinging to him like a spider with its prey. Though honestly, the way they looked made me think differently.
How many women had already gotten tangled up with Hayden?
Mei rubbed his face roughly with both hands, pen clenched tightly.
“Ugh. They’re so noisy I can’t even read.”
I pretended not to see his crossword notebook that had only two blank spaces left.
“So why are they arguing?”
“There’s a magical item that needs to be collected from the Feather Knights. Karen says she won’t take it unless Hayden goes with her.”
“Feather Knights?”
“It’s a small order on the outskirts, specializing in weapons. Honestly, what nerve. Why should a priest like Hayden have to go just to retrieve a magic item? Maybe I should go instead.”
Mei glared at Karen’s back like he wanted to tear her apart.
“Can’t we just send her now? She doesn’t look busy.”
“She refuses to go alone! What a pathetic woman…”
Karen whispered something to Hayden. He threw down his pen in frustration.
Mei, shaking his head, turned to the paper bag on my desk.
“Carl Suilen, what’s that? Smells nice.”
“Apples. Want some…?”
I stopped mid-sentence and smiled.
“I’ll give them to you later. I just thought of a better use for them.”
Mei tilted his head, puzzled.
I approached Hayden and Karen. She shot me a displeased glare.
“Good morning, Carl Suilen. What brings you here?”
“I came to work. It’s lunchtime.”
“Ah… but this isn’t your desk.”
Ignoring her, I locked eyes with Hayden. Something playful must have shown on my face, because I saw his tense expression soften slightly.
“You’re late.”
“A little. Want an apple?”
I handed one across his desk. He peeked into the bag and recognized it.
“The same as this morning. You haven’t eaten any?”
“I was too full. Peel it for me like you did earlier.”
“?”
It took him a moment, but then he smiled faintly. Even if it was forced, it was much better than his usual blank face.
“This time, will you eat the whole thing?”
“Who knows.”
Karen, face red, cut in.
“What are you two doing?”
Hayden ignored her. He split the apple in half and handed one piece to me.
Karen gasped sharply, and Hayden’s eyes flicked toward the people watching behind me.
“….”
Yeah, I didn’t need to look back to know Jin and Mei were paying close attention.
“Karen, want some?”
“Of course!”
He reluctantly gave her the rest of the apple. She lit up with pride, as if he’d handed her jewelry instead of fruit.
‘Honestly…’
I took it from his hand and gave it to her myself.
“Go ahead. I brought plenty.”
Her face soured instantly.
“…Thank you, Carl Suilen.”
I gave Hayden a small nod.
He really had no idea how to say no. How clumsy could he get?
Avoiding my gaze, he sighed and put an unlit cigarette in his mouth.
Karen’s eyes fixed on his lips.
“Sir Hayden, the Feather Knights’ place is dark. I’m too scared to go alone.”
He clicked his tongue.
“You can go during the day.”
“It’s still dark there, even in daylight.”
“Then I’ll send a servant.”
“I’m shy with strangers.”
From the side, Mei muttered loud enough to be heard:
“So what do you want him to do, exactly?”
Karen lowered her lashes.
“I’m not asking for much. I just want Sir Hayden to come with me and fetch the item.”
“Yes. That’s all I want—why can’t you do that?”
She murmured an insincere apology.
“Sorry for being such a coward.”
Hayden sighed deeply and slumped back in his chair.
I watched them while rummaging through my apple bag.
“Sir.”
I tossed him a large apple. Without even looking, he caught it and took a bite.
“What’s at the Feather Knights?”
“A magical item recovered from Gadd.”
“Gadd?”
If it was from Gadd, it should’ve been stored at Kayan Knight, not with the Feather Knights. Even if our order was small, we wouldn’t just let another group take our work.
“What kind of magic item?”
“They said it’s a ring. Nothing more. Probably want me to hear the details in person.”
“Hmm.”
So why wasn’t the Search Division handling this? Why us?
