🔊 TTS Settings
chapter 59
Luckily, since they were sitting in a corner, Aborant didn’t notice Libanu and Grace and passed by without incident.
They were able to enjoy a leisurely time at the café safely (?) before returning to the villa.
“Hello, young master!”
But at the entrance, they ran straight into Aborant, who was loitering about.
“…Why are you here?”
Furrowed brows, a displeased expression—his face plainly screamed, I don’t like you, but Aborant smiled warmly and acted friendly.
“I heard you went outside, so I was waiting.”
“For me?”
“Well, actually, I came for Grace, who went out with you.”
“….”
Libanu’s discomfort only worsened.
“Did I say something wrong? You look really fierce.”
Even as a merchant, he seemed oblivious and clumsy with words—behaving worse than Leto, who was only 11.
“That’s enough. Leave.”
Libanu snapped coldly.
“Huh? I came to see Grace, not you.”
“So, leave.”
“…Grace, should I go back?”
Wait, why is he asking Grace that?
Libanu couldn’t help but laugh at the absurdity. Who did he think he was?
Yet Aborant, seemingly hoping Grace would intervene, lingered with a pitiful look despite being told to leave.
And naturally, Grace was expected to side with him. She had done so until now.
“Since he came all this way, I’ll talk to him. Is that okay?”
But she didn’t.
He wanted to talk to that useless merchant himself.
“….”
“Young master?”
Libanu stayed silent, keeping his mouth tightly shut.
“Is that not allowed?”
But under Libanu’s unwavering gaze, she couldn’t bring herself to ask why.
“…Fine, go ahead.”
“Thank you!”
With that permission, Aborant became the first villager to set foot in the villa.
The guest room, never used before, was opened.
Esi and Ahin, who had followed in, stared at Aborant with astonishment.
‘The young master actually let him in?’
‘Why?’
Their puzzled looks were extras.
On the other hand, Leto, completely on Libanu’s side, had a hostile expression.
The quick-witted Leto knew that Libanu didn’t like this man.
“So, what kind of conversation do you want to have with me?”
“Uh, I thought it would just be the two of you talking, but are all of you here?”
“Just the two of us?”
Libanu, seated in the guest room, asked irritably.
Leto sat nearby, arms crossed tightly, glaring at Aborant.
“…No, I just thought everyone might have other things to do.”
Aborant seemed slightly intimidated under everyone’s stare but continued speaking.
“Do your things while we talk here.”
“Ah, I see. You seem pretty relaxed.”
Aborant smiled, teasing Libanu’s nerves.
Though seemingly harmless, Libanu didn’t feel that way.
“Haha. Then I’ll talk to Miss Grace without worrying about anyone else.”
“What?”
Aborant, regaining his composure, acted confidently as always.
“Uh, why are you so confident?”
He reminded Ahin a bit, though the difference was his severe lack of awareness.
“That guy is worse than me.”
Ahin muttered, watching Aborant’s pure demeanor.
Ahin usually provoked people deliberately, but Aborant unknowingly did the same.
“…Ha.”
Grace, thinking this would never end, intervened.
“What do you want to say?”
Aborant smiled brightly at her.
“I think I fell in love at first sight.”
“Huh?”
Squeeeek!
Libanu, shocked, jumped back hard enough to slide the sofa.
Grace, caught off guard, blinked in surprise.
“Wow. That’s impressive.”
She soon calmed down, while Ahin seemed to find the situation amusing and giggled.
Aborant was the only one smiling innocently.
“Oh, and Mrs. Johnson told me your name, just in case it would offend you.”
“That’s fine; I was going to tell him anyway.”
“Good! Haha. True to the person you fell in love with at first sight, you’re straightforward.”
“But what exactly do you mean by confessing?”
“A confession is a confession. What meaning does it need?”
“Do you expect an answer?”
“An answer? No, I may have fallen at first sight, but Miss Grace probably doesn’t know me well yet, so I’ll try my best to win you over!”
A bold declaration was made.
Esi, still shocked and covering her mouth, shouted:
“Wait a second!”
“Huh?”
“Am I the only one thinking this is weird? Grace, you just got a confession and don’t care? And who is this guy to act so confident?!”
“Then why shouldn’t I be confident?”
Aborant put a hand on his hip defiantly.
“You’re not even embarrassed!”
“Why should I be?”
“…Huh.”
Libanu, who had been frozen, grabbed Grace’s arm and hid her behind him.
“Hmph. I knew you’d react like this, young master.”
Aborant smiled as if this was expected.
“What?”
Libanu couldn’t even laugh at the absurdity. He had acted exactly as expected but still let things happen.
Then:
“Grace stays with me.”
The growling declaration made the air around them so tense that even Aborant, who had been relaxed, broke into a cold sweat.
“Ugh… what is this?”
The sudden pressure made breathing difficult; Aborant clutched his chest, struggling.
“Get out of here immediately.”
“Ughhh…”
Aborant collapsed, feeling the murderous aura directed at him. Retreating like a prey in front of a predator, he could do nothing.
“Young master, stop it.”
Grace intervened, holding Libanu back.
“No.”
Libanu, usually obedient to Grace, couldn’t comply this time.
“That bastard wanted you. I’ll kill him.”
His silvery eyes shone dangerously, as if revealing his inner intentions.
Grace had never seen Libanu show such explosive emotion and wasn’t sure how to react.
“Are you afraid I’ll go away?”
“….”
“I’m not going anywhere. Where would I go?”
“But I’ll still kill that guy.”
Grace calculated. Seeing him say “kill” so casually showed traces of a past villainous streak.
She couldn’t just let him run wild. She needed some control.
“Why?”
“…Why?”
“There must be a reason.”
“Don’t know. I just don’t like him.”
Aborant was clearly a future successful figure, but Libanu considered him less important.
Still, letting him go unchecked could awaken his latent evil tendencies, which was risky.
“There’s no such reason.”
As Aborant, relieved slightly from the mana containment, began to think, he muttered:
“Why do I have to die?”
“I was just trying to recruit someone with the proper attitude for my merchant group?”
“…Huh?”
“…Seems the second young master cares a lot for Miss Grace. But this doesn’t seem like a death sentence…”
Ahin, listening quietly, made a dumb remark and then burst out laughing.
“Ahahaha, what a crazy guy!”
The atmosphere calmed down.
“So it wasn’t a love confession but a recruitment attempt?”
“Yes. I felt destiny in our last conversation.”
“Does he normally speak like this?”
“This way…?”
Aborant looked quite aggrieved but couldn’t deny he spoke oddly.
“Then just tell him to become my merchant! That’s all you need to do, no need for ‘I fell at first sight’ nonsense.”
Esi laughed at the absurdity.
“…Just telling him to join your merchant group out of the blue is weirder.”
“You’re the weird one.”
Both sides were strange.
Anyway, it was all a misunderstanding, and Libanu seemed calmer, so it was a relief.
Still, this confirmed that Libanu hadn’t completely changed, so it wasn’t a total loss.
“Young master, have you calmed down a bit?”
It wasn’t clear why his suppressed tendencies flared, but she needed to manage them.
“Yes.”
“You won’t kill him, right?”
“….”
No answer.
“Eek!”
Aborant, gasping, stepped back from Libanu.
“You’ll just leave him be?”
“You’re not going anywhere, right?”
“Of course not! I have no interest in merchant work.”
“Alright, then.”
Hearing he wouldn’t leave, Libanu finally stopped his murderous intent toward Aborant.
