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Chapter 27
The moment Edmund saw Willes standing in the library, a white-hot surge of anger seemed to blank out his mind.
Only after he exploded did he grow flustered instead.
What is this? Is this really something to get this angry about?
Thinking rationally, it wasn’t.
Judging by Willes’s current state, it was obvious why he was here.
Willes was holding a feather duster and a rag, with a headscarf and even a mask on. His whole body was filthy, and he was sniffling with tears and snot running down his face. There could only be one conclusion.
Anyone can see he’s here to clean the library.
Willes’s shriveled response confirmed it.
“The young madam ordered me to clean the library as punishment.”
That’s right.
This wasn’t something worth getting angry over.
So why was he reacting so excessively?
Edmund tried to examine the source of this discomfort on his own.
This place—the library—was a rather personal space for Edmund.
Ever since Moretti had been driven out, only two people had used it.
Edmund himself, and—
…Cassia.
Yes. It had been a space meant only for the two of them.
A place where they met face to face away from prying eyes, talked, and studied together.
Seeing someone who was neither Edmund nor Cassia in that place triggered an irrational sense of rejection.
Yeah. As if… somewhere precious had been invaded…
Edmund soon shook his head.
What nonsense. That couldn’t be it.
While Edmund was ringing a bell and banging a tambourine all on his own, Willes was left standing there awkwardly.
Finally noticing him a beat late, Edmund snapped sharply.
“What? Why are you still standing there blankly?”
“Well… because I’m not done yet?”
As he said that, Willes dusted off a bookshelf with the feather duster. A thick cloud of dust billowed up.
Edmund frowned and waved his hand irritably.
“That’s enough. Do it later and get out for now.”
“Ah. Then will the young duke speak to the young madam for me directly?”
The servant, who hated cleaning, brightened visibly.
“Fine. I get it, so hurry—”
As Edmund tried to chase Willes out because of the chaos, words he’d heard not long ago echoed loudly in his head.
“My goodness! So the gardener Marco is completely smitten with the young madam and keeps following her around?”
He distinctly remembered the maids gossiping like that.
And the gardener Marco was the very person standing in front of him.
That nonsense about Willes admiring Cassia…
Rip!
Before he realized it, his grip tightened.
The page of the notebook he was holding tore between his fingers.
Startled by his master’s menacing attitude, Willes asked tensely,
“Young duke? Why—why are you suddenly like this?”
When Edmund’s red eyes glared at him, Willes’s shoulders trembled.
“You said you were punished by Cassia, right? Why were you punished?”
Willes answered, a little embarrassed.
“Ah, well… as I mentioned before, I wanted to verify whether the young madam was truly not an agent of Apen—”
“Get to the point.”
“As I was keeping an eye on the madam, she misunderstood it as me following her around—”
“Following her? Cassia?!”
Once again, Edmund exploded.
His ears filtered out most of what Willes was saying.
He completely ignored the fact—something he already knew—that Willes suspected Cassia.
Only the words ‘following Cassia’ lodged themselves brutally in his mind.
“Th-th, yes?”
“Why would you do something like that?! With what intention, how dare you—!!!”
“……!”
By the time Edmund came to his senses—
The boy had already lunged at Willes.
The book flew aside, and Edmund grabbed Willes by the collar with both hands. Bloodshot veins stood out in the whites of his eyes.
“Answer me!!!”
As Edmund raged, Willes’s glasses tilted askew with a soft clack.
“…….”
Willes neither answered nor resisted, simply waiting for the boy’s head to cool.
And just as he expected, Edmund soon regained his senses.
“…Huh?”
Snap!
Willes snapped his fingers.
“It seems your reason has returned.”
“……Yeah.”
Edmund slowly loosened his grip on Willes’s collar.
“Loss of emotional control is one of the side effects of the poison.”
“R-right.”
Edmund felt a little awkward.
It seemed Willes had attributed Edmund’s outburst entirely to the poison’s side effects.
But Edmund knew that wasn’t all there was to it.
“Getting this agitated is even worse for detoxification. You should be careful.”
“…I know.”
Willes let out a small sigh.
Then, as he picked up the notebook Edmund had dropped in his agitation, he saw what was written inside and widened his eyes.
“This is…?”
Willes’s eyes practically sparkled.
After glancing at the formulas written in the notebook, he rushed straight to the blackboard, comparing them with the remaining chalk marks and the notes.
“With just the remaining chalkwork, the solution wasn’t complete—but this was the missing, complete formula! My goodness! Something this unbelievable—!”
“What is it? Why are you suddenly acting like this?”
Edmund’s voice trembled.
It was different from when he’d lost his reason earlier.
In another sense, Willes now was far more consumed by madness(?).
When Willes looked at him with shining eyes, even Edmund flinched.
“What on earth is the origin of this formula? Judging by the handwriting on the board, it isn’t yours, young duke.”
“Well… it’s Cassia’s handwriting.”
“Is that true? Are you saying the young madam taught you this formula?”
Edmund nodded.
He didn’t understand why Willes was reacting with such shock.
“My god! A fourteen-year-old who hasn’t even completed the academy’s regular curriculum proved this? And so cleanly?”
“…….”
“This is impossible! The entire academic world of the continent would be turned upside down!”
Willes believed that Cassia alone had organized and proven the formula, so his reaction was only natural.
In reality, it was merely a formula refined over centuries by geniuses from another world—but there was no way he could know that.
Willes treated the notebook and the chalkboard with near-reverence.
And forgetting entirely that he’d just been grabbed by the collar for supposedly following Cassia, he latched on with burning enthusiasm.
“Young duke! The young madam is truly extraordinary! Please—please let me join the young madam’s lessons as well! I beg you!”
“No!!!”
Edmund screamed, forgetting both jealousy and embarrassment.
He had only given Willes work—more and more work—but before he knew it, Cassia had gained yet another devotee.
And that night—
Edmund would face a disaster of an entirely different nature from Willes’s mad-eyed fervor.
And that disaster was hundreds of times more bewildering and distressing than anything that had happened during the day.
Wearing my pajamas and holding a pillow, I stormed into Edmund’s room.
Bang!
The door flew open, and Edmund—who had been in the middle of changing into his nightclothes—let out a piercing scream.
“What?! Why are you here now? Get out! Get out right now!”
I was confident.
“I’m not leaving. I came to sleep here tonight.”
“…What?!”
Ah. Edmund broke.
The kid’s gears were grinding.
I strode over confidently, placed my pillow on one side of Edmund’s bed, and patted it thump thump.
After creaking like a poorly oiled machine for a moment, Edmund shouted with a beet-red face,
“Are you insane?!”
“No. I’m perfectly sane!”
Of course I am! We have to stop the assassination attempt!
And besides, the upcoming assassination attempt wouldn’t just put Edmund in danger.
It was also the reason he lost one of his eyes.
