Chapter 87

# 87

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Lark did not raise his voice, but spoke in a tone that sounded as if he were angrily venting his frustration.

"That’s not the important thing."

"…I’m sorry."

Nabia was convinced that Lark was as fussy and capricious as Wood and disliked her.

Lark continued to look displeased and then spoke about what had been bothering him.

"There’s no need to apologize."

After criticizing her so thoroughly, he suddenly said there was no need to apologize.

'What does this mean?'

Perhaps he meant that she shouldn’t do anything to apologize for.

"Ah… Yes, sorry, no."

Nabia hesitated for a moment about how to respond and then said again.

"Yes."

At this brief answer, Lark’s eyebrows twitched slightly. He brushed his bangs aside irritably and said,

"And as for the compensation, I told Schleman to handle it as he sees fit, so you can figure it out yourself. No need to ask me."

Nabia looked troubled.

"…Because you told me to stop all my activities, I need your permission."

"Oh."

Lark recalled that he had said that out of frustration.

'Ha… Why did I say that?'

He wanted to press his forehead but maintained a calm expression and replied,

"Stop that."

"Huh?"

"Stop stopping your activities."

"So, you mean I can do whatever I want from now on?"

"Yes."

Nabia had come here with a sense of determination, but now that everything was resolving so easily, she was taken aback.

"Then, how should I report my progress? Can I discuss it with Count Jeneger?"

"Uh-huh."

Nabia was unsure whether she should express her gratitude at this overly brief answer.

She could sense that Lark was not enthusiastic about what she was doing.

He seemed indifferent, or rather, he thought it was all meaningless.

This made Nabia confused.

'If he really wants to protect this place, shouldn’t he be more proactive in building strength and securing wealth and power?'

Especially in the era Nabia was living in, 'money' had become the most powerful value.

'Every year, the empire’s magic studies began to develop rapidly.'

Moreover, the method for treating magic backlash that Nabia had announced early was expected to bring new changes to the empire’s power balance.

'Commoners could now produce more powerful offspring through the union of magicians.'

If this trend continued, the classism that had reached the lowest level would eventually collapse.

As a result, capital would become increasingly important.

'But there are still many nobles who are negative about business.'

This foolishness had brought a stark difference even to Nabia, who was only nineteen years old.

In this regard, Nikan, who held the resource of magic stones, was incredibly lucky.

'But there are ways to neutralize that.'

While Nabia was lost in thought, Lark tilted his head and asked,

"Is that it?"

'What do you mean, "Is that it?"?'

Nabia snapped out of her thoughts and tilted her head in the same direction as Lark, looking puzzled.

Seeing this, Lark felt a strange sensation.

He shook off the feeling and blurted out,

"Is that all you have to say to me?"

"No. Um."

Nabia had one more request to make, so she continued cautiously.

"Actually, a maid who used to take care of me at the Agnus mansion came to see me. She wants to work as my personal maid here. Is that okay?"

Nabia was worried as she asked, thinking he might not easily accept a new person.

Theodorban had forced the maid into the house by taking the anesthetic herb as a hostage.

Lark said,

"Sure."

Nabia felt as if a huge burden had been lifted, and she relaxed her shoulders and exhaled.

'Charlotte will definitely be a great help. I was also feeling guilty about Lady Margaret always taking care of my meals.'

Lark frowned at Nabia’s relieved and relaxed expression.

'Does he think I’m a stubborn person who wouldn’t even allow this?'

This thought made him feel strangely competitive.

"Anything else?"

Nabia blinked her large eyes and met his gaze.

'Why is he acting like this all of a sudden?'

"Um… No."

At this straightforward answer, Lark’s expression turned displeased.

"Think about it carefully before you answer."

Nabia was at a loss. She had no more requests for Lark.

"…Really, nothing."

Lark was taken aback.

This child had no idea how significant this opportunity was.

'I’ve only been this generous a handful of times in my life, and she’s turning it down on her own.'

"How ridiculous."

Nabia listened to his criticism calmly and thought,

'Isn’t it a good thing for the Duke that I’m not being a bother? What’s bothering him?'

They looked at each other strangely, with a table that was half messy and half clean, swept by Lark’s hand.

Then, something shiny on the black floor caught Nabia’s eye.

'What is it?'

As Nabia bent down to check, Lark suddenly snapped his fingers.

Snap!

Lark, annoyed that the items he had carelessly left on the floor were causing trouble again, moved them to a different location.

But what Nabia found was neither a pearl hairpin nor a letter.

It was a broken pen.

"…Did you find something?"

Nabia had noticed that his action was a spell.

But what spell was he casting?

Nabia looked around, just in case.

'Nothing seems to have changed.'

Lark, noticing the pen in Nabia’s hand, slightly bowed his head and frowned.

'Damn.'

He had overreacted.

"It’s nothing."

At this unkind answer, Nabia slowly nodded.

"I see."

Lark wondered what the child could say if she didn’t say "I see."

"You can only say, 'I’m sorry,' 'It’s okay,' 'I see,' and 'No.'"

"…What?"

Nabia was not just puzzled but bewildered, and she involuntarily frowned.

Lark found it strangely amusing to see Nabia express her dissatisfaction so transparently.

Is this the fun of tormenting a child?

Just as he thought this,

"Why are you giving such instructions?"

To Lark, this sounded like, "Why are you spouting such unreasonable nonsense?"

"It’s my mood."

Nabia muttered, looking confused.

"I see… Um."

She stopped herself from saying "I see" out of habit.

Lark tried to maintain a blank expression but ended up chuckling at Nabia’s reaction.

The prim and proper eight-year-old girl was more fun to tease than he thought.

Nabia realized he was teasing her.

…It was really absurd.

"You’re teasing me."

As she muttered this in exasperation, Lark covered his mouth with his hand, unable to stop laughing.

"Hmm."

While he cleared his throat, Nabia waited calmly, though her expression was oddly pouty.

Lark found it strange and amusing that he was laughing like this.

He thought he would never laugh again after she left.

If the child asked to be taken back as a foster daughter now, he might readily say, "Sure."

Nabia spoke when it seemed he had finished laughing.

"Then I’ll go, understanding it as you said."

"Hold on. There’s a change."

Lark said with a slightly mischievous look, pretending to be serious.

"I need to check your business myself."

In fact, he had no interest in business. Lark had never done business in his entire life.

However, he was willing to give subtle hints when needed, thanks to the information from his long regression.

Lark reminded himself not to get his hopes up.

'After all, this cycle is almost over. So, this kind of help is fine.'

He avoided getting entangled with the outside world as much as possible.

'The world is interconnected.'

When one domino is pushed, changes continue until the last block falls, right? Lark had a reason to protect Esselred and needed to keep it as isolated as possible from external turmoil.

'I can’t leave here.'

But it didn’t seem bad to let the small child sitting opposite him dream for a while.

One year. Yes, just one year.

"I’ll help you."