Chapter 14

In the study of the Duke Elgrandark family, Dismaia and the orphan Ilvaleno sat facing each other on sofas set opposite each other. Dismaia held a notebook and a fountain pen in his hands and looked at Ilvaleno with a smile.

(He looks just like him.)

"Hello. I am Dismaia Elgrandark, the head of the Elgrandark family and the father of Cain and Dian. May I ask for your name?"

Ilvaleno was taken aback by Dismaia's polite manner of speaking. A duke, being the highest rank among the nobility, was expected to be more condescending and ask questions from a position of authority.

"My name is Ilvaleno. I have no family name and live in the orphanage attached to the Western Temple."

Saying this, he bowed deeply.

"Please raise your head."

At this, Ilvaleno straightened his body. Dismaia continued to look at him with a smile.

"Cain said you were quite injured when he found you near the back gate. Why were you injured and lying there so early in the morning?"

This was a question Ilvaleno had expected to be asked. Cain had assumed from the start that he was returning from an assassination, but normally, one would first question why a six-year-old child would be doing such a job.

"I was returning from delivering a letter. I was asked to deliver it before dawn. Since it was before dawn, I couldn't enter through the front door, so I handed it directly through a second-story window. It was dark, and I missed my footing and fell from the roof."

He had prepared this excuse. It was better than being an assassin, but it still raised suspicions. He had thought it would be difficult to convince, but he couldn't think of any other excuse.

"Delivering a letter in the middle of the night, huh."

"Please forgive me, but I cannot disclose who the letter was from or to whom it was addressed. It was a secret letter, and it had to be delivered directly to the person through the window before dawn."

If he were to be accepted peacefully, they might imagine it as a love letter between lovers whose parents disapproved. Otherwise, they might think he was involved in the information wars of nobles or merchants.

"I see. It sounds like a dangerous job. Do you do this often?"

"Not often. I am only called when there is a job. However, I receive cash as payment, which helps supplement the vegetables we grow at the orphanage and the charity we receive from the townspeople."

"Hmm."

"Can you read, Ilvaleno? Do all the children at the orphanage know how to read?"

"No. No one at the orphanage teaches us... The other children can't read... But Lord Cain recently left a picture book to help us learn to read, so soon everyone should be able to read, though not complex expressions."

"I see..."

Dismaia was idly twirling the fountain pen with his fingertips. He had a notebook prepared, but he wasn't writing anything.

"Do you like Cain?"

"...I am grateful. He took care of me when I was injured and was kind to my friends at the orphanage..."

"I see."

Dismaia continued to twirl the pen with his fingertips. Ilvaleno couldn't help but glance at it, feeling uneasy.

---Snap

Dismaia abruptly closed the notebook with one hand. The sound momentarily distracted Ilvaleno. Unconsciously, he shook his head to avoid it, hearing a slicing sound near his ear.

A dry thud sounded behind Ilvaleno. The fountain pen, which had been in Dismaia's right hand, was now missing.

"I'm sorry, it seems I slipped. I'm glad it didn't hit you."

Ilvaleno thought it was a lie. He didn't slip; he threw it. He had instinctively dodged it. Even though he was looking at the notebook, he had avoided the pen that came from outside his field of vision. If Dismaia had intentionally thrown the pen, he must have wanted to see Ilvaleno's reaction. Ilvaleno realized he had revealed something abnormal.

"Would you mind picking up the fountain pen?"

"...Yes."

Ilvaleno stood up and moved behind the sofa. The back of the sofa was a bookshelf, and ink had splattered on the vertical boards. The fountain pen he picked up from right behind the sofa had a crushed tip.

(This must have hit the bookshelf before falling to the floor... It was thrown with considerable force.)

He shuddered, thinking that if he hadn't dodged, the pen tip could have caused a serious injury. Over the past few days, how much had this man investigated? Ilvaleno couldn't stop the goosebumps on his neck.

"The pen tip is crushed."

"Oh, well, at least the barrel is fine. Pen tips are consumables, after all. It can't be helped."

Ilvaleno handed the pen to Dismaia and sat back down on the sofa.

"You won't be asked to deliver letters before dawn anymore."

"Eh?"

Dismaia, looking at the crushed pen tip with disinterest, muttered. Ilvaleno heard the words clearly but didn't understand what they meant at first.

"From now on, support Cain as a good friend, a good understanding companion, and a good attendant. This will be your job from now on."

Was he being hired? Did he not find it suspicious that Ilvaleno had instinctively dodged the pen? Confused, Ilvaleno remained silent.

"You will be paid fairly for your work. We are a ducal family, after all. We don't skimp. So, you won't need to do any side jobs."

Ilvaleno inhaled sharply. Over the past few days, from the time he returned from inspecting the territory to the interview, this man had investigated everything. He had separated Ilvaleno from the darkness. This Duke Elgrandark was a remarkable man.

Cain had probably not investigated but had treated Ilvaleno as an assassin based on intuition or some vague feeling. Ilvaleno had thought there was no evidence and had ignored Cain's words to avoid trouble.

This man was different.

He knew, and he had thrown the pen with the tip aimed at a blind spot to test Ilvaleno. This was the final confirmation that the information he had gathered was correct. He knew what Ilvaleno had done and who had given the orders, and he had decided to make Ilvaleno Cain's attendant.

"Thank you very much."

Ilvaleno bowed deeply, a mix of fear, gratitude, and other emotions welling up inside him.