Chapter 16

‘What should I do?’

I briefly considered reporting the incident, but decided against it.

‘If I do that without any evidence, I’ll just end up getting blown back.’

If I say that I saw the maid being hit to scare me, I’ll just end up looking foolish.

How would a three-year-old know about such power struggles?

‘If I say I’m angry because the maid was hit… no, that’s not right either.’

She’ll just make up an excuse, saying it was for the maid’s education.

According to what I heard from the maids, Lady Rachel isn’t such a good person to her superiors.

“Since it’s your daughter’s first party, I should help. I’ll send the maids from our province.”

“You’ve started a flower business? How can I just sit by? I was planning to change the trees in our province’s garden anyway.”

“Goodness, how could your armor be so old? I’ll have it slightly refurbished for you.”

She lavishly spent the internal funds to win favor.

As a result, the castle is struggling as soon as the budget for the province is reduced.

However, the high-ranking people who benefited from her praised her endlessly.

‘The soldiers are the same.’

Father, being the commander of the Western Army, paid the most attention to the barracks.

So, Rachel must have taken special care of the barracks to win Father’s favor.

Even now, I can see,

“Oh, Lady Rachel! It’s been so long since I last saw you.”

“Yes, I’ve heard you’ve done a lot on the battlefield?”

“Of course! How have you been, Lady?”

“Well… recently, I had a bit of trouble with some hooligans when I went to buy a dress.”

“Oh, if that happens, you should tell us! We’re like family!”

“Haha, I feel much more secure with Astra’s elite soldiers protecting me.”

—They seem to get along very well.

While watching them, Father came out.

Father in his uniform looked very impressive.

“General!”

Lady Rachel approached Father with quick steps.

“Have a safe trip. I’ll prepare a bath and a meal for you to rest when you return—”

But Father came to me before Lady Rachel could finish speaking.

“Eryllot.”

“Yes.”

“It’s not ‘Mondigi.’”

“…What?”

“It’s ‘Daimond.’”

‘What is he… Oh.’

I remembered the incident at the duke’s castle.

I wrote Father’s name as ‘Mondigi’ pretending to be a child, didn’t I?

‘Was that bothering him?’

I blinked, and Father continued.

“Practice until I come back.”

‘Huh?’

Is he going to oversee my education?

Usually, a noble’s education is the teacher’s responsibility.

It’s rare for parents to oversee it, which is a clear sign of interest in their child.

‘Wow—!’

My face brightened as I exclaimed.

“Yes!”

“Good.”

Father smiled slightly.

The soldiers laughed, but Lady Rachel’s face turned bright red, and her hands trembled.

She seemed very flustered at being ignored by Father.

“I’ll be back tonight.”

“Yes.”

I saw Father and the soldiers off.

Lady Rachel, who had been glaring at them, stomped her feet and went inside.

* * *

I sat in the garden I liked and practiced writing.

‘Dai… Mon… D.’

Good.

I nodded, having written the name large on the paper.

Father would probably think I did a good job when he comes back to check.

I was nodding with satisfaction when I heard a man’s shout.

“Why are you so slow!”

I jumped and turned to look.

The gardener was shouting at an old man.

“Why are you still doing that when I told you to prune the branches!”

The servants whispered to each other at the sight of the shouting gardener.

“When did he tell you to prune the branches?”

“Shh—, he’ll hear you.”

“Why is he so grumpy this early in the morning?”

“He’s just venting. Lady Rachel is in a bad mood. He got hit for talking to her.”

“Poor old man.”

The servants tsked and walked away.

I looked at the gardener and the old man.

The gardener huffed and jabbed at the old man.

“You begged me to give you a job, and this is what you do? You need to do better!”

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry.”

The old man bowed repeatedly, clutching his beret.

“Start with the shrubs! I’m going to take a break, so don’t slack off.”

“Yes.”

Kol tsked and turned away.

Then, the wind blew, and the old man’s hat flew over to me.

I picked up the fallen hat and approached the old man.

“Thank you, miss.”

He bowed to me as he took the hat.

‘Huh?’

His bow was perfect.

He stepped back with his right foot, placed his left arm between his chest and stomach, and bowed at a 45-degree angle.

I had never seen such a perfect bow, even at the duke’s castle.

‘He’s dressed so shabbily, though.’

He looked like a perfectly poor and ordinary old man.

He looked at the paper I was holding and said,

“You’re studying.”

“Yeah.”

“Excellent. But perhaps you should go inside now. A sudden rainstorm is coming.”

I was surprised.

‘He’s using a noble’s word.’

It was an old word that only the elderly used now.

‘There’s something about him.’

I pretended to be surprised and inhaled sharply.

“Old man, you’re a wizard! How did you know?”

It seemed he knew because his joints ached before the rain, but I pretended to be surprised.

And I subtly asked what I wanted to know.

“Wizard. Tell me your name. (Wizard, please tell me your name.)”

The old man smiled, finding me cute.

“My name is Michelan.”

‘Michelan?’

It sounds familiar…

Did such a character appear in <The Black Hand>?

I know the names of most of the main characters, but he wasn’t among them.

“Well, I’ll be off. Have a good day, miss.”

“Mm-hm.”

I watched Michelan’s back, puzzled.

‘It’s not a common name.’

Where have I seen it?

As I was thinking, something thumped.

It started to rain, just as Michelan said.

‘I should go inside first.’

I hadn’t been feeling well since coming to Daimond Province.

I must have been tired from all the recent events.

‘If I get caught in the rain, I’ll definitely catch a cold.’

I went into my room with the paper.

Even after returning to my room, I kept repeating the old man’s name.

‘Michelan, Michelan, Mi…’

After a while, my eyes widened.

That’s right, it’s him!

“Nowadays, it’s hard to manage people. I wonder… (omitted)… if we could find someone like Michelan as a helper.”