***

After that greeting, Vallett’s mind gradually drifted away. She just laid down helplessly.

The sound of her breathing immediately changed.

Therion, who was watching from the side, widened his eyes.

“Stop!”

Reinhardt’s eyebrows knitted at the loud voice that he had heard. Fortunately, Valletta had fallen deeply asleep and did not react at all.

He caressed her earlobe with his fingers once more, then slowly moved his gaze towards the child.

The tenderly curved eyes disappeared, and coldness was the only one that remained in his red eyes.

Reinhardt’s fingers slowly touched the child’s neck. He gripped the child’s neck in a way that it wouldn’t hurt, and slowly opened his mouth.

“When Master is sleeping, you should be quiet.”

A cold voice was heard by the child. In that darkness, only his red eyes were visible.

Therion was terrified for a moment, he swallowed his breath and barely nodded his head.

Reinhardt then let go of his neck, and straightened up his slightly bending body.

“You will be quite useful.”

“… Yes?”

“It’s a very unusual situation. I think it’ll be better if you learn the sword rather than magic.”

Therion tilted his head at Reinhardt’s words. Even with his eyes trembling in bewilderment, Reinhardt did not bother to add any kind words.

His purpose for coming there has been achieved. He just needed to organize something and look at her face for a while.

“Did your patience run out prematurely?”

Reinhardt’s shoulder trembled at the reassurance her reckless remark gave him. At least those words won’t make him feel bad for a while.

She made him realize a feeling he didn’t know before.

She would need to take responsibility for the things she had done up to that point.

Getting out of the board and running away was unforgivable.

“In the morning, even if it’s a little noisy, she won’t hear a thing, so don’t wake her up and wait for her to get up.”

“Ah…”

Therion looked at the sleeping Valletta and Reinhardt in turn.

Reinhardt, who was half-heartedly watching the child who could not make head or tails of thing, lightly tapped his foot on the floor.

In an instant, a magic circle spreaded out on the floor.

As his figure was about, Therion, who was tightly grabbing the hem of his clothes, rushed in.

“I, Am… Am I not a magician?”

The child raised his gaze and looked directly at Reinhardt’s.

His eyebrows narrowed slightly as he asked the question while looking straight to his eyes.

He could turn him down if he wanted to but…

“You could be one or not be one.”

“Yes?”

“It’s your choice, whether you’re satisfied being a chrysalis or to bloom and become a butterfly.”

Reinhardt disappeared from his sight after that.

Therion’s blue eyes blazed like blue flames full of determination underneath the gloomy dawn.

***

Before I could lose my mind, I woke up feeling refreshed. The sun was already halfway through, as if trying to make up for the times that she couldn’t get a good night’s sleep.

Therion was already awake and sat cross-legged on the chair.

“I didn’t wake you up.”

“Ah…”

“That hateful guy must’ve told you not to wake me up.” Valletta said as she ruffled her hair.

Instead of answering, Therion just smiled awkwardly.

It annoyed her even more that she discovered this fact immediately.

‘More than anything…’

Her pride was slightly hurt as she unexpectedly realized something yesterday.

She had insomnia for quite some time now. The circumstances that she had to be born there and the oppression of Count Delight was stressful.

The useless thoughts that came to her mind at night couldn’t be ruled out as well.

There were a lot of days where she couldn’t sleep, and because of this, she accumulated useless thoughts into her head.

And on those days, Reinhardt would often come.

There were times when he would silently approach her, lay her down, kneel next to her, and stroke her forehead.

And she thought she slept well on those days.

“That must’ve been magic.” Valletta muttered in despair, and bowed down her head.

She got goosebumps when the fact that his hands had reached a place she didn’t notice entered her mind.

It was a good thing that she didn’t notice, if she had noticed it, then on the days that she felt unbelievably tired, she might have waited for him to come.

“Did that hateful guy say anything?”

“Yes, he said it will be good if I learn the sword.”

Sword? Wasn’t he a child magician? Valletta’s eyes narrowed.

Reinhardt must have saved him because he’s a magician, so why is he telling him to learn the sword instead of magic.

‘Still, he didn’t kill him.’

The fact that all his limbs were intact and he didn’t kill him, means that the child did not go against Reinhardt’s intention.

The child must be smart or that he likes him.

“Today, I will go to the address that I received yesterday. And frown now on, I will stay there.”

“Yes.”

“Whatever house it is, it’s still safer to stay there than in the inn.”

She would be a little more free. And she also needed to prepare.

Whether it was making the store, making money or looking for something to fight against the Imperial Family, it was only possible if there was a place to return to.

Because a wandering life could not build a foundation.

“Yes!”

“If you have nothing else to prepare, then we can go right away.”

“Yes, Valletta-nim.”

Valletta nodded immediately, glanced at the child, and went to the bathroom.

After she washed herself lightly in the bathroom and put on the robe, the child hurriedly approached her.

When they went downstairs and returned the key to check out, the staff returned a portion of their accommodation fee.

‘Is there a system similar to deposit here?’

Even though she had lived there for 20 years, she could not help but know nothing.

Understandably, in a place where most of their guests are wandering around or with vague identity, how can they trust them, and give them the key?

She pulled out the writing on the torn notebook from the inside of her robe and looked at it.

The neat and impeccable writing was beautiful, and the fact that there was not a single ink drop, it was so perfect that it could be something that could be literally seen in a book.

‘…This is a problem.’

The truth was she didn’t know how to read addresses due to the fact that she never visited someone else’s house, and there was no teacher that taught her how to read one as well.

“Hey kid, can you read addresses?”

“Yes?”

Valletta asked as she held out a piece of paper.

She thought it would be better to ask the child first before asking a stranger.

Therion, who opened his eyes roundly and was puzzled by Valletta’s question, immediately nodded with a bright expression.

“Yes, I can!”

“That’s a relief. Teach me how to read one.”

Therion nodded and peeked at the paper where the address was written in.

“The first one is the name of the city or the town, and this is the name of the street in that city or town.”

Valletta nodded.

“And this would tell you what the street number is. Then this is the number of the house in that street.”

“Is that so? It was an easier structure than I thought.”

Intuitive and easy to understand.

It seemed possible since there were no densely packed buildings in the cities or towns. The roads were usually straight.

The street names were written at the beginning of the road or in the middle, and there were quite a few shops with their addresses hanging outside so it wouldn’t be difficult to find them.

However, as they continued to follow the address, the atmosphere in the street had completely changed.

“No way, is this it?”

Valletta murmured as she looked at the mansion in front of her, and frowned.

It seemed like all the people in the world had a talent for catching people off guard.

‘… Although I was a bit hesitant to call it a mansion from the very beginning.’

For the Duke to strike with such a prank, Valletta let out a long sigh.

The place they arrived at was an aristocrat’s mansion. Even the Duke’s crest was engraved right from the entrance

Was it her naive self that just plainly believed him, or her heart that subtly covered her eyes and turned her back like there was nothing wrong, she was not sure.

“I mean, I forget about it all the time.”

“Yes?”

“To not trust people.”

Therion tilted his head at what Valletta had murmured.

No matter what, it seemed like she was a little impatient. Normally, she would think about it one or two more times.

‘How stupid.’

As she blamed her own stupidity, Valletta pressed down her robe tightly. With the robe pressed down, a shadow covered her face.

“It’s great. You can go into this mansion.”

“Va… valletta-nim..?”

“I’m sorry, but I need to move busily from now on.”

“I-I don’t want to. I…! I will also go. I can walk well. I won’t say it’s hard.”

Therion grabbed the hem of Valletta’s robe and shouted.

Surprisingly, his blue eyes that opened wide were full of tears.

Valletta’s eyebrows narrowed on their own, since the trembling child looked like an abandoned puppy.

Then the child was surprised and took his hands off.

Valletta sighed and continued.

“I can’t afford to take care of you. I’m not in a good situation where I can bring you along. The Imperial Family is chasing me, and that hateful guy too, and the Alchemists won’t stand still as well.”

“But…”

“As far as I know, the Duke is a righteous man. He won’t do anything unnecessary, and he seems to feel sorry for you so he will protect you.”

Therion cowered down and shook his head.

“Thank you very much for your kind evaluation.”

“…”

At the moment, Valletta stiffened at the voice she heard from behind.

***