Chapter 55

“When are you coming back? Please hurry up and put an end to the rumors. You’ve also got a lot of work to catch up with.”

“I’ll be there in time for His Majesty’s birthday banquet.”

“Are you putting it off because you don’t want to work right now?”

Leonard’s expression hardened. It seemed to accuse him, as if to say, ‘I’m dying here, but you’re only thinking of returning after a good rest.’

“Your Highness, please come back to the capital now!”

Then, someone screamed outside the crystal ball.

My shoulders trembled with surprise at the loud voice that was loud enough to make my ears bleed. Sihael seemed to be used to it as he didn’t react much.

“That’s what you have to do, Gayle! That’s your job! I must see the Empress screw up.”

“I’ll hand in my resignation. Please accept my resignation!”

That had to be Gayle. A man who appeared to be Sihael’s aide yelled for resignation, but Sihael and Leonard ignored him.

“What are you going to do?”

“I found something pretty interesting here. I’m going to make the last appearance on the day of His Majesty’s birthday party and show it off with great pomp.”

Sihael raised the corners of his lips, and showed something towards the crystal ball.

“I wonder what the Empress’ reaction would be when she sees this.”

It was a chunk of the Chimera I killed. Leonard’s eyes widened as he recognised it right away.

“Is it a Chimera?”

“The Empress unleashed it in the mountains behind the duchy. Rosetta almost got hurt.”

“…Is Rosetta all right?”

Leonard’s low voice was heard over the crystal ball. I waved my hand gently as Sihael turned the crystal ball towards me.

“Where did you get hurt?”

“No, Your Highness was just joking. How could I get hurt, after all it was me who hacked down that Chimera…”

“Did you think Rosetta could be defeated by something like that?”

Sihael chuckled and asked Leonard if he still didn’t know about his younger sister. Leonard, who realized that it was me who had killed it, gritted his teeth.

“You really…”

“What?”

“Call me when you come back. I’ll pick you up.”

“Okay.”

After a short talk with Sihael, Leonard called me and Lanoa.

“Lanoa, Rosetta, you both did a great job.”

“Well, it was the least we could do.”

Unlike me, who shrugged my shoulders and smiled, Lanoa crumpled his face since the mention of Sihael still staying here.

“Don’t just say that we did a good job, and take His Highness with you.”

“Oh, yes. Keep up the good work.”

Tuu, tuu, tuu.

The call was cut off abruptly and the disconnect tone continued to sound for some time. Lanoa, who had been stunned, slowly came to his senses and shook the crystal ball.

“Brother? Bro! Hey! Leonard!”

Lanoa yelled at Leonard, who only said what he wanted to say and abruptly cut the call.

“Hey! Brother! There’s a wolf rascal in our house!”

I grabbed the crystal ball and left the howling Lanoa alone. I got up from my seat and mumbled to Sihael.

Let’s go.

Okay.

After talking with our eyes, we left a wailing Lanoa behind and proceeded down to the dining room.

*   *   *

Lanoa was pretty shocked that he had to stay with Sihael, so he didn’t even eat lunch and went straight for a drink.  If he was going to drink, he should have gone to my room, but he came down to the dining room and kept drinking all day.

On top of that, he kept pouring the alcohol straight into his throat without taking any side dishes.

No, it seemed that the side dish was us.

To be exact, Sihael.

Lanoa watched each and every one of his actions tenaciously, as if he intended to upset Sihael. On the contrary, Sihael was quite relaxed.

“Lanoa, we’re going to be pretty close in the future, so don’t be too hard on me, okay?”

“He even speaks dogshit with such sincerity.”

“I think it’s because I just became a human again. I hope you understand. I was after all a dog until yesterday.”

“Cough!”

I spewed the water I was drinking at Sihael’s wordplay. I roughly wiped the water that dripped down my chin with my hand and hung my head down and stayed tight.

‘Even though Lanoah is like that, Sihael, why are you fighting back with him?’

He himself had told me not to treat him as a dog, yet here he was calling himself a dog. After shaking my shoulders and laughing for a while, I finally caught my breath and continued to cut my meat.  Still, my ears were pricked open toward the two of them.

“Wouldn’t it have been better if you were a dog? You don’t even look good now”

“I guess you don’t know yet.”

“What?”

Lanoa’s eyebrows wriggled as Sihael smiled confidently.

“Rosetta.”

“What?”

“Am I handsome?”

“Yes, fricking handsome.”

Sihael raised his chin with a satisfied smile at my excited answer. Lanoa covered his face and sighed.

“F*ck…”

Lanoa, who uttered a curse sadly, opened a new bottle and chugged it down.

‘Woah, he’s been at it since morning.’

I wondered how much longer Lanoa would go on like this. When he noticed my gaze, he raised his head and abruptly began to fight with me.

“Is a handsome face all that matters to you?”

“Why are you picking a fight again? And don’t talk nonsense. It is also necessary  to have a good body.”

At my words, Lanoa scanned Sihael’s body. Lanoa sighed and covered his face once more.

I’m not sure about anything else, but after seeing Sihael’s face and body, no one can swear.

“Lanoa, I’ll take you to the imperial wine cellar.”

“I’m not falling for that this time.”

“You can take as much wine as you want.”

This time, Lanoa, who was in a deep agony, groaned.

And like that, the fight between the two ended.

No, it just seemed to be going well until the apple pie appeared for dessert.

“Would you like some more of my pie, Rosetta?”

“Yes, please.”

When I saw the massive apple pie, I nodded, then stared open-mouthed at the hand that swiftly snatched the plate.

Lanoa…!

“This brother will feed you!”