Noel woke up later than usual.

With his eyes red-rimmed from his tears.

Darrell wasn’t there. Instead, a small note remained.

I have to go to the academy so I woke up first. Have a good day. Love you.

Noel pondered for a moment, holding the note his brother had left.

What do I do now?

He was kind of reluctant to leave his room.

It would be inconvenient to meet anyone in the mansion. Not just Rieta.

That being said, nor could he remain like this.

He scrambled to get up.

Suddenly . . .

“Did you have a good night’s sleep, Young Lord?”

“Ah!”

Elisha greeted him politely, but to Noel it was unexpected.

Noel screamed at him and hurried backward, his back pressed against the headboard of his bed.

“Wh- what?! When did you come in?!”

“Just now.”

“The, the kingdom’s subject doesn’t even know how to knock?”

“I did knock.”

“You can only enter after asking for permission!”

“My actions were because my father said that forgiveness is faster than permission.”

He immediately apologized and bowed deeply.

But Noel shook his head, not accepting it.

As of right now, he did not have the heart to give permission or forgiveness.

It didn’t matter if his ways clashed with a gentleman’s virtue.

Because he now had a new form of life.

I’m going to be a bad guy.

He was going to take the first step by expressing his feelings to everything that he hated.

“I hate you, Elisha Maureen!”

Noel crawled out of bed and hurled those words at him.

Haah, really.

His torso was growing colder. Why hadn’t he ever said these words?

It felt satisfying to see a hint of embarrassment in Elisha’s smooth expression.

“I do not hate the Young Lord.”

“Only because I have shown you the virtues of a gentleman until now.”

If Noel disliked him after being treated so well, he really wasn’t a good person.

Fortunately, Elisha wasn’t such a bad person . . .

What the hell am I thinking . . . !

Elisha was a piece of work.

“I hate that you and Rieta have been playing together since you were little, and I hate that you’re both returning to the kingdom hand in hand!”

“There is an error in your words. May I correct it for you?”

“Do not! I have no wish to hear your flat kingdom pronunciation!”

“My pronunciation is not flat. Did the Young Lord not even acknowledge that?”

“Heh, you think it’s good to have such a mixture of the kingdoms’?”

“It is, but I never flatten my pronunciation.”

“What’s wrong with sounding flat? How hard our squirrel has been practicing!”

“. . . I don’t know what you’re trying to say.”

“I’m saying that I don’t like you, you idiot.”

Noel chuckled and turned his head.

By chance, Rieta’s puzzle entered his gaze.

Yesterday, he was going to throw it all away.

“Uh . . .”

He felt even more uncomfortable.

Noel decided to let Elisha go.

“Why did you come to my room?”

“The Princess is worried about the Young Lord.”

“. . .”

“And again, there was an error in what you said before.”

Elisha wore a slightly bitter expression on his face.

“The Princess is not yet permitted to return to the kingdom. The Princess wishes for me to go back first.”

“Either way, Rieta will also go to the kingdom. It means that you guys want to live in the kingdom on your own!”

“We are not going to live with each other. The kingdom may be small in comparison to the empire, but the total population is still . . .”

“I know! Eight hundred thousand in total population! Eight million hectares in total area! More than half of them grow wheat and barley, and the rest mostly have rivers and lakes.”

Feeling unwilling to lose, he immediately recited what he had read before.

“Yes, as you said. You are very detailed.”

Despite himself, Noel was slightly proud of his praise.

“I am glad that the Young Lord seems to be paying a lot of attention to the Kingdom of Liz.”

“Who, who would be interested in a land that resembles a squirrel’s nest?!”

***

“Squirrels don’t live in nests . . . but you’ll definitely like it more when you see it for yourself.”

At Elisha’s words, Noel squinted his eyes and looked at him.

“What . . . you want me to see it myself?”

“The land of the Princess.”

“You mean the Kingdom of Liz?”

“Yes.”

Was that . . . possible?

Noel thought for a moment, fiddling his fingers.

The Kingdom of Liz and the Empire had a very friendly relationship.

Money was involved, so they had no choice but to maintain such a relationship.