Doctor Resignation

When I told Diel that we were going to have breakfast with the Elder and he started to have hiccups.

“Breakfast together? I think I’m going to have an upset stomach.”

“I’ll prescribe you good medicine if you have an upset stomach, don’t worry.”

The wealth was also evident in the dining room of the mansion where tapestries filled one side of the wall. The food tasted just as good as in Cerceus’s Duchy.

There wasn’t much conversation, but Elder Felix asked me a word every time I ate something.

“How does it taste?”

“It’s all right.”

It wasn’t a particularly kind tone, but every time that happened, a cough would come from Diel.

“Not lacking?”

“Yes, perfect.”

Of course, whenever such short questions continued, Dame Seirin also looked at Elder Felix as if the old man was a stranger.

After eating all the cherry pie for dessert, Felix, who was looking at me quietly, said.

“The personal Heat tracker.”

I put down my fork with a face full of anticipation.

“Even if I checked your skills…I can’t just give Arga’s stuff recklessly.”

“…I see.”

“But if a guy like Arga claims to be your godfather, he might come back and complain to me why I didn’t give it to you then.”

Diel couldn’t say anything from the side and nodded violently.

“It’s not that I don’t believe you won’t use it for wrong things. It’s not good to trust someone you just met completely, so I’ll ask.”

I calmly looked at Elder Felix.

“When are you going to use it?”

“At the Crown Prince’s Victory Banquet. I heard that the expiration date is about three hours. I’m going to use it that evening.”

“Aren’t you a commoner?”

“I’ve been invited.”

“Huh, really?”

Dame Seirin frowned in amazement at the words. As expected, it seemed very rare to be invited directly by the imperial family.

I spoke with confidence.

“I happened to meet His Highness in the free city, and he said it was a reward for helping cure his eye disease.”

“…Hmm.”

Felix kept quiet for a while, took a sip of water, and said.

“Then I will make some conditions.”

“Yes.”

I nodded with an expression that I would accept anything. But what came out of his mouth was something even I didn’t expect.

“Seirin, you go together.”

“What?”

Seirin also opened her eyes wide in surprise.

“I’m asking you to go to the Victory Banquet.”

“Why do I have to….”

“At that time, give this kid the Heat Tracker and keep an eye on her.”

‘Surveillance?’

The thought of being watched by Dame Seirin, who I could never picture laughing, made me uncomfortable just imagining it.

“Don’t use it for weird things. I’ll lend it to you only on those terms.”

I was lost in thought for a moment.

It was clear that the Ferelmen household did not join the rebels anyway. If so, there was no need to hide that I’m planning to catch the trails of the rebels from them.

Even if I fail, it’s not like I’m doing bad things.

“I accept it.”

I nodded gladly.

Seirin looked at me and Felix alternately and answered with a low voice.

“…Yes.”

“Then, get the tracker from Seirin at the Victory Banquet.”

Elder Felix got up with his staff at the end of the words. Then he instructed the maid.

“Tell the kitchen to bake another cherry pie and send it together with them.”

His back, staggering as he walked, strangely caught my mind.

“You seemed to be eating it well.” (Elder)

So I said with a big smile on his back, unlike me.

“Thank you. I will surely enjoy it, Elder!”

However, the atmosphere in the restaurant, after he left, was not quite comfortable. Dame Seirin was staring at me with her arms folded.

She coldly said as I meticulously cleaned up my plate.

“I don’t know how you sweet-talked my father in a day.”

“I didn’t sweet-talk him.”

I blinked and said.

“I just showed him my skills.”

I even received an invitation letter for healing the Prince’s eyes, so she can’t argue with that. However, Dame Seirin continued in a voice that seemed to be dripping with ice.

“It’s a knight’s principle not to trust someone you don’t know. I’m going to keep an eye on you at the Victory Banquet, but I have no intention of helping you. I hope you know that.”

“Yes.”

“And if you’re going to do something stupid or sneak something behind my back….”

She was obviously beautiful since she had a strange resemblance to Viscount Ferelmen, but because she was a knight, she had a much sharper impression.

“Be aware that getting rid of you is nothing to me.”

She said threateningly, tapping the sword hanging from her waist.

“No matter how much value my brother gives you, even becoming your Godfather, you don’t really belong to the Ferelmen family.”

With her brown hair tied high, she coldly warned and then slowly got up from her seat and left the restaurant. Then Diel, who had not said a word, whispered.

“Look, she’s scary.”

“A commoner you met for the first time wanted to use dangerous items under your management, would you easily believe that?”

“But her personality is originally like that… That’s why she doesn’t have friends and was not going to the banquet.”

Indeed, she doesn’t seem sociable given that the majority of aristocrats said they would not miss the biggest Victory Banquet in recent decades.

“Lady Zion was the only friend she had. I heard that her personality became sharper after her death.”

When I heard that, I suddenly thought of something bad.

It wasn’t only Viscount Ferelmen who couldn’t let the past go and had been searching for his daughter while stirring the entire continent for eighteen years. 

It seemed that this whole household, which exuded a beautiful antique charm, was not able to escape the shadows of Zion’s death and her daughter’s disappearance.

Even though I got what I wanted, strangely with a little bitterness, I got on the carriage to the Duke. I cherished the box of cherry pies that Elder Felix gave me on my lap.

⊱⋅ ──────────── ⋅⊰

Erhan checked the condition of his appearance once before entering Lise’s laboratory. 

The mere thought of the revolting Crown Prince makes his competitive side raise its rear.

The problem was that he was anxious for no reason since he hadn’t seen the Crown Prince yet.

Still, if there was hope, it was the fact that her pupils would sometimes contract when he was seducing Lise up close. Her green eyes, which were usually cool and relaxed, would sometimes have the look of admiration that other women had sent him.

It was a biological response rather than a rational one. In order to look like a man, he can not miss that time.

“Lise, can I come in?”

“Yes, come in.”

Lise, who just came back after two days, was locked up in her lab again. 

He was occupying the same room he used when he was still a child instead of using the former Duke’s room. However, she only left the castle for one day, but the whole castle already seemed empty just because she wasn’t on the same floor.

“How have you been?” (Lise)

Seeing Lise’s smile, Erhan pressed his heart that wanted to immediately ask why she wanted to meet the Crown Prince, but acting up like a child, like before, only had the opposite effect.

“Nothing special. I was wondering if you had a nice time in Viscount Ferelmen’s house.”

“Yes, I had a good trip.”

It turned out that she was studying some of the snacks in the preservative.

Erhan remembered that snack. When he was young, Wederick put it in his pocket so he could eat it instead of having a meal.

‘It’s a snack that he started to give me as a secret after I complained that I wanted to be healthy like him.’

“Are you still analyzing this?”

“Yes.”

She replied, putting down the eyedropper.

“The Duke used to eat this as a child, but I’m not sure about its ingredients.”

“I’m sure it’s only a cheap cookie made in the manor. Lise, more than that.”

Erhan looked at her round green eyes and hesitated for a moment before speaking out.

“Kane’s interrogation is over. He died early due to a heart attack.”

Lise looked at him calmly, perhaps not expecting much.

“By the way… It’s related to the rebels.”

Lise, who he thought would be surprised, had an even calmer expression and bit her lips as if she had something to say.

Erhan waited long enough, but when she hesitated, he finally spoke.

“The fact that there are insurgents is a rumor that was used to be talked about a little bit before, but they have completely disappeared after the prince returned from the battle. If the rebel forces really exist and they are after Cerceus. Of course, I won’t just stay still, but….”

“…Yes.”

“It’s you I’m worried about.”

Lise remained still and silent.

“You’ve been here all this time, trying to uncover the one behind it all. Lise, I’m afraid you’ll get hurt because….”

There were so many emotions that wanted to come out after the words ‘because’ that Erhan chose to breathe for a while.

“…You’re so precious to me.”

He blurted at the end of his speech, and Lise quietly brought another question.

“Master Erhan.”

It was a name that she used to call him when they were still young.

“I’ll just ask you two questions right now.”

“Yes.”

“Promise me to tell the truth.” 

“Okay.”

After hesitating for a long time, she carefully asked.

“…You don’t want to join the rebels, do you?”

“What are you talking about when the rebels tried to hurt you?”

The absolute being for Erhan was Lise. 

It wasn’t because he was loyal to the royal family, but because he was upset about them trying to arrange fake parents on Lise. He couldn’t tolerate those rebels.

“But it’s not that I didn’t think of treason.”

However, he was not a fool either. He was not conforming at all to the law that nobles and commoners could not marry. If the law prohibits their relationship until the end, he even thought of a way not to abide by the damn imperial law.

He replied by telling her the truth, but Lise’s face turned white.