Chapter 73

It was time for Evan to return to his room after concluding overpowering his employee with unusual requests.

“Yo-Young Lord?”

A startled, slender woman trying to get out of the Duke’s mansion ran into Evan.

“Hello, um. Good night.”

“What are you doing at this late hour?”

“Ah… I’m on my way home.”

“Why are you going home now?”

“Ah, I’m a little late because I had time to meet someone for a while…”

It was Serena, Laria’s doctor, whom he didn’t like. She, too, knew that Evan didn’t like her, so she quickly tried to step back and walk away.

“Then, I’ll…”

Immediately, his brow frowned slightly as he was talking with her.

“Did you drink?”

“Oh… Can you smell it? I’m sorry.”

She looked fine on the outside, though the strong smell of alcohol made it seem like she had drunk a lot.

“Bu-but I’m quite conscious!”

Silently looking at her, he pondered for a moment.

Today was his birthday and Matilda’s anniversary… The day his mother died, giving birth to him.

“Th-then, I’ll take my leave.”

“Wait.”

Evan stopped Serena before she completely disappeared.

“I mean Laria.”

“Yes? Yes.”

“Is she recovering for sure?”

“That’s, that’s right.”

No one explained to him about Laria’s condition in detail. Both the Duke and Serena simply said that although it was a lung disease that needed recuperation, it was not a fatal disease.

In fact, Laria looked very fine on the outside. She didn’t have trouble moving, she ate well, and, after that time, she didn’t cough more blood.

Nevertheless, Evan was nervous.

He looked through medical books, though it was certainly difficult to understand the terminology and the progression since each complication was different, so even studying was difficult without professional knowledge.

“But, you have to be very careful, and this is indeed a serious situation. If I, a skilled doctor, are not always with her? Her condition can get worse at any time.”

“I searched various books and found that there are cases where having children is not allowed.”

At that, he stared at Serena and asked impulsively.

“I’d like to hear your opinion on Laria’s situation.”

Serena’s mouth opened slightly.

“I don’t want to let her go like my mother.”

Matilda also had a chronic disease, so doctors were worried after she got pregnant.

Serena replied quickly.

“Never, it never will.”

Before shaking both her hands, “It can’t happen. She can never have kids with her disease. No matter what. It will be a big deal.”

“…Right. I thought so.”

Evan nodded slowly.

“Don’t tell Laria. Anything related to pregnancy.”

If Laria ever heard it, she might be sad, saying that a prestigious family like Icard could collapse because of her.

“Go ahead, then.”

Serena hurriedly bowed and quickly escaped the mansion.

* * *

In fact, Serena was drunk.

However, even if she drank, she had the skill not to show it.

After she frantically left the Duke’s residence, she slumped into her house. And after waking up on the floor late in the morning, she realized that everything had been erased from her mind.

“Ummm… It feels like I met a very uncomfortable opponent…”

On the way out after having fun with a servant, she thought she had a very important conversation, but she couldn’t remember.

She continued to feel uneasy and headed to the headquarters of the Bestian Guild after a very long time. Originally, she had stopped by to report to Sven, but unexpectedly met a guild member and started counseling.

“So, Miss Serena, did he just use me and throw me away when he got tired?”

Serena was famous for her love affair within the guild, so there were quite a few guild members who grabbed her and asked for counseling.

“I mean, the man said happy birthday twice when no one had ever wished me a happy birthday! It was sweet and cool.”

The woman who asked Serena for counseling cried flatly.

“Of course, I thought he thought I was special.”

“Um… it’s ambiguous…”

Serena asked, frowned.

“So… you mean that…even though he knew you were touched… he said happy birthday again..?”

“Yes! In addition, there was also some skinship.”

“Ah, then he’s guilty. He can’t just leave you after enchanting you like that.”

“Guilty, obviously guilty.”

“Really? Actually, I even received a thick handwritten letter.”

“Oh, my.”

She sighed in admiration.

“With such meticulousness, I don’t think he can build anything other than a harem.”

“…Pardon?”

“I’m sorry. I think I’m copying the way of speaking of the person I’m serving these days. They talk rather… Well, I can grasp what they’re thinking.”

Serena spoke clearly.

Suddenly thinking about Laria, she felt puzzled for some reason and said goodbye to the guild members.

“See you later. I have something to report.”

Serena hurriedly finished the conversation and went inside to see Sven. He was lining up all kinds of toys while grinding Neo’s sandbox.

“I think Sir Neo likes this toy.”

Raising a mouse-shaped toy that made a sound when pressed, Sven said with a serious face.

“I’m going to make a custom order, which one would you prefer, yellow or green? What do you think?”

“…I don’t know. Isn’t green a bit refreshing?”

“Thank you, Serena.”

Sven replied with a smile.

“What I really wanted was yellow. I’ll order it in yellow.”

In the end, it was a question to confirm his own thoughts. If you have an idea in mind, even if you’re not conscious of it, no matter what someone else’s response is, you won’t be able to hear it. Same as Laria being faithful to Evan.

Laria dismissed it, saying that she wasn’t interested in men, although Serena knew: she didn’t realize it yet.

Laria’s taste seemed to be Evan’s.

‘Well, objectively speaking… he will grow up well. Nevertheless, given the situation, catastrophe is expected.’

Like that, she was worried about how Laria was going to deal with it, as Evan’s affection would continue to grow without her realizing it.

If she tamed him like that and then ran away, he would rampage and definitely turn black, but Laria gave a strange comment about it last time.

“Evan told me directly. He will obey Father’s will unconditionally. And, father will surely marry Evan and Princess Elanie when I disappear.”

Of course, Sven also predicted such a future.

Yet Serena’s hunch continued to send warnings without any specific reason.

‘Uhmm… Was Lord Evan the person I talked to last night? Why can’t I remember? Anyway, why does Laria only think of Evan as a child?!’

Evan was young, that much was true, but if he grows up, the relationship between the two would definitely be different from what it was now. However, it was impossible to bring up the talk about men to Laria, who had clearly drawn a line about the subject by mentioning her father.

‘I do not know. It’s a distant future, so you should think about it then.’

Serena eventually stopped thinking and started telling Sven what had happened.

Sven exclaimed slightly when she reached the point where she used Princess Elanie to capture the assassins.

“Ha! She’s a great person, too. How the hell does she know and act like that?”

Serena’s eyes shook slightly at those words.

“Well, I don’t know… I asked how she knew, and she said she heard it from another source.”

“…Another source?”

“Sadly, Sir Seymour and her are close these days. I heard that some kind of jewelry-related investment was made with that person, not us.”

Sven’s expression hardened immediately

“That stalker?”

“Laria says he’s not a stalker, but a partner, though… Anyway, we can’t relax either. What if Miss Laria likes Seymour more than us?”

“That’s impossible.”

Sven snorted and continued.

“Laria’s most competent subordinates should be us. We should do our best even more.”

“I haven’t been able to talk about black magic these days either.”

She replied with a sigh, “I can’t help but be nervous about it. What if she chooses to leave us? But…”

She added, shaking her head.

“There was only one thing that Miss Laria was interested in.”

“What?”

“The magic of bringing people back to life. That’s the only thing she asked.”

“Ah…”

“It’s so tricky to explain that I couldn’t do it at all.”

“I see.”

Sven nodded.

“I need to learn more about that magic too. Starting today, I have to study hard so that I can answer all of Miss Laria’s questions.”

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