Chapter 60

“You’re late.”

It was some time later that Lucas returned to the shop. Selena greeted him calmly as she saw him slowly entering. Aiden, who was sitting opposite her, got up and bowed his head.

“Yes, I am a little slow on my feet.”

Selena, who glanced at Lucas for his ridiculous excuse, shrugged her shoulders and asked,

“So what did Sir Jacob say?”

“He just vowed to live quietly in the future.”

He even knelt down on his knees and tears were dripping down his cheeks as he said so. Lucas, who was remembering that shabby figure, wriggled his eyebrows happily.

With tears in his eyes, Jacob said he didn’t know exactly who was behind the incident.

‘Really… I really don’t know. We’ve only met once, and I… I was drunk… Besides, the other person was also hiding in a large robe.’

When he asked Jacob why he believed in such a person and jumped into such a dangerous job, he said that he received a huge down payment in advance. When Lucas heard, the down payment that Jacob claimed was indeed not a small sum.

And even if there was a client in the first place, they would have hidden their identity. Because if they were to get caught, it would’ve been quite the problem. Jacob seemed to have forgotten it, as he was intoxicated with the confidence that he would succeed, but there was no way the person who instigated such a daring thing would have missed that point.

‘Who are you?’

He didn’t think any more information would come out if he held on to Jacob any longer, so Lucas sent him away. As soon as he told him to go, Jacob sprinted into the crowded street without looking back.

The bottom of the human race, who had been fighting fiercely earlier, was very ugly.

‘I’ll have to find out who’s behind it.’

Lucas had no intention of simply looking over this matter. Jacob seemed useless, so he let him go, but he, too, would later be charged.

Selena seemed to want to deal with it in her own way, but.. Did someone really pay money to a noble to seduce the princess? It was not a common thing that an individual could cover up.

Since there was something they wanted and a purpose they needed, they even bought a noble with money?

‘What is the purpose?’

It was also something to be investigated in the background.

“He will live quietly… That’s good,”

Selena muttered casually and yawned tiredly.

Lucas, thinking about the future, pretended to finish Jacob’s matter here, and raised his eyebrows as usual.

“Let’s go back, Selena.”

“Okay.”

The three of them went to the carriage station and boarded the Duchy’s wagon. Selena was sitting opposite them, just like when she came to the square, with Aiden and Lucas sitting side by side.

Selena, who had been using a lot of her body’s stamina today, dozed off and hit her head against the wall next to her. Fortunately, she was not hit hard, so she slept soundly with her head against the wall.

The two people sitting across from her smiled a little at the sight.

Lucas began to relax his posture and focused on looking at Selena. Aiden was sitting next to him, but as if he had forgotten that, he was focusing his gaze on Selena with a kind smile on his face.

He just thought that the fact that the person who wrote the bloody contract earlier was now absurdly dozing off in the carriage felt unbelievably pleasant.

Aiden was also looking at Lucas.

Aiden was a good-natured person.

Lucas was also a good person, but Aiden and Lucas had different senses.

A knight sponsored by the Duchy and a servant of the Duchy.

In dealing with matters, what knights and nobles needed was quick judgment of the situation, whereas the most important thing for a servant of their master was the feelings of their superior.

As a result, Lucas grew up to be a strong person in areas that required realistic and situational judgment, and Aiden became a person who developed a keen eye for the emotional aspects of people.

Thanks to his quick awareness of emotions, it was not uncommon for Aiden to recognize his own emotions as well as the emotions of other characters fast.

Just like right now.

Aiden fixed his gaze on Lucas looking at Selena, then turned his head to Selena’s window. The fast-paced scenery was hectic, but he thought it would be better than watching two people get along so well.

Aiden closed his eyes slowly.

The moment he learned of his feelings for Selena, he knew he had to give up this heart. No, he thought he had to. Feelings that couldn’t be realized would only get in the way of work.

However, it was very lamentable to meet another person who liked the Miss like this in front of his eyes.

No, it was not just lamentable.

Just thinking about Miss Selena standing next to someone else made him want to cry.

Aiden raised his hand and squeezed his eyes shut.

It occurred to him that this feeling may be deeper than he thought. It was a feeling that wouldn’t be easily stopped just by thinking, “Let’s stop.”

It seemed that this feeling was already out of his grasp.

If he couldn’t give up this feeling, what should he do then? If he couldn’t give up this feeling… Wouldn’t it be better to just bump into each other, then?

If he himself rose to a position where he could stand proudly next to the Miss… If so, could he show her a little bit of his feeling? Could he be a little greedy?

Maybe… maybe he could reach her just slightly.

Aiden’s reddish earlobes were revealed at a glance through the platinum blonde hair that Selena had described as pretty one day.

***

After the greenhouse party and the sweet, bloody date with Jacob, I felt a little more relaxed.

There was still about a month left until the foundation day of the Empire’s big event, and my brother’s wedding was scheduled only after the foundation day passed. That meant I could lay around for a while.

After the occasional letter exchange with Vivian after the greenhouse party, the bad rumors about me seemed to have calmed down quite a bit. By the way, what kind of rumors were they… I was lying on the bed enjoying my leisure time, and Aiden, who was sitting quietly next to me, quietly called me.

“Miss.”

I raised my body, which had been rolling around, and saw his uncharacteristically grim expression.

“What’s wrong?”

Aiden hesitated for a moment, then nodded his head and looked up at me.

What did he want to talk about that made him need to think this much? …As I was wondering about it, I suddenly remembered the Magic Tower’s permit, which was tucked away in a drawer.

Aha.

“I want to become a wizard, just like Miss said.”

And my expectations were not wrong.

“You thought over it well.”

I got out of bed and patted my butt. It was to adjust the wrinkled indoor clothes. Then I passed Aiden and pulled out the permit from the desk drawer.

Aiden’s eyes widened when he saw it, not knowing that I had already submitted a permit in advance.

“Here, the permit. This is just a license to use magic, so to become a full-fledged wizard, you will have to go to the magic tower and take a test. Of course, you are a commoner sponsored by the duke, so they can’t ignore you for whatever reason. If they ignore you… use my name.”

Having a backing was so reassuring, right?

Wasn’t it? Right?

I shrugged my shoulders nonchalantly and held out the permit to Aiden. Aiden carefully picked up the paper.

‘Yes, you should be careful with it.’ I had to act like a baby to my parents and brother to get that palm-sized piece of paper.

‘Mooommyy, Daaaddyy, Big Broootherr…’

Oh no, I couldn’t do that gain.

Remembering the shameful past, I returned to bed and looked for a blanket. Aiden, who was quietly reading the permit, opened his mouth.

“You said that if I become a wizard, I could escort the Miss, right?”

“Yes, I did.”

Why were you suddenly checking this again? Maybe it’s because he had changed my mind. But his subsequent words were not such light content.

“…That’s why I want to become a wizard. I want to stand next to the Miss proudly without being ignored.”

My eyes widened at the sudden topic. It was a reason I hadn’t thought of.

‘Oh, I see. That’s why.’

The reason Aiden became a wizard in the original story was purely for his revenge against me, family and status… But, now he wanted to stand by my side… Wasn’t that really surprising?

“All my life, I ate and I slept… I was just greedy to live. So, this is my first desire.”

Aiden, who continued to speak, fixed his gaze on the permit, paused for a moment, and raised his head. Calm eyes, matching his voice, turned to me. The moment our eyes met, the opera house from a few days ago came to mind.

“Can I be greedy?”

I nodded, blankly reminiscing about the afterimage of the opera house. In the beginning, being an escort wizard was the story I suggested first. But what about this greed?

“As much as you like.”

Hearing my answer, Aiden’s grim expression faded, and his eyes widened. I just nodded my head again at the expression I had always seen.

Aiden decided to become a wizard, and what happened afterwards was done quickly. First of all, he asked the magic tower for the training and exam schedule, and as soon as he got a reply, Aiden started.

“I will go.”

Aiden, who smiled cleanly with his calm eyes, went away like that.

The magic tower was located to the north past the capital. I was told it would take several days to get there. Also, considering the education and qualification exams required to become a wizard, I would not be able to see Aiden for a while.

Judging by his abilities in the original story, it seemed like he could get through everything much faster than others… However, the time period could not be determined.

The one that had stuck to me the longest since I came to this world was Aiden… I was just a little bit sad.