Chapter 18

Chapter 18

TL-Mechatronic

The long eyes bent and a smile was caught around his mouth, but Ellington was not deceived by the smile. It was because his Master’s red eyes flashed from suspicion to threat. At that bloody glance, Ellington said hesitantly.

“…Actually, there is something I would like to know separately. Ivnak has long been famous as a glass craft workshop.”

“It was like that in the past. Why?” “There is a way to bring glass craft back to life.”

“You want me to have a go at Baluk?”

“… It’s more peaceful than that. We will present Ivnak’s glass artefacts on Her Majesty’s birthday.”

“…Are you going to use that as an opportunity to revive the extinguished trade?”

“Yes. That’s right. If we donate something that will capture the heart of the Empress, we will be flooded with requests from all over the Empire.”

As the Empress was the highest ranking woman in the Empire, her influence was truly great. Her clothes and accessories, which she wore only once, spread like flames in the social world, and the noble women who set out to catch up with the Empress could be seen everywhere.

It was also for that reason that the nobles stepped up to offer all kinds of valuable and genuine products on the Empress’ birthday. If you get into the eyes of the Empress just once, you get the most effective advertising effect.

It wasn’t nice that Bellstein had to be in that race, but it wasn’t a bad deal if they could revive lvnak again.

The Duke, who was rubbing his forehead, gave a brief evaluation.

“Not bad.”

It meant that his master liked it quite a bit. However, the dry tone continued.

“But the useful craftsmen must have been taken by Baluk or workshops closed down with the low income.”

“First of all, if we don’t have a look at the current situation we won’t know for sure, we have to recruit them from now on. There are people who need help.”

The Duke, who had been silently listening to the story, tilted his head and asked sharply with his narrowed eyes

“… Is this your idea?”

When the Duke’s untrustworthy gaze flew in, Ellington groaned inwardly, telling the truth.

“…In fact, it is Lady Luciel’s opinion.”

“Luciel….?”

“Yes, after hearing my concerns, she suggested this idea on the spot. Miss Luciel seems to be no ordinary child, but she’s still very lovely on the outside.”

The Duke did not particularly agree, but recalled Luciel’s determined eyes.

I’m here to offer the Duke a deal.’

‘I know how to protect Bellstein.’

“She is definitely different from the other kids.”

Ellington looked at the master’s eyes and waited for his reply.

“Can you give me permission”?

“I want to see more of the child’s potential. I allow you to visit Ivnak.”

The Duke wondered how much brighter of a gemstone Luciel would be.

When the Duke’s permission was granted, Ellington hurried, to the library where Luciel was.

Today again, he saw the little girl with silver hair sitting at a simple table and looking through a book.

Ellington’s green eyes, who had been looking for her with expectations, soon faded. It was because Luciel looked very uncomfortable sitting at a hard table and holding a book bigger than her own body.

For Luciel, who alone was smaller than a normal child, it was difficult to use all the furniture in the Duke’s Castle,

“How uncomfortable have you been?’

After a while, Ellington smiled brightly when he found a sofa in the furniture storage. It was the sofa that Young Master Kizef used in his childhood, so it seemed to fit Luciel’s height in moderation.

“Move this sofa into the library.”

The servants who received Ellington’s orders moved busily. Just when they arrived at the library, he saw Luciel with her arms outstretched while hanging from a ladder to take out a book.

It looked dizzying that she might fall off, so Ellington hurried up.

“Excuse me, miss.”

He grabbed Luciel and gently lowered her to the floor,

“Oh…Ellington?”

“I will help you. What book would you like me to bring

you?”

“It’s the blue-covered book in the second row from the

top.”

“Ah, this book.”

“Yes.”

Ellington easily took out the book in front of him and handed it to her.

“Thanks.”

The book Luciel chose was one of the magic books, ‘Is she interested in magic too?’

Luciel added quickly, perhaps noticing Ellington’s skeptical look.

“Young Master Leoni also does magic, so I’m curious about magic too.”

“Bellstein is endowed with magical powers, so he is capable of demonstrating magic from an early age. It is quite difficult for ordinary people.”

“…I see.”

“But if you are interested in magic, you can learn it. It’s not impossible to develop magic acquired by chance. Please visit Lord Gillard.”

While listening to Ellington’s advice, Luciel glanced at the sofa that the servants had placed by the table. It was a small sofa lined with blue velvet. It was small enough to fit Luciel’s height, so she was able to sit easily without lifting her tiptoes.

“It used to be Young Master Kizef’s sofa, but I moved it because I thought Miss Luciel could use it well.”

‘It’s Kizef’s sofa.

Upon hearing that, Luciel somehow felt more familiar with the sofa. Luciel liked the sofa that wrapped her small body snugly, and leaned her head and body comfortably. She was so comfortable that she could fall asleep every now and then while reading. The best thing about it is that both her feet touched the floor.

“My feet are touching the floor!”

When Luciel exclaimed as if thrilled, Ellington chuckled and laughed.

“That’s great. Oh, Miss Luciel. With your permission, I am planning to leave for Ivnak inspection. If you give me detailed information about the workshop craftsman you mentioned, I think it will be easier to find him.”

“..I’m so glad the Duke allowed it. Then wait a minute.”

Luciel pulled out her quill and a piece of paper from her bag. She then wrote down information about the Craftsman and handed it over to Ellington He was obviously a brown-haired man from Ivnak, with the surname of Hamel. It was a pity she couldn’t remember his name exactly.

While he was making the glass vault, he had a brief conversation with Luciel when the Crown Prince and his aides were not present. Heir to his father’s family business, he was very proud and passionate about the glass craft.

“Take this.”

“Thank you. By the way, Miss Luciel.”

“Yes?”

“I have always been indebted to you, so today I will tell you about a good place. I don’t know if you will like it…”

“What is it?”

Luciel tilted her head as Ellington stammered as he dragged his words. Arriving alongside Ellington, there was a small forest outside the castle. It was a perfect place to run around with flocks of clouds floating under the clear blue sky, cool shade of trees, flowers, and grass.

In the center, there were wooden swings, slides, seesaws, and simple implements such as a wooden horse.

“This is a playground that His Majesty Gillard made for the masters a long time ago. Master Kizef used to come here and sometimes ride a swing. Master Leoni prefers to play in the room.”

“Oh… I see. I like this place. I’ll come often.”

Luciel’s eyes curved nicely.

“I am happy and proud that Miss Luciel likes books, but the duty of children is to play, isn’t it? I hope you like it.”

Children are the best at playing.

No one had ever told me that. Luciel warmed a corner of her heart.

Ellington smiled softly as his green eyes lit under the sun. I thought I did a good job of having him on my side.

“Would you like to ride the swing? I will push you.”

“Yes!”

“You have to hold on tight.” At his words, Luciel grabbed both strings of the swing tightly.

“One, two, three!”

Ellington put Luciel’s carrot bag on his wrist and gently pushed Luciel’s back on the swing.

Luciel stretched out her legs and climbed high on the swing. As she rode on the swing, she seemed to be able to see the lake in the woods beyond the playground. A blue bird flying in the sky was also seen.

She burst out laughing as if she had returned to her childhood without realizing it. It was a laugh she had never heard before.

“Come on, one more time.”

Ellington lightly patted Luciel on the back. Even with a very slight push, the swing carrying Luciel rose so high that the top of the trees could be seen.

Luciel learned for the first time that playing without thinking about nothing was such a good thing.

“Luciel, the vassals want to hear more about you.”

The words of the Duke who came early in the morning were a little unexpected.

“Me?”

“Yes. Some praised you for being clever at predicting landslides, but others were skeptical. After marriage, you will have to live in Bellstein, so it would be good to get acquainted with them during this time. Would you like to go to the political affairs meeting this morning?”

Even the Duke’s face when he asked that question was like he wanted Luciel to go with him.

“I will go.”

Luciel shook her head. If they don’t believe in herself, she can give Bellstein a few more helpful tips.

Not now, but in the future. Even so, there were some things I had heard from the Marquis. The Marquis of Cavill not only came in and out of antiques and auction houses, but also ran a thieves guild and was quite involved in what was happening in the underworld.

Much of his wealth came from illegal activities.

There was also a lot of advanced information that smugglers asked for in the process. When guests came to the Marquis’s office, he ordered Luciel to run the tea preparations instead of the servant, but when she put her ear to the tearoom door, she could hear their conversation

“What would be good?’

Luciel looked carefully at the armor of the escort knight standing in front of the door. Except for the helmet and boots, the body, arms, and legs of the armor were made of a single metal plate, which looked strong, but looked very heavy.

Luciel approached the knight.

“Sir Knight? What do you think about the armor? Is it good to fight in that? Isn’t it too heavy?”

“Ah… It certainly weighs quite a bit, but there is no other armor as strong as this.”

The Duke approached behind Luciel and said while looking at the knight.

“Because the plate armor is made of steel. So you can’t even stab with a sword.”

“Ah… But if you hit it with a hammer, it will be crushed.”

“Yes. But for now, steel armor is the best. Shall we go now, Luciel?”

“Yes…”

Luciel thought as she looked at the knight again.

“Yes, that will be of great help to the improvement of Bellstein’s forces.