Volume 1 - CH 5

“You are my benefactor. Then I must return the favor…”

“No, no, no, wow, as for me, I am very happy that you still use this magic stone…”

“Rize, what do you usually eat?”

“Eh?”

“What do you eat every day?”

“Eh, um…black bread.”

I wondered what he was going to do with such a question, but the magician continued.

“What time do you get up in the morning?

“Before sunrise…”

“Do you sleep at night?”

“I try to go to bed when the date changes.”

He looked at me with a cold, astonished look.

“…I sometimes have to protect illegal slaves as part of my job.”

“Yes…?”

“You look just like those slaves. Why is that? The Riviere Magic Tool Shop is a popular shop that also carries one-of-a-kind, high-end jewelry magic tools. Rise, why are you being pushed to your limits with your magic?”

The tone of the magician’s voice became sharper and sharper.

Why is he angry with me? I’m scared.

What if he hits me?

When I closed my eyes and tensed my shoulders, he softened his tone a little.

“Answer me honestly. I have my suspicions about your family.”

“What does my family have to do with this?”

“It’s your sister’s engagement party today, isn’t it? A magical shop wealthy enough to marry her off to a prince, while not giving her sister enough to eat?”

“Magic academies cost a lot of money…in a small shop like ours, we have to work together to survive.”

“Don’t be silly. You sell 10,000 pure magic stones a year, and it’s a still a small business?”

“Oh… I don’t really know about money. But me and my parents are working all the time. We’re not lazy, but we don’t have money.”

I don’t know what the magician is upset about, so I pleaded my case blindly.

“My parents have hope for my sister. If my sister marries well, she might be released from a life of hard work,…… and that’s why …… the roles are divided up. I make the magical tools and she sells them to the social circles. That’s how the shop system works. Today, my sister finally got engaged, and life is about to get better.”

The magician shook his head gravely, a deep crease forming on his brow.

“You are being deceived.”

“What?”

“Even if I say it, you won’t understand. Nothing can be said to a brainwashed person. It’s useless.”

The magician let out a sigh, as if he were talking to a fool.

I felt sad.

Why is this man so angry all the time and why does he deny what I say?

He said with a sullen and grumpy face.

“From today on, you will be in our care. You don’t have to go home anymore.”

“Eh…?”

“I am Dior, Duke of Lospitalie.”

“Ko…”

I managed to say just one syllable and sounded like a chicken.

Dior, Duke of Lospitalie, I’ve heard his name because he is a regular at our shop.

The son of a famous alchemist family, he is a rare genius magician. He is still in his teens, but because of his great achievements in the war, the king has personally named him the Duke of Lospitalie. He is so famous that there is no one in this country who does not know his name.”

After he became a duke, we received orders for various things at our magic tool shop and made them. Anything from horse harnesses to magical ceremonial items, most of them must have been made by us.

“Ah ……, you are the Duke of Lospitalie…….”

“Yes, I am. And you will be a member of the Duke of Lospitalie’s house from this day forward.”

“Eh…Eh!?”

“This is an order. If you violate it…”

“Violate…then what?”

“You will be executed.”

Too scary!!!

My mother’s angry voice came back to me.

“Look, you have to think about how unusual it is to be awarded a dukedom at such a young age, with only a skill in magic. If the style of the coat of arms is wrong, and the Duke of Lospitalie points out that it’s made by a novice, it will be our shop’s responsibility, so keep that it mind!”

I shuddered.

Is the Duke such a great man?

Why would he take me to his house?

Is he going to complain about my failed work?

“I’m sorry…I’m sorry…”

I was on the verge of panic.

“Please forgive me, I’m sorry…”

“I’m not asking for an apology. What happened?”

“… please, I’m sorry…”

“… Rize?”

The duke reached out his hand towards me.

Thinking that he would hit me, I flinched reflexively.

“I’m scared, I’m so scared, I want to go home!”

“Rize, Rize? Hey…”

The Duke’s voice grew distant.

I panicked and fainted again.

At the Duke of Lospitalie’s residence, there was a bit of a commotion that day.

“Oh my God! Oh my God, everyone!”

A young boy dressed in a servant’s outfit ran around the sprawling servants’ floor.

“Master Dior brought a girl!”

The servants emerged from their workrooms one after another.

“No way, the master? A girl?”

The ducal residence is buzzing with excitement.

The master of the mansion is a “man of the hour” who has achieved an exceptional rise in the world with his overwhelming achievements, is still young, and has no wife or children.

It is impossible for such a man not to be popular in social circles, and every month he receives a mountain of invitations and gifts from aristocratic families with daughters of the appropriate age.

That “master” who had cut off all those invitations, brought a girl home with him.

“The girl seems to be unconscious.”

“Ah, what!?”

“I’m curious.”

It didn’t take long for rumors to spread throughout the place, and for a whole host of unintended repercussions to follow.

I was awakened by the smell of something delicious wafting out of nowhere.

My stomach rumbled immediately.

It smelled like…butter!

Perhaps because I was starving, I was sensitive to the smell of food.

I jumped up and found a boy with a pot of soup next to me.

He had a beautifully shaped baby face and was smiling, and he didn’t look scary at all.

“Good morning, Lady.”

The boy pulled out the top of the side table and put a soup pot in front of me.

“It’s egg and chicken soup. Would you like jam or butter with your bread?”

“Are you asking me that?”

When I was puzzled, the boy said, “Well, then” and took a piece of bread.

“If you don’t want it, leave it to me.”

The boy sliced the white bread with a knife.

He scooped out the butter, half melted in the warm bowl, and smeared it on the bread.

Oooh, wow, it smells good ……!

He toasted it in the fireplace to make it fragrant and lightly browned before giving it to me.

“Here, here, this, why?”

“This is an order from Master Dior. He told you to ‘eat well.’ In addition, if you violate–“

“I, what if I violate it!?”

“You will be condemned to death.”

This duke is too scary!!!

As I trembled, I gulped down the bread that had been placed on the table.

Ahh…it smells so good. The scent of freshly baked bread and the sweet scent of melted butter…