CH 31

Since he couldn’t remember Giacomo, Alphonse lengthened his words in embarrassment.

Blanche introduced Giacomo.

“Young master. This is Giacomo, the Count’s vassal.”

“Oh yeah. That’s the name right? Nice to meet you Giacomo.”

Giacomo politely bowed his head and grinned.

“Young master Alphonse. What are you doing on the third floor?”

“I didn’t mean to come here. I was just looking around.”

“I see. You were taking a break? I don’t know much but they did say it is important to take a break from studying from time to time. Now, with this in mind, this Giacomo will guide you through the Count’s Castle. Irene. You can go.”

“Yes.”

Alphonse caught Blanche, who gently retreated with an answer.

“No, Irene. You come with me too.”

Alphonse tried to imitate the dignity of a high-ranking aristocrat.

“Giacomo. I want Irene to go too. I heard that she had just been hired in this castle.”

“Then, shall we take a look at the castle’s art gallery first?”

Giacomo nodded his head obediently, but smacked his lips as he missed the chance to be alone with the little boy.

[T/N: This m*********er.]

The brother and sister followed his guide and toured not only the castle’s kitchen, but also the armory, the quarters of the soldiers guarding the castle, and the banquet hall.

Finally, the three of them went down to the basement of the castle and arrived at the front of the treasury.

The treasury of the Count’s Castle had a door twice as large as that of the Marquis. It was also decorated with golden reliefs, making it beautiful.

[T/N: Relief is a sculptural technique where the sculpted elements remain attached to a solid background of the same material.]

In particular, the gargoyle relief embossed in the center of the top of the door was full of life.

Alphonse carefully stroked the relief at his eye level.

“Goblins, trolls, imps… Are they all monsters from the Bible?”

Giacomo laughed and explained.

“That’s right. It is said that long ago, humans in this land lived under the control of monsters. It is said that God took pity on humans and sealed all the monsters in a dungeon. In fact, this is only for Alphonse, but it is said that this door was made while there were still monsters in the world.”

“Hmm. The carvings are too elaborate to say they were made so long ago. How did the old people make these things?”

“Ahaha. That’s right.”

“Now. That’s enough for the explanation. Come on, open the door, Giacomo. I can’t wait to see what’s in there.”

Giacomo shook his head at Alphonse, whose eyes were shining like a child in front of candy.

“I’m sorry. Alphonse. I cannot open the door.”

“But. Do you not have a key to the treasury? It’s fine. I can just ask the Count to show it to me later, right?”

“Yes. Please do. Come on, Alphonse. Let’s go back now. If your leg hurts from walking for a long time, I will carry you.”

Alphonse turned his head to Giacomo, who spread his arms like a warm-hearted uncle.

“I’m fine. I can walk this much. Let’s go, Irene.”

“Yes.”

Giacomo stood right next to Alphonse, who took the lead proudly as if it was his home.

Alphonse asked, as if he had suddenly remembered.

“By the way, what kind of security magic is in the Count’s Treasury? In our house, a hundred years ago, the master of the tower casted the security magic himself.”

Alphonse, who secretly boasted, was as cute as his age. And it seemed that Giacomo felt that too. His mouth opened wide like it was about to tear.

“Is that so? That’s great. Well, the Count’s treasury also has security magic on it. Even so, it won’t come close to the great security magic of the Marquis Marquette.”

As Alphonse wished, he honored the Marquis that was on the verge of its downfall.

Meanwhile, Blanche belatedly checked the status window of the treasure chest.

[Don Juan’s Treasure House]

[The treasure trove of moneylender Don Juan. The wealth accumulated through various dirty methods is gathered here.

Two keys are required to enter the treasure chest.

Magic Defense +500

Material Defense +600

Durability 3000/3000]

‘Certainly, they were very concerned about security.’

Blanche regarded the treasury as a place unrelated to her, so she meekly followed Giacomo and Alphonse.

* * *

The morning of the wedding, four days left.

Blanche took advantage of the darkness to steal Mariette’s clothes once more. With a stunned guard behind her, she relentlessly walked through the dark hallway and stood before the familiar door.

Inside the door that was closed in front of her, Blanche felt him hold his breath. So she opened her lips carefully.

“Ricardo. It’s me.”

“… Blanche?”

There was joy in Ricardo’s voice.

She slowly opened the prison door. She took a few steps and could see that Ricardo’s face had improved a lot.

He got up from the bed and smiled brightly at Blanche. Like a dog on a snowy day.

[Ricardo Giotto LV 15

Age 15 / Male

Health 48/150

Mana 80/80

Fame 41

Morality 120

Stress 326]

Blanche thought.

‘If your stamina is at 48, does that mean you’ve improved? But why did your morality suddenly rise?’

She did not know that the meeting with her had made Ricardo promise to live a good life in the future.

Blanche hurriedly stood in front of Ricardo.

“How is your body?”

“Very good! Enough to leave right now!”

“Well. I don’t think that’s right.”

Considering that Blanche had 50 health when she was at level 1, Ricardo still had to rest.

She checked the durability of [Edith’s Lamp] that she placed on the floor of the prison. It only had 5 uses left.

Meanwhile, Ricardo misunderstood her calm grasp of the situation and thought that she was offended by him.

He was afraid that Blanche would leave the door at that moment, so he quickly arranged the blankets and made a place on the bed.

“Blanche. Sit here!”

“Okay.”

“Hey, Blanche, are you in a bad mood? Would you like to see the lanterns together?”

“Nope. Use that for you. Right now, you only have five uses left, so we can’t use it.”

“No! I just wanted to see it with you!”

It was an impulsive tone.

Blanche stared at him with cold eyes.

“You can only use it five more times. Besides, when the magic of the lamp is depleted, that candle will also no longer burn. You don’t like being in the dark until you escape, do you?”

Despite her sharp gaze, Ricardo smiled shyly.

“It’s okay. Even if we use it now, I still have 4 left. We can save those for later, right?”

Blanche couldn’t understand Ricardo at all.

As if embarrassed, he scratched the back of his head.

“Actually, since there are only a few uses left, I wanted to see it with you even more. Come on. Blanche. Hmm?”

His voice, and of course, his gaze and even his breath were careful.

Blanche nodded reluctantly. She couldn’t help but care about Ricardo’s stress stat.

Ricardo used [Edith’s Lamp]. The colorful lanterns that he was used to now filled the prison. Also, he casually put a blanket on her lap.

Blanche looked curiously at Ricardo, who was taking care of her even with his poor Health.

Perhaps he felt the gaze, Ricardo gave the reason in a low voice as if he was crawling.

“… It’s cold.”

Ricardo’s face and neck were dyed red.

One thing was clear. For some reason, Ricardo was shy now. So even now, he can’t even make eye contact with Blanche, so he’s shy and asked.

“How have you been?”

“I was busy.”

Despite Blanche’s insensitive reply, he glanced at her sitting next to him without showing signs of displeasure. It was time for Ricardo to say something, wiggling his fingers like that.

Suddenly, a steaming stew was pushed in front of his nose.

Blanche said.

“Eat.”

Ricardo blankly blinked his eyes a couple of times before bursting into laughter.

Blanche frowned.

“Why are you laughing?”

“Just.”

These were the words Ricardo said as he welcomed the stew. Ricardo grinned again as he chewed with his mouth full of stew.

“Warm.”

“…… I know.”

For some reason, Blanche responded. But she wasn’t referring to the warm stew. She was talking about the warmth of Ricardo sitting right next to her.

To shake off the tickling feeling, Blanche spoke in a blunt tone.

“Did the jailer come while I was away?”

“No. Even Giacomo didn’t come.”

Nodding her head, Blanche told Giacomo’s current situation.

“He is busy right now. I secretly tore half of their tax ledgers and burned them.”

At the beginning of the year, all nobles are required to submit their property management books to the royal family. This was because this was how the tax to be paid to the central government was determined.

Blanche’s voice continued.

“Besides, that person is the Count’s vassal. From what I heard, there were no women under the Count, so it seemed that the vassals themselves were preparing for the wedding.”

Ricardo, who had emptied half of the stew, gave a melancholic expression.

Blanche asked.

“What’s the matter?”

“It must be a forced marriage. I feel sorry for the bride…”

“… That’s right.”

What kind of expression Blanche had when she said those words, she herself did not know.

Suddenly, Ricardo asked.

“Blanche by the way. What kind of person are you?”

“Why?”

“Your dress. It looks pretty good.”

“It’s not mine, so you don’t have to worry about it.”

Ricardo shrugged his shoulders at Blanche’s chilly tone. Sure enough, she suddenly felt bad.

Blanche felt the atmosphere sinking.

“I went to the Count’s treasury in the castle today.”

“Huh?”

“I was just trying to have a casual conversation with you, don’t you like it?”

“No! That’s not true!”

As Ricardo shook his head violently, there was the slightest sound of wind blowing out of Blanche’s mouth. After a while, she spoke to him again.

“I couldn’t go inside, but the door was really nice.”

“Ah!”