Eventually, Irene, who ended up receiving etiquette lessons from Kalos, was sitting tensely at the table.

Various utensils were neatly arranged on the table. There were some Irene had never seen before.

So there are this many types of utensils. As Irene was marveling and picking up something unfamiliar, the dining room door opened and Kalos entered.

Irene startled and put down the utensil, to which Kalos asked with puzzlement:

“Why are you so surprised?”

“It’s nothing.”

“Surely you weren’t trying to take the utensil, were you?”

Kalos meant it as a joke, but Irene, who took it seriously, turned slightly pale.

Fear welled up as memories of being severely scolded by her father in the past for being falsely accused of theft overlapped.

“N-No! I didn’t steal anything! Really!”

It was just a casual joke, but the intense reaction made Kalos slightly flustered as he looked at her.

Thinking that gaze still doubted her, Irene’s face darkened.

“It was a joke.”

Realizing there was some misunderstanding, Kalos hastily added.

“So don’t worry about it.”

Was it really just a joke? Irene was half-skeptical but nodded for now.

“What you just picked up is an oyster fork.”

Striding towards Irene, Kalos picked up the fork she had almost thrown down and asked:

“Have you ever eaten oysters?”

“No.”

As it cost a lot to transport oysters inland while keeping them fresh, they were expensive. With a basket of oysters costing as much as a commoner’s monthly food expenses, there was no way she, a mere commoner, would have eaten oyster dishes.

“I should have oyster dishes served for dinner tomorrow.”

Irene’s eyes widened.

“May I eat them too?”

“You may.”

Kalos took her right arm and placed the oyster fork in her small hand.

“Gilbert will be pleased if you enjoy the oyster dishes served tomorrow evening.”

“…Gilbert?”

“He’s the chef of this castle.”

Ah, so he’s the one who made all the delicious food I’ve eaten so far. Just knowing this fact made Irene feel fond of the person called Gilbert.

“If you’ve never eaten oysters, you’ve probably never used this fork before.”

“That’s right.”

“Let me show you how to use it.”

As the proper lesson began, Irene listened intently. She was so focused that she didn’t even notice Kalos looking at her with a peculiar gaze every now and then.

“…Let’s stop here for today.”

Kalos ended at an appropriate point, not wanting to overwhelm Irene by teaching too much at once. It was also because the promised hour was almost up.

“Do you have any questions? Anything you didn’t understand?”

“No, I don’t.”

It wasn’t that Irene was afraid of Kalos or just wanted to quickly end this lesson – she really didn’t have any. That’s how well Kalos had explained things.

Still, if there was one thing she regretted…

“May I take notes during the lesson next time?”

Even someone with a good memory couldn’t remember everything after hearing it just once. It needed to be heard or read several times.

Since she couldn’t ask Kalos to repeat himself, Irene chose to take notes.

Hearing this, Kalos chuckled as if he’d heard an amusing story.

“It’s the first time I’ve seen someone want to take notes during etiquette lessons.”

“Is that not allowed?”

“It’s not particularly a problem, but wouldn’t reading a book be better in that case?”

“Is there a book?”

“Of course. I’ll bring you one if you want.”

“I do want one.”

When Irene promptly replied, the smile on Kalos’ lips deepened.

He immediately ordered a servant waiting outside the dining room to bring an etiquette book.

“I’ve brought the book you ordered, Master.”

A moment later, the one who brought the book was not the servant who received the order, but a different man.

The man I saw near the knights’ quarters.

The man who was said to be Dewey’s twin.

Fascinated by the existence of twins, Irene stared at the man. But the man didn’t even glance in Irene’s direction.

“Why are you looking like that?”

Instead, Kalos looked at her and asked. Only then did Irene’s eyes move from the man to Kalos.

“Do you have business with Deuce?”

So this man’s name is Deuce. Irene finally learned the man’s name. As they said he was Dewey’s twin, even their names were similar.

But their personalities were completely different. Especially the incident of holding a knife to her neck was unforgettable. Irene glanced sideways at Deuce before answering.

“It’s not that I have business… I’ve never seen twins before, so I was just curious.”

At those words, Deuce looked at Irene for the first time since entering the dining room. Irene flinched at the cold gaze mixed with contempt.

Why is he looking at me like that? Did I say something wrong?

“Deuce.”

When Kalos called his name, Deuce withdrew his gaze as if nothing had happened and bowed his head.

Kalos nodded as if understanding Irene’s reaction.

“Well, twins are not supposed to exist in the Luman Empire. So it’s natural to be curious.”

It was strange how he spoke as if this place wasn’t part of the Luman Empire, even though the Esper territory was part of it.

Come to think of it, Jessie had said something similar. She might say that since she’s not from the Empire, but Kalos wasn’t.

As the head of the Esper family, he would certainly be from the Empire, so why did he speak like that?

“Here.”

That thought was brief, as Irene’s eyes sparkled upon receiving the book from Kalos. She hugged it tightly as if it were a precious treasure.

“You seem to like books.”

“I do.”

For Irene, who had been confined at home her entire life, reading materials like books and newspapers were the only connection to the world and her only friends.

All the common knowledge Irene had was acquired from reading books and newspapers.

That’s why she liked them, but to Kalos, it looked strange. It was understandable that it seemed odd, since most people would shudder at the mere sight of an etiquette manual, yet she liked it this much.

“Shall I let you read other books too?”

If she was this happy just receiving an etiquette manual, how much would she like other books?

Suddenly curious, Kalos asked, and Irene’s face immediately brightened. A radiant smile spread across her lips.

“Yes! Please let me read them!”

“…”

In contrast, Kalos’ face stiffened.

“Why… are you like that?”

Did I do something wrong? Feeling suddenly scared, Irene cautiously asked, and Kalos let out a low sigh, covering his eyes with his hand.

He turned around and left the dining room without even saying he was leaving.

*

Kalos, who had practically fled the dining room, walked aimlessly without a set destination.

His mind was filled entirely with Irene’s smiling face.

It was the first time he had seen Irene smile so brightly.

She had always worn a frightened expression or a fragile smile, but she knew how to smile like that too.

Well, it’s natural since she’s human, but…

“She was pretty.”

At the sincere words that slipped out without his realizing, Kalos frowned and stopped abruptly.

Deuce, who had been quietly following behind him, also stopped and asked:

“Are you alright, Master?”

“…”

When Kalos turned around with a frown, Deuce deeply bowed his waist and apologized.

“I asked an impertinent question. Please forgive me.”

Strangely, the loyal subordinate’s behavior irritated him. Kalos rubbed his throbbing temples and started moving again.

His destination was the office. Sitting down in the chair, Kalos asked Deuce who had followed him in:

“So what’s the matter?”

The fact that Deuce had brought the book when he had ordered a servant to bring it meant that he had something to report to him.

Deuce stood at attention in front of the desk and reported.

“There is strange content written in the newspaper published by the temple.”

As soon as he heard the word ‘temple’, Kalos’ eyebrows furrowed.

Like most underground world residents, Kalos didn’t like the temple.

This was because the temple had a history of treating all underground world residents as monsters and spouting nonsense about how they should be killed.

Even now, if they admitted their mistakes and formally apologized, they could have somewhat mended the twisted relationship, but sadly, the temple did not do so.

Rather, they incited humans with things like witch hunts and further oppressed the underground world residents.

As a result, the underground world and the human world had almost cut off exchanges, and now there were far more humans who didn’t know the underground world existed.

Anyway, given the situation, even if he wanted to like them, he couldn’t.

But now there’s strange content written in a newspaper published by the temple.

Judging by Deuce’s report, it was clearly related to him.

“Bring the newspaper.”

Deuce immediately handed over the newspaper. It seemed he had only brought the part with the problematic article, so it could be found right away.

“They’re crazy.”

A wry smile escaped as soon as he saw the headline. The content of the article was obvious without even reading it. He didn’t want to sully his eyes with such filthy words either.

“Which temple did this newspaper come from?”

“It’s from the Monsera Temple in Kaman territory.”

Kaman territory was a small town near Silas territory.

When the surrounding territories, including Silas territory, needed help from a temple, they contacted the Monsera Temple.

In other words, it means Baron Silas also contacted that temple.

After all, if he wanted to frame Irene as a witch and burn her at the stake, he would have needed the flame managed by the temple.

So Kalos could understand how the Monsera Temple knew about Irene’s existence.

What he couldn’t understand was…

“How do they know that I took that woman?”

Unless he had lost his mind, there was no way Baron Silas would have told the temple that fact first.

Moreover, according to Dewey’s report, Baron Silas had died in a fire at the mansion before even meeting the priest sent by the temple.

He had received a report that the priest who arrived belatedly saw the tragic scene and fainted, then held a funeral.

So how did the temple know this fact?

The answer to the question came easily. Someone must have reported it to the temple.

“Find out thoroughly who reported this matter to the temple.”

“Yes.”

After Deuce left, Kalos read the newspaper article. He checked it thinking there might be clues about the informant, but it was a waste of time.

“I’ve only wasted my eyes.”

Kalos crumpled the newspaper into a ball and tossed it in the trash can, then leaned back in his chair. He put his feet up on the desk and tilted his head back.

The reason why the temple published such an article was clear.

To use this as an excuse to exert the temple’s influence over the Esper territory and family.

“They think I’ll let them do as they please.”

His purple eyes flashed ominously.

He intended to make them pay dearly for daring to covet a tree they shouldn’t climb.