Not long after Deuce left, Kalos called for Dewey.

Dewey, who rushed over in one step, putting aside what he was doing at his master’s call, bowed politely.

“You called for me.”

“Pigeons will be visiting this place soon.”

Pigeons was a vulgar expression used to refer to priests.

Like pigeons, which are symbols of peace yet dirty the streets and spread all kinds of diseases, priests were given this nickname because they preach peace in the front while committing all sorts of evil deeds behind the scenes.

It was a common occurrence for the temple to send priests to the Esper territory under various excuses such as consecration, rituals, or helping the poor.

In the past, they even spouted nonsense about wanting to build a temple in Esper territory, which made Kalos furiously angry.

Naturally, all requests from temple priests to visit Esper territory had been rejected.

But now priests were coming to visit Esper territory? Dewey had a puzzled expression.

“Did you allow their visit?”

Kalos snorted.

“I wouldn’t do such a thing.”

That’s true. Dewey nodded in agreement.

“Then how are they coming here from the temple?”

No matter how powerful the temple’s authority was, they couldn’t enter a lord’s territory without permission.

Of course, it would be possible if they forced their way in claiming it was the Pope’s will, but that wouldn’t work with the Esper family.

When Dewey asked in confusion, Kalos questioned back even more puzzled.

“You don’t know anything?”

“Pardon?”

I see, you really don’t know. Well, if Dewey had known about this news, he would have asked Kalos for his opinion on how to handle it first.

“Just earlier, Deuce brought a newspaper issued by the temple.”

“Deuce… did?”

“Yes. There was an article about me and Irene in that newspaper. The headline was [The Tyrant of the North, Bewitched by a Witch.]”

Dewey let out a hollow laugh, immediately inferring the content of the article just from hearing the headline.

“The temple side has really racked their brains trying to get into Esper territory somehow. I wonder how they plan to deal with the aftermath when it’s revealed to be false.”

“Then they’ll cut off the tail. Since it wasn’t the main temple that published that article.”

“But the priests coming here will be from the main temple, won’t they? To be precise, they’ll be the Pope’s dogs pretending to be from a branch temple.”

Kalos expressed his agreement with silence.

“I don’t know the real reason why they’re so desperate to come to Esper territory, but on the surface, it will be to confirm whether Miss Irene is a witch or not… oh no.”

Suddenly imagining something terrible, Dewey frowned deeply and spoke firmly.

“We must refuse. You must stop those pigeons from entering Esper territory and meeting the young lady, master.”

“If I wanted to stop them, I could, but the aftermath would be severe.”

There were already all sorts of ominous rumors circulating in the empire about the Grand Duke of Esper, such as him enjoying slaughter or having the blood of monsters.

If Kalos tried to bury the witch accusations without resolving them, the temple side would surely seize the opportunity to incite the imperial citizens.

If that happened, even the imperial family would no longer be able to maintain neutrality and would have to step in, and Kalos, who had an alliance with them, would have no choice but to comply with the imperial family’s requests.

“Instead of ignoring a small spark and letting it grow into a fire that burns down the whole house, let’s suppress it in the early stages.”

“That’s true, but… I’m worried they might do something disrespectful to the young lady. They might try to brainwash her, saying things like the master is a scary person and she should run away.”

“We’ll have to prevent that from happening.”

Contrary to his calm response, Kalos’s fingers anxiously tapped on the desk.

“For now, prepare to welcome the pigeons. They’ll show up within two weeks at the latest.”

“Understood.”

“Also, tell Deuce to tighten security.”

“…”

When Dewey hesitated at the additional order, Kalos clicked his tongue.

“When will you two reconcile? I think 100 years is more than enough time to make up.”

Dewey fiddled with the long silver chain of his monocle.

“I’d like to make up too, but that fellow just won’t accept it. Well, I suppose it’s natural since I’m a murderer who tried to kill him…”

“You didn’t try to kill him.”

“But he almost died because of me. He actually did die.”

Suddenly recalling an incident from long ago, Dewey let out a short sigh and bowed his head slightly.

“So, I’m sorry, but I’d appreciate it if you could have someone else relay the message to him.”

“No. You do it.”

Kalos insisted on his opinion.

“As you said, you’ll become friends faster if you meet often.”

Dewey smiled awkwardly.

“That’s only when there are no bad feelings between the two. In this situation, meeting often could actually be poison. Don’t you know that well from your own experience, master?”

“…”

Kalos, hit right on the mark, could only close his mouth.

“Then I’ll take my leave.”

Even as Dewey asked again and left, Kalos couldn’t say anything.

Even after Dewey had gone, Kalos sat there for a long time.

“It’s because of you.”

Old memories flashed by like a kaleidoscope. The sound of tapping on the desk grows faster.

“Because of you, that child…!”

Bang−!

After lightly striking the desk and standing up, Kalos stood in front of the window. By now, a black curtain had fallen over the sky.

Staring blankly at the dark sky where not even the moon’s halo was visible, perhaps due to heavy clouds, Kalos suddenly sensed a presence and lowered his gaze.

“…”

Then he saw Irene taking a walk in the garden with Jessie. She had said she always took a walk after dinner, and true to her word, she was.

Kalos sat on the windowsill and watched Irene as she walked.

Unaware of this fact, Irene was leisurely walking when she suddenly crouched down below the castle wall. She pointed at something with her slender fingers and smiled towards Jessie.

“…”

Seeing that sight reminded him of her beaming face as she hugged the book in the dining room.

If I gave her another book, would she smile brightly like that again?

“… I must be crazy.”

What’s the point of seeing her smile?

Finding his own thoughts foolish, Kalos let out a hollow laugh as he stood up.

Even then, his gaze remained fixed on Irene, who was smiling and talking with Jessie.

By now, the moonlight that had peeked out from behind the clouds shattered brilliantly above her head.

*

“Thank you for lending me the book.”

It was on the second day after receiving the etiquette book from Kalos that Irene returned it.

“Did you only read the dining etiquette part?”

“No. I read it all.”

“You’ve already finished reading it?”

The book Kalos had given to Irene was very thick, as it contained detailed information not only on dining etiquette but also on social etiquette and other manners that nobles should possess.

So when he asked again, not believing that she had read it all in just two days, Irene smiled sheepishly.

“Yes. Since I have a lot of time, I was able to read it quickly. So, I was wondering…”

Irene cautiously continued, watching Kalos’s reaction.

“Would it be alright if I read another book?”

How scared of me must she be to check my reaction even when asking something like that?

Kalos inwardly sighed, newly realizing that he had a long way to go.

“Sure. What kind of book would you like to read?”

Before Irene could answer, Kalos continued.

“No, nevermind. I’ll just give you the key to the library, so go there yourself and read whatever books you want.”

Irene’s eyes widened at the unexpected words.

“Is that really okay?”

When Kalos nodded, Irene’s face immediately brightened. Her flushed cheeks reminded one of ripe peaches.

“Thank you!”

She really does like books, doesn’t she?

Kalos felt pleased to have opened Irene’s tightly closed heart a little, but at the same time, he frowned as if something was stuck in his throat, bothering him.

He couldn’t tell what exactly was bothering him.

*

Since coming to Esper Castle, Irene’s daily routine had been extremely simple.

She would wake up, eat breakfast, take a walk, eat lunch, take another walk, and then eat dinner.

At first, she took frequent walks to familiarize herself with the castle’s geography and find ways to sneak out, but now that was no longer necessary.

She had realized that it was impossible to secretly escape from Esper Castle, which was like an impregnable fortress.

Yet she continued to take walks because there was nothing else to do. Honestly, it was even more boring than being confined at home.

So Irene was overjoyed when Kalos gave her a book. Finally, she had something to do.

After finishing the book, she felt a little sad that she had nothing to do again, but she never expected to receive the key to the library.

Irene carefully placed the library key in the back of her drawer as if it were a precious treasure.

Before going to bed, she checked several times to make sure the key was still in the drawer, and the first thing she did when she woke up was to open the drawer where the library key was kept.

“…”

The corners of her eyes curved up as she saw the key. Her lips rose in an arc.

“Are you that happy to have received the library key?”

When Irene nodded quickly, Jessie shrugged as if she couldn’t help it.

“You’re probably the only person who would be so happy to receive a library key.”

“Is it strange?”

“Not strange, but certainly unusual.”

Jessie brushed Irene’s long hair with a paddle brush.

“To begin with, you’re the first person to ask the master for a library key. Usually, when the master asks what someone wants, they ask for money or jewels.”

“He didn’t ask me what I wanted.”

Kalos had simply asked if she liked books and said he would let her read other books.

Then he gave her the library key, telling her to read as much as she wanted.

“Then if the master asks you what you want, will you ask for money or jewels?”

“…”

Since that wasn’t the case either, Irene kept her mouth shut. Jessie smiled knowingly as she braided the neatly brushed hair.

“The weather will start getting colder soon, so why don’t you ask the master to have new clothes made for you?”

“No. What I’ve received already is too much.”

The dressing room attached to Irene’s bedroom was filled with clothes and accessories.

Irene still vividly remembered how surprised she was when Jessie told her that all of this was hers.

But she absolutely couldn’t bring herself to do something as shameless as asking Kalos to have new clothes made for her.

“But the things in the dressing room now are spring and autumn clothes, so they might be too thin to wear in winter.”

“If I layer them, they’ll be warm.”

For commoners who barely made enough to feed themselves day by day, thick cotton or fur clothes were a luxury, so Irene had spent cold winters layering multiple pieces of clothing until now.

“That may be true, but it would look ridiculous.”

“Is that so?”

“Of course. So make sure to ask the master.”

Of course, Kalos’s permission wasn’t actually needed to have winter clothes made for Irene. To be precise, permission had already been obtained.

But Jessie said this because she thought this was how Irene could become closer to Kalos.

They needed to become close quickly and open their hearts, then flowers would bloom, and after that…

The nimble hands tying a ribbon at the end of the neatly braided hair stopped. The corners of her lips turned down and her reddish eyes trembled slightly.

“Jessie?”

Irene, who saw Jessie’s strange behavior through the dressing table mirror, called out to her in confusion.

“Ah, I’m sorry. I was lost in thought for a moment.”

Jessie smiled as if nothing had happened and moved her hands again. She neatly tied the ribbon and draped a cashmere shawl over Irene’s small shoulders.

“The preparations are complete. Shall we go to the library now?”