Just a moment ago, he was troubled when magic was brought up, but now he’s saying he’ll teach magic?

Surprised by Jerdin’s sudden change of attitude, Irene blinked and stared at him.

“Your Highness!”

Jessie, also seemingly flustered, raised her voice.

“What are you saying! Teaching magic to the young lady?”

“What do you mean? I’m saying exactly what I said – I’ll teach her magic.”

On the other hand, Jerdin shrugged as if it were no big deal.

“Although I’m only at the 2nd circle, it’s enough to teach a complete novice.”

“That’s not the issue here! For the young lady to learn magic, she needs the master’s permission!”

“Then we’ll get it.”

When Jerdin replied in a light tone, Jessie frowned and put her hand to her head.

“The master won’t allow it.”

“That’s right. He won’t allow it if I ask, but he will if she asks.”

Jerdin turned to Irene with a meaningful smile.

“So if you want to learn magic, try asking the master that you want to learn. If you ask, he’ll surely agree.”

*

Dinner time.

Having dinner alone with Kalos, Irene glanced sideways at him sitting next to her.

‘Will he really allow it if I ask to learn magic?’

Kalos had said before that she could do anything except run away, but… well.

Judging by how Jessie gasped and said the master wouldn’t allow it, it was clear that Kalos didn’t approve of Irene learning magic.

But relying solely on Jerdin’s words and asking Kalos was too risky. If Jerdin’s prediction was wrong, she’d surely face dire consequences.

‘But… I want to learn.’

More precisely, she wanted to know why people kept associating her with magic.

Poking at her salad and pondering what to do, Irene gathered her courage as the meal was ending and carefully opened her mouth.

“Grand Duke.”

The hand raising the wine glass stopped. As the purple eyes rolled to meet hers, Irene swallowed hard and gripped her skirt tightly.

“I have… a favor to ask.”

It was quite rare for Irene to ask for something first, so Kalos raised an eyebrow, somewhat surprised.

“What is it?”

No matter what she asked, he’d grant it.

“I want to learn magic.”

Despite that resolve, it crumbled in less than a second. Kalos frowned as he looked at Irene.

Seeing his clearly displeased expression, Irene’s gaze naturally lowered. Her grip on her skirt tightened even more.

“Why do you suddenly want to learn magic?”

“I happened to see a magic book in the library… and became interested.”

Her interest in magic had been there since the day she first met Kalos, when he asked if she could use magic.

After that, she heard many things about magic, and her interest grew more and more.

But somehow, it felt like she shouldn’t mention that part, so she kept it hidden.

“So I was studying alone by looking at magic books, and when His Highness the Crown Prince saw me, he said he would teach me magic if I wanted, as long as I got permission from Grand Duke.”

I see. Kalos immediately realized that Jerdin had prompted Irene and clicked his tongue.

Thinking that was because he disapproved of her request, Irene tucked her head in like a turtle.

Seeing this, Kalos’s brow furrowed even deeper. Due to a shred of conscience, he wanted to grant most of Irene’s wishes, but learning magic was problematic.

Because she could use magic to escape. He didn’t want her to learn magic if possible.

But if he refused now, Irene would become even more dejected.

Their relationship would grow even more distant than it was now.

Moreover, since he had said she could do anything she wanted except run away, he couldn’t refuse.

Kalos swallowed a sigh inwardly and nodded.

“If you want to learn, then learn.”

Expecting to be refused, Irene was surprised when permission was granted and lifted her head.

“Can I really learn?”

“Yes.”

Hearing the confirmation again, Irene’s face lit up.

“Thank you.”

Her voice noticeably brightened as well.

“It’s nothing.”

Kalos replied indifferently as he picked up his wine glass. Contrary to his cold exterior, he was glad inside that she was happy.

*

“You’ve done an interesting thing.”

Apart from being glad that Irene was happy, the one who did something deserving punishment needed to be scolded.

“After thinking of using her. Your cunning seems to have grown while I wasn’t looking.”

At the sharp remark, Jerdin, who had been leaning back comfortably on the sofa, straightened his back and looked at Kalos with an awkward smile.

“Haha… As expected, you noticed.”

Kalos replied in an incredulous tone.

“Did you think I was such a fool that I wouldn’t notice even that much?”

“Oh my, how could I dare think that way?”

“Yet you did such a thing.”

As displeasure clouded the purple eyes, Jerdin apologized, folding his hands politely.

“I’m sorry, master. No matter how much I thought about it, that was the only way I could think of to stay at Esper Castle…”

Jerdin’s ready offer to teach Irene magic wasn’t just a simple kindness, but a plan. If he became Irene’s magic teacher, Kalos would have no choice but to allow him to stay at Esper Castle.

Kalos had noticed this fact from the moment Irene mentioned Jerdin’s story, and he was displeased that Jerdin had used Irene to achieve his goal.

“What’s your reason for wanting to stay here so badly?”

This was also curious. Jerdin seemed to ponder for a moment, then slowly opened his mouth.

“If I say I want to stay to deepen our long-standing friendship… you won’t believe me, right?”

“Of course not.”

Jerdin smiled as if he had expected that answer and scratched his cheek. His eyes darted about quickly, as if it was difficult to answer.

There’s definitely something. As Kalos was about to probe further, a strange sound was heard. It was coming from the bracelet Jerdin was wearing.

“Looks like a messenger bird has arrived.”

He had been wearing a magic bracelet that would alert him when a messenger bird arrived.

It was perfect timing, as he had been struggling with how to answer Kalos’s question.

Jerdin quickly stood up, opened the window wide, and stretched out his arm wearing the magic bracelet. Then a bird slightly larger than an adult’s forearm flew in and perched on Jerdin’s arm.

Coo-.

“That’s right, good boy.”

Jerdin moved the bird to a perch, then untied the note attached to its leg. It was part of the morning newspaper he had asked his aide to send before coming to Esper territory.

“Here you go.”

“…”

Kalos glanced at Jerdin with displeasure before taking the newspaper and unfolding it. The sensational headline [Esper Grand Duke’s Lover?] caught his eye first.

The article’s content was exactly as Kalos had instructed Jerdin beforehand.

It also included everything about Irene being cleared of the witch accusation and that she was actually of royal blood, not a commoner.

“If there’s anything you’re not satisfied with, please let me know. I’ll contact them immediately to correct it.”

“There is one thing I’m not satisfied with.”

“What is it?”

“What you’re hiding right now.”

Expecting Kalos to point out issues with the article, Jerdin smiled awkwardly when he brought up a different topic, the most troublesome one at that.

“Can’t you let it slide just this once?”

“Seeing that you can’t speak, it seems to be related to me?”

“Ah…”

As Jerdin could only smile without saying anything, the bird that had been preening its feathers on the perch suddenly flew up with a flutter.

Kalos also walked towards the window and, like Jerdin had done, extended his hand out the window.

Then a strange sound was heard, and soon after, a huge shadow engulfed Kalos’s arm.

The owner of the shadow was a bird as large as Kalos’s upper body. From its two heads to its six pairs of eyes, a beak large enough to chew stones, and sharp talons, it was clearly no ordinary bird at first glance.

Despite its terrifying appearance, Jerdin wasn’t afraid at all.

“It’s an Angeleaia. An Angeleaia.”

Rather, he looked at the monster bird with sparkling eyes.

Perhaps frightened by Jerdin who looked as if he might devour it at any moment, the monster bird flapped its wings and made an eerie cry.

Kalos calmed it by stroking its straight back, then untied the pouch attached to the bird’s leg.

Inside the pouch was a note sealed with wax. It meant that no one but the writer of the note had checked its contents.

“…”

Kalos’s expression grew increasingly serious as he checked the contents of the note after breaking the wax seal.

He turned to Jerdin while crumpling the paper.

“So the reason you were desperately trying to stay at Esper Castle was because of the Empress.”

Jerdin’s eyes widened at the words that hit the mark.

“You were trying to stay at Esper Castle to prevent the Empress from somehow stopping you from returning.”

“… If I stay at Esper Castle for a few days and return without any results, Mother will give up.”

Kalos smirked.

“Will a mother who entrusts her child to a monster to fulfill her own desires really give up so easily?”

“…”

At a loss for words, Jerdin hung his head low.

Kalos stared at Jerdin for a moment, then sighed and slightly raised his arm. The monster bird perched on his arm flew far away out the window.

“I heard the Empress plans to invite Irene to the New Year’s party.”

“What?”

What’s this about now? Jerdin lifted his head in shock. Kalos continued indifferently.

“She’s planning to invite her to the New Year’s party under the absurd pretext of wanting to introduce her to other royal family members and nobles now that they’ve become family.”

Naturally, Kalos would accompany her as a guardian, which was what the Empress was aiming for.

He had expected something like this to happen someday from the moment Irene was added to the royal family tree, but the timing was too soon.

Moreover, to think the Empress, not the temple, would pull such a trick. If the temple did this, he had planned to refuse using the royal family as an excuse, but now that excuse was gone.

“This has become troublesome.”

As Kalos clicked his tongue in annoyance, Jerdin’s expression darkened rapidly.

“I’m sorry. I should have dissuaded Mother…”

“It’s fine. It wasn’t something you could have done after leaving the palace.”

As Kalos dropped the crumpled note on the floor, the long-stretched shadow surged up and swallowed the note.

“So you do what you can do here.”

Whether that was for Kalos’s sake or the Empress’s sake would be seen by keeping him close and watching.