Seeing his crooked smile made my mind go blank. How long had he been standing there?

Did he hear everything I mumbled?

Thinking he might have heard it all suddenly made my ears start burning hot.

“Why are you there?”

I tried to speak as calmly as possible, but I was wrong from the start.

Why would Dietrich be there?

Of course he would be, it’s his office.

With my mind frozen in embarrassment, I could only roll my eyes.

As expected, he seemed perplexed too and raised one eyebrow crookedly. He pointed to his office and said,

“Well, this is my office. It would be much more natural for me to be here than you.”

I had nothing to say. I let out a deep sigh at my ears, which were now burning so hot I could feel the heat.

“Don’t tease me.”

“I wasn’t trying to tease you.”

A lie. It was a complete lie.

Seeing the mischief in his blue-green eyes, I decided it would be best to leave this place quickly.

I strode through the wide open door. Then I put the tray down on the desk with a thud and attempted to escape right away.

However, my escape failed miserably.

Dietrich gently caught my wrist and nodded towards the sofa.

He probably meant for me to go sit there.

I ended up trudging over to the sofa and sitting down.

He often communicated his intentions through actions like this rather than words.

It was the gesture of someone used to giving orders to others.

At times like these, I was reminded that Dietrich was the young master of the Delgado ducal family that ruled the empire.

Even though he would tease me by casually throwing out playful words, or say nonsensical things.

Dietrich was clearly an arrogant and dignified nobleman.

As if to show that my thoughts were not wrong, he perched on the edge of the desk and elegantly picked up a fork.

Then he stabbed a beautifully trimmed carrot that was well mixed into the salad.

“Someone cut these carrots so prettily.”

That was me.

Wanting to boast, I suddenly lifted my head, but immediately lowered it again when I met his emerald-like blue-green eyes.

Then I heard him laugh as if he found it ridiculous.

“What are you being so shy about? Asking me to go to the summer festival together?”

Unlike me, who wanted to dig a tunnel and escape to the kitchen, he was very nonchalant.

Well. It was a typical reaction for the ever-indifferent Dietrich.

Is this just like usual?

He popped the carrot into his mouth and chewed. Then he asked again.

“Or are you embarrassed that you said something like a man desperately begging to seduce a woman he’s interested in?”

“Hey!”

He’s really teasing me now. I glared at Dietrich, who was chuckling.

What? A statement like a man desperately begging to seduce a maiden he’s interested in?

It was an astounding expression. Thinking about it again, it did seem that way.

Damn, it was a bit funny. I couldn’t hold back a chuckle that escaped.

Who would have known Dietrich would be standing there right when I said that!

I sighed as I looked at Dietrich, who was irritatingly enjoying this way too much.

“Dietrich. Are you having fun?”

“It is amusing this early in the morning.”

Ah, an honest response. Not expecting this kind of reaction, I looked at him with surprised eyes.

His eyes, which always seemed sharp, had softened gently.

His long, slanted eyes were folded into gentle semicircles, and his lips, which usually only formed crooked smiles, now curved into a smooth arc of amusement.

Seeing Dietrich enjoying himself made the embarrassing moment from earlier feel a bit more okay.

I also felt proud that I had made Dietrich, who rarely laughs, smile.

“So are you going?”

“You mean the summer festival?”

He asked, bringing the coffee cup next to the tray to his lips.

“Yeah. The summer festival. Will you go with me?”

He replied without a moment’s hesitation.

“Sure.”

“Really?”

“Isn’t that what you wanted?”

I excitedly responded to his casual words as he sipped his coffee.

“Yes! I want to go!”

Surprised by my voice full of energy, Dietrich stared at me intently.

Then he shook his head. It was an inexplicable action.

Why is he shaking his head when he just agreed to go together?

Although I couldn’t understand the reason, I had achieved my goal anyway. I stood up.

It was about time for me to head back. If I lingered any longer, I might be mistaken for slacking off.

I’m a diligent maid, so I can’t allow such misunderstandings. Yurian would snort and mock me if he heard about it.

After checking the plates that were already cleaned out, I picked up the tray and asked while standing by the door.

“Then how about meeting tomorrow afternoon? Around 4 o’clock would be good, not too late.”

“Let’s do that. Come to my office.”

It was odd that he told me to come to his office when we were supposed to go out, but there was no time for further discussion.

I just nodded, saying I understood, and went outside.

The weather outside was still hot. The peak cicada season had passed a bit, but the heat hadn’t subsided.

‘I’m really going to the summer festival!’

To think I’d be going to the long-awaited summer festival with Dietrich.

You never know what life will bring. I headed to the kitchen in a good mood, not even noticing the sweat running down my back.

Despite the intense sunlight beating down from the morning that could have been irritating, my mood remained clear all day without a single cloud.

Deep in the forests of Chronotia.

The forest stretching along the Riena mountain range was devoid of any human presence.

Across the large lake visible after venturing deep into the forest.

“Aargh! Master! Why are you grabbing my hair again!”

“Because you’re not paying attention, that’s why!”

An old man with a snow-white beard was tugging at Nocturne’s hair.

Yes, this was the magic tower.

It was Nocturne’s hideout and home, where Dietrich had visited not long ago.

Hudson sighed deeply as he looked at his disciple who never seemed to listen.

He had been quiet for the past few days, cooped up in his room searching for something.

Thinking he might be admirably creating a top-grade magical item to take to the summer festival.

He wanted to praise his disciple for behaving well for once in a long time.

The moment he entered his research lab to fetch the ‘Hudson’s Best Recovery Potion’ he had secretly prepared for the tired Nocturne.

He couldn’t help but shout when he saw the empty wall of his research lab.

“Nocturne Frey! How could you even think of stealing your master’s books!”

“Well, that’s because you won’t lend them to me, Master. I told you I need to find something out.”

To say such a thing after moving the entire bookcase to his own research room!

Hudson felt like slapping his younger self who had once cheered with joy, calling Nocturne a genius.

He just doesn’t listen, never listens.

Still, he couldn’t bring himself to chase this fellow away.

“Did you finish all the research I assigned you before doing this? Huh?”

Despite Hudson’s shouting, Nocturne replied nonchalantly without taking his eyes off the book he was reading.

“I finished that ages ago. It’s on that table over there.”

Hudson immediately approached the cluttered table.

He looked closely at the paper densely filled with magic formulas and laughed with disbelief, “Hah.”

He had effortlessly written magic formulas that required at least 7 circles to use.

7 circles belonged to the realm of extraordinary high-level magicians, of which you might find one if you searched the entire empire.

So in this magic tower, only Hudson could oversee Nocturne.

That fellow was a genius. Yes, a genius you only hear about.

Even to Hudson, who had been called a genius quite often in his youth, Nocturne Frey possessed extraordinary magical skills.

That’s why he couldn’t chase him out of the magic tower, even though he was so disobedient.

He tossed the report back onto the table.

“So what are you looking for so intently?”

“Are you going to help me find it if I tell you?”

“Well, let’s hear it.”

Whatever Nocturne was interested in, it was sure to be something outlandish.

Normally, he would have pretended not to notice, but recently Hudson had been in a good mood thanks to the woman who bought his playful magical items when he went to the marketplace in disguise.

Nocturne grumbled indifferently while picking his ear.

“Tch. I know you won’t help.”

“If you don’t want to see your master die of frustration, speak up quickly.”

“Well, you see.”

Nocturne, looking haggard from searching the entire magic tower for days without finding the information, opened his mouth.

“Do you know about the hidden treasure of the imperial family?”

Hearing those words, Hudson froze on the spot.

The sharp-witted Nocturne immediately sensed that Hudson knew something. It was very rare for his master to show such a reaction.

“What is it? It seems like you know something.”

“Ahem, I don’t.”

Despite clearly showing a reaction, he flatly denied it, to which Nocturne cried out in despair, clutching his head.

“How can you say that when you see your poor disciple like this? I haven’t been able to sleep, searching for information, but there’s absolutely nothing related in the magic tower library or in your bookshelves, Master. Or is there even such a thing as a hidden imperial treasure to begin with?”

Nocturne, who had been muttering ‘Should I just not do it?’, collapsed onto the table. Hudson looked down at him quietly.

He thought about the unbelievable words his disciple had said.

His disciple seemed to be looking for information about a hidden imperial treasure. From the words he muttered at the end, it seemed someone else had made the request to Nocturne.

‘Has someone who knows about the imperial treasure appeared?’

A strange light flickered in the old archmage’s yellow eyes.