The next morning.

When the door of the study opened abruptly without a knock, Master instinctively knew it was Ren entering.

With his face buried in documents spread on the desk, he began to scold his master before even raising his head.

He was frustrated that the date he had painstakingly planned and arranged had been ruined.

“See, Master? I knew this would happen. Women don’t like men with too many secrets. What’s the point of planning a perfect date! That’s why I said you shouldn’t hide your identity for too long… Hup!”

Master, who had been confidently lecturing, unconsciously closed his mouth the moment he made eye contact with Ren.

To think one could express such clear killing intent with just a gaze.

He was certain that if he hadn’t stopped talking, he would have immediately become fertilizer for this land.

“Oh my, Master. Why such an expression? You know I want nothing more than for things to go well with Lady Vivian, right? Hahaha.”

Master tried to calm Ren down with a fake laugh. However, his expression remained cold.

“If you really wanted to help with that intention, you should have recommended a place where monsters don’t appear.”

Just when Master thought Ren was unusually responding, he realized Ren was completely blaming him for the failed date.

Master felt unfairly accused by his statement.

It was well-known among information guilds that recently, not only had the number of monsters increased, but the frequency of their intrusions into towns had also risen.

Of course, the lake park was relatively far from monster habitats, so the possibility of such an incident occurring was lower compared to other locations.

Still, Master had said he would prepare for monster appearances on the day of the date, just in case.

He would deploy guild members throughout the park to immediately notify Ren if any monsters appeared.

But the one who rejected this was none other than Ren himself.

The reason was obvious.

He probably didn’t want to be caught losing his composure around Vivian.

Or perhaps he didn’t want others to see Vivian.

Though he hadn’t heard his true feelings directly, nothing in the world was as predictable as the mind of a man in love.

In any case, it was Ren himself who had rejected his proposal, yet he was now blaming Master for the failed date, which felt utterly unfair.

‘Well, if I’m at fault for not persuading Master until the end, despite vaguely anticipating this situation could occur, then I suppose that’s my mistake.’

It’s not like he didn’t know Ren’s willful personality when he started serving him.

“Master, since things have come to this, let’s find a solution.”

“Is there even a solution to this situation in the first place?”

No way.

He’s answering again?

Master doubted his ears for a moment.

Ren responding immediately to his words twice in a row? This had never happened before.

He was known to be the most taciturn person in the world.

How much must he be suffering for a person to change this much?

Though it was his original plan anyway, Master decided to help Ren to the best of his ability.

“There’s a solution to everything. Master, what do you think is the biggest problem right now?”

At Master’s question, Ren fell into contemplation for a moment without opening his mouth.

Problem…

There were far too many problems right now.

For the first time, Vivian was disappointed in him, and because of that, she had run away to a place he couldn’t reach.

His bumbling self, not knowing how to deal with this unprecedented situation, was also a problem.

However, the biggest problem was…

Ren carefully considered yesterday’s events.

In fact, Ren had gone to Vivian’s house last night. To ask for forgiveness.

But what greeted him after his difficult journey was not Vivian, but a small note.

Gone to the Belvedere mansion.

It was just one line, but that short sentence made Ren anxious.

Of all places, why there…

Dietrich and Ludovica would be at the mansion.

Those siblings were like time bombs who could do anything to Vivian at any moment.

Ren was on the verge of going mad with worry for her.

He could somehow handle other problems, but he couldn’t bear the fact that she was staying somewhere he couldn’t immediately protect.

Usually, whenever Vivian went to a place with potential dangers, Ren would attach his shadow to her.

So he could immediately notice if anything dangerous happened.

But now, because of her command, he couldn’t even do that.

Of course, there were ways to do it secretly, but if he were caught in this situation, it would be difficult to mend their relationship.

There was also the issue that to attach a shadow, one needed to be relatively close.

On top of that, he would have to risk infiltrating the Belvedere mansion.

Faced with this difficult situation, Ren let out a sigh. Then he soon came up with a clever idea.

“Infiltrate the Belvedere mansion and confirm if Lady Vivian is safe.”

“Are you talking to me right now?”

Master questioned in disbelief at the sudden order.

Ren just wore an expression as if asking if there was a problem.

Master exclaimed in shock and protested.

“No, Master. Do you know what the unwritten rule among information guilds is? We never accept requests related to the Belvedere family. Not a single person has ever returned alive after going there.”

He was about to say he would absolutely not go in, but he briefly observed Ren’s expression.

Judging by his look, it seemed he would die immediately if he didn’t follow the order.

Inwardly shedding tears, he changed his words.

“But… I’m the one who rushes anywhere anytime if Master wishes. Just… if I die, please make sure to bury me in a sunny spot…”

“Useless talk.”

Ren clicked his tongue and cut off Master’s words.

Master felt relieved. It seemed he wouldn’t have to enter the Belvedere mansion after all.

“If you’re worried about Lady Vivian’s safety in the first place, couldn’t you just attach a shadow to her?”

“That won’t do. Lady Vivian has forbidden it.”

“But she didn’t say anything about not attaching it to someone else, did she?”

“…?”

After a brief pause, Master confidently pulled up both corners of his mouth.

“Dietrich Belvedere’s aide has an external schedule today. In about 2 hours from now.”

Ren’s eyes took on a strange gleam as he immediately grasped the implication.

Nils, returning straight to Dietrich’s office after finishing his external schedule, sighed with fatigue.

Why did work never seem to decrease no matter how much he did? The documents must be reproducing themselves.

Still, he thought he could avoid pulling an all-nighter if he just focused for a few more hours.

It was at that moment.

“Nils, I think I’m not in good health.”

At Dietrich’s sudden remark, Nils intuitively realized that the probability of not being able to go home today was high.

“What do you mean all of a sudden? It’s hard to find someone as healthy as you, Young Master.”

“No, I’m sure my body isn’t well. Look, my skin is pale too.”

Dietrich picked up the hand mirror on the desk and examined his face.

Nils also looked at his face, but as far as he could see, there seemed to be nothing unusual.

“You’ve always been on the pale side. Let’s focus on work again.”

“Just listen for a moment. I feel a bit more tired than usual, though it’s very slight.”

“That’s because you couldn’t sleep last night. You stayed up all night finishing work, didn’t you?”

Although he wasn’t typically an early sleeper, Dietrich hadn’t slept a wink the previous night.

The cause was his sudden decision to teach Vivian swordsmanship and rushing out.

At first, they thought he would return soon, but he showed no intention of leaving the training ground all day.

In the end, the work that should have been done yesterday was pushed back, and Dietrich had to stay up all night to finish the delayed tasks.

So it was natural for him to be tired.

When Nils firmly cut him off again, Dietrich shook his head as if frustrated.

“Alright, even if we set those two aside, I think there’s a problem with my heart.”

“Your heart?”

What nonsense is he talking about now?

Dietrich had a heart healthy enough to run for hours without rest.

“My heart suddenly tightened even though I wasn’t doing anything. It was pounding. Isn’t this a symptom of arrhythmia?”

“When did you experience these symptoms?”

“Last night while talking with Lady Vivian.”

“And you’ve had no symptoms since then?”

“Yes, that’s correct.”

Nils, who had been listening to Dietrich’s story, suddenly seemed to be overcome with irritation.

‘Am I here to work, or to give love advice to a pubescent boy?’

Of course, his duties included comprehensive care for Dietrich.

But shouldn’t love be humanly excluded from this?

Love counseling for his employer.

Because Dietrich overworked him so much, some people couldn’t even remember when they last dated.

Above all, the person in question hadn’t even realized his own feelings yet.

Nils messed up his hair with both hands out of frustration.

He felt like going to the forest and screaming.

‘Should I tell him, or not?’

After contemplating for a moment, he made a decision.

“Young Master.”

“Hm? Why are you calling?”

“In the world, they call that feeling ‘having butterflies.’ It’s not that there’s a problem with your heart.”

“You’ve been talking nonsense lately. Nils, how many times do I have to tell you? I’ve clearly said that I’m cursed to not be able to like anyone else because I was born too handsome. Feeling butterflies for someone else? That’s obviously impossible.”

Dietrich snorted as he replied.

‘Ah, I’m really annoyed. What should I do with this arrogant human?’

Nils decided to give up on explaining to him again. It would only result in that strange logic anyway.

“Yes, then I’ll call for the physician for now.”

Nils tried to quickly end the conversation and hurriedly get up to leave.

But then. There was a loud “thwack!” sound right behind him.

He turned around in shock.

There was Dietrich, who had stabbed his magic sword into his shadow.

“W-What are you doing!”

“Ah, I felt a strange energy from the shadow. But it seems I was mistaken. Continue with your work.”

Nils let out a hollow laugh at Dietrich’s nonchalant attitude, without even an apology.

What heart problem? At this rate, he would be the first to fall ill.