“Before coming to the Duke’s residence, I used to work at the magical tower. So, I know a bit about magical theory, intrinsic magic, and so on.”

“Ah, I see. Sophia’s magic is…”

As I was mumbling, a word suddenly flashed into my mind and I quickly turned my head.

“Is Sophia a wizard?”

“Shh, sorry, young master. If people know I use magic, things will get chaotic. They’re a bit sensitive to that sort of thing.”

At her gesture to be quiet, I shut my mouth. Still, my eyes widened in surprise, prompting Sophia to whisper softly to just me.

“I can’t do much, just small things like detecting poison or sensing surroundings. Besides that, well, making a small shield? Also, some simple hypnosis, tracking, and minor poison manipulation. That’s all I can do, really. Useless abilities.”

‘Uh… isn’t that actually really useful?’

Contrary to my thoughts, Sophia seemed firmly convinced that her abilities were useless.

‘She’s too modest.’

I couldn’t cause a commotion right now, so I decided to address it later.

At that moment, Sophia, who had been studying my face, quietly asked.

“Were you very surprised? I’m truly sorry for not telling you sooner.”

“I was surprised, but it’s okay.”

“Yes, I wasn’t purposely hiding it. I just didn’t have the opportunity to tell you. I was worried you’d be scared if I mentioned it right from the start.”

That was definitely true.

I know now that Sophia is kind and good. She also sincerely worries about me. So, learning this now didn’t really bother me.

‘It’s actually good that someone like her is on my side.’

But if I’d learned all this on the first day I met Sophia, I wouldn’t have opened up to her as easily as I had with the Duke and Clements.

‘…Not that I’ve opened up to the Duke and Clements.’

Just got a bit more comfortable, not like I had opened up to them.

‘Right, definitely not.’

“It’s hard to start conversations because I’ve been so cautious. Time just flew by. I didn’t know I’d be taking care of you, young master. I had been a governess for the twins before, but this is my first time as a nanny.”

“Wait, you took care of the twins too?”

“Yes, with my experience from the magic tower, I was responsible for the twins’ magical training.”

Sophia smiled sweetly in response. Once again, I recognized her capabilities.

‘She was a governess for the twins and still works at the Duke’s house?’

She was already incredibly capable.

In the middle of the corridor, a redhaired man dozed off, leaning against the wall with a sword tucked under his arm.

A red carpet lay stretched out beneath his feet.

“Hey, hey!”

Startled by a colleague’s tap on his shoulder, the man sprang up.

“What, what! Who is it!”

“Get it together, they’re coming down soon.”

“Ah.”

The sentence was choppy, but the man understood immediately.

He quickly wiped his face with his sleeve and straightened up. Scanning his surroundings, he stomped the floor twice with one foot.

A thudding sound reverberated quietly below.

Soon after, the patter of footsteps approached from not far off.

“Ah, damn it all!”

The man who was cheerfully introducing himself on stage moments ago was gone. The man who called himself a jester, Aguile, had roughly taken off his mask.

“Stupid fools! What, came to see the Elixir of Immortality? Believe that? Idiots!”

Annoyed, Aguile brushed off his clothes. Then, spotting a strange face in the corridor, he raised an eyebrow.

“Who’s this?”

“He’s a new recruit.”
The moment the response ended, a bulky man introduced as a new recruit shouted loudly.

“Is the deputy commander here!”

Upon hearing this, Aguil angrily ruffled his hair.

“What did you say? Say it again.”

“Yes, understood! Is the deputy commander here!”

The tactless response from the new recruit made the colleague standing next to him tense up, struggling to even breathe properly.

Aguil had always been a large man by nature. His parents were tall, and he ate twice as much as the average person.

So it wasn’t difficult for him to have a thicker build compared to average men.

Moreover, Aguil didn’t hesitate to use his size to his advantage.

“What’s with that guy? Huh? What is he, calling me deputy commander!”

“Ah, well…”

Aguil approached a shortstatured man standing next to the new recruit and intimidated him. The short man’s head barely reached Aguil’s chin.

The atmosphere instantly turned menacing.

As the soldier next to him hesitated, the tactless new recruit spoke again.

“Deputy Commander, is something the matter?”

“……What?”

“I’m worried because there are many wrinkles on your esteemed forehead. Have you been worried about something lately?”

“What, what……”

Just when the atmosphere had turned menacing, this new recruit ruined it all.

He didn’t seem to be provoking him deliberately. This was evident by his naïve expression.

Furthermore, the recruit kept using the irritating title of “deputy commander,” making Aguil genuinely want to fall over backwards.