After hearing Clemens’ story, I began to look around the mansion.

And I was able to solve his problem without much difficulty.

‘I can’t believe they couldn’t find this.’

I found an intricately carved wooden toy in the shape of a goose that had fallen in a corner of the corridor.

This was Clemens’ concern. That he had lost a cherished toy.

“I have this one toy that I really treasure. It’s a wooden toy carved in the shape of a goose, but I lost it.”

“A toy?”

“Yeah, but no matter how much I look, I just can’t seem to find it…”

He sighed deeply as he confided, as if it were an enormous worry.

In fact, such an attitude was a bit unexpected.

I thought it would be a concern about the family’s fate or the current political situation, but it was rather trivial than I expected.

‘Did I judge him too harshly?’

Seeing him like this made me wonder if I had been too prejudiced.

I went to Clemens’ room with the toy I had found. But before I could knock on the door, it suddenly swung open.

I was so startled that my whole body froze. Seeing me like that, Clemens asked brightly.

“Diane, you came?”

“H-how did you know I was here?”

“Huh? Oh, of course I didn’t know, I just happened to open the door and you were there. By the way, it looks like you’re holding something?”

Clemens casually changed the subject. I narrowed my eyes, but there was no evidence to doubt his words.

“Um, is this the toy you said you lost?”

I boldly held out the item I had brought to him.

“Wow! Thank you so much!”

As expected, Clemens was visibly delighted when I handed him the toy. Seeing his reaction made me feel a bit proud.

‘With this, Clemens might think a little better of me?’

I didn’t expect Clemens to be so heartbroken over such an issue.

Well, even if he is the duke’s successor, he’s still just an 11-year-old child.

‘Even villains become that way when they grow up.’

Seeing him like this, I wondered if I didn’t need to be so wary of him yet.

“You’re really amazing. How did you find it?”

It’s not that big of a deal… That’s what I thought, but seeing his joyful expression made my heart flutter a bit.

“It was lying in the corridor. You just need to walk while looking at the floor carefully. At first, I went…”

Seeing his happy face, I must have gotten carried away without realizing it. I found myself explaining in detail how I found it, even though Clemens hadn’t asked.

Only after finishing the explanation did I realize that I had been talking to Clemens for too long.

‘I got carried away without knowing…’

Fortunately, contrary to my worries, Clemens didn’t show any signs of being bored or tired of my explanation yet.

“Wow, I see. You seem to know everything, little one.”

At that moment, he looked very far from the image of a villain. Remembering how negatively I had thought of him until now made me feel uncomfortable.

‘No, he’s still going to become a bad villain, I should keep being careful.’

“I’m so grateful, what should I do? I feel like I should repay you somehow.”

I shook my head.

“I’m fine,”

“I’ll give you this as a reward.”

Clemens held out the goose toy he was holding to me.

It was the toy I had just found for him. I tilted my head in confusion.

“But isn’t that something you cherish?”

“Ah, well, I thought about it and realized I have similar ones.”

Just a few minutes ago, he had been deeply upset about losing the toy, but now that attitude was nowhere to be seen.

He placed the toy in my hand as if he had no attachment to it at all.

‘If he has many similar ones, why was he so desperate to find it?’

It was strange, but since he said it was fine, I had nothing more to say.

Still, it didn’t feel right to accept something he had just recovered…

‘I should probably give it back.’

However, I couldn’t help but be startled when I saw the goose’s eyes.

‘Th-this is a jewel, isn’t it?’

In the goose’s eyes were set finely crafted transparent minerals.

If my guess was correct, this was probably…

“What are you looking at so intently?”

“These eyes…”

“Hm? Ah, you mean the diamonds?”

Clemens replied nonchalantly, and my heart sank.

My hand that was about to return it suddenly gripped tighter. I hugged the goose with two diamonds set in its eyes close to my chest.

“A-are you really giving this to me?”

It was far more valuable than anything I had collected in my bag. Clemens nodded.

“Yes, I’m giving it to you because I’m grateful. In return, you’ll help me again next time, right?”

“Y-yeah…”

I nodded absent-mindedly at his words.

A toy with two diamonds set in it.

‘Maybe he’s not such a bad kid after all…’

* * *

After that day, Clemens often, no, frequently, almost daily came to me with his worries.

“I lost the pen I was using.”

“It’s a golden ball, can you find it for me?”

“It looks like this…”

All of Clemens’ worries were about losing things.

He never failed to mention that each item was something he cherished while confiding his worries.

Seeing him sigh deeply and speak with a serious expression, I really couldn’t ignore it.

It wasn’t just because of the expensive toys and ornaments he gave me as rewards.

“Alright, wait a moment.”

The fortunate thing was that most of the items he lost were in easy-to-find places.

However, that was only for the first few times.

When Clemens came to find me for the tenth day, I couldn’t help but suspect him.

Today, he said he had lost a brooch with a ruby in it. Clemens sat next to me, sighing deeply as he spoke.

“Where on earth could I find it?”

“…”

I looked at him with narrow eyes and said.

“Clemens, do you have memory problems?”

Now I could read his real expression hidden behind that facade.

After seeing his pretended expressions for days, I naturally became more sensitive to reading his expressions.

“Huh?”

The corners of his mouth turned up, but his eyes trembled slightly.

He’s flustered, he’s flustered.

“You’re already 11 years old, how can you keep losing things?”

I shook my head in disapproval.

“How careless.”

How could he lose things more often than me, who’s only 4 years old?

Of course, I’m a bit different from a normal 4-year-old, but still. He really is young after all.

“Next time, you shouldn’t forget.”

I got up from the floor, dusting off my bottom. Actually, I already knew where the brooch he said he lost was.

I had picked it up in advance when I saw it lying in the corridor last evening when I briefly left the room.

“Here, is this it?”

“Oh, yes, that’s right. Thank you.”

Clemens received it with a sullen expression.

“How did you have this?”

“I picked it up yesterday.”

“Ah, I see. Thank you, as a reward…”

I saw Clemens fumbling in his pocket to take something out.

I shook my head and refused.

“No, I won’t accept it anymore.”

At my words, even the pretended expression disappeared from Clemens’ face.

His face froze as if he had heard a bolt from the blue, which made me feel flustered.

‘Why is he acting like that?’

In fact, everything he gave me was really expensive.

So I thought it was right not to accept anymore.

Clemens’ surprised face was a bit confusing, but still.

‘Too much of anything is as bad as too little.’

I knew all too well that being too greedy wouldn’t do any good.

In fact, what I had received so far was enough for several months of living expenses.

‘Even if I leave right now, I could live for two years while eating cookies.’

With a satisfied heart, I took light steps.

Not realizing the misfortune I would soon face in my room.

* * *

There was no one in the room when I returned.

Perhaps because of that, the silver snake, which was always hiding under the bed or in the blankets, was unusually out in the middle of the room, revealing itself.

“Silver snake, what are you doing alone?”

Coming back while counting how much emergency money I had, I felt like I was floating on cloud nine.

Perhaps because of that, I spoke kindly even to the silver snake, which had been my biggest worry recently.

“What are you looking at so intently?”

When I followed the silver snake’s gaze to the open book, I couldn’t help but freeze.

What the silver snake was looking at was the second volume of ‘Legendary Animals, About Dragons’. The largest sentence in the open book caught my eye.

’10 Ways to Seal a Divine Beast.’

Perhaps to grab the reader’s interest, that part was written in particularly bold letters that stood out.

‘W-why is that there?’

I had definitely hidden it well in the bag.

I had put it in the bag on purpose so that the silver snake couldn’t see it. I had even put it in a different pocket in the bag, not in the space where the silver snake could enter.

The silver snake narrowed its eyes at me, who was completely flustered.

[Isn’t this the book you were looking for last time?]

“Uh, yeah? W-was it…?”

[Don’t pretend you don’t know! I took it out of the bag myself, it’s the book you brought from the library that day!]

The silver snake made a threatening hissing sound.

Faced with its appearance that looked like it might bite my hand at any moment, I worried whether this silver snake had venomous fangs.

‘It’s a divine beast, surely it wouldn’t have venomous fangs?’

I carefully watched the silver snake’s reaction as I gently pushed the book away with my foot.

“I must have brought it by mistake.”

[…..]

“O-or maybe Delma brought it by mistake…”

[…..]

“I should tell Delma to put it back later!”

I muttered, not even knowing what I was saying because I was so flustered. The silver snake didn’t say anything.

It just stared at me.

‘This is making me even more nervous!’

If it had at least scolded me, I would have had something to say back.

‘It’s because you keep bothering someone who said they won’t make a contract.’

When I thought that far, I realized that I didn’t need to be so intimidated.

“So who told you to keep insisting? I clearly said I won’t make a contract with you. I told you to find another contractor,”

As I raised my head, my eyes met directly with the silver snake’s. Seeing the silver snake, I couldn’t help but stop what I was saying.

[You bad, you bad…..]

Tears began to well up in the silver snake’s eyes as it opened and closed its mouth.

I was dumbfounded at the sight.

[Even though, even though I asked you every day to make a contract with me….. You ungrateful…..]

The silver snake lowered its head. Shining droplets fell down.

“Are you crying?”

I asked out loud without realizing it. At that moment, the silver snake raised its head and lunged at me with unbelievable speed.

[You cruel, vile creature!]

‘Ah, it’s going to bite!’

Startled, I covered my head with both hands. But I didn’t feel any pain. Soon, the silver snake’s voice came from the open window.

[How could you do this to me!]

The silver snake, which had climbed up to the windowsill in an instant, threw itself outside. I ran to the window in surprise.

“Silver snake!”

But all I could see was the vast garden and the employees leisurely strolling through it. The silver snake was nowhere to be seen.