I hastily approached the desk. I needed to write a letter to Noxia, conveying everything happening at the moment.

As I sat down and lifted the pen, Zen’s voice calling me reached my ears.

“Young lady.”

Turning my head, I noticed Zen looking at me with a serious expression.

“I promised Lord that I won’t die later than Miss Tanazia. Please don’t think of leaving me behind wherever you go from now on.”

It was a brief statement, but I felt Zen’s loyalty contained within it.

Orland seemed to have chosen a good person.

I knew Zen’s past from reading the novel. Orland adopting him when he was young might have been purely impulsive, but if he had made a different choice, he would have regretted it deeply.

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

Even though Zen’s expression remained indifferent to my response, I felt a sense of relief, perhaps because I had been observing him for a long time.

Jelin, who had been silently watching us, seemed apologetic for deceiving him. She pulled out a cookie box hidden for no apparent reason and spoke cheerfully.

“Hey, want some cookies?”

While I was concerned about the news of Orland being cut off, it eased my nerves in many ways because, as Zen mentioned, it didn’t seem like a dangerous situation.

Since I had taken all possible measures in the Kalua Empire, I had no choice but to wait until Noxia sent a reply.

However, I couldn’t just sit still, so I started the task I needed to do here.

It was to change the appearance of Cal Spelliver.
I quite liked the workshop that Askan arranged. It wasn’t far from his mansion, and it was a cozy place with bright sunlight streaming in.

The necessary magical engineering devices were all equipped, making it suitable for studying the magical formulas inscribed on Cal Spelliver and changing its appearance.

Tick, tick.

I first changed the color of the sword blade to a vivid crimson, like blood.

Contemplating which color to choose, I recalled Askan holding the sword and decided on black.

I changed the appearance’s color and the shape of the magical stones, concealing the magical formulas engraved on the blade.

Of course, before concealing them, I transcribed all the numerous ancient languages written on Cal Spelliver into a notebook.

As a genius in the field of magical engineering, I encountered many ancient languages that I didn’t know. It wasn’t something I could achieve in a day or two.

I planned to continue researching by looking at the notes whenever I had time in the future.

Engrossed in my work, I suddenly heard a tapping sound on the table, as if someone were knocking on the door.

Curious, I looked up, and Askan was standing there, gazing at me.

“Askan?”

“How concentrated do you have to be not to notice someone entering?”

“I didn’t sense any presence.”

“Do you think I wouldn’t have done it?”

Despite Askan openly entering the workshop, I didn’t notice, which made me awkwardly scratch my nose and laugh.

I often heard that if I concentrated, I wouldn’t notice even if someone carried me away.

“Did you come to see how much progress I’ve made? If you look now, you’ll be surprised because the appearance has changed a lot.”

I reached into the magical engineering device to retrieve Cal Spelliver.

“No, I came to see you, not Cal Spelliver.”

At those words, I unintentionally stopped the motion of pulling out Cal Spelliver. Then, with astonished eyes, I looked at Askan, and my lips parted as if I had lost my voice.

I didn’t expect him to come in so suddenly.

Feeling like a person who lost what to say for a moment due to his straightforward words without any teasing, I remained silent.

“When did you start hovering around me and becoming negligent because you became mine?”

He uttered lines that a tragic heroine might say.

“M-Me, when did I…”

I was dumbfounded. In an instant, he approached and withdrew my hand trying to retrieve Cal Spelliver, gripping my fingers with his fingers interlaced tightly.

As if not allowing even the slightest gap, Askan looked down at me, wickedly smiling.

“Well then, tell me. Say you missed me.”

A fervor rose in his eyes, solely focused on me.

“I thought you were crazy for missing me.”