Cordelia pressed her lips tightly shut. An awkward silence fell between the two of them. Unable to even imagine making eye contact, she just stared at the ground. She summoned her courage to barely break the silence that seemed to last an eternity.

“I’m… I’ll go in now…”

“Oh, rest. Ahem. Rest.”

“Yes. I, I finished my homework.”

None of the sentences exchanged were smooth. Cordelia hurriedly left the laboratory without looking back.

Only after confirming that the door was completely closed did Leonard roughly run his hand through his hair. A sigh escaped involuntarily.

He knew Cordelia found it burdensome, but he simply couldn’t hold back the words that rose to the tip of his tongue.

It was more like an instinctive struggle than an act of will. His feelings for her had built up so much that they had now swollen to the point where he could no longer endure it.

Leonard was so confused because it was the first time he had felt such diverse emotions for a person. Until he met Cordelia, humans had only two classifications for him.

Leonard himself and the rest.

Family, colleagues, and subordinates were all lumped together in “the rest”. There was no need to divide them further. They weren’t that important to Leonard. He didn’t feel they were worth it.

But Cordelia didn’t belong to “the rest”. She was a much more special and enormous existence that didn’t belong to either category.

That’s why it was painful.

When Leonard confessed, he noticed the bewilderment on Cordelia’s face and felt like his toes were crumbling. He had expected it, but actually facing it took his breath away.

Stopping her from giving an answer was also unlike him. If the Baron knew about this, he would surely click his tongue.

“You’re showing off.”

Just like Kandias is doing right now.

The demon, who had been watching their entire conversation from a short distance, said with twitching eyes. He looked like he was trying to hold back laughter after finding something to tease about.

“Get lost. My mind’s troubled enough as it is.”

“Troubled? Kya kya kya. It’s a sight to see. To hear you say you’re troubled because of a woman.”

“I said move.”

Leonard rubbed his face dry and pushed away Kandias, who was sticking close. But the demon became even more excited and started babbling.

“Always acting like you’re all that, but in front of a woman, you can’t even say a word like a dog that needs to poop.”

“Won’t you shut up?”

“Where’s my mouth? Do you see this as a mouth? Besides, who confesses like that? I could do better with my feet. Hey. You probably don’t know because you’ve never dated, but women are…”

Kandias cleared his throat with a hem and started showing off, rattling on. Leonard kept his mouth shut and said nothing.

The demon was chattering on, then suddenly turned his head to examine his contractor. The silence made him uneasy.

“Are you done?”

“…I, I think so. Why? What? What do you want me to do?”

“Then give me your eyeballs. I’ll blind you.”

Leonard said, gathering magic in his palm. Kandias ran away at that.

* * *

“How about we rest here today?”

“Sounds good, Sir Mervan.”

“You can call me Gashil.”

The brown-haired man spoke with a mixture of politeness and goodwill.

As it hadn’t been long since the kidnapping incident, two men were assigned as escorts for the journey to the capital. One was naturally Beluce, and the other was a knight named Gashil Mervan, whom she had briefly seen before – a man who seemed like the epitome of knighthood.

“How friendly, when you’ve barely met.”

Beluce, who had been listening nearby, muttered as he brushed past. Gashil didn’t even turn his head in that direction.

After traveling together for several days, it was clear that the two men weren’t exactly on good terms. To be precise, Gashil ignored Beluce, and Beluce was jealous of Gashil.

Cordelia was tired every time these subtle emotions clashed, but she saw no reason to mediate between them, so she just pretended not to notice. In fact, just worrying about what had happened to her was enough to fill her days.

‘What should I say to my master when I return?’

More than the news of her dying father, more than the two knights subtly competing, what was gnawing at Cordelia now was Leonard. Whether sitting or standing, sleeping or awake, her head was so full of thoughts of him that there was no room for anything else.

“Ingrion?”

At Gashil’s short murmur, Cordelia, who had been lost in thought, raised her head. It didn’t sound like he was calling Beluce. As expected, Gashil’s gaze was fixed on the numerous knights and attendants occupying the first floor of the inn.

On the pauldrons on their shoulders was an emblem with a delicately drawn peony and bird, the same as the one on Beluce’s scabbard. She glanced sideways at Beluce’s profile. But his expressionless face made it impossible to know what he was thinking.

“Oh my, I’m sorry, my lords. Our inn has currently rented out all rooms to the Viscount Ingrion’s household.”

The man who appeared to be the innkeeper ran over and bowed his head when he saw Cordelia’s party enter the inn.

“Ah, are you perhaps part of the Viscount’s party?”

Then, suddenly noticing Beluce’s scabbard, the innkeeper asked.

“No. We’re not part of their group. If there are no rooms, we’ll go to another inn.”

Cordelia hurriedly answered. She clearly remembered that Viscount Ingrion had tried to kill his son.

She slightly hunched her shoulders and tried to leave the inn. But as she approached the door, a dagger flew quickly.

With a clear chink sound, the dagger collided and bounced off. Somehow Beluce had already drawn his sword and was glaring fiercely at someone with a wild look on his face. Gashil quietly blocked Cordelia’s front.

“Well, who do we have here? Isn’t it the great Atilei’s dog?”

A young man with black hair approached Beluce, swaggering. Judging by his attire and appearance, he seemed to be one of Viscount Ingrion’s sons.

“What business does the likes of you have where Ingrion is staying?”

“I didn’t come to see your face, so why don’t you just get lost, Noah Ingrion.”

They didn’t look alike enough to be brothers except for their hair color. Cordelia was quietly holding her breath behind them.

“Noah? How dare a bastard like you call my name?”

“What should I call you then? The idiot who barely became a knight at twenty-five?”

“Die, you son of a bitch!”

It happened in an instant. Noah charged at Beluce with his sword drawn.

Despite his fierce charge, his skill seemed inversely proportional. Or perhaps Beluce was just too strong. After swinging his sword a few times, Beluce’s blade soon reached Noah’s neck. Even to Cordelia, who didn’t know much about swords, the difference in skill was overwhelming.

“Do you think I’m still the kid you used to beat up?”

“You bastard…”

Noah glared at Beluce, his face distorted with rage. In contrast, Beluce showed little emotional change. If anything, he seemed a bit tired of the situation. He lowered his sword from Noah’s neck without hesitation and said,

“If you don’t want to be further humiliated, why don’t you stop?”

“Eek! What are you all doing? Are you just going to stand there watching?”

Noah turned around and shouted at the Ingrion knights filling the inn. Then an older knight who seemed to be the leader of the Ingrion knights cautiously approached Noah.

“Lord Noah, the Viscount will arrive soon. Please stop this…”

“What? Stop? Who are you to tell me what to do?”

Noah swung his scabbard at the old knight as if to vent his anger. There seemed to be plenty of room to dodge, but the old knight endured the violence as if accustomed to it.

Cordelia, who had been quiet until then, made eye contact with Beluce. Beluce lightly nodded towards the door. Recognizing that gesture, she said to Gashil,

“Let’s leave now.”

“Yes, that would be best.”

Gashil opened the inn door while remaining vigilant. However, as if cursed, when the old wooden door opened, a new figure was standing there. The moment Cordelia saw the stern-faced man with black hair, she realized who he was.

‘His eyes really are exactly like Beluce’s.’

She recalled what Leonard had said in passing before. She could understand why he had said that Viscount Ingrion and Beluce’s eyes were so similar that it was impossible to deny they were father and son.

Beluce’s eyes sometimes showed flecks of gold in his black irises when they caught the sunlight, and the older man right in front of her had the exact same eyes.

“What is all this?”

“Ah, Father.”

Noah stopped his hand in surprise upon seeing Viscount Ingrion enter through the door. The old knight who had been beaten without a sound finally staggered to his feet.

Viscount Ingrion strode over to his son and raised his right hand to strike Noah’s cheek. It was so forceful that Noah, a grown man, staggered.

“You can’t even obey a simple order to stay put.”

“Kuk.”

“Go to your room.”

Viscount Ingrion didn’t even ask for an explanation of the situation, like why Noah had been beating the old knight. Noah, seemingly ashamed of being hit in front of so many people, hid his reddened cheek and fled up to the second floor.

The Viscount, without bothering to check on Noah’s whereabouts, turned directly to Beluce.

“And you, what business do you have here?”

“I’m on escort duty, sir.”

“Escort?”

Surprisingly, unlike his attitude towards Noah, Beluce yielded readily to Viscount Ingrion. The Viscount’s eyes landed on Gashil and Cordelia in turn.

“Sir Mervan. And you are?”

“I’m Cordelia Vasquez.”

She didn’t even want to add the trite pleasantries like “pleased to meet you.” However, the other party seemed to think differently, as Viscount Ingrion’s eyes changed instantly upon hearing Cordelia’s name.