“…Luciel?”
When suddenly no sound was heard, Kizef felt a little worried. With a click, he carefully opened the doorknob and went inside.
Tap. Tap.
( Note: sfx for Kizef’s walking)
On the bed with the canopy, Luciel was asleep like a baby.
‘Did you sleep because you were tired?’
He went straight to the table to leave the sky-blue gift box there and something was stomped by his feet.
“Huh?”
It was shiny and solid.
“Jewel?”
It was very beautiful shining Emeralds and Topazes.
Last time, at the Altar of Fire, he had picked up the jewels that were rolling around Luciel.
‘Why is she rolling jewels on the floor like this?’
Kizef picked up all the fallen jewels and piled them up next to Luciel.
Luciel, who wrote him a letter, seemed to be a simple person, uninterested in worldly things, but that seems to not be the case.
‘It’s good for people to be greedy in moderation.’
Because he was not greedy. Maybe it’s because he has already taken too much.
He was still not sure what the names written on the paper he found in Luciel’s room last time meant. Among them, there was a name that he knew very well.
Maximus von Cavill.
If such a tender and kind child wrote their names down…
“If anyone is bothering you…I won’t let them go unscathed.”
His clenched fists trembled, and his beautiful face contorted. His red eyes, which have grown even darker, disappeared after looking at Luciel’s sleeping face for a long time.
Returning to the banquet hall, Kizef informed the Duke.
“Luciel fell asleep because she was tired.”
“I think it’s better to let her have a good night’s sleep today. Giving gifts will have to be postponed. Rest until the reception is held.”
The reception was one of the few traditional events that officially welcomed outside guests invited by Bellstein. So, even within the Empire, there were a lot of nobles waiting for that day. It was a monumental day for the closed Bellstein to open its doors to the outside world.
“…What can I do at the reception?”
“All you have to do is show your face for a while. I will omit all other official schedules.”
In reality, the wedding reception is only an excuse, it will be an event to breathe a little bit of life into the scheduled diplomatic business and the social status of Bellstein, which had been blocked for a while.
“I have a friend I want to invite.”
Kizef’s blood-red eyes were as cold as the Duke’s. Louivid raised his eyebrows, reluctant to say something.
“Friend…Ellington will take care of it.”
It was because words that don’t quite fit came out of his son’s mouth.
* * *
At that time, the northern wizard tower was in another mood.
Erika was locked up in her lab all night and didn’t come out. She had already spent two nights like that.
Her fellow mages only tilted their head.
“Didn’t Erika Sylvane say that her last research assignment was over?”
“Yes, she said it was done. It has been like this since the last time she was called to Bellstein Castle by Master Gillard.”
“…Hold on, the Lord of the towers said that he only had her organize documents, but after taking the child, how much work did he make her do?”
“Should we go in and help?”
“Tsk, Arthur. Then we will have to stay up all night together with her, right?”
“Oh, then I’ll just pretend I don’t know.”
The mages sneakily approached Erika’s lab, just in case her lab would be open.
Eres, who was passing through the hallway, also heard the gossip of the mages and worried for a while about whether she was eating or not.
‘It’s definitely not something that Teacher asked her to do. She’s been busy like that after meeting Luciel, I think?’
Eres thought so while chewing the apple.
Once Erika was interested in something, she had a tendency to dig very deeply. Until she gets the answer she wants.
At best she was a geek, at worst she was a nutcase.
When she was like that, it was best to just keep his distance.
“If she’s hungry, she will eat on her own.”
As Eres had predicted, Erika couldn’t take her eyes off the magic observation device with excited eyes.
The needle of the observation instrument was still pointing to the highest scale.
“…I can’t believe it.”
She has been studying a lot about various mana-powered objects, including high-class magic stones.
From objects covered with expensive high-quality magic scrolls to artifacts that treasure hunters found in ancient dungeons. However, she had never seen anything that produced such a high level of magic.
Is that all?
This brilliant emerald had the power of an element.
When she picked up the emerald with tweezers and put it into the machine, the papers inside the huge flask flew away.
It was the power of the wind.
Erika was itching to do more research on this jewel, but she still had to report it to Luciel, who commissioned it.
I don’t know how Miss Luciel got this, but I am confident in this one thing.
(Changing to Miss since they got closer.)
This jewel will not only have unimaginable material value but will also become a very precious jewel in terms of magic value.
Erika hugged her pounding heart and put the jewel deep in her arms. She was going to report to Luciel right away, but the moment she opened her door, she stopped moving and collapsed in front of her lab.
“Wh-what! Sister!”
“Erica Sylvane has fallen!”
Upon hearing the commotion, Eres and the other mages came to her, carried Erika to the bed, and even summoned a healing wizard.
Even in her consciousness, going far away, Erika muttered Luciel’s name.
* * *
Luciel opened her sparkling eyes. She seemed to have fallen asleep because she was exhausted from making jewelry.
She woke up from bed with a rustling sound and found a pocket next to her pillow. Someone had neatly put the jewels inside the pocket.
Luciel became anxious and chewed her nails.
‘Did Rose or Bessie come? They didn’t see me making jewelry, did they?’
As I looked around while biting my lips, I suddenly saw a sky blue gift box on the table.
“Did I have another present?”
Luciel got her feet off the bed, put on her plush slippers, and walked over to the table. When she opened the box with a fluttering heart, inside was a pretty hat made of fluffy white fur.
It looks like a hat worn by babies, but it was quite cute.
Luciel went to the mirror and turned her hat over. It was cute because there were fluffy bell-like balls of cloth that swung under the fluffy hat.
Come to think of it, there was also a letter under the box. It seemed like I could hear Kizef’s voice.
[Happy birthday, Luciel.]
Luciel smiled softly.
She took off the hat and went out into the hallway. Before moving to the private residence, Kizef’s room would still be in the East Wing.
How many steps did she go down the hallway? Unexpectedly, Kizef’s back was seen next to the pillar as soon as she opened the door of her room.
As he turned around, Luciel unknowingly stopped her feet and hid behind the wall. However, she could not properly hide the sound of the slippers’ footsteps.
Kizef came up to her side. As he was just around the corner, he approached and looked down at Luciel. She tried to cover up her awkwardness and said,
“The hat and the card. Kizef gave them, right? Thank you for the gift.”
“Whoever sees it, it’s your present. As soon as I saw it, I thought of you.”
Kizef chuckled. Under his exposed forehead, his eyes were beautifully curved. He looks cold when he is expressionless, but when he smiles, it seems that anyone will melt away with it.
Luciel slightly grumbled.
“…No matter how you look at it, it’s used by babies.”
“That’s right, baby.”
“I am ten years old from today. Not a baby.”
Looking at Luciel’s pointy lips, Kizef’s red eyes turned and he took one more step closer. Luciel didn’t say anything at his hand stroking her soft silver hair as if to gently pet her, only her eyes widened.
‘What is this. Why do I feel so happy and itchy?’
Luciel felt something was wrong with her and shook her head as if to brush off his hand. As if he had been possessed by something for a moment, Kizef came to his senses and said,
“Oh, sorry I didn’t mean it. It just looks so soft.”
“Well, it’s okay. Since everyone pats my hair often, ahem.”
Luciel pretended to cough to hide her shyness. Kizef suddenly approached and asked.
“Can I stroke you one more time?”
“…Uh? Oh, no. No, I mean, sure!”
Kizef laughed at Luciel, whose face turned red while replying back and forth. Behind his languid smile, Kizef’s long arms stretched out and touched Luciel’s hair. The scent of fresh flowers wafted from her long, waving hair. It really felt like stroking a pure white snow rabbit with fluffy fur.
A sweet, fluffy touch wrapped around his hand. Kizef’s pointed eyes curled languidly.
‘It’s so cute. Will she get angry if I touch her more? I want to pet her again…’
He suppressed the thought and withdrew his hand. Not realizing that his earlobe was red, Kizef covered his mouth with his hand and pressed his chin.
Luciel asked, tilting her head.
“Are you done now?”
Kizef nodded, covering his face.
‘I think he really liked my hair.’
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Luciel somehow felt proud. Her father-in-law, Grandpa, and other adults would often pat her hair.
What was a little strange was that when Kizef petted her, a corner of Luciel’s heart tickled and she felt very shy.
Kizef turned his head slightly and lazily murmured. Thanks to this, his tall nose bridge stood out. It seemed that the bridge of his nose was shining.
“Luciel, do you like jewelry?”
At his words, Luciel instantly became frozen like ice.