Chapter 52
Titia started shouting at the letter.
“What do you mean, bad?! It had a good effect, you idiot!”
“It even smells nice.”
“Why are you like this!”
When she tried to pull away in disgust, he laughed and hugged her even tighter.
“Are you going to write a reply?”
“No. Compared to the letters I’ve sent them over the years, this is just a little. If I send more, I’ll decide whether to reply or not.”
In two years, only a handful of replies had come.
So they would have to wait.
They needed to understand how agonizing and frustrating it is to wait desperately for a letter.
“You made a good decision, boss. Let’s use this as firewood.”
“Good idea.”
“Oh, and… wait a moment.”
Seeing Titia jump off his thigh, he felt a sense of emptiness.
He wanted to stay attached to her as if they were one body, but Titia hopped and darted around.
He watched her movement with disapproval.
Couldn’t she just stay by his side?
“Boss!”
Seeing Titia approach cheerfully, he hid his impure thoughts and welcomed her.
“Lately, I’ve only been bringing sweets, so the chef banned snacks.”
The chef had banned them for Zervant’s health. But when the sweet treats suddenly stopped, Titia, unable to resist withdrawal symptoms, eventually went ahead and did it herself.
Holding out a warm waffle spread with apple jam and fresh cream, she proudly exclaimed,
“So I secretly brought waffles!”
“…….”
“How is it? Looks delicious, right? The apple jam even has fruit pieces, so it’s nice and crunchy!”
She carefully cut them into bite-sized pieces and fed them to him. The fresh aroma and sweet cream spread in his mouth.
The crispy waffle went perfectly with the white cream and apple jam.
“Delicious, right!”
Watching her smile and eat a bite herself, he nodded.
“Yes, cute.”
“Huh? The waffle?”
“…….”
He had misspoken.
Thinking about it all day, the words just slipped out.
Moving his lips nervously, he stammered,
“I want to see a cute flower.”
“A cute flower? I’m right here! What flower are you talking about?”
It was so cute how she exaggerated everything she said.
Seeing Titia look at him like a flower with a calyx, he couldn’t keep looking at her and lowered his head.
It was as if smoke were rising from his face.
After teasing him enough, Titia grabbed Zervant’s hand and pulled him up.
“Let’s go to the garden. I’ll be your flower, so let’s go look at the stars.”
With Titia, he could go anywhere—even outside the duke’s estate.
His range of movement was no longer limited. However, outside the mansion, Titia had to accompany him.
They couldn’t be separated by more than a certain distance. Zervant liked this, but he also felt it was a shame and tried to find a way to move freely by himself.
Zervant would sometimes subtly interfere with their attempts.
“Boss, look! The stars are out!”
Titia waved the hand he held and pointed to the sky. This night was different from the darkness Zervant had been trapped in for two years.
There were stars and the moon, cool night air, insects chirping, and flowers gently swaying even in the darkness.
“Night walks aren’t so bad, right?”
Holding her hand, he quietly nodded.
In the garden full of blooming flowers, the boss was reading a book in sunlight. Titia stood in front of him and shouted loudly.
“Depression and gloom shouldn’t become your lifestyle! There’s a saying that posture changes a person!”
“What’s this all of a sudden?”
The saint and the crown prince were constantly showering gifts, probably because they knew the boss couldn’t go out.
They knew this would make the boss change his mind. They were confident that only they mattered to the boss.
But as long as I’m here, our boss is a fortress.
He’s not someone who forgives easily.
What worried me was that now that the boss could move outside the mansion, he needed to start social activities—but he was shy.
After being trapped for two years, he had zero social skills.
So before going out for public activities, he needed to regain his lost senses.
“We need to start preparing to go out.”
They didn’t have to be attached constantly, but to go outside, I and the boss couldn’t be separated beyond a certain distance.
But this wasn’t all bad. Soon, he’d be able to go out without me.
At this rate, probably very soon.
“Where do you think you’re going?”
Why so reluctant, boss?
I shouted to motivate him.
“You can’t live as a shut-in forever! Let’s go out and surprise the saint and crown prince. We need preparation for that!”
“I agree.”
At that moment, someone suddenly jumped out from the bushes. Startled, I screamed, but Sir Danny raised his hand and stood next to me.
“I want to go out and guard too.”
He wanted to go with the boss.
Sir Danny’s eyes sparkled unusually. Eventually, the boss closed his book.
“So?”
Calming my startled heart, I spoke my plan without hesitation.
“First, regain lost senses!”
“Lost senses?”
“You’ve just been crouching by the bed and barely moving. Boss, aren’t you a swordsman?”
“Yes, but…”
“It’s sparring, right? Sparring!”
Sir Danny got excited, uncharacteristically so, just at the thought of sparring with the boss after a long time.
I grabbed a teaspoon on the table and swung it like a sword.
“Start by moving your body like this!”
“Why are you struggling?”
I’m not struggling—I’m demonstrating.
Using a wrist snap, I tapped Sir Danny on the jaw with the spoon. He groaned and rubbed his jaw.
“……Sense.”
The boss muttered quietly while looking at his own hand. After clenching and opening it once, he made a strange face and slowly nodded.
“……The sword is good.”
“There’s plenty more to do.”
The boss looked exasperated.
“More?”
“More! A mountain of things!”
I continued a long lecture, pretending to adjust my nonexistent glasses. Sir Danny had already attached himself to the boss and focused.
Of course, he got smirked at and lightly hit once while touching the back of the boss’s hand.
Why is he like this? Did it rub off from Mr. Veilt?
They valued silence like gold. That’s why he looked so good.
“You need to practice talking comfortably with people while regaining your senses.”
He was a bit better now. Not as awkward as before, but he was still far from his old self.
He spoke well in battle, but daily life was the issue. You can’t fight with everyone you meet.
“Try daily conversations while clashing swords with knights. Once you can do that, you can gradually meet nobles or Eclipse Guild clients—it won’t hurt.”
“Hmm. That’s a good idea.”
“Ah!”
Startled by Mr. Veilt suddenly interrupting, I jumped and hit his forehead with the spoon I held.
Mr. Veilt screamed in pain, clutching the center of his forehead.
“Why are you so sneaky!?”
“Be careful with the jump power!”
“If you’re too surprised! I stopped mid-ascent!”
Mr. Veilt gave a wry smile while rubbing his aching head. Sir Danny turned back, laughing and slapping the ground. Mr. Veilt kicked Sir Danny’s backside and said,
“Continue.”
“You also have to go for walks with me every day.”
“Will that help?”
“Of course! Even in the garden, you should be able to move around like inside the mansion, even without me.”
“Reasonable.”
There were many other tasks: restoring the boss’s former pride and arrogance, practicing not weakening in front of the saint and crown prince, learning the manners expected of a noble, managing tasks as a duke and Eclipse Guild member, and studying magic with wizards.
It would be a 24-hour day wasn’t enough.
Listening to my endless chatter, the boss’s face visibly stiffened.
“……While I’m doing that, what do you do?”
“I stay by your side, boss.”
Like a teacher, watching carefully.
The boss, pouting, opened his book and raised it to his face, resuming reading.
