TVEWD 53

“Oh no, I’m sorry. My cane sometimes acts up.”

Isaac brazenly apologized with a completely unrepentant look on his face.

Then he politely extended his hand to Rowan, acting as if it wasn’t intentional.

But anyone could tell it was clearly deliberate.

Rowan had fallen while stubbornly following Fresa.

“Mr. Cade was trying to help me.”

However, as Fresa knew, Isaac was of commoner birth.

Rowan was a noble, one of the top ten wealthiest and most renowned nobles in the kingdom.

Of course, in terms of wealth alone, Isaac might have had more, but in this world, a frustrating class society, Isaac was at a disadvantage.

Luckily, the music had just happened to end right on time, and everyone had stopped dancing, so all eyes were on this side.

If Rowan refused to accept the apology now, it would tarnish his reputation as benevolent and gentle.

Fresa silently watched to see what Rowan would do.

Perhaps Rowan shared her thoughts, because he quickly reined in his distorted expression, took Isaac’s hand, and stood up.

“It’s alright. You’re Fresa’s partner, after all.”

“Nice to meet you, Count Guilespiee. My name is Isaac Cade.”

“I’ve never heard of the Cade family before. Are you from the countryside?”

Rowan, brushing off his wrinkled clothes, fixed a sharp look on Isaac.

Their conversation was so quiet that it was barely audible unless you were close.

But Fresa heard every word clearly.

Every time Rowan looked down on someone, he brought up topics like where they were from or which family they belonged to—such trivial things.

‘Anyway, he’s good at being petty.’

Fresa couldn’t bear to watch that spectacle and quickly stepped closer to Isaac, lightly grabbing his arm.

“Let’s go, Mr. Cade.”

“Shall we?”

Just then, a new performance started.

Young nobles gathered at the center of the hall to dance with new partners, and Rowan, who had inadvertently found himself among them, couldn’t approach Fresa again.

Fresa finally felt relieved and hurriedly left the hall.

The cool evening air cleared her mind.

She still felt the lingering touch of Rowan’s hand and wiped her wrist nervously.

“Are you going to stop by the Thorpe residence?”

Isaac, without asking about Rowan, simply confirmed Fresa’s destination.

Fresa looked up at him for a moment, then stared at the carriage waiting in front of the hall.

She finally heard that the Thorpe siblings had left the mansion.

It had already been ten days since then, which felt quite strange.

Fresa opened her small bag and checked the key she had received earlier.

It was something she had received before attending the banquet.

Although it was meant to be handed over to Loren, today that grand and splendid mansion belonged to her.

“Yes, I just want to check the condition. What about you, Mr. Cade?”

“I’m planning to go to the guild. Things have been busy with the alchemy shop lately, and I haven’t been able to visit.”

Isaac replied casually, folding his cane back into his coat pocket.

It was the first time seeing such a thing—a cane that could fold like paper—and she found it quite fascinating.

‘Mr. Cade seems to favor magical items.’

Items made with magic were expensive and highly collectible, so few people bought and used them personally.

But Isaac was using such things freely according to his means.

Like magic scrolls or adjustable-length canes.

However, honestly, Fresa didn’t like using magic scrolls to teleport.

At first, it was convenient, but the strange feeling that her soul was somehow drifting away was unpleasant.

Plus, she had to set the coordinates in advance, which meant custom orders.

That’s why they were more expensive.

Fresa waited for Isaac to take out his scroll, expecting him to do so.

She planned to wait until after he left to use the carriage herself.

But even after some time, Isaac did not take out the scroll.

He was simply staring at her.

Finally, Fresa broke the silence.

“Are you not going?”

“I should see you off.”

“Me?”

“Yes. You’re not going to sleep there alone, right? It’s a bit awkward to go to an empty mansion alone. The coordinates aren’t set, so I’ll take you by carriage to the mansion, but when you return, you can use the scroll.”

Isaac approached the carriage with a determined stride, opened the door, and extended his hand to Fresa.

She hesitated for a moment, then lightly grasped his hand and stepped into the carriage.

Isn’t that a bit too kind?

She thought so, but she figured he just wanted to finish the evening as her dance partner, so she let it slide.

The carriage was silent inside.

Fresa looked out the window at the sunset, lost in thought.

Suddenly, she wondered how Ricard was doing.

‘There seemed to be something going on, after all.’

But he had promised to come back, so she was sure he would keep that promise.

Though she didn’t know when exactly that would be.

“What are you thinking about? Is it because of Count Guilespiee?”

Isaac’s gentle voice made Fresa turn to look at him.

It seemed like he had been looking out the window just a moment ago, but now he was staring intently at her.

Fresa slowly shook her head.

“No. Why would I be thinking about that person? I’m just a little tired. Honestly, I find social gatherings like this quite boring.”

“Business is unavoidable, after all. I understand that well.”

Isaac replied understandingly.

He must have gone through quite a lot to build his guild.

Fresa decided to bring up a question she’d been curious about for a while.

“Did Mr. Cade run the guild alone? Or did you have a partner? It must have been difficult to grow the guild that much on your own. If this is an uncomfortable question, please tell me. I’ve become a business owner myself, and I have all sorts of questions.”

She chose her words carefully to avoid making Isaac uncomfortable.

Perhaps because of that, he answered without any resistance.

“I started with a friend. We parted ways later because our opinions didn’t match. Running a business is a complicated and tough path. It’s hard to be confident about success. But from what I see, you seem fairly confident about the results.”

“Thank you for telling me. If your comment after that was a question, then yes. I was confident. I felt it would go well.”

Fresa gave a small smile.

It was a certainty she could only have because she remembered her past life, but since she couldn’t really say that, she just shrugged it off.

As they continued talking about the alchemy shop, the carriage arrived in front of the Thorpe mansion.

It had already become dark all around.

Fresa and Isaac opened the mansion’s front door and looked inside.

The empty mansion was shrouded in silence.

It was a little eerie, perhaps because no lights were on.

Fresa hesitated, unable to enter, and simply looked inside from the doorway.

‘Really, no one’s here.’

Until she had lived here, it was a place bustling with countless staff working day and night.

But just a few months later, this is what it had become.

If Fresa hadn’t bought it, it likely would have been owned by some other noble or wealthy magnate.

Standing just behind her, Isaac asked as he stood beside her.

“It’s pretty empty. Are you going in?”

“I don’t think there’s any need. I just came to check if everyone really has left.”

“Then let’s go back before it gets any later. I brought the scroll.”

“Yes, I think that’s best.”

Fresa checked the inside one last time, then locked the front door again.

She stuffed the heavy bunch of keys into her bag and turned to leave, when suddenly, a sharp object flew through the air from nowhere.

“Take cover!”

Isaac, who recognized it first, quickly took out his cane, unfolded it in an instant, and deflected it.

A sharp dagger struck the cane, flew off, and clattered loudly on the floor.

It was an assassin.

Isaac was already standing in front of Fresa.

~·~·*· . ·**##^^##**· . ·*·~·~

Hey there, It’s Green Rose 😉

Since I human I might have make some mistakes while translating so please if you find them let me know here in the comments or in the Discord group so I can correct them and be careful in the future so they do not repeat.

Thank you so much for reading, I hope you enjoyed this chapter.

~~~Next Chapter~~~

Next chapter will be released Tomorrow.

See you then!!