Chapter – 17
“What is this laurel wreath?”
“His Majesty the Emperor bestowed it upon you, saying he has great expectations!”
“…Pardon?”
Under the wreath, it was written:
[Congratulations! Appointment as Duke Aldehyde’s exclusive mage!]
This isn’t some kind of shop-opening congratulatory towel giveaway…
“Right now… I mean…”
“Lord Aldehyde has appointed Miss Ririe as his exclusive mage!”
At that moment, Namia, who had been grinding her teeth quietly at the side, suddenly shouted in a shrill voice.
“You said that would never happen!”
“Hm, but it just did.”
I said it completely seriously, but her face twisted like she had just bitten into something rotten.
“How unlucky.”
Leaving behind a line worthy of a third-rate villain, Namia stormed off.
Paul and Rend looked at me seriously.
“You defeated Miss Namia with those clear, innocent eyes.”
“Seriously impressive. I guess this is what it takes to become exclusive?”
Thinking I’d like to defeat Aldehyde too, I suddenly asked:
“…But what exactly do you mean by exclusive?”
“You didn’t expect it either! You’re his exclusive now! He personally approved it!”
Still dazed, I was soon seated in a golden chair inside the “Exclusive Mage Office” within the Ability Stabilization Department.
Watching the overly excited Paul and Rend, I fell into deep despair.
What is this? If I’m exclusive, doesn’t that mean we’re too close?
My goal was to observe from a distance, but Aldehyde had suddenly closed that distance without warning.
What if my identity gets exposed at this rate?
All kinds of complicated thoughts swept through my mind, and my face turned pale.
But they seemed to misunderstand my expression.
“Ah, you’re disappointed you couldn’t form an imprint, right?”
“……”
No. If I got imprinted, I’d be completely screwed.
“Unfortunately your resonance rate isn’t high enough for imprinting, but it’s still a good thing!”
“You’re Lord Aldehyde’s very first exclusive mage after all!”
“Even His Majesty has extremely high expectations!”
With Rend and Paul talking from both sides like surround sound, my thoughts gradually started to shut down.
Well… if I think about it differently, maybe this really is a good thing.
If I’m just an exclusive with only a 5% resonance rate and no imprint… maybe we won’t actually be that close.
Anyway, I could observe him more closely than others, and if Aldehyde did something bad, I could secretly stop him.
I nodded and hung the laurel wreath loosely on my arm.
“Then before I properly start work, I’d like to know more about Lord Aldehyde…”
I smiled brightly. Asking about your boss is the most basic thing for a newcomer. No one would find it suspicious.
Alright, Aldehyde.
Now I’ll calmly listen to the rumors about you from your own subordinates.
* * *
“Oh? You want to know about Lord Aldehyde? Sure! I’ll summarize it cleanly.”
“Yes.”
I swallowed and pulled out a notebook and quill pen.
We were in the Royal Knights’ cafeteria, surrounded by knights and stabilization mages.
“In one word, Lord Aldehyde is a mad dog. Once he bites, he never lets go.”
Yes. He definitely seemed completely insane.
“You mean he slaughtered a thousand monsters at once?”
“Yeah. He completely lost it after hearing they had harmed a young girl.”
“Wow…”
I could understand his anger… but also not really.
“If I had to put it simply, he’s a righteous mad dog. Something like that.”
Does the phrase righteous mad dog even make sense?
Well, since there are many witnesses in the knight order, he probably mostly acts for just causes.
I awkwardly changed the subject.
“Then does he have any other activities? Like hobbies?”
“Hobbies? Honestly, I think monster slaughter is his hobby.”
A mad dog who grows killer flowers and slaughters monsters for fun. Surprisingly, with a positive moral influence attached.
No matter how I think about it, this is completely outside my common sense.
At that moment, Paul grinned.
“Well, I think you’ve learned enough about Lord Aldehyde.”
Honestly, it just felt like I’d only reconfirmed that he was crazy.
I looked at Paul with a strange expression, but he didn’t seem to notice the meaning behind my gaze and casually changed the topic.
“Now then, let me explain the work you’ll be doing with Lord Aldehyde.”
“Yes.”
“Lord Aldehyde doesn’t work in the afternoons. His schedule is completely empty then.”
“Oh, I see.”
“So basically you’ll only have work in the mornings. You can rest in the afternoon.”
“Understood. But what does Lord Aldehyde do in the afternoons…?”
“Ah, I don’t know either. He just always requests schedule adjustments.”
“I see.”
I answered politely, but the question remained.
What is it? What could he possibly be doing that his schedule is empty at the same time every day?
Something smells fishy. Very fishy.
* * *
That afternoon.
While everyone wondered what Aldehyde was doing, he left the palace exactly on time.
Something just as important as finding out whether Ririe was his sister or not.
That was…
Registering for <Lady Dahlia Blair’s Perfect Aegyo Class>!
I absolutely cannot be late.
The motivation behind all of Aldehyde’s actions was surprisingly simple.
Naturally, it was to look good in front of his older sister who liked cute things.
Since the class usually filled within one minute of opening, he managed to register through blood, sweat, and tears.
Afterward, he arrived at the Laric Academy, where the class was held.
The moment he entered, the normally warm atmosphere instantly turned cold, as if ice water had been poured over it.
“Um, welcome everyone to the class for becoming a charming and adorable lady…?”
Madam Dahlia’s voice faltered mid-sentence.
Which was understandable.
The person attending the class was anything but ordinary.
A 190 cm muscular knight.
Aldehyde.
Aldehyde attended the class of Dahlia, the bestselling author of <Aegyo Lessons>, without even attempting to hide his face.
Since his exploits were frequently covered in newspapers, the students recognized him immediately.
“Am I seeing things? That’s… Lord Aldehyde, right?”
“Why is he here?!”
Meanwhile, as if he didn’t know the meaning of embarrassment, he sat in the very front row and looked straight at Dahlia.
“Aren’t you starting the class?”
Everyone fell silent.
After about 30 seconds of silence, Dahlia asked the question no one else dared to.
“Um…”
“What.”
“Why… did you come here?”
“To become a true man.”
“…?”
The students glanced at Aldehyde sitting in a pink chair covered in frills with confused expressions.
The capital’s cold-blooded killer. A man who could cut down even the strongest monsters in one strike. A demon manipulating the puppet emperor…
A man with countless terrifying titles was seriously attending an aegyo class.
Dahlia unconsciously tried to object.
“If you want to become a true man, perhaps another class would be better… Knights usually hate aegyo, saying it damages their dignity…”
“As if dignity would die from something like aegyo. If a lady wants it, a man should act cute and show charm too.”
“G-gasp.”
At Aldehyde’s firm answer, the room fell silent. None of the ladies had ever thought about it that way.
“Why? I think a man who can’t do what a lady wants isn’t a true man.”
