Chapter 16
If you’ve been found, you lose! There’s no running away now!
I ran as if my life depended on it.
“Sanserning, study! Don’t you want your monthly pay?”
Limerick turned around, startled, and muttered,
“Strange… you pronounce important words very clearly. Is it just me?”
Then he ran away again—too far for me to chase.
I stopped and stared, annoyed.
“Erusha Sanserni is such a brat…”
Meanwhile, in the bright afternoon,
Leonardo Chablin sat lazily in his fancy carriage, passing the busy streets.
Even his bored pose looked impressive, and Crowby, sitting across, couldn’t help but admire him.
The jewelry on his ears and neck seemed dull compared to his beauty.
Crowby suddenly remembered something.
“By the way, Erusha came for a secret lesson today. They played hide-and-seek, apparently.”
“Hide-and-seek?”
“Yes. She said if Erusha found her, she’d teach her.”
“Wasn’t the lesson supposed to be once a week?”
“Yes. I said no, but she ignored it because of the Marquis’ orders.”
“Fire her.”
Crowby was surprised but couldn’t hide his grin.
“Right? Even if Erusha is cute enough to see every day, rules are rules.”
“Hmm?”
Crowby rubbed his palms nervously.
“Can’t I just teach Erusha myself? They just want a tutor’s name anyway. I won’t even teach anything. I can promise to skip lessons better than any other tutor. Haha.”
Officially being able to see Erusha made Crowby excited. But Leon’s gaze narrowed.
“It’s better to just give more pay to Limerick. That way, he’ll slack off more.”
“…Yes.”
Crowby closed his mouth, disappointed. Arguing with Leon would only annoy him.
Leon looked out the window, thinking about Limerick Bray, who owed his life to him.
Seven years ago, Leon saved Limerick from a group attack in a quiet alley. Limerick had been sending yearly letters to repay his debt. Leon had mostly ignored them, thinking they were trivial.
But now, Erusha needed a tutor. He contacted Limerick, who happily agreed.
‘He quit a top Imperial judge job just to do this. Has he lost his mind?’
A strange thought crossed Leon’s mind: Erusha was slowly entering his daily life.
He hadn’t thought about her before, but now he was involved.
‘Why does this feel so strange…?’
As the carriage passed, Leon noticed something unusual and lifted himself from the seat.
“What’s that?”
He looked back at a shop they had already passed. A doll shop with round faces, colorful hair, jeweled dresses. Even in the moving carriage, it looked luxurious.
Leon tilted his head. ‘Was that always there?’
He rang the bell to stop the carriage. Crowby was confused.
“Is someone you know outside?”
“I need to check something.”
Leon jumped down as soon as the carriage stopped. Crowby followed, curious.
‘What could he be checking?’
Leon stopped in front of the shop. Crowby looked inside.
Dolls! Expensive, crafted for wealthy children. Crowby’s face lit up.
“Are you buying them for Erusha?”
“Yes,” Leon said silently, frowning.
The shop assistant appeared, surprised at Leon’s appearance. He had an unusual silver hair and noble presence, so the assistant was shocked. Crowby laughed and led Leon inside.
“The inside has even more! Take everything!”
“Everything…?” The assistant looked worried, knowing the notorious Marquis often caused chaos.
Crowby proudly entered, admiring the dolls. Leon casually scanned them and picked one up.
“Who knows? My own daughter might be as lovely as Erusha someday.”
Leon finally looked at Crowby and smirked.
“Do you really think so?”
“…?”
“Think about who Erusha’s father is.”
Leon put the doll down. Crowby was stung by the truth.
“You can’t make a daughter like Erusha easily.”
“Yes,” Crowby admitted bitterly.
Erusha inherited genes from one of the most handsome men in the Empire. No one could naturally create someone like her again.
Crowby had a wild idea.
“Marquis! Since you left Erusha alone all this time, can you let me adopt her? I’ll protect her with my life—”
“Shut up.”
“…Yes.”
