TYHL 62

~Chapter 62~

“Our youngest really has a big heart.”

Dad placed his hand gently on my head.

I looked at the cake boxes neatly stacked in the dining room—eight in total, one of each kind.

“They were just so delicious.”

“I can tell. I didn’t expect you to buy the entire tea salon menu, including a month’s worth of pre-orders.”

Well, I said I’d be staying here all month… and I bought them because I kept thinking of everyone.

‘Maybe buying a month’s worth all at once was a bit much…?’

Should I have split it into two weeks?

“Did I do something wrong?”

I asked carefully, and Dad looked at me like I was saying something ridiculous.

“It’s the best thing you’ve done since you got here.”

“Hehe.”

See? I knew he’d love it.

Feeling proud, I turned my head.

At one end of the table, Grandpa and Void had just returned from training and were munching away at cake.

Liam, of course, was holed up in the study and nowhere to be seen.

“Ah, so sweet! Ah, so tasty!”

“It’s like 300 times tastier because someone thought of me and brought it!”

Their forks didn’t stop moving.

They seemed truly touched when I said I bought them myself.

“But I know you two don’t really like sweets…”

Even though I tried to stop them, the cakes were disappearing fast.

“Not true. I like sweets.”

“Exactly! For some reason, it tastes so good today I feel dizzy!”

“Ack, Grandpa! That’s the one with sugar!”

Nooo!

And that was the flavor I was saving for after dinner!

I cried out in panic, and Khalid, standing quietly next to me, clicked his tongue.

“It’s a marketplace in here today.”

Looking closely, I saw that he was holding my favorite cake box behind his back.

Oh! He set one aside in advance?

As expected of my smart friend!

“By the way, what have you been writing so hard since earlier?”

Dad set down his teacup and asked. I started moving my pen again.

“A letter. I’m sending it to the parents of the troublemakers to tell them to ground their daughters.”

I was writing a tattletale letter, basically.

Running off to gather herbs when crime is rampant? Are they serious?

As sorry as I felt for those girls, it’d be best if they didn’t leave the house for a while.

“So we don’t end up with anyone becoming a victim of a kidnapping… What is this even?”

“No peeking!”

I quickly covered the paper with my arm and brushed it off like it was nothing.

After a short silence, Dad added:

“But the kidnapping incident is already over.”

“Huh?”

“Oberon caught the culprits earlier today. No more crimes happened after that.”

“Gasp! As expected of my senior!”

I admired him sincerely. How long had it even been since he went to investigate?

‘As expected of the Jebert Knights!’

Even a city plagued by crime returns to peace in a blink when they get involved.

I folded up the letter right away. Grandpa laughed heartily.

“That Oberon brat finally did some work! No matter how many escorts I assign, I still feel nervous when my grandkids wander the streets.”

“Hmm…”

But Uncle (Void) crossed his arms with a complicated look on his face.

“What’s wrong, Unc… um, Father?”

He flicked my forehead after my awkward slip-up.

“I wonder when your tongue will loosen up with that title.”

“I’m working on it…”

It’s just a habit, okay…? As always, the patient Duke didn’t rush me.

“It just feels… too neat, you know?”

“What does?”

“We found their hideout too easily.”

Apparently, when they raided the suspected hideout, the entire gang was already gathered inside—like it was planned.

Catching them was a piece of cake.

“Maybe the criminals were just really dumb.”

I replied casually.

I glanced at Khalid just in case, but he only shrugged like he didn’t know anything.

‘Still, it’s a relief no one actually got kidnapped.’

From Dad and Grandpa’s conversation, I got a pretty good idea of what happened.

They couldn’t target the high-ranking nobles, so most of the victims were from baron or viscount families.

But strangely, the criminals only denied the charge of trying to hand over a runaway mage.

‘Maybe they didn’t want to get the kingdom involved…’

Or maybe…

“I heard one of them tried to disguise himself as a servant in a baron’s house.”

“Barons often hire temporary staff without recommendation letters. Bah! Tell the count to tear their limbs off!”

Grandpa clicked his tongue loudly and stuffed another piece of cake in his mouth.

“Trying to sneak in like a rat while hiding their identity!”

At that, I slowly set down my strawberry milk.

A rat hiding its identity…

“That’s the worst kind of crime, Father! They used trust against us!”

“Exactly.”

Void nodded as he put a straw in my mug.

“Still, it’s a relief we stopped them before anyone got seriously hurt… Ruby, stop blowing bubbles in your drink. It’s overflowing.”

Whoops. I quickly pulled away as the milk foam bubbled up.

I mean… I know they weren’t talking about me, but…

The part about a kid hiding their identity stung a little.

“My lung power’s pretty good, right?”

“Very. But don’t play with your food.”

I nodded with a straight face.

When I glanced over, I locked eyes with Khalid. He mouthed silently:

‘You’re not a rat.’

Is he reading my mind or what?!

* * *

At that time, in the Zelox Duchy—

Physician Borbel was rereading a letter delivered by carrier pigeon.

“What is this…”

It was a message from Eocia.

Borbel, I looked up the church records from the village you mentioned. But there’s no boy of a similar age. I think you might’ve been mistaken. Let me know if you need anything else.

Could the records have been missing?

But Rubian isn’t a newborn. Could a child really go unrecorded for so long?

“I think I need to look into this more closely.”

If Rubian isn’t from Eocia…

Where is she really from?

Borbel couldn’t hide his confusion as he prepared a letter to be sent to the Duke’s residence in Ipsun.

“Something feels wrong…”

A brown hawk broke the calm sky as it soared upward.

That evening, after visiting the dessert shop…

Even though I told him to stay for dinner, Khalid ignored me and went straight to the training grounds.

He really must love swords… He trains so hard.

“Go bring Liam. He skipped lunch too.”

Standing nearby, Butler Adolf looked a little troubled.

“Once he locks himself in, he just won’t come out…”

His awkward gaze turned toward me, sitting calmly at the table.

“Lady Rubian… could you please help?”

“Me?”

“Yes. If you call for him… he might come out…”

I seriously doubted that…

But it was hard to ignore Butler Adolf’s pleading eyes.

So I gave in and followed him up to the third floor, where the study was. Adolf knocked on the tightly closed door.

“Young Master Liam. Please come eat.”

Silence.

The butler gave me a helpless smile.

“Sigh…”

Like I could do anything…

Still, I knocked—knock!—and accidentally hit a sharp part of the door.

“Ow! That hurt… I hit the decoration part…”

At that moment, the door swung open.

“That was a flawless knock.”

“……”

Liam Jebert appeared from behind the slightly opened door.

“One knock. Footsteps at low volume. I told you that, Adolf.”

“My apologies, sir…”

Wow… this kid is intense.

Liam pushed up his glasses strictly and looked down at me.

“So, what do you want, little fairy? If it’s to help me with magic beast research, come in right away.”

“No, no… I came to tell you to eat…”

“Utterly boring. Rejected.”

If you don’t eat, you’ll die!

But like most teenage boys going through puberty, everything outside of his interests seemed pointless to him.

“Then… do you want to eat the cake I bought?”

I said it before I could stop myself—and Adolf flinched slightly behind me.

Gasp. Oh no.

‘Doesn’t Liam Jebert hate cream cake the most?’

I’d been too careless since Dad, Void, and Grandpa were gobbling it all up earlier. But Liam was the type who absolutely hated anything that didn’t meet his standards.

“You bought it?”