IFAHWIPUTML Chapter 35

Chayston sat in his study in a daze, having just fully registered his own feelings.

Knock knock.

"Your Grace. Young Master Raphaleon wishes to see you."

"Uncle!"

A child's voice rang out from beyond the tightly closed door.

"Come in."

The door opened at his permission, and Tia—Verasielle's dedicated servant—entered with Raphel.

"Uncleee... sob!"

The moment Raphel saw Chayston's face, his momentarily paused crying erupted all over again.

Chayston's expression soured at the sight of those chicken-dropping tears, and he rose from his seat in alarm.

"Uncle, Veras is... hic, sob."

"What are you talking about? Did something happen to the young lady?"

Raphel's chopped-off sentences were perfectly designed to be misunderstood.

"Oh, Your Grace, it's not like that—Lady Verasielle is just resting because she has a slight fever."

Tia hastily spoke up so the duke wouldn't misunderstand.

Chayston strode over and lifted the crying Raphel from Tia's arms.

"Wahhh!"

Raphel clung to Chayston's neck, sobbing as though pouring out all his pent-up sadness.

"Shh. It's all right."

A rough hand patted Raphel's back. Under that large, warm touch, the boy's crying gradually subsided.

"Is the young lady all right?"

"Yes. She has a low-grade fever and is resting in her room."

She must have caught a cold from spending so long in the garden yesterday.

Chayston wanted to go check on Verasielle immediately, but he hesitated.

What if Verasielle asked him curtly why he'd come, the way she usually did?

Somehow, what wouldn't have bothered him until recently now felt like it would wound him.

"My lord."

Rohan observed his master's tightly pressed lips and raised eyebrows. He immediately understood what his master was agonizing over.

"Speak."

"Golden Wave flower tea is said to be good for colds."

Chayston looked at Rohan as if to ask what on earth he was talking about.

Rohan truly couldn't understand it.

His master—a handsome jack-of-all-trades who excelled at everything—was utterly clueless when it came to romance.

What exactly had he been doing with that face instead of ever dating...

"We happen to grow them in the garden, so why not bring her some flowers?"

Rohan's suggestion was a clever way to deliver flowers while also checking on her condition with his own eyes.

"Ah, and just a moment..."

Rohan whispered something in Chayston's ear.

Having heard the suggestion, Chayston shot Rohan a suspicious look, but Rohan nodded confidently.

"Kai."

Knight Commander Shane called for Kai.

Heizen had just finished his shift and was about to go surveil Verasielle and Raphaleon when Shane summoned him, leaving him no choice but to approach.

Having infiltrated the ducal estate on his employer's orders, he'd been assigned to monitor the woman and child.

But the life of a knight belonging to House Halos was far from easy.

Every time he tried to surveil them, new tasks materialized.

Just yesterday, he'd drawn patrol duty and had to patrol the ducal estate.

The estate was so massive that the patrol he'd started in the morning didn't end until late at night.

With the relentless workload, Heizen was on the verge of an identity crisis, having nearly forgotten why he'd even come here.

"You called for me, Commander?"

"You'll be joining the search party this time."

Shane glanced at the respectfully greeting Kai and spoke indifferently.

"The search party, sir?"

"Yes. His Grace has ordered us to resume the search soon."

Having received orders from Chayston to restart the search in two days, Shane wanted to give Kai an opportunity.

During the last carriage incident investigation, Kai had earnestly requested to participate, but Shane had refused—and it had been weighing on his mind ever since.

Kai was still a greenhorn who hadn't even been with the Halos Black Rose Knights for a full year yet.

Though he was an official knight, most of the knights had ten-plus years of veteran experience, so Kai still had much to learn as a rookie.

Naturally, it was impossible for Kai to join a search party that only the most elite members participated in.

However, having witnessed Kai's steady diligence, Shane wanted to give him a chance.

Adding one more person to the already selected search party as an assistant wouldn't cause any major problems.

"...I'm all right."

"Didn't you want to go along last time?"

A flicker of confusion crossed Heizen's usually expressionless face.

The carriage incident search. What a disaster.

Once a search party departed, they'd be away for at least several days to several months.

If that happened, all his efforts disguising himself as the knight Kai to monitor Verasielle and Raphaleon would be for nothing.

"You're not answering. This is your only opportunity."

Shane's eyebrow twitched at Kai's lukewarm response when he'd expected him to jump for joy.

"May I choose not to participate?"

Heizen answered with a grave expression.

He couldn't participate. No—he mustn't participate.

He hadn't infiltrated this place to become a Black Rose Knight.

"You won't participate?"

Shane looked at Kai through narrowed eyes. He found the sudden change in attitude highly suspicious.

Heizen realized Knight Commander Shane suspected him.

Shane, who'd spent years in the knights, possessed exceptional intuition and the ability to notice even the most minute changes.

If Heizen stubbornly refused to go now, everything might be exposed.

He had no choice but to bow his head.

"I misspoke. I will participate."

"Kai."

"Yes, Commander."

Shane stared at Kai in silence for a long while.

His sharp eyes looked ready to excavate everything inside Kai.

A bead of cold sweat trickled down Heizen's spine under that persistent gaze.

"You'd best be careful."

At Shane's loaded words, Heizen swallowed hard.

He couldn't clearly tell what kind of caution Shane meant.

Was he warning him to be careful of his safety during the search, or was he warning him to be careful because he seemed suspicious...

"I'll keep that in mind."

"You're dismissed."

Heizen slowly turned his body so as not to reveal anything, exiting Shane's line of sight.

He could still feel that sharp gaze following his back.

He walked as naturally as possible and turned the corner.

And when he'd completely escaped Shane's field of vision, he finally released the breath he'd been holding.

Heizen was confident he could defeat anyone in swordplay.

After all, he'd lived his entire life gripping cold steel since childhood.

But the sword energy mixed into Shane's aura was truly suffocating.

His gaze alone possessed the power to overwhelm people.

The rumors about Shane becoming the Empire's youngest knight commander clearly weren't unfounded.

"Haah..."

Heizen exhaled deeply, recalling those razor-sharp eyes that had seemed ready to cut him down as they scrutinized every detail.

He probably couldn't continue as a knight much longer.

He'd have to return the knight he'd consumed. The man wouldn't remember anything anyway, thanks to the magic.

Between Shane and the workload, there were too many risk factors. He couldn't even properly monitor his targets.

'Watch them properly from close by. Preferably very close.'

Remembering his employer's orders, he came up with another plan.

After taking the medicine the physician prescribed and getting some sleep, Verasielle felt lighter than before.

She still had a faint headache, but it was bearable.

'Is Raphel playing well after he stopped crying?'

Verasielle lay in bed, gazing at the ceiling.

Nearly three weeks had already passed since she'd arrived here.

Raphel seemed much brighter than when they'd first met, and appeared to have adapted well to life at the ducal estate.

"He'll be fine without me."

He might look for her for a few days after she left, but he'd surely overcome it quickly and do well.

Young children were simple and forgot easily.

It would sting if Raphel forgot her, but as long as he lived cheerfully, that would be enough.

If she were being a bit greedy, she hoped that if they ever met again someday, they could smile and greet each other.

"It's Chayston."

Suddenly, the duke's voice cut through the quiet stillness.

Unable to receive him while lying down, Verasielle had no choice but to sit up and lean against the headboard.

"Yes. Come in."

What could he want now when I just want to rest quietly...

The faint annoyance on her expression vanished the instant Chayston entered the room.

Chayston walked toward Verasielle awkwardly.

It was a bizarre gait where his right arm and right leg moved together, but his mind was equally not functioning properly.

He'd never been like this before, but since yesterday, facing her had become slightly difficult.

So he kept mulling over what Rohan had whispered to him.

'Young ladies these days find semi-formal speech attractive.'

'Young ladies these days find semi-formal speech attractive.'

'Young ladies these days find semi-formal speech attractive.'

Verasielle stared at the stiffly standing Chayston before noticing the flowers in his hand.

"What are those flowers for?"

"Picked 'em up on the way over."

Chayston cleared his throat gruffly and casually held out the flowers.

Through the open doorway, Rohan—who'd overheard his master's blunder—clutched his forehead in shock.

To reverse semi-formal speech like that...