Chapter 16: 16

“The capital’s high society?”

Leonia tilted her head.

“A place as filthy as the nobility council.”

On the surface, it looks like a classy gathering where beautiful ladies gather to ask about each other’s well-being and current status, but in reality, it was a battlefield of snobbery, where fierce greed and meticulous calculations ran under the table.

If the academy was the third power of the empire, the capital’s high society was called the second power.

“Someday you will go there too.”

It was an unavoidable future as long as she became a member of the Duke of Voreoti family.

At the thought of sending that little one to such a place, Pelliot was already feeling bitter.

Besides, Pelliot wasn’t willing to hire Cerena.

He originally intended to recruit another person, but the situation was not favorable, so he hired her as the next best thing.

In any case, Cerena Tedross’s skills are undeniable, and also a good target for Leonia to experience the filthy social world first.

“…If you say so.”

Leonia nodded.

* * *

Early morning.

A flag engraved with the crest of the roaring black lion fluttered in the dim morning sky.

The wind blowing from the early morning was calm as if helping the knights on their way to hunt monsters.

“Yaawn…”

In the midst of it all, alone, Leonia’s head bobbed as she struggled with drowsiness.

“Why don’t you just go to sleep.”

With armor on, Pelliot embraced Leonia.

Leonia’s body trembled at the material of the cold armor, and made a strange noise.

The knights behind secretly smirked.

“Mister’s leaving…”

Leonia tried to rub the corner of her eyes with the back of her hand, as if chasing her sleepiness.

Pelliot’s hand in a leather glove halted in the air.

He patted her back so she could sleep more instead. Leonia whined as she didn’t want him to do that.

“Put me down.”

Leonia, who was lowered to the floor, gestured towards the maid beside her.

“I’ll give you this.”

Instead of Leonia, the maid held out a basket of gingerbread cookies, wrapped in small batches.

Seeing the cookies, Pelliot’s eyes grew bigger.

Some of the packets were particularly thick, and there was a childish lion drawn in black.

Pelliot naturally picked up a packet with a lion on it. There were poorly baked cookies inside.

“…When did you bake this?”

His hand, fiddling with the envelope, was cautious and even polite.

But Leonia struggled to get through the rush of drowsiness, so she couldn’t see it properly.

“Secretly at night.”

After lying to Pelliot last night that she was going to bed first, she secretly went to the kitchen and baked cookies.

Because Rupert remembered the words of the Master who ate all the cookies and didn’t share any.

“But I’m still his daughter.”

Her dad is going to work in a cold place, so she has to do this.

“Share it with the other knights, but I got a little extra for you. The one with the black lion drawing here is yours, and I put two more cookies inside.”

Leonia’s eyelids grew heavier and heavier as she yawned with an open mouth.

“Have a safe trip.”

Pelliot’s black eyes trembled greatly.

“Something delicious when you go.”

Leonia, now half asleep, muttered helplessly.

“Delicious.”

But Pelliot’s expression was infinitely serious.

What in the world could be better than these poor cookies he has in his hand right now?

Pelliot was genuinely convinced that such a thing did not exist. He was determined to destroy everything, if any.

His hand covering the cookie packaging was careful.

Suddenly, a large hand fell on the child’s head.

“As long as I am absent, you are the Master of Voreoti.”

Pelliot has now delegated all of Voreoti’s authority in front of everyone to his young, seven-year-old daughter, who is dozing off in the maid’s arms.

Rupert and Cara, who came to meet them together, had surprised eyes.

“Take care of her.”

Rupert and Cara bowed their heads.

“Leonia.”

“Huh…”

“Study hard.”

“Okay…”

Leonia wiggled her body in annoyance.

“Sleep early and eat a lot.”

“Yes…”

“Admire muscles in moderation.”

“……”

“Are you deliberately not answering right now?”

Nuh-uh, Leonia shook her head while mumbling in her sleep.

It was now time to depart.

Pelliot’s feet did not fall off easily in front of Leonia.

His body couldn’t move as if the cookie he had just received had melted and became an adhesive.

Leaving this little thing behind, it was constantly lit up in his eyes.

“…Sir Gabel.”

Pelliot stared at the purple-haired man next to the maid.

Momentarily dazed because of how much better Pelliot Voreoti seemed to be getting along with his daughter compared to what was rumored, Pavo hurriedly came to his senses and took his stance.

Meleis was with them on this expedition, and Pavo was going to stay in the mansion instead.

  

“I will give my life to guard the Miss.”

With a serious expression on his face, Pavo swore firmly as he held the sword around his waist.

“I’ll be back.”

Then a small greeting was whispered into Leonia’s ear, who had already fallen asleep.

The lips of the sleeping child quivered a few times, and then her lips were drawn into a line.

Pelliot’s feet, as if weighing heavily, stepped forward with difficulty.

* * *

After waking up early in the morning and seeing off Pelliot and his knights, Leonia, who fell asleep again, woke up and the sun was already in the middle of the sky.

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“But you woke up just in time.”

The maid would have gone to wake her up a little later, the maid said as she arranged Leonia’s hair.

“Where have Mister and the knights gone by now?”

“They must have arrived at the base of the mountains.”

Pavo, who was standing by the door and guarding, answered instead.

“Monsters usually live in the northern mountains. It is a very wide and rugged place, so various monsters live there. There was a reason why the name ‘the hometown of monsters’ was given to the land of Voreoti.”

The northern mountain range was where the monster ecosystem was concentrated.

And at the apex of the monster’s food pyramid was Duke Voreoti and the Gladigo Knights he led.

“When will they come back?”

Leonia, who came out for lunch, asked Pavo who was following her.

“Um, it’s going to take a while this year.”

The monster hunting that has been going on for the past three years had been conducted by the Gladigo Knights without Duke Voreoti.

All the three sword masters in the knighthood came forward and reduced the number of monsters, but it was not as much as when Pelliot, who had the beast’s fang, was present.

The beast’s fang was literally the pinnacle of the ecosystem.

“Besides, during the last breeding season, the monsters were exceptionally rut…”

Pavo, who was about to use a vulgar expression just as he usually did with his colleagues, bit his lip.

“Exceptionally…?”

When he slowly lowered his gaze, Leonia’s black eyes were twinkling brightly.

“No, I mean… Loving! Loving! Loving”

Pavo floundered that the number of monsters had increased because the demons loved each other so much.

Leonia smiled at that.

“Love is wonderful.”

“Yes! Love is wonderful.”

Pavo was relieved that he had tactfully passed the emergency situation.

So he could not defile the little girl’s ears with vulgar words. If he does, the master’s sword will be stained with his dirty blood.

“Brother Pavo.”

Tug, tug, then Leonia pulled his sleeve.

“By the way, what is ‘rutting’?”

Pavo’s copper-colored skin turned pale in an instant.

* * *

Shortly after lunch, the tutors arrived one after the other.

The first to come was Ardea, who had decided to reside in the mansion from now on.

Two old suitcases and twelve old, thick books were all Ardea had brought, and he unpacked it in the guest room on the fourth floor of the mansion, just as it was mentioned by Pelliot the day before.

“Isn’t it hard?”

Leonia, who followed him all the way to the room, asked.

“There is no problem in large northern mansions, as they usually have all the necessary facilities on the third floor.”

“Have you ever lived in the North?”

“I’m from the North.”

Leonia opened her eyes wide, startled, and Ardea chuckled.

The child’s eyes, which resembled Pelliot’s and showed cute expressions everywhere, were deeper and more intelligent than the starry night sky.

“Milady.”

Ardea presented a book to Leonia.

“Class starts now.”

Leonia, who received the book by accident, looked at the cover. The title of the book was ‘The History of the Empire’.

Leonia secretly thought that something so tedious at first glance could serve as a sleeping pill and pillow.

“I heard that you can read.”

Leonia nodded.

“First, read this book by yourself.”

Then, if there was something she didn’t know, he told her to come and find him.

Ardea’s class was quite unconventional and free.

But it was such a cruel method that the child had to learn on her own to gain knowledge and hone her own learning.

‘That grandfather isn’t normal either.’

Leonia’s smirk came out of nowhere.

He looked like a good-natured grandfather, but on the inside he was a very cold and cruel gardener.

In this way, he would have mercilessly slaughtered the unsatisfying buds.

It was really admirable in a sense that he dared insist on such an educational method for the daughter of Duke Voreoti.

‘Is everyone from the North like this?’

Leaving the book in the room, Countess Cerena Tedross arrived just in time to teach her etiquette.

Despite her frugal attire, unlike the previous day, Cerena was still dazzlingly beautiful. Her wavy blonde hair and white jade skin were just how Cerena was rumored to look like.

When Leonia saw such a lady, she realized that the eyes of her adoptive father weren’t looking high.

Because he made even such a beautiful woman pursue him.

‘What the hell kind of combination is this?’

Here was the ‘illegitimate child’ of a man that this tutor liked before she married, and here was a woman who liked the father of that illegitimate child.

It was an amazing combination.

Leonia questioned whether the etiquette class would even go well.

“Then, let’s start with how to curtsy.”

However, unlike that old man, Cerena’s class was kind and gentle.

She didn’t blame Leonia for her poor etiquette, but she taught her step-by-step, and she was friendly with Leonia.

‘…Are there really no lingering feelings?’

The tutor had a clear and innocent smile as she had now married and she had become someone else’s wife, as though she had left all her regrets from the past.

Leonia was ashamed of herself for having doubted Cerena, even for a brief moment.

“Good job.”

She greeted properly according to the posture she had taught, and Cerena clapped her hands to Leonia, and cheered her.

Leonia’s conscience ached at how pretty the blue eyes were as they were curved in crescent moons. She was sorry for misunderstanding the woman.

“I didn’t know you were such a fast learner.”

At Cerena’s sincere words, Leonia smiled brightly.

“You’re really amazing. To be honest, I’m worried…”

Cerena, who trailed off, soon acknowledged her mistake and apologized.

Leonia still had a smile on her face, and she continued speaking again, perhaps relieved by it.

“The young lady resembles the Duke a lot, so you are so mature and beautiful. That’s why you have to fill in the gaps where you are lacking. It won’t be easy because of your old habits. I think it’s worthwhile to teach you.”

Leonia’s smile deepened.

After her class, Leonia watched until Cerena rode the carriage and left the mansion.

‘Maybe because it’s a fictional world…’

Leonia turned around and stared off into space quietly.

‘…This type of suicide is also an innovative method.’

Leonia was stunned by Cerena’s subtly biting remarks.

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