The butler, whose white hair was neatly combed back, narrowed his eyes and looked at me.
I subtly avoided his gaze. Though my mouth did not stop.
“Then, they said he was a knight, so are you going to give him knight’s work? We have to at least make a pretense of using him as a slave.”
“He was a knight? Then I will inform the knighthood. I should tell them to use him as a sparring partner.”
“Do not dangerously hand him something like a sword. Never remove his handcuffs and shackles.”
I do not know how strong he is.
Even in the novel, it was just explained roughly in a way like, ‘He defeated five knights with a single sword, but was ultimately captured because he had to face the entire knighthood today.’
Even with that explanation, one person defeating five people makes no sense in the first place.
The butler did not erase his displeased look, as if he did not like it.
Since I could not honestly speak about the novel I saw in my dream, I eventually pressed him down with my authority.
“It is an order from the head of the family.”
“Understood.”
He backed down immediately. I felt sorry, but it could not be helped.
“Please follow it for the time being. I will explain it to you someday.”
The butler nodded. Just as I was about to resume my work, someone flung the door open and shouted.
“I heard you received a bestowed gift? I want to see too!”
There is only one person who can fling open the door to the family head’s office. It is my heir and nephew, Leon Pation.
“Leon. The office is……”
“I will knock before entering next time!”
Although he was the heir, he was ten years old, so he lacked discretion.
His black hair and white skin just like mine, and his playful face so typical of a child, were very lovely.
That is probably why I keep treating him softly.
“So where is the bestowed gift?”
“It is a slave. He must be getting guided around this castle right now. Shall I tell them to bring him here?”
“No! I will go look for him myself!”
Leon said so and hurriedly left the office.
He left without even closing the door.
“He is full of energy whenever I see him.”
“He is exactly the same as when Master Victor was young.”
I thought of my older brother during his childhood and let out a short laugh. Then, I fell silent.
“…We will be able to find him.”
“Yes. He will return.”
I busily rustled through the documents.
This silence was uncomfortable.
The reason I, rather than the eldest son, am the count is because my older brother went missing after going to war.
Since his wife had followed as his aide, the couple went missing together, leaving their child behind.
At first, I felt bitter that they hadn’t sent a single word, but now, I was gradually becoming terrified.
I worried that it wasn’t that they weren’t sending news, but that they couldn’t.
And I feared that, in the end, we wouldn’t even be able to find their bodies, forcing the child to inherit the title of count.
‘That can’t be. Let’s not think idle thoughts and just work.’
I just need to do a good job until the two of them return, and once they are back, I can dump every single bit of work onto them and go enjoy myself. Let them suffer a bit.
Not long after I resumed working, a servant came rushing in frantically and said to me.
“Count! Young Master Leon says he is going to spar with the slave!”
It was news that snapped me completely alert. I sprang up from my seat and shouted.
“Why are you coming to report that to me! You should have stopped him immediately!”
Instead of stopping him, the servant explained the reason he had run to the office.
“The Commander won’t stop him either, saying he is curious about the slave’s skills!”
“That crazy bastard!”
He was out of his mind.
Resolving to punch the shameless face of the Magic Knights Commander—who also happened to be my childhood friend—I dashed toward the training grounds like a madman.
At the sparring arena, Leon and Lucas were standing face-to-face, holding wooden swords.
“Stop!”
That guy is someone who defeated five knights all by himself!
I threw my entire body between the two of them.
They both looked at me with bewildered faces.
I scrambled up from the ground and hurriedly blocked the space in front of Leon.
“Gasp, wheeze…….”
Lucas was wearing proper clothes.
Even with clothes on, his well-trained body could not be hidden.
In fact, the contours of his muscles were subtly visible, making ordinary clothes look incredibly stunning.
To think he would try to let my nephew spar with a guy like that, the Commander was out of his mind.
Everyone waited for me to speak, but I was in no condition to talk.
“Hah. Phew. Hold on. Let me just catch my breath.”
I caught my breath for quite a while.
It was only natural. I am an office worker, not a knight.
Running this much naturally takes away my breath, and it was a miracle I hadn’t collapsed.
After finally catching my breath, I called the Commander over first.
“Commander!”
I called out loudly, but his walking pace was slow.
Only when I beckoned with my finger did he finally pretend to jog over.
“What do you think you are doing right now? Commander, do you lack the awareness that this situation is dangerous?”
The Commander, Tayros, said shamelessly as if wondering what the problem was.
“The newly arrived slave had a good physique, so I just wanted to see his skills. I am sorry that his first sparring partner was Young Master Leon. The Young Master insisted that he absolutely wanted to go first……”
“You’ve got it wrong. I am not blaming you because the sparring partner was Leon. I am blaming you for handing a sword to someone whose skills you don’t know.”
‘You messed up on that part too, but suddenly giving a sword to an unknown guy just to test his skills is also a mistake.’
Tayros caught the hidden meaning in my words and said crookedly.
“It’s barely a wooden sword. Even if a problem arises, this is the Knights’ training grounds.”
“Will you still say that if a situation arises where you cannot take responsibility?”
When I asked what he would do if he lost, it was obvious that his feelings were hurt.
Still, it couldn’t be helped. This guy doesn’t know my anxiety.
That slave is a strong knight, and he might not even go easy on a child.
The Commander, thoroughly angry.
“The slave is even wearing shackles and handcuffs. Are you going to keep reprimanding me despite that?”
“Yes. If you won’t admit your mistake here, Commander, I will call you separately to the office.”
At the mention that I wouldn’t just let it slide, the atmosphere turned grim.
Everyone whispered as they looked at me, seemingly thinking this was an excessive measure.
It might indeed be excessive. Even so, I wanted to prepare for the absolute worst-case scenario.
Between the cold air separating the two of us, Lucas chimed in and spoke.
“Master, you seem to overestimating my skills.”
Lucas tilted his head slightly. “You speak as if you’ve seen it yourself.”
Turning my head at his chilly tone, our eyes met. Lucas was doubting me.
He seemed curious about the reason I was guarding against him to this extent.
I could never say, even if it killed me, that it was because of the novel from my dream.
“I am simply being cautious because I cannot trust you yet. Hand the sword to me.”
We scanned each other. I looked at his skills, and he looked for the reason I was wary.
However, it was a search that could yield no answers.
