Chapter 127
Chapter 127
He read the words written in the letter, then read them again, and then again.
He even splashed water on his face, wondering if he was hallucinating from fatigue, but the printed words didn't change.
I've arranged an after-date.
After-date.
“Haa....”
Harun let out a long, deep sigh.
It was impossible to tell whether it was a sigh of relief or a sigh of shock.
“C-Chief? By any chance, did something serious happen?”
As Harun's face stiffened like a sheet of paper, the adjutant standing beside him turned pale and asked.
His eyes were desperate, as if asking whether he should immediately summon the shadows.
“No.”
Harun held his forehead with one hand and let out a small, bitter laugh.
“It's nothing serious. My younger brother simply made a minor personal request... You may leave for now.”
“Ah, yes. Understood.”
The adjutant bowed, still looking utterly bewildered, and left the office.
Creak, thud.
“Ha, honestly....”
Harun leaned back against his chair and stared blankly at the ceiling.
He kept waving the letter in his hand and couldn't stop his hollow laugh.
He had sent him to Grand Asteria precisely so there wouldn't even be a sliver of room for attraction to blossom.
‘And he still managed to snag an after-date in that frigid, sterile place?’
The corners of his eyes narrowed as he glared at the ceiling.
The person Cassian had met was Sophia von Rohanna.
As for the Rohanna count family's title succession issue, that was their own business.
And unlike the heir son, the daughter was so frail that she hadn't even been able to properly make her debut at her debutante ball, and she'd agreed to a second meeting with his younger brother—that was a different matter.
What's more, from the nuance of the letter, Cassian himself had been acting as though he was bored to death, yet he was still asking for advice again in order to be considerate of the other person.
He wanted somewhere without a butter smell, somewhere that felt respectful.
“……Their requirements are awfully demanding.”
If their father ever found out, he'd immediately grab the back of his neck.
Still, Harun pulled paper from the drawer.
[To suit the purpose of an after-date, a setting that can deepen conversation would be more advantageous than the same dining hall as last time.]
[I recommend the imperial-owned Argen Botanical Garden. Unlike ordinary noble social venues, you can view rare plants there, so the atmosphere won't feel artificial and will be pleasant.]
He rolled the fountain pen in his hand and smiled without realizing it.
[If it's that place, then even without the butter smell you hate, simply walking side by side along the greenhouse path should provide the lady with sufficient respect and emotional connection.]
[If you'd like, I can reserve a window seat at the tea house located inside the greenhouse, so reply regarding this part.]
He felt a slight pang of self-disgust that coaching his younger brother's love life seemed to have become one of the chief agent's regular tasks, but what else could he do?
It was better than staying stressed all day.
......Probably.
* * *
“Mmm....”
I kicked off the blanket and sat up.
I had lost some sleep last night because I was tormented by all sorts of stray thoughts and strange guilt, so the back of my neck was stiff and my eyes felt dry.
Still, better than yesterday.
At the very least, there hadn't been any uninvited guest barging in this morning to wake me from my sweet sleep.
Thud, thud.
After roughly washing my face, I headed out of the room to go downstairs.
“Young master, good morning.”
“Oh, yes. Good morning.”
When I answered flatly, the old man held out a small envelope on a silver tray.
“A reply from the elder young master arrived overnight. Since we couldn't disturb your rest, I'm delivering it now.”
“Oh, already?”
I stopped midway through stretching and took the envelope.
I sent it late last night, and he spent the whole night planning and shot back a reply before dawn had even broken?
As expected of my brother.
He doesn't sleep.
I hope he doesn't die of overwork. There probably isn't even workers' comp in this world.
I refuse to carry on the family line, even if it kills me.
Rustle.
I tore open the envelope and unfolded the stiff letter inside.
Then I began following my brother's neat handwriting with my eyes.
[To suit the purpose of an after-date, a setting that can deepen conversation would be more advantageous than the same dining hall as last time.]
[I recommend the imperial-owned Argen Botanical Garden. Unlike ordinary noble social venues, you can view rare plants there, so the atmosphere won't feel artificial and will be pleasant.]
“Oh.”
“Why is that, young master?”
“I just realized our big brother's taste is really good.”
It was a sincere assessment.
Argen Botanical Garden, huh.
Just hearing the name makes it sound ridiculously verdant and peaceful.
[If it's that place, then even without the butter smell you hate, simply walking side by side along the greenhouse path should provide the lady with sufficient respect and emotional connection.]
[If you'd like, I can reserve a window seat at the tea house located inside the greenhouse, so reply regarding this part.]
“......Heh.”
I tapped the letter and nodded.
As expected of my brother.
He's truly the model of doing things neatly, cleanly, and efficiently.
“The elder young master is indeed a truly reliable man.”
“Exactly. Mm, mm.”
No wonder our father leaves all the family's major and minor affairs to my brother and feels so secure about it.
That perfect planning ability and drive.
“I'm kind of a legend for having asked the chief of the Intelligence Division to plan my date itinerary, though.”
“Huh? A date itinerary? What are you talking about, young master?”
Ah.
I ended up blurting out my inner thoughts in front of the old man.
“No, nothing. I should head to the academy.”
I left the old man behind and moved away.
‘What does it matter when the result is this fantastic.’
Feeling lighthearted, I stuffed the letter into my pocket and immediately headed for the manor kitchen.
*
Sizzle! Clatter, clatter!
The kitchen was already filled with the rich smell of butter early in the morning.
“Today's dish is omurice.”
It had been omurice last time too.
So this time I went with a variation on omurice.
On the frying pan, onions, carrots, and finely chopped ham were being stir-fried with the rice until they had taken on a reddish hue.
Why red?
‘Because it's kimchi fried rice omurice.’
This is why I can't hate this romance fantasy world.
Where else in the world do you find a lovable rom-fantasy with kimchi in it?
Sizzle!
After letting the rice pick up a little smoky flavor, I shaped it into a neat round mound.
And then came the highlight.
I mixed a little milk into the beaten eggs and quickly stirred them over high heat, making a fluffy, half-set scrambled egg blanket.
Swish.
When I draped the yellow egg blanket over the kimchi fried rice, a perfectly shaped omurice was born.
I didn't forget to neatly ring the outside with the special demi-glace sauce, either.
“Perfect.”
With a satisfied smile, I carefully transferred the finished kimchi fried rice omurice into a lunch box.
Adding a small tumbler of warm mushroom soup to go with it made for a pretty decent meal.
Our little pink pup.
After eating this, she'll be wagging her tail so hard it might fall off.
* * *
Sixth floor of the Magic Faculty building, my private laboratory.
Creak.
“I'm back.”
When I opened the door and stepped inside, Lily, who had been bored and reading a textbook on the sofa, sprang to her feet.
“Cassian-nim!”
Lily smiled brightly, and the light green eyes set in that tiny face sparkled along with her.
I really do feel this every time I see her, but there's no other little pup this good for soothing the mind.
“You were hungry first thing in the morning, right?”
I said as I set the insulated lunch bag I was holding on the desk.
“Here, today's meal. Come on and eat.”
“Wow! Thank you!”
Lily trotted over and sat neatly on the desk chair.
When I opened the lunchbox lid, the kimchi fried rice omurice was revealed, still steaming.
Lily spotted the red rice beneath the yellow eggs and the small bits of kimchi and blinked in fascination.
“What's this? It looks kind of like the one you made before, but different.”
“Yes. This is also a kind of omurice. I stir-fried kimchi with the rice. It might be a little spicy, but it'll taste good.”
Maybe not? Maybe it isn't spicy?
After talking like some guy spreading civilization to the idiots of another world, I tilted my head.
This world's got kimchi in it, so would anyone really go huff-huff over kimchi being spicy?
“Go on, try it.”
Try it, try it.
At my words, Lily carefully scooped up a generous spoonful of the omurice with the spoon clutched in one hand.
She slipped the fluffy egg and the kimchi fried rice, coated in plenty of sauce, into her mouth.
“......!”
Lily's eyes widened to at least twice their normal size.
The way she chewed with her cheeks puffed out made her look like a squirrel stuffing itself with acorns.
“How is it? Does it suit your taste?”
“It's yummy! Really yummy!”
“Not spicy?”
“No!!”
Her pronunciation was slurred because her mouth was full of rice, but the delight came through vividly.
Lily didn't stop with one bite and immediately started shoveling in more.
“Eat slowly. I'm not going to steal it from you.”
I propped my chin on my hand and watched Lily eat quietly.
She eats so well. Nice to see.
Watching her eat so hungrily that she even got sauce around her mouth brought back memories of feeding stray cats when I was little.
Ah, right. Not a cat—a 30-billion-won gold toad.
“It'll clog your throat, so have some soup too.”
“Yes!”
The laboratory was filled only with the peaceful sounds of Lily's spoon clinking and her munching.
The morning sunlight coming in through the crack in the window was shining on Lily's pink hair.
For just this moment, it feels like all the world's troublesome problems have been reset.
‘Academy life doesn't seem so bad.’
But.
Peace is always temporary.
Especially today.
Ah.
I don't want to go to class. Damn it.
* * *
Tap, tap, tap.
The path connecting the academy's main building and the botanical garden section.
There wasn't even a slope on the way or a boulder weighing on my shoulder, and yet.
My steps were so heavy they might as well have weighed a thousand pounds, as if I were Sisyphus in this world.
With every step, it felt like I was sinking into the ground.
‘I don't want to go.’
I really, truly, desperately don't want to go.
Even while walking toward the second greenhouse garden, the Introduction to Herbology classroom, my mind was filled with nothing but excuses to run away.
Though I'd already arrived before I could come up with one.
“Haa....”
With a deep sigh, I reached for the round arched glass door of the second greenhouse garden.
Creak.
As I opened the door and stepped inside.
A blast of hot, humid air and the strong scent of herbs and all kinds of plants hit me.
The inside of the huge greenhouse, covered on all sides with transparent glass, was already packed with students gathered for Introduction to Herbology.
And the very moment I stepped inside after opening the door.
“......!”
As if someone had pressed a mute button.
The noisy chatter filling the greenhouse cut off all at once.
Dozens of eyes snapped toward me, standing by the door.
‘Here we go again.’
I forced myself to keep a blank expression and headed for a corner seat a little away from the other students, toward a tree that looked like a palm.
It would've been nice if I could have just existed like a ghost.
The sharp stares were still clinging to my profile.
‘Why isn't the professor here yet?’
If class would just start already, this insane attention would spread out a bit.
I held back my irritation and stared blankly out the window.
But.
Clack, clack.
From the greenhouse entrance, I heard the regular sound of high heels.
At the same time.
“......Oh my.”
“Her Highness the Princess......”
The discomfort of all that countless attention pouring down on me vanished as if it had been a lie.