Chapter 108

 

***

 

Melody finished her breakfast quickly and went to the library.

She wanted to borrow the books recommended by her father that dawn.

With the exam just three days away, she worried about the possibility of the books being unavailable.

Fortunately, the books she was looking for were there.

Melody also found and borrowed some other books.

After returning to the mansion, she asked a servant to deliver a few of the books separately to Loretta and Ronny.

“These are the books they tried to borrow a month ago but couldn’t. I’m not sure if they still need them, but just in case.”

Remembering the books the two couldn’t borrow was a duty of someone bearing the ‘Higgins’ name.

Melody, carrying the books necessary for her studies, headed to her room.

And just then.

“Hello, Mel.”

A friendly greeting came from above her head.

Melody looked up immediately, meeting Isaiah’s gaze, who was standing right behind her.

“Hello, Isaiah.”

In the meantime, Isaiah had sneakily taken the thick book she was holding.

“I’ll carry it for you.”

“Oh, I can carry it…”

Melody quickly turned and reached out, but Isaiah lifted his arm high, making it impossible for her to touch the book.

“Ah.”

Melody was reminded of Isaiah’s outstanding physical attributes.

Having played the role of a leader among the village children from a young age, he now stood out even among the knights at twenty-two, boasting a very tall and strong physique.

His agile and quick movements allowed him to catch the attention of the higher-ups much faster than other squires.

Last year, he became even more famous for his significant achievements at the royal hunting grounds.

The incident went roughly like this:

The crown prince and Ronny secretly went into a particularly deep part of the hunting ground and got caught in an old trap.

Their ankles were caught, and they ended up hanging upside down from a tree, but the trap itself wasn’t a big problem.

However, the issue was that a hungry bear appeared at the site.

Isaiah was the one who simply knocked down the fierce bear and saved the two of them.

‘Bear-hunter Isaiah’ quickly caught the emperor’s attention, and thanks to that, he was knighted at a quite young age.

Thus, Melody thought Isaiah would become a knight serving the royal family, as was his dream.

Surprisingly, he swore to dedicate his knighthood to the Baldwin ducal family.

The duke gladly accepted his offer, and since last spring, Isaiah began living in the annex of the mansion with other knights of the ducal family.

“I appreciate you carrying my books, Isaiah. But aren’t you supposed to be working?”

“Yes, I’m working.”

“And it’s okay for you to be slacking off like this?”

“It’s fine. This isn’t slacking off.”

“What if the duke catches you?”

“Well, I’d probably be praised for doing a good job. Might even get a reward.”

Melody was a bit speechless at his absurd reasoning but decided to accept his kindness for now.

She had something she wanted to ask him, after all.

“Isaiah.”

“Hm? What?”

He suddenly leaned in close, which startled Melody, making her stop in her tracks.

“How can you suddenly come so close? It’s surprising.”

“But I can’t help it. Mel is so…”

He trailed off with ‘small’ and chuckled as if he found it amusing.

Melody lifted her chin slightly in a mock-offended manner. Truthfully, Melody wasn’t small.

It was just that Isaiah was exceptionally tall.

“I’m not small. More importantly, Isaiah. Did you get a reply to the letter you sent to the doctor?”

At Melody’s question, Isaiah gasped as if caught off guard.

Melody frowned at his reaction.

Last winter, the doctor was extremely proud of Isaiah for achieving his dream of knighthood.

She even came to the capital to celebrate his knighting ceremony.

Becoming a knight serving the royal family had been Isaiah’s long-held dream.

However, for some reason, he changed his allegiance to the Baldwin ducal family.

Isaiah had not informed his mother about this for a long time, but due to Melody’s nagging, he reluctantly disclosed the entire situation.

Melody was asking about the doctor’s response to this news.

“The reply… it did come.”

“It wasn’t… very good content, I take it.”

Melody murmured quietly in a sad voice. She had suspected as much.

Isaiah had kicked away his long-held dream on a whim.

“Uh… yeah. You know, Mel, my mom is kind of strict.”

“Yeah.”

“Actually, I was prepared for it when I sent the letter.”

“Isaiah…”

Melody gently placed her hand on his arm, as if to offer comfort.

He looked at the back of her hand for a moment before opening his mouth, hesitating slightly.

“My mother said…”

“Yes?”

“If I don’t serve the duke properly, she’ll kick me out of the Mullern family. It was written in such a serious tone, it scared me.”

“…What?”

The story that came out of his mouth was very different from what Melody had expected.

“Plus, she said to properly protect you. She said she’s worried.”

He muttered discontentedly for a moment, “Even if mother didn’t say it, protecting Mel is my duty anyway…”

“Is that all? Was there… anything else she said?”

Melody asked nervously, still anxious.

It was because she wondered if she might be the reason Isaiah came here.

“Of course, there was.”

“What did she say?”

“She congratulated me. Said she was very proud of me.”

“…Really?”

“Yeah, really really. Want me to show you the letter later?”

“Uh, no.”

Melody shook her head and replied, ‘I believe you.’

The two started walking down the corridor again and soon arrived in front of Melody’s room.

“Thanks for carrying the books all the way here, Isaiah. Or should I say, Sir Mullern.”

“My pleasure, Lady Mel.”

“Saying it like that, you really seem like a knight.”

“I am a knight! I even get invited to parties now. Speaking of which, Mel!”

Isaiah straightened his posture, still hugging Melody’s books tightly.

He seemed unusually tense, and it took him a moment to find the words.

“Would you like to…”

But just as he managed to say that much.

“I refuse!”

A booming response came from across the corridor.

Startled, Isaiah quickly looked in that direction.

“…Gasp, Mrs. Higgins.”

She approached briskly with an excited expression and thrust a tightly rolled catalog at Isaiah’s nose.

His face immediately turned pale.

“Phew, put away the weapon before you speak.”

“I refuse to accept that too. Hmph, how dare you try to say such self-interested things to my daughter?!”

“Self-interested things? There was absolutely none of that…”

Isaiah looked aggrieved, but the lady was not swayed in the slightest.

“Then, you mean to say you said those things without any self-interest?!”

“Gasp, no.”

Isaiah hastily shook his head and corrected himself.

“I am full of pure self-interest! Overflowing with it!”

At his firm response, the lady eventually hit his forearm with the catalog repeatedly.

“I knew it! You light-footed, self-interested colt!”

“Ouch! Ouch, ma’am! Ma’am, that hurts!”

Isaiah hopped around trying to escape, but the lady continued to beat his arms and legs.

“Don’t hit Isaiah, Mother.”

Thanks to Melody stepping in, the fearsome catalog beating was finally halted.

“Hmph, just know this is the only time I’m letting it slide.”

“…But you’ve already hit him.”

“What?!”

“Gasp, nothing!”

Isaiah quickly handed back the books he was carrying to Melody.

He then bowed hastily and scampered off.

“Hmph, such an unreliable fellow.”

The lady turned to Melody with a worried look.

“That colt didn’t say anything unnecessary, did he?”

“Unnecessary things?”

When Melody asked what that meant, the lady firmly shut her mouth.

“You know, Mother.”

Melody cautiously brought it up, feeling a bit worried since it seemed like every time Mother and Isaiah encountered each other, it always ended this way.

“Isaiah isn’t bad. He’s always been helping me since we were young.”

“Hmph, helping a lady is the duty of a knight. That’s not particularly commendable.”

“But Isaiah always promised to be on my side. So, he won’t do anything bad to me.”

Of course, this was Melody’s own way of trying to alleviate Mrs. Higgins’ worries.

But somehow, the look in Mother’s eyes deepened with even more concern as she looked at Melody.

“Why… do you look like that?”

When Melody cautiously asked, Mrs. Higgins simply shook her head gently.

It seemed she thought it better not to explain.

 

***

 

Two more days passed, and in the afternoon, Melody, having entrusted her maid with the preparation for going out, was memorizing her organized notes.

“After the death, the governance records are sealed by three magicians for 100 years, and the incantation to unseal them is…”

As she slowly continued her memorization, suddenly, a voice intruded from behind the screen.

“It’s passed down to the Tower Master generationally. Meaning, Jeremiah will inherit it in the future.”

Melody was startled and quickly lifted her head.

That was understandable, as she hadn’t heard anyone enter her room.

“When did you come in?”

“It’s been a while. Why aren’t you coming out?”

Annoyance tinged his voice, prompting Melody to peek out from one side of the screen.

Ronny Baldwin was sitting on her desk, casually reading her books and notes.

“Ah, uh. Don’t look. My lord!”

At Melody’s exclamation, he shot a sharp glance over the notes.

“What?”

“Don’t just read my notes without permission!”

As Melody raised her voice again, he dropped the notes with a thud and descended from the desk.

He was wearing a somewhat mature suit for a seventeen-year-old, which, thanks to his sharp features, surprisingly suited him well.

“How dare you speak to me like that?”

“That is, my notes!”

“What did you say after that, you fool!”

“What next?”

Melody, still only showing her eyes, paused to think for a moment. But it seemed there was nothing else she had said to him besides the note.

“…Sigh.”

He stood askew for a moment, tapping his chest area lightly.

“You, with such memory, manage to study well. Are you sure you can pass the exam?”

“Of course, I want to pass.”

“With that head that forgets everything?”

“That’s because you, my lord…!”

Melody, about to argue that he was undoubtedly nitpicking, paused mid-sentence.

She realized what Ronny was pointing out.

“Ah.”

“It seems you’ve realized.”

He smirked smugly, lifting his chin slightly as if to say, speak up if you have something to say.

“I’m sorry, Ronny.”

Melody had made a mistake in how she addressed him.