Chapter 124

 

***

 

When Melody returned to the mansion, Higgins was waiting for her at the entrance.

“I’m back!”

“You’ve worked hard. It seems you did well until the end.”

Higgins patted Melody’s head with a look of pride.

He must have been keeping an interest in how the exam was conducted.

“Yes, thankfully.”

Melody smiled brightly and quickly took the watch out of her bag.

“Thank you for the watch.”

“Was it helpful?”

“Very much so.”

“That’s good to hear.”

Higgins untied the lace ribbon attached to the watch strap and handed it to Melody.

“Then, you should take a bath and rest now. You’ve worked hard for a long time, so all that’s left is to wait for the results.”

“I will.”

“Everything you need for your rest is already prepared. Now, I’ll go to Young Master Claude for a moment.”

At that, Melody was startled and quickly grabbed Higgins’s arm.

“Young Master Claude?!”

“Yes.”

“Is the young master at the mansion?”

“Yes, he returned a little while ago. Right now, he should be in his room….”

Before he could finish, Melody immediately started running inside the mansion.

While screaming strangely.

“……It seems.”

Watching her, Higgins looked down at Loretta and smiled awkwardly.

“There must have been another interesting incident between them, Miss.”

“Really, brother!”

Loretta clenched her fists tightly, looking extremely upset.

“What did he do to Melody behind my back!”

“The eldest young master is not as easily subdued as the other young masters, is he?”

“That’s because Claude brother is as frightening as he is kind.”

That’s why she could leave Melody with him for a while.

“……But Melody will have to keep being oblivious.”

“Why is that?”

Higgins asked, and Loretta lifted a finger spiritedly and replied.

“Because that’s the only powerful weapon that can torment Claude brother.”

“Ah.”

Higgins nodded, finally understanding.

***

Melody arrived in front of Claude’s room and knocked frantically.

“Yes.”

A leisurely reply came from beyond the door, and she flung it open.

“Young Master!”

Her urgent call was met with a relaxed response.

“Hello, Miss Melody.”

He was leisurely polishing a silver ornament by the window where the white morning sunlight was falling.

“What, what.”

She lost her words for a moment at that peaceful scene.

Melody rushed up to him and immediately started questioning him.

“When the knight was inspecting the inside, did you hide the newspaper? And you made sure no one found out you had been outside?”

He smiled and said, “Calm down,” then explained slowly.

“When the knight was inspecting, I was indeed reading the newspaper. I happened to be engrossed in an interesting column and couldn’t stop.”

“What? But!”

“Your bag was taken care of by me. Nothing was missing, right?”

“Nothing was missing, but that’s not the point.”

“Seeing your reaction, it seems you didn’t recognize him.”

“…Recognize who?”

“Didn’t that knight look familiar?”

Did he?

Thinking about it, he was quite polite to Melody. But with the helmet on, it was hard to recognize who it was.

The only knight Melody knew was…

“Ah.”

Melody recalled a man from her memories.

The younger son of a certain family who was the conversation partner when Claude intervened and ruined their rare moment of dialogue!

“You’re harsh, Miss Melody. At least remember the face of a man who showed interest in you.”

Claude said so but seemed to enjoy the situation for some reason, though it was unclear why.

“Anyway, I owe him, so I might have to buy him a drink sometime soon.”

“When did you go out to buy the newspaper, anyway?”

“Do you think I would leave Miss Melody’s side? Of course, someone else brought it to me. Such a task is nothing.”

It seems he used his influence to secretly bring in the newspaper.

Melody knew he was capable of handling matters discreetly… but to go to such lengths just for a newspaper.

“…I feel like a fool for worrying over this and that.”

“Miss Melody is not a fool. Just passing the two written exams proves that.”

“But that wasn’t a test of intelligence.”

Especially the second question seemed more about discerning beliefs rather than ability.

“…I still don’t understand the criteria for the first one.”

“Tell me. What was it?”

“Well.”

Melody recounted everything that happened during the first exam, omitting the story of the annoying man who had unnecessarily provoked her.

“Hmm….”

He pondered deeply, momentarily holding the silver ornament up to the sunlight. Satisfied with how prettily it sparkled on the surface, he set it down on the windowsill.

“Perhaps it was to check the handwriting?”

“Handwriting…?”

To Melody’s question, he nodded.

“Yes, to see if there were any bad habits in writing certain letters that make them hard to read. Whether the size of the letters was appropriate, things like that.”

“Ah.”

“And above all, it’s important for an excellent archivist to maintain consistent handwriting from start to finish.”

Melody thought that Claude’s guess might indeed be right.

The fact that the officers could decide pass or fail as soon as they saw the answer sheet added more credibility to this.

“So, those who attempted more questions were at a significant disadvantage.”

Writing more sentences within the limited time would naturally lead to a loss of control towards the end, making it almost impossible to avoid sloppy handwriting.

“That makes sense. This is why considering the examiner’s intention is important.”

Coming from someone who entered and graduated at the top of his class in the academy, his words felt very credible.

“Thank you. I feel a bit more at ease thanks to you, young master.”

“Does that mean you can finally rest well now?”

“Mm, not really.”

Melody glanced nervously at the door, wondering if someone was in the corridor.

“I have something I want to ask.”

Her voice lowered significantly with her request, but he shook his head firmly.

“If you’re asking if I found information about the birth mother in the archive, I won’t answer.”

“What?! Why, why not?”

“Because.”

He leaned in, looking closely at Melody’s face.

“Your eyes are all dark.”

“…….”

“Of course, Miss Melody would still look pretty even if her entire face turned dark… But I prefer you healthy.”

His words seemed to carry a genuine concern.

Plus, the idea that she’d still look pretty even if her whole face were dark seemed like something a hopelessly smitten man would say.

So, Melody once again had a valid question.

“Sometimes… you act as if you really like me.”

“I’ve told you. I do like you.”

His earnest and fervent reply made Melody snort.

“Ah, yes. Of course. And just so you know, I think you’d look ugly if your face turned all dark.”

“What… I knew you’d react like that.”

He responded with a resigned voice.

“Then, I’ll go back to my room.”

“Yes, rest well.”

Melody gave a brief nod in farewell.

“Oh, right, Miss Melody.”

“Yes?”

At his sudden call, she turned around to find him sporting a rather splendid smile.

A pleasant breeze blew in through the wide-open window, beautifully tousling his hair.

Even the sunlight, which should be fair to all, started sparkling more around his face.

Melody narrowed her eyes at him, wondering why he was needlessly flaunting his beauty.

She was well aware of how handsome he was without him having to do so.

Claude, maintaining that sparkle, approached her closely.

“I have a favor to ask.”

“Go… go ahead.”

Melody was not enchanted by his beauty, but somehow, she stuttered in her response.

He seemed pleased with her reaction, smiling satisfactorily.

“This.”

“Yes?”

“Could you give this to the maid on your way out?”

What he handed her was the towel he had been using to polish the small silver ornament.

Melody stared down at the white towel placed in her hands.

‘You didn’t have to act so charmingly; I’ve been quite accommodating to your requests so far.’

Wasn’t it a waste of time to watch such unnecessary flaunting of beauty? Though, it was pleasing to the eye in the end.

“Take care, then.”

With that, Melody nodded and left his room with somewhat brisk steps.

‘Ah.’

And when she fully stepped out into the corridor.

Melody realized why he was so pleased to hand over the towel.

‘It was a small revenge.’

A revenge for the rag Melody had thrown at him yesterday.

Though, as a young master of a grand ducal family, he had to make do with a towel instead of a rag.

“He must have been really upset about yesterday…”

The sparkling smile must have been because the thought of taking revenge was so delightful to him.

“He’s subtly childish.”

Melody sighed and asked a passing maid to wash the towel.