Chapter 66

***

Vivian, who came up to the second floor with vigor, stopped in front of an open door. It was definitely Daniel’s room, but it was neat inside.

“What are you doing?”

Vivian, who was snooping around, jumped at the sound of a voice behind her. It was Daniel, the owner of the room. He looked ready to go out. It wouldn’t be strange if he asked her to go somewhere with him right now. His appearance was very unfamiliar.

“Daniel, are you leaving?”

“Yes. I am going home to research.”

He entered the room, avoiding Vivian. Then he grabbed a bag, which was neatly laid out on the bed.

“…You’re going back?”

The reason Daniel came here in the first place was to open the locked door in the mansion. As long as he had accomplished that goal, he didn’t have to stay here any longer. Even though she knew he was going to leave, she couldn’t help but feel sad. Parting was always sad and unwelcome.

“Yes. I have to take advantage of the very valuable information the Lady has given me.”

He smiled. Vivian was shocked, but she couldn’t keep him here. That was because she was well aware of how much he struggled to get the information he needed for research, and how luminous his eyes were when he learned about elemental magic.

“Thank you so much for your help.”

Vivian quickly erased the gloom from her face and smiled beautifully. If it wasn’t for his power as a wizard, she would’ve been cursing at the door that still wouldn’t open. She still didn’t know why the door was locked, but there was a saying that ‘Beginning is half the journey’.

Daniel, who slung the bag over his shoulder, smiled at her sincere thanks.

“I am so grateful. If it wasn’t for the Lady, I would have been at a stand still in my research, even if I focused.”

It was the calmest and sweetest way he had spoken since she met him. Vivian could tell that he was genuinely grateful to her.

Vivian, who had just come up to the second floor, had to go back down to the first floor to see Daniel off, who said he was leaving now.

As she was going down the stairs, she made eye contact with Roger, who was walking down the hallway alone.

It was only a few minutes ago that she ran into the mansion, screaming. She did not have the courage to face him again. Embarrassment crept into her heart, and her face began to burn. While fanning her face with her hands, they reached the first floor.

Roger, who had been watching Vivian with an unidentifiable expression, turned to Daniel as he approached.

“Boss. I am going now.”

“Finally.”

Roger said in a cool tone. Unlike Vivian, there was no sign of disappointment on his face. Daniel shrugged his shoulders as if he expected Roger’s reaction.

“There will be no escort. You know how to get home.”

Daniel nodded his head dryly. Then he looked back at Vivian, who had followed him. He licked his lips as if he had something to say and then scratched his head with an awkward smirk. Contrary to how he treated Roger, he had a very cautious attitude.

“That…In case I have any questions…”

Vivian realized what he wanted to say and smiled.

“You are welcome to send me a letter any time.”

She was sincere. It was an accidental friendship, but she thought it wouldn’t be a bad thing to keep in touch with him often. Just like an elemental magician was a mysterious entity to Daniel, wizards were very interesting to Vivian.

“And later, if I have time, I will come back. Because now there are two people I know…”

The two he was referring to were Vivian and Roger. While talking, Vivian glanced at Roger without thinking, and was shocked when their eyes met. However, she did not want to show that their relationship was not going smoothly in front of Daniel, so she hurriedly managed her expression.

“Therefore, I don’t think this is farewell forever.”

Daniel left the mansion after saying goodbye with a cheerful face. It was a very small farewell party.

When he disappeared, a man and a woman remained in an awkward atmosphere.

The door closed and Vivian immediately turned around and climbed the stairs. Roger tried to catch her in order to have a proper conversation, but he couldn’t do it. The word ‘petty’ that she had spat at him like a dagger came to mind. The first words she uttered in anger were unexpectedly destructive to him.

* * *

“Did you two fight again?”

Tainy asked indifferently, wiping the sweat from his chin. Vivian, who wasn’t expecting  the question, reacted sensitively. She paused.

“Fighting?”

“You answered the same way last time, but… you fought right, right?”

Tainy casually asked and gulped water. Vivian flinched and let out a long sigh. He added coldly.

“A cold wind is blowing between you two. Until now, you two have been doing very well. Ah, the day before the wizard left. It was fine until that day, but since then he has been bitter.”

Tainy was easygoing and didn’t poke around, but when he did, he was quick to catch on. With sharp eyes like a cat, he quickly noticed what was happening in the order of the Knights at any time. ‘What happened in the Order of Knights’ also included the relationship between Roger and Vivian.

Three days had passed since the day she had an argument, not a fight, with Roger. For three days, they did not have a proper conversation. She still couldn’t forgive him for allowing other women to touch him so carelessly.

‘It’s really funny. How the hell am I supposed to allow that?’

Even now, the anger that permeated her chest did not subside. Roger would never know of her wretched jealousy.

‘…If he had acted like an @sshole as rumored, I wouldn’t have felt this bad.’

Had he been disrespectful to other women, she wouldn’t have felt so bad.

She no longer wanted to change the public’s perception of him. If his kindness was to stay directed exclusively at her, the rumor had to remain. It would be very satisfying to Vivian if no woman approached Roger due to the evil rumors. That was possible in the Capital.

But now, they were in the West. Chen once said that rumors spread like wildfire, but they died down eventually.

‘I’ll spread the rumors myself.’

Vivian was a little surprised at herself for having such an idea.

“Well, it’s you two, so I don’t really care, but just be aware that we noticed.”

Tainy spoke as if representing the minds of all the knights. Vivian, who had resented Roger for three days, felt a bit sorry. She felt like she had troubled others with their petty argument.

“Sir, let me ask you one thing.”

“What?”

“Would It matter if a woman touched your body without permission?”

Tainy struggled quite a bit after receiving her question. After a moment, he frowned.

“I wouldn’t like it. Why would someone I don’t know touch my body?”

“So what would you do if someone touched you like that?”

“I would knock her out right away.”

Yes, that was normal.

Wasn’t it strange that someone you didn’t know well was touching your body?

In fact, the village women never touched Roger. Their hands only grazed him. However, because of her jealousy, Vivian’s mind exaggerated reality.

“Yes. I’m not weird.”

“…Yes?”

Vivian nodded over and over again, and then disappeared. Tainy, who was left alone, had a bewildered look on his face and scratched his cheek.

“I think I answered wrong.”

* * *

Meanwhile, Roger was looking out the window with a grim expression on his face. Normally, his face was expressionless, but today there was a slight chill in it.

“Did you argue with the Lady?”

Enka, who was sitting opposite him, tested her luck after a while. It was a cautious tone that was quite different from Tainy’s. At Enka’s words, Ben, who was sitting next to her, raised an eyebrow.

“It’s not like that.”

Roger answered in a calm voice, still looking out the window. Ben smirked. He couldn’t help but involve himself in the conversation.

“It looks like you’re arguing. You haven’t conversed properly, have you?”

Roger glanced at him with a nervous expression.

“No.”

“Why are you arguing?”

Despite his continuous denial, his subordinates acted deaf. They didn’t believe him because of the behavior he had exhibited for the past three days.

“…I don’t know. Suddenly my Lady was angry with me.”

“Suddenly?”

“And…”

Roger recalled what happened three days ago.

They went to dinner to repay the mindless favor he had done the day before. And the second he blinked, a handsome man sat in front of Vivian and began to flirt. She greeted him with a fresh smile.

His stomach simmered. He couldn’t stand it anymore, so he left everyone else behind and went to her. Because of the distance, he couldn’t hear Vivian and Albert’s conversation well, so he was anxious. However, when he got closer and tried to listen, the fire inside him grew even more.

“She laughed and smiled when someone said she was pretty.”

Enka seemed to have caught on. For unknown reasons, the Lady was angry with Roger, who, after hearing the praises of another man, became angry. Their stalemate continued for three days.

“Huh? That’s nothing.”

Ben shook his head with a surprised expression. Roger glared at him. Ben hid his face behind the document he was holding and stayed silent.