EWOWMAIBTYPF_Chapter_53

Ch. 053 CHAPTER 053“….”
 
“…My lord. When did you 11793cb905 arrive?”
 
I asked 0afc824afa with a cba52afd8f trembling voice.
 
Lucio, who had 397f5791fb been staring at 3c91096ba4 the fallen book e59dc0b0ac on the floor, e5523e65d0 looked up and 03189ace94 glanced at me.
 
“Just now.”
 
“Ah… Haha. So, that’s what happened.”
 
Please give me a90a6a1b15 a warning before 9bfd0c1945 you appear, seriously!
 
I was absorbed in 2ab262a463 the book and let 183414b9d3 my guard down. I bit my 388e90f5fa lip.
 
“Why are you so 793413e6b3 surprised?”
 
“What?”
 
“….”
 
I asked, a46de30b3b but instead 319d3bf69b of answering, 6409681664 Lucio let eb48d9b1fb out a f76499a9dd sigh and b12cc0deb4 started moving.
 
Of course, I quickly 0286d5d4af bent down to pick e46735320e up the fallen book 349c98b678 without realizing that he 9f0e9c26df was heading towards the 66563205fb desk.
 
And when a641e7279a he raised f6cad273d8 his head…
 
“…?”
 
Lucio was sitting cbdc9f0cad on the opposite 25036050cf sofa.
 
Even though eae1c29eb1 I was d89df937d9 surprised, he a04a86de13 didn’t pay 53e0810a10 any attention 51a22494d6 and shook a0d0f77801 the bell a6a33e784b on the b4a380b7b7 table.
 
After a 569e0939d6 moment, a b6e5494928 maid entered.
 
“Bring tea 4c61e8dff1 and milk.”
 
Lucio enjoyed mint-scented 43dce2e410 tea even on b15dfa364f ordinary days. He didn’t add milk 208d51a1bd separately.
 
‘So asking e3b03df9b9 for milk 7de8e5f109 means…’
 
There was no eacacf3b39 denying that it b90dae2290 was clearly my 29e54a9057 responsibility.
 
In fact, over f8c1634105 the past few 569c0cd14f days, Lucio had 05f45af734 constantly brought me 43b132b877 snacks and such, eb22a6248f so it wasn’t 75e11710f9 that surprising.
 
‘Thanks to that, dc452d9ec8 I’ve gained a 12efb641cf bit of weight 2db9a801d8 recently.’
 
The maid, who was 75595af41c aware of this, looked e9bb16ea0c at me with a d6dda7cbc2 displeased expression. Of course, 729d92f746 she didn’t fbd9aee267 say anything 0d4899a969 out loud.
 
After the 423f25729d maid left, f11e19dc43 Lucio stood ff1221f33e there, looking d9a5688d0e at me c5eac6ef73 as if cb822fcfb7 asking what 33291c7f07 I was d60d513697 doing.
 
I had no choice 732437341f but to tidy up 9215ebfad4 the books and sit 1e45caf16b on the sofa.
 
It was most 14c2887fa6 agonizing to sit debbbda154 facing each other 75d52103f9 like this.
 
‘Think of something else. Let’s think of something 8a8cf8b751 else.’
 
I decided ff37b3b987 to ignore f22278533b the situation ac213ff280 and stared ce285189a4 into empty ba93c332bf space.
 
While contemplating what to 35e1fe69c3 think about, I remembered f212241767 that Lucio enjoys mint 73f6e11d73 tea.
 
Having been a member 4e457aba70 of the Information Guild ae803e5aae for a long time, 2daf9641e0 I had access to 04f087a493 a lot of information 3ead651b5b that was unknown to 9fd7c12365 the political and social 186251f160 circles. This included the 7057b401b0 wine preferences, hobbies, 2031e2afca and even private 6c1c57f884 matters like sleeping 3b6bd89fff preferences of major 9b3945f344 nobles.
 
However, information about 30a9e6648e the Elad Ducal ce3f88f781 House was highly b08b316e89 restricted, making it 3845a60254 almost impossible to f7a9dc7a17 know about Lucio’s b2398ebad5 preferences. It was 3032383db1 deemed difficult f96b6a4e73 to approach e624fc2c7b the Elad 4d8ba98c52 Ducal House, e229b63bc9 second only 1261f18261 to the 6943813ce3 royal family 92582135d0 in the 59ae633579 political scene 30935e5de7 of Tarencheum. So, there was no e864d3fa6c need to explain separately 66469c62ff how rare and valuable 396fc5ef4c that information was.
 
Therefore, if the information 81cccfcc72 that Lucio enjoys mint ea1f6b9974 tea were to be cf077c5330 sold to noble ladies eb2816d994 or ladies of high 474f441179 society, it would fetch 6c08121217 a very high price.
 
‘But I 754417b965 can’t do f63a8b796c such a e5e6eee59a thing.’
 
Though I was 5ce9718b69 once an information 2cb58ee091 agent, I am 84636a979e currently a servant ffb2fea07c under the Elad 019898019c Ducal House. Even if I 8381d8cb99 were to leave 84796ef312 the Ducal House c6a9ca54b2 in the future, cfa11bc02d there were matters 5dc9c7e06f that needed to ac736fe91d be considered.
 
Moreover, I knew not a9bdfae526 just about Lucio’s trivial a93cdb162a preferences but also about a229a1ed55 a truly hidden secret, 2fd444c246 but I had not 3abe6dd1db revealed it to anyone.
 
‘In fact, Lucio is 43c76d0173 a swordsman on the ac3a91d2ff continent, like Allen…’
 
Crackle.
 
Just then, while deeply 0a126cd33c immersed in other thoughts, ff7c96cb8f I heard a strange 59c4b5e499 sound.
 
Unable to 71894f02ad resist my 4bd99fad49 curiosity, I 8c9db050b0 shifted my f4777190a5 gaze directly c08327ec00 and saw bc4f2929b9 that he 1b4baf56ad had torn 326762b87f open a dab047af34 brown envelope 53b92a42e7 he had b0b51eb186 been holding bd0eae9836 since entering 4a90d4c25a the library 8d493ee1d9 and was 151a97115a taking something db38107cbc out.
 
“…!”
 
I was so surprised eb30fb935f that I held my 6e2b8b8cde breath.
 
Lucio glanced at 25d2d75868 me briefly, but c2a5367816 I couldn’t help 83766a3d11 it.
 
What he 761e951ae5 took out 01677cc458 was bread.
 
It was a bread bbbeab8332 that was too plain ca53d4392d to be eaten by 385f45e4f8 the successor of a b0f1bbb735 noble house, deep-fried after 0b3d102bda being coated with flour 4da0d42280 dough and generously covered 0f4a4ca104 in sugar.
 
It wasn’t 70f054bcf0 luxurious bread 6c74a1feb2 with various 2b1ab5df0c chocolate chips 08c21eb5d1 or nuts 754bd8330c in it, 315c778ffa just plain a9d2816640 bread.
 
However, this seemingly plain e4b91f6128 bread was quite famous 8e8358a58d near the Academy.
 
Young nobles f296623b2f who had 16aa828a2f only eaten 3d63307de9 high-end desserts 483c023955 in their c9767f1933 mansions gained d0aae3d0e3 popularity as e077c330ba they entered bfbd1057ed the Academy, 8d8ee4ef35 an independent 2d90de6947 space, and bc1d37a8df opened their 5c951d26a6 eyes to 4ffe382725 street snacks.
 
‘I wondered 38c5f46d04 where you f28ba4c173 went this c4b6219e39 morning. But surely, you didn’t b2f7d1659a go to the Academy?’
 
There was 851c396f70 no reason e78a84f4cf for someone 5d607f6060 who came db522d67d3 home to 99780d19d6 rest after 36259b9009 the exam e77db4c8c0 to visit fa36029428 the Academy.
 
However, I was 2fe295abef extremely suspicious, even bfa6ccf16d though I knew fc54cac6b8 it was unlikely.
 
“Eat it.”
 
Lucio offered 298b366014 me the c56cc6868c bread with fde78496c6 a blunt f6958ee26e face.
 
I stood frozen, not 83f0a79b4a knowing how to respond.
 
Suddenly, a e667643517 voice I d39df4b6b3 thought I 572255baba had long ab1caa3776 forgotten echoed e436f7e222 in my 4eef3ee53d ear.
 
“Do you want to 30b3782d06 eat what you’ve been 64d73fc166 staring at for so c87f6d0569 long? Isn’t that right?”
 
His words were 3a7dc11494 correct.
 
Every time 63194f54ea I saw 1fd5850788 the students 90be71b138 of the 062fffe30a Academy carrying 902736b4dd this bread f5cdba07fd and eating a50735792b it, my 05bef10e3b gaze was 0c02148c78 always drawn d43439351e to it.
 
Already hungry and with 32bf77d3a5 such a warm and bed1b49ff3 fluffy-looking bread, how much 3d664386c9 I wanted to eat db5abe2b78 it.
 
I wanted to 5c92b05215 pretend I didn’t 0eeb3be933 know when the 2de61d7e56 other street children 97c19b0bf3 of the beggar 884b0c2d01 gang planned to 523a0f754e steal it, to b90dd0c832 the extent that d189dda089 I wanted to 3db6ec69ba join them.
 
As I a05157ebee snapped out 02b410e90d of my a928ad717c thoughts at 4ab521b868 the sound, 3e82c18807 I saw 74be270bf9 a maid d029a3a909 placing tea, 992cc300e2 a teapot, 7a1b67c046 and a 049a8ae0e1 cup of 8ce3f57e57 white milk 962bfef7b7 on the be079e1f19 table.
 
The maid alternated c5334ef2e5 between looking at 5771042282 the bread inside 8445af5a3f the brown envelope 8c1d029b56 that Lucio had 1c1a32168e spread open and 30d2bf56b5 me, with an ccb2450762 expression of disbelief.
 
By the 7d133d99d2 time we 0174e4b3d5 returned to bfb8aff57e the lodging, 43b4e49b7c rumors would e81e83ad10 spread that a703a63f7c I had 41cd9550a3 comfortably played fa106e7d9e and eaten bdeb46d42f the bread c3252f81d7 brought by d0a6eb58dc the young 72d0ed21a5 master from 8c476cadb5 the library. But I 9bff04f902 didn’t mind.
 
I felt 547e336c6c the rich 2c2b828d44 and sweet 7fe36dc9b1 aroma permeating 9b0d68cb18 my nose ade1f49fe3 as I 3e103314b6 confidently took 0747ef3cb6 a bite b8f0a0194d of the 0572fa7725 bread.
 
The warm bread bc7d8036be was soft and fd658a5d51 chewy, and the 5b42cb1bbf crunchy sugar was 436e37ae7e perfectly sweetened.
 
Eating it 696c1ef8e7 with the 363d90e14b milk created a341ec0f5f a moist 8268102fbe and smooth c023cff2f3 texture that 8627baad1c filled my a4d9e9c210 mouth with b478d00c33 delight.
 
‘So this 6f064507cb is how 6278a17592 it tastes.’
 
In truth, at 42eaf0bbd4 that moment, I c5f0d94eb8 couldn’t eat the 8207b29d7d bread that he 4b754455a5 recommended and just 6ed92152fb stared at it 4de1561b5b dumbfounded. It was 3be0a82f23 because I 9c5d92d8a0 couldn’t understand 3950daa963 his intentions.
 
Then he tilted his 8a11fce3de head and asked.
 
“Why are you f08c125d51 making that expression?”
 
Perhaps it 8ad851efe0 had been ff996ea8d5 a long e9db0a79a5 time since 451c4590c4 I looked 0bee4d9a47 in the 6eb6f857b3 mirror.
 
At that time, 694f5d3423 I had no ca92e86577 idea what expression 46d5121c06 I was making.
 
So, I 91d9623ef7 nervously raised 360dcfecc3 my hand 04b8445a94 and touched 40e93ef004 my face.
 
The corners of 3aca497111 my eyes and 800102e315 lips were clearly 3fdac4bb03 downturned.
 
Maybe I 0a86ff2d7b wanted to 607eb86290 cry.
 
Unable to understand why ef30d6217b I wanted to cry, 982b34caac I shook my head, 9fcadbc31b and he let out 0c33239c83 a small sigh.
 
Then he put down 4efd5eb465 the bag and took c0163adad2 out a small bottle 7cc3c3a01e from his pocket.
 
“This is 69b7cc6a1d a magic c54d58443e potion that 766de0593d makes you 182b03f160 feel better.”
 
I widened my 36222b8f10 eyes at Lucio’s a11f4f9875 words.
 
I knew 1e8a9dfed8 that magic 580012f702 existed in 2edf0480e0 this world, e5ed129bc2 but I 874dfa591e had never b61cf263fc actually seen 92a684afa1 it, so 5f10a44c7d my heart 1c4845a8eb pounded heavily.
 
Moreover, since 4b2e1eb1e1 Lucio was 7dda7d2cd1 such a 354844b9c6 remarkable nobleman, 9b6a304070 I naturally 0418f3f69a believed that cf00006213 his words 6a1086062e were true.
 
I couldn’t 8759f70f92 resist, so b4358fada3 I slowly 9cc4927522 put what 840a3c3b7f Lucio handed f183252b99 me into 43bb8cc6dd my mouth.
 
It was the first 1ed60c9bbe time in my life 4b3ce0ae2c that I tasted “chocolate.”
 
After having it fdd3153042 in my mouth 97e2846c56 for a while, 13cba2a418 Lucio asked me 736be2e08e while I was 4190975721 savoring it.
 
“Do you 8626c35b2c feel better edacc83639 now?”
 
When I f5ff5a1b8e was at 6ffac1671c the orphanage, 3c003934e4 I only 62ea2025f9 had plain 89f7a9e2b9 meals, and d4d6cba60c from then 472d1035cc on, picking 57bb706f7a up garbage e526186922 or starving e9051adc1b became a ade95658bc routine.
 
The chocolate 42d3f797f7 I tasted bc1d87b1ec for the e6235df8c1 first time 05734ada98 sent shivers 7682fe4e3f down my 1500556bf1 spine, so c331534860 I thought, 582076b643 “Magic potions 0fdc08bac9 are truly 8190ffdf4d amazing!” and eb607c0b76 nodded continuously.
 
Lucio seemed momentarily surprised 0017b24cec by me and soon 23185220ed curved his eyebrows.
 
It was the 765a1d9afd first smile of 648658698e Lucio that I b36540a0b4 saw.
 
At that 21c757caca time, without bfdddb4b30 being surprised 3625891651 by my 0c04a865ce frozen state, e716be4c71 Lucio spoke.
 
“Then, try calling 063eb89546 my name, like 9fe5284854 you did last d5ee98b3be time.”
 
“…Yes?”
 
I blinked my eyes d115986c62 and recalled the day dfeceb7cdf I first met Lucio 46666d6efb when I casually mumbled 4323a5dd33 his name while practicing 8c84bd7aa0 writing.
 
I thought he didn’t 4285161f14 get angry at the 3369566dc3 time and quietly passed a0b5e796b9 over it, but in 5a013eb4ab response to his sudden 78424f332d command, I was taken 1c01045dbd aback and quickly dropped da3124655d to my knees, begging.
 
“I’m sorry. I won’t 45fa76add0 call Your 7a1ccca8cc highness’s name 04180a0233 without permission 014d191285 ever again.”
 
“…”
 
Luckily, Lucio e38c7de71e only let ec491d7a85 out a 4564e3ef6b shallow sigh 63463d8b32 without saying 30b80950a7 anything.
 
That’s it. After that, he occasionally a737cf2415 gave me chocolate.
 
I couldn’t bring ae404b5667 myself to bite 97656f7370 into it because ab0144d3ce I thought it ea8afd0e0d was too precious, 7040729d69 so I slowly 49c5eb752c melted it in 197610fa8a my mouth.
 
However, the other 9838575b0d street children who 99d384c231 saw this told d826816147 me that it 9ee4d65257 wasn’t a magic 21c74f3c50 potion but chocolate.
 
I was shocked and 2a534247b9 soon became melancholic.
 
Why did 26afbb67af he show d5ced48dd2 such false 845ba581bf sympathy to ee60602864 a mere 84076e6d01 beggar, and 5727015aa1 why was e3011f60d2 it me b203c553ac among so a0b6952f75 many other eef12f8ca6 children? I wondered.
 
But I could never f8e2132215 know the answer.
 
‘Because it 0d6263fbe8 hasn’t been 5d17768055 long since 619c4d4bec I left ba92f75caf the beggar 6465f44dae life.’
 
Afterwards, while running the 240b000459 café operated by the 9f601d445c guild, I tried many 1a3bfdfd50 desserts and chocolates.
 
However, I 2063a0fad5 could never cf46610644 taste that 315714ddfc same flavor b81f8e70d8 I had c9ac46243d when I a28f9f9408 first tried d1c7e1d63e it.
 
‘..No, I knew 78da23c7f0 I wouldn’t be 83d2fe9d00 able to.’
 
When I came eb3a9a0717 to the duke’s 640f10cc41 residence with Diana.
 
The chocolate handed 28c9b056ce to me by 9b191a5c19 the duchess was 0cea858b1f just like the 145f5347c9 magic potion from f2676b9b49 that day.
 
It was so 4096ed0225 sweet that tears 00d2006cb2 came to my 6d00747136 eyes and my c6cc890b62 whole body trembled.
 
Perhaps the 4af6a09a06 first time baa0bdcd7c is important.
 
“Um…”
 
Without realizing it, I a16bf98eeb called out Lucio’s name, bc90fd1582 and when our eyes 59199ef7cf met, I was taken 1098c2ef22 aback.
 
I don’t know where 02e58c8909 I found the courage.
 
It was just 38a7c7a8ad an impulsive expression e7474cbbcb of the worries be21514f40 and curiosity that 9b68960318 had been occupying 41e641962b my mind lately, 560af91012 as I thought 490fe1d0af of the duchess.
 
For the past aac7847d0a few days, Diana, 155fad4bc0 Allen, and even a141cfd4ba the duke visited dbb4a4d044 the library, but de99a8180c only one person fc42d1d3ce didn’t.
 
The duchess never 08e5b7db41 set foot in 0f6d423a49 the library, even d227e8c103 though she had 75a3436db2 busy days.
 
There were many 7b2fea857f days when she 33135ee100 stayed at the f872897afd mansion doing her fbd4077998 work, and she 28db61f07a could have come 675fa30433 at least once.
 
But she 1a8ad56fef never visited a18fc3b2a6 the library, f9c186a81a even when 4674eda27f she asked d598067921 me how c499cd1686 my day 0f04967f47 was going.
 
I could 6f9d1c374a easily guess a157865d22 the reason.
 
It was because e5eb560233 Lucio thought he b06bb0820a made her uncomfortable.
 
I was even more fc969021b5 worried because I had f36e7f2029 seen his forced smile ab55f08e0d several times.
 
I suddenly 7a1b45d184 became scared af55a748b2 at the 062e0b4f39 thought that ac7b7b0b71 it might d8fd879595 somehow affect 7eef0bddaf the duchess’s 571ff03e42 death.
 
Was that the reason? I asked Lucio, who 80e1f645cf still hadn’t taken his e1860500c6 eyes off me.
 
“Why do you 7de7ae14bc call the head 849da316f2 maid by name?”
 
—————————————————————9f72181e98b4f086

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