“Understood.”
Leaving behind Isabel, who answered reliably, Roman rose from his seat. Pressing hard on the corners of his eyes due to the rushing fatigue, he went outside using the back door just as he had when he arrived. He planned to go home and get some sleep before meeting Martin.
***
Trickle—the glass was filled with a clear sound. After emptying about half of it in one gulp, Martin spoke first.
“What’s wrong with your face? It looks like you’ve lost a ton of weight.”
“I spent a night of debauchery after a long time.”
Normally such an answer would make people follow along as intended, but Martin wasn’t fooled. He glanced at the glass in Roman’s hand and then met his gaze again.
“Are you sure you should be drinking? Your face really doesn’t look good.”
“There’s no problem. If I couldn’t drink, I wouldn’t have suggested going to a bar.”
Roman’s words were true. After getting a good sleep, his body felt much lighter, and leaving behind the worried butler, he had gone to find Martin as planned. Fortunately, he had headed to a nearby bar with Martin, who had been resting at home.
His face still looked a bit gaunt even to himself, but there was nothing wrong inside. As he took another sip of alcohol, the expected nagging flew at him.
“If you get drunk or collapse, I’m leaving you behind.”
Anyone listening would think it happened often, but that wasn’t the case at all. Despite appearances, Roman was very thorough about self-care. He had a high tolerance for alcohol, and if he felt like he might get drunk, he would restrain himself. Knowing it was an empty threat, Roman chuckled and changed the subject.
“What happened with the Viscountess Rood matter? It was completed while I was away.”
“……”
Martin’s expression noticeably hardened. After letting out a brief sigh, he continued in a low voice.
“My guess was right. Viscount Martis had put someone on the young lady.”
“Viscount Martis?”
“He’s Lady Grace’s biological father, apparently.”
“……!”
“They divorced a long time ago and the wife took their daughter, and she inherited her maternal family’s surname.”
It was rare but not unheard of. Usually the eldest son inherited the family’s title, but if there was no son or the son didn’t have the proper qualifications, it could be passed down to a daughter. And one more thing—in cases of divorce due to a spouse’s infidelity, regardless of gender, they could return to their pre-marriage surname, and it seemed Viscountess Rood was the latter case.
“So Viscount Martis committed adultery.”
“Right.”
Long ago, Martin had firmly etched the face of the middle-aged man who had visited the Viscount’s daughter’s dress shop in his mind, and after some investigation, he had uncovered his identity. The next thing to do was to clearly resolve his vague suspicions. When Martin asked if Viscount Martis had put someone on her, the Viscount’s daughter looked very flustered but soon acknowledged that it was true.
After hearing the whole story, Roman muttered as if to himself.
“…Twisted paternal love.”
“The wife must have taken a very hard line. Well, I would have done the same if I were her.”
It didn’t matter who you met before marriage, but if adultery was discovered after officially becoming a married couple, there was strict punishment under national law. Viscount Martis had the audacity to demand a divorce and even left the kingdom with a foreign woman.
But now, saying he was curious and worried about whether his daughter was doing well and secretly putting someone on her—he truly was a shameless bastard. If he felt sorry toward his daughter or thought about the fear she must have felt because of him, he should never have done such a thing.
Then again, if he were capable of such thoughts, he wouldn’t have abandoned his wife and child in the first place.
“So what happened?”
“It seems the Viscountess pulled some strings. There was no specific mention, but she said it should be fine now.”
From the guild master’s perspective, it was fortunate that the guild members weren’t involved in something that could have potentially become troublesome and it was wrapped up. However, questions still remained. After sucking on and exhaling from his pipe, which emitted rising smoke, Roman continued.
“Diego’s contract was extended. And he’s alone.”
“You already checked that too? Looking like that?”
Martin laughed incredulously and lightly swirled his glass before belatedly answering.
“The Viscount’s daughter made a separate request, apparently. The reason… you can probably guess.”
As Martin suspected, the Viscount’s daughter had known the identity of the suspicious person early on. Yet rather than stopping the request, she had asked only Diego to extend it—her intentions were obvious.
“……”
The breath he quietly exhaled reeked of alcohol. The inside of his eyes stung. He hadn’t even had many glasses yet, but his head was throbbing, which suggested his condition still wasn’t normal.
This time Martin’s question followed.
“Where the hell did you go?”
“Something came up.”
“That’s why I’m asking what that something was. When I returned to the guild, the atmosphere was like a funeral home. I grabbed someone and asked, and apparently there were rampant rumors that you had followed His Grace the Grand Duke.”
Martin thought it was fortunate that even he hadn’t been foolish enough to get swept up in such rumors. However, his composure didn’t last long. At Roman’s words that followed, Martin involuntarily made a stiff expression.
“It’s not completely wrong.”
“What?”
“…There was a request. Though it would be temporary.”
Roman briefly explained the situation. He didn’t mention the fact that Ruth was the Grand Duke’s partner, but Martin was sharp enough that he would have figured it out just from the circumstances so far.
When the story ended, Martin’s voice followed as if taking turns. It was a tone as subdued as his expression.
“So are you thinking of going?”
“…I’m not sure yet.”
At first, he had no intention of going at all. As he had said before, the Grand Duke’s circle included many excellent people. Although none of them would have established and operated a guild before, there probably wouldn’t be any major difficulties. Even if something troublesome occurred, Kailton would take care of it all.
However, now he felt like ‘it might not be bad to get some fresh air for a while.’ It seemed he needed time to sort out his jumbled thoughts.
As if reading his mind, Martin added a remark.
“Or take this chance to rest a bit. Don’t worry about the guild.”
Roman silently raised his glass. Since there was still time, it seemed he should think about it a bit more.
***
As he walked, he heard a murmuring sound from somewhere. He looked around, but there was no one visible.
‘…Is there some kind of event at the plaza? It was quiet this morning.’
Antonio tilted his head and climbed the stairs leading to the second floor. But strangely, the sound grew louder the more he walked. When he turned into the hallway, it became even clearer. It wasn’t difficult to find the source of the sound. As soon as he realized it, Antonio quickened his pace and threw open the closed break room door.
“Thanks to that, I was able to catch that bastard. Ahahaha!”
“Well, you certainly worked hard.”
The gaze of the man who had been laughing heartily and chiming in landed on Antonio. Seeing his face, he even raised his hand and greeted him first.
“You’re here?”
The faces of the others were equally filled with laughter. There had been a somewhat stagnant feeling all this time, but such a lively atmosphere was quite rare. Antonio entered and asked the guild members.
“Did something happen today? Everyone seems to be in a good mood.”
“Oh, there certainly was. Well, this morning…”
“The Master finally returned! Haha.”
The man who had been recounting his heroic tale quickly snatched up the answer. At the unexpected news, Antonio’s eyes widened as he asked again.
“Is that really true?”
“Of course it’s true. We even decided to all have drinks together this evening. The Master said he’d treat us big.”
While the prospect of a gathering where they could eat expensive food and drink to their hearts’ content was welcome news for Antonio too, there was something he needed to confirm first.
“Where on earth has he been all this time? Did you ask?”
“I did. He said something urgent came up and he went to a distant region.”
“A distant region?”
“He drew a line saying anything beyond that was a secret. Anyway, what matters is that he’s back, right?”
“Of course. That’s right.”
Leaving behind the men who quickly moved on to other topics, Antonio lightly massaged the back of his neck.
He was someone whose instincts were generally on point. While he was glad and relieved that the Master had returned… on the other hand, he had a strangely unsettled feeling. He couldn’t quite pinpoint what it was, but it felt like finishing your business without wiping properly—that kind of uncomfortable feeling.
‘…I’m probably just worrying needlessly. Come to think of it, does that bastard Diego even know?’
