<Chapter 88>
#9. Each One’s Role (12)
“If he doesn’t bring a partner, he won’t be able to receive the family head position.”
“The family head position…?”
“Yes. That was the condition.”
Amelia’s expression seemed much brighter, perhaps because her greatest concern had been resolved. Returning to a comfortable posture, she continued speaking with a gentle smile toward Melty.
“I’m not sure if you’ve heard, but the Padrian family typically arranges engagements early. But that child, due to various circumstances… still didn’t have a fiancé. Since he adamantly insisted he wasn’t interested, that condition was attached.”
Melty could easily recall that the “incident” Amelia mentioned was the kidnapping Calix experienced in his childhood. Come to think of it, Calix never used the word “successor.” The staff called him “Acting Head,” and Calix agreed with that term.
“But I never expected that he would bring his partner like this.”
Melty smiled awkwardly at her genuinely delighted appearance. It seemed absurd now that he had initially been tense and afraid, as she wasn’t scary at all anymore. Though her eyes were somewhat fierce, perhaps he realized she wasn’t a bad person.
After dabbing the moisture that had formed at her eyes with a handkerchief, saying she never thought this day would really come, she looked at Melty with eyes still filled with emotion and asked:
“What do you like about Calix?”
At her sudden question, Melty’s tightly closed mouth opened cautiously. Until a few days ago, he could have written an entire book about all the negative things about Calix. Conversely, he could have asserted that he wouldn’t find anything good about him even if he washed his eyes with the cleanest, clearest water. Yet strangely, in response to Amelia’s question, the good points about Calix flowed out effortlessly.
“…It’s comfortable and fun being with him.”
There had been times when he feared Calix and ran away, but now Calix no longer felt difficult to approach. Though Calix tended to tease him severely, apart from those times, they generally communicated well.
“It’s quite unexpected that he has a talent for teaching others. He’s also honest, kind, and…”
Melty hesitated and glanced at Amelia, who was looking at him with a pleased expression. Then he whispered in a shrinking voice:
“His face is also to my taste…”
Amelia laughed out loud at his shy confession. A fresh, green apple-like fragrance tickled her nose. Moreover, the slight quiver of his ears that moved restlessly as he whispered seemed to reveal his embarrassment that he couldn’t fully hide.
“Good. If you two marry, I’ll actively support you.”
“Eh? Marriage??”
“My husband can be a bit old-fashioned… But I’ll help you, so you don’t need to worry too much.”
“That… isn’t it too fast?”
Melty responded awkwardly while checking Amelia’s brightly smiling face. At his words, she laughed softly as if she’d heard something amusing.
“Fast? Even getting engaged today would be late. You’re both adults, and you like each other, so what’s the problem?”
“…”
Hesitating, Melty remained silent instead of arguing. He had often thought that Calix’s actions were incredibly fast, but only today did he realize who influenced his rapid pace.
“I, I haven’t even told my family yet! So marriage is a bit…”
The excuse he barely squeezed out seemed to work, as Amelia, who had already moved on to discussing the wedding ceremony and honeymoon suite, closed her mouth. Seeing his face looking around awkwardly, she correctly assessed the situation. The fact that her son had found someone he liked, and moreover, that their feelings were mutual, had made her too excited on her own.
“I’m sorry. I tend to be rather impulsive by nature.”
Melty responded with a smile and a sigh of relief, assuring her it was fine, to her apology that mixed boisterousness and gentleness. Only then, looking at Melty’s now relaxed face, she belatedly remembered something and moved her hand.
“A letter came from the Crosel family, so I naturally assumed you had told your family. I was so touched thinking you were already considering marriage, but I guess I was too hasty.”
“A letter?”
A letter envelope was extended toward Melty, who wore a puzzled expression. The sealed part had been opened. After staring at the envelope with its mouth wide open, Melty’s gaze returned to her face, and Amelia once again extended the letter envelope toward him.
Under the silent pressure to take it quickly, Melty barely grasped it with his index finger. The first thing that caught his eye was the familiar letter envelope. After confirming that this letter was the kind commonly used by the Padrian family, confusion appeared on Melty’s face.
The letter envelope undoubtedly bore the hastily scrawled signature of the ‘Crosel’ family. Thinking it might be a prank, Melty brought the letter closer to examine the somewhat familiar handwriting.
“Huh…?”
“It arrived just this morning in quite a hurry.”
At Amelia’s gesture encouraging him to check it, Melty carefully opened the envelope with a puzzled expression. He hadn’t told his family that he had come here. He couldn’t understand how they knew he was here and sent a letter.
“…”
“How is it? What does it say?”
Melty smiled awkwardly at Amelia’s question, her face full of anticipation. In other circumstances, he might have answered honestly, but this time, he was so flustered that he couldn’t even think of what words to say. With trembling eyes, Melty smiled awkwardly at Amelia and read the letter’s words once more. The letter contained a very concise message.
<I’ll be coming soon, so wash your neck and wait.>
***
“So who sent that?”
“…Judging by the handwriting, it seems like my second older brother.”
Calix barely swallowed the laughter that was about to burst out as Melty frowned, still not understanding what was going on. He could guess why Melty had received such a letter. Calix had deliberately made Melty write a reply to Angel’s suspicious-smelling letter.
Before sending it, he had added that he was enjoying pleasant time with Melty, so not to disturb them unless it was urgent. And right after signing, a letter from the Crosel family arrived.
This confirmed that someone from the Crosel family was at the mansion entrusted to Angel. Although he had included the message not to disturb them unless it was important, just in case it wasn’t from them, he hadn’t expected it to return like this. Laughter kept flowing through his lips at the funny situation where Melty had seen a death threat that should have been sent to him.
“Do you have any idea what this is about?”
“No. None at all.”
Calix smiled brightly and slowly looked around. Melty, already showing clear signs of fatigue, panted as he caught his breath.
“Ah, this is really too hard.”
Frowning, Melty roughly wiped away the sweat that kept trickling down with his sleeve. He felt so short of breath that his lungs hurt. After exhaling deeply, Melty took in the unfamiliar rocky mountain scenery.
“We chose the most difficult path, so it can’t be helped. I told you you could wait below if it was too hard.”
“This was my decision. You’re just helping me, so how could I do that?”
Calix handed a water bottle to Melty, who had pushed his lips forward. Drinking enough to wet his entire throat as soon as he received it, Melty could finally exhale a long breath with an expression suggesting he might survive now.
“And anyway, I’m the one who needs to check it.”
Not ignoring Calix’s comment that Amelia would know well about herbs growing in the hills, Melty had asked her about “Rika” during their tea time. The place she recommended was this mountain where they were now standing.
– If it’s a flower with plump petals and a hollow inside, there are several species besides Rika. So it would be better to go with someone who can distinguish them. For example, my son.
Following her advice, given with a bright smile, Melty had initially tried to find someone else knowledgeable about herbs. However, Calix, who had astutely grasped the situation, said he would accompany him, allowing Melty to focus on climbing the mountain with him.
The places they had traversed with Calix were remote paths that others didn’t use. The lush, unmanaged grass made it difficult to even see where to step. For Melty, who was unfamiliar with this type of mountain path, it was a challenging route.
“I’m dying. I’m really dying.”
Despite walking the same distance, Calix hadn’t even lost his breath once. When Melty’s eyes narrowed skeptically, wondering if they were really the same species, Calix reached out his arm, called Naru who was wrapped around Melty’s wrist, and placed him on a tree.
“Huh?”
“This little one needs time to rest too. We can take him with us later.”
After finishing his words, Calix stroked the area under Naru’s neck with his finger. Seeming to enjoy his touch, Naru quickly settled on the branch.
“…I thought Calix-ssi would be busy. You looked really hectic this morning too.”
“A chaotic situation and me being busy are different things. First, let’s finish your business, and then I think I’ll need to go to Botenta.”
“To Durasen-ssi?”
Melty recalled the burly bear beastman he had met during the exchange meeting. Though not as striking as Kamin Patel or Lila, he was a remarkable person who handled all sorts of distinctive people with surprising ease.
“Yeah. Since there’s also the matter of farmland… Two heads are better than one in times like these. They should have a lot of related materials there too.”
Melty nodded laboriously at Calix’s answer. He wished he could remember the title of a book he had seen with similar content, but he failed to recall what book it was. It was impossible to clearly remember the contents of all the books he had read in one day, as there had been so many.
“Alright, time to get up now.”
“Ugh. Okay. I’m getting up.”
Melty, who had barely managed to rest his buttocks on a large boulder, groaned as he got to his feet. It was Calix’s job to locate where the flowers grew and explain what kind of flower it was. And it was Melty’s job to determine whether it matched what he had seen through his gift.
‘Since there isn’t much time, we need to hurry.’
According to Johaim’s diagnosis, the boy’s father lying in bed would last only until the end of this week at most. After the long mountain path, Melty tapped his aching legs and clenched his fist to muster strength. Watching him, Calix held back a small escaping laugh and fixed his gaze on one spot.
“It looks like it’s blooming over there.”
“Isn’t it dangerous?”
“I’ll be back soon, so wait here.”
After lightly tapping Melty’s head, Calix took a short breath and climbed straight up the wall. To call it a wall was generous—it was just a huge rock. Melty watched in a daze as he climbed up the steep rock where it seemed impossible to know where to place one’s feet.
Although he had known Calix was physically fit from their climb, seeing him easily scale the rock made Melty’s mouth drop open. Before he knew it, Calix had climbed all the way up the rock and disappeared from Melty’s sight.
“Calix-ssi? Are you okay?!”
When he called out to him in a raised voice, a distant voice responded, ‘Found it!’ Taking a deep sigh of relief, Melty frowned at a water droplet that fell on his head.
“…Rain?”
Despite raining all day yesterday, slow droplets were falling from the sky as if that hadn’t been enough. With rain, the rock surface would surely be more slippery. Concerned about a possible accident, Melty quickly raised his hands to cover his head and called out to Calix, who was still out of sight.
“Calix-ssi! Come down quickly!”
At that moment, the ground shook violently with an explosive sound. Instinctively covering his ears at the sudden situation, Melty crouched down. With a flutter of wings, birds simultaneously took to the sky.
