<Chapter 78>
#9. Each One’s Role (2)
The message was concise yet ominous, with a sense of urgency running through it. Unlike Angel’s usual style, the handwriting showed signs of being hastily scrawled. Especially the final character, “yo,” which had a long trailing end flowing downward.
“Something must be happening at the mansion!”
Melty’s eyes trembled anxiously, clearly showing his distress. Calix, taking in Melty’s appearance, smiled to calm him down before speaking.
“If something serious was happening, he wouldn’t have had the leisure to send a letter.”
“But the letter….”
With an expression that said ‘what about this content?’, Melty tilted his head while looking at the words written on the page. Despite the alarming text, Calix’s calm demeanor made him even more confused. Melty blinked his round eyes rapidly, looking back and forth between Calix and the letter.
“He’s taking the joke too far.”
“J-joke…?”
At Calix’s words, Melty placed a hand over his chest in relief. It was indeed an excessive prank, just as he said. Melty finally let out a sigh of relief at Calix’s nonchalant attitude.
‘Angel-ssi, really… Even if you’re bored at the mansion, that’s going too far.’
Calix glanced at Melty’s obvious look of relief and stood up with a gentle smile. Though he had made that excuse to Melty, Calix easily sensed that Angel’s message contained genuine urgency.
Angel was a practical person who always looked after himself first, and if he sent such a letter, something must definitely be happening. He had written Calix’s name largely on the envelope as if to show it to someone, yet wrote the contents secretly. The method he used in the letter was just obvious enough for Melty to recognize if he tried to understand it.
‘He had no time to write a proper letter, but needed to show someone that he was sending one.’
Calix had already received several reports that those who had attacked the purposely vacated mansion had ended up dead. That should mean there was no particular danger, yet Angel had deliberately sent this message to Melty. It seemed he was sincerely requesting Melty’s help. One hypothesis formed in Calix’s mind.
‘If it requires Melty’s help rather than mine… did someone from the Crosel family arrive at the mansion?’
The fact that Angel sent a plea for help to Melty instead of himself, and that if he used a letter, he could have twisted the delivery route as much as needed. Unfortunately for Angel, however, they weren’t in a position to return immediately. Calix, judging his hypothesis to be quite convincing, suggested to Melty:
“You should write a reply.”
“A reply? Me??”
“You’re the one who received the letter, aren’t you?”
Calix tapped Melty’s name written on the envelope as he spoke. At his words, Melty tilted his head with an expression of incomprehension.
“But it’s just a prank letter.”
“Still, it shows effort.”
Since when did prank letters require effort…?
As Melty made a puzzled face, paper and pen were already prepared before him. Following Calix’s prompting gaze to write quickly, Melty picked up the pen with a dazed expression.
“…What should I write?”
“How about writing that things are extremely busy here? And add that we can’t return right away.”
“Isn’t that too specific for replying to a joke letter?”
However, it was also a strange reply to send to a letter pleading for help. With a furrowed brow, feeling somehow duped by Calix, Melty nevertheless obediently wrote the letter. Pursing his lips in dissatisfaction, he added a small note at the very end: ‘Your pranks aren’t funny.’ No sooner had Melty dotted the final period than Calix took the letter.
“I’ll mail this for you.”
“Are you really going to send that?”
“You wrote it to be sent, didn’t you?”
“I didn’t write it to be sent, I wrote it because you told me to.”
Melty’s sulky expression challenged Calix’s statement. At Melty’s disgruntled tone, Calix smiled slightly and tousled his hair without further comment.
“Don’t you need to send letters to your family?”
“I obviously sent them before coming here.”
“Really? Who did you write to?”
“Naturally, I wrote to everyone in my family. My oldest brother, second brother, third brother, older sister, younger sister, mother, father….”
Melty recited his family members, counting on his fingers. As the large family roster rolled off his tongue, Calix recalled the day he had mailed letters for him. He had wondered why the package was so thick, but now he realized it was because Melty had written individual letters to each family member.
“You have quite a few more family members than I do, Calix-ssi!”
“Indeed. What do you usually write about in your letters?”
“Just about how I’m doing. If I don’t write, my family worries about me.”
While answering candidly, Melty’s face showed confusion. Responding to his questioning look of ‘why are you asking this?’, Calix covered with a simple “Just curious.” Then he quickly rose to his feet.
“Don’t overexert yourself, take breaks while you work.”
Though it might sound like a formality, it was Calix’s genuine concern. While there were people who had fallen ill, they weren’t yet certain if it was an epidemic. To prevent chaos, the fewer people who knew about the situation, the better. That also meant that currently, they were the only ones in the mansion involved with this matter.
Although it was work that could be delegated to subordinates, Calix didn’t trust them much either. The only people he could trust were his family, Melty, and the few people of his own at the mansion. Though he had reluctantly assigned Melty the task of researching materials, he didn’t want him to overwork himself. As if understanding his intentions, Melty nodded obediently.
“Shall we go to work now?”
“Yes, and mail this letter while we’re at it.”
Calix fluttered the paper in his hand and began walking. Seeing how casually he spoke about what he had written and sending the letter, it didn’t seem to contain anything negative. Calix unconsciously ran his hand down his neck. Though not perfect, he felt somewhat assured of their safety.
“Though it still feels unsettling….”
With a dubious expression that he couldn’t shake, Calix walked on, sealed the letter properly, and sent it through the resident butler. As he organized his thoughts, the possibility that his hypothesis was correct seemed quite high. Simultaneously, he felt as if he could hear Angel’s voice in his ear, resentfully asking how he could do this to him.
‘That guy isn’t one to die so easily….’
Having anticipated the attack and vacated the premises, the mansion’s defenses were perfect. But even so, there was no guarantee everyone would be safe if people from the Crosel family showed up. Infiltrating the mansion and eliminating only specific targets was their specialty. Still, somehow he didn’t think Angel would be caught.
“Calix.”
Someone called out to Calix as he was walking, thinking ‘It should be fine.’ Turning his head, he saw Braiante standing there with a grave expression.
“Let’s talk for a moment.”
After watching Braiante’s retreating back, Calix ran a hand through his hair and followed him. He had already anticipated that Braiante would summon him privately soon.
“What is it, sir?”
As soon as they entered the office, Calix spoke first. At his words, Braiante hesitated momentarily before bringing up the subject.
“I wanted to ask how ‘that matter’ is progressing.”
“From the beginning, all we could do on our side was supply herbs. We’re first identifying which herbs can be cultivated. It will be organized soon.”
At Calix’s explanation, Braiante emitted a low “hmm” and nodded quietly. To calm the situation quickly, they needed to minimize cumbersome tasks. For this purpose, Calix was organizing to send as many types of herbs as possible to Johaim’s side. The research Melty was doing was a precautionary measure to prevent unforeseen circumstances.
Despite Calix’s continued report, Braiante nodded silently without any change in expression. Only when Calix had finished did he slowly begin to speak.
“I hear you’ve been constantly accompanied by the young man you brought this time.”
As soon as Braiante finished speaking, Calix realized this was the main point he had wanted to bring up all along. Just as with Melty earlier, he had sensed that it was about time for Braiante to broach the subject. At his words, Calix merely smiled faintly without saying anything.
“…Is this a relationship you’re considering seriously?”
“I wouldn’t have brought him all the way here if I wasn’t serious.”
“So… you’re saying you’re considering marriage?”
“Yes.”
Calix nodded firmly with a bright smile. At his answer, which showed not even a hint of hesitation, Braiante thoughtfully stroked his chin with a serious face.
“Is the child’s gender perhaps fem—”
“As if that could be the case.”
Calix cut off Braiante’s words and answered with a shrug and a smile. Anyone could see that Melty Crosel was a man. Despite knowing this perfectly well, Calix could roughly guess why Braiante had deliberately brought it up.
Seeing Calix’s face full of a ‘so what?’ expression, Braiante pressed the corners of his eyes and let out a deep sigh. From childhood, Calix had always disliked more things than he liked. Moreover, he was deeply distrustful of people, which had raised concerns about whether he would ever marry. The fact that he had brought someone was certainly welcome news, but the problem was that his chosen partner was male.
“The Padrian family values its descendants. If you marry him, what are your plans for the next generation?”
Though he was speaking indirectly, Calix easily understood that his statement was opposing their marriage. Same-sex marriages were quite rare to begin with. Especially in families like the Padrians where children were precious, same-sex marriages were even more frowned upon. Despite Braiante’s pointed question, Calix continued with the same relaxed attitude.
“Of course, I’ve thought of a solution for that as well.”
