Jake enjoyed the life he had newly obtained. A life where he enjoyed the status of the ducal heir to his heart’s content without the anxiety of possibly becoming a Hero and the burden after shouldering the Hero’s responsibilities—it couldn’t be called the best, but it was quite satisfying.
“Ellen-nim, I’ve prepared tea.”
Jake’s day, having perfectly settled in as Ellen West, began with sitting in a chair with a plush back and drinking a cup of tea. Enjoying tea and refreshments that were popular 730 years before he was born while viewing the scenery outside the window made the start of his day twice as refreshing.
“The weather is truly nice, Ellen-nim.”
A maid who brought the refreshments looked outside the window and spoke to Jake. The curtains that had been firmly closed leaving only about a fist’s worth of space had long been thrown wide open.
Jake felt the sunlight pouring through the window and nodded lightly.
“If you have plans to go out, shall I prepare an overcoat?”
“There’s no need. I don’t plan to go out for a while, so don’t worry about it.”
“I thought so. I’ll take my leave now.”
The maid greeted Jake with a beaming smile. That expression seemed to say, ‘Since Ellen-nim enjoys sneaking out, I’ll pretend not to care and not to know. Please feel free to go outside the castle.’
The maid left the room with quick steps without giving Jake time to explain that it wasn’t so.
“Mm.”
He really didn’t plan to go outside the castle, but what to do about this.
‘…It probably doesn’t matter.’
Though there might be people who would find it suspicious if someone who used to leave constantly was now holed up in the castle, what could he do? He didn’t want to go out.
Instead of secretly escaping the castle, Jake began to stride around inside the castle, acting as the ducal heir. No, strictly speaking, Jake was also an heir to the House of Duke West, so it couldn’t be called ‘acting’ as an heir.
Jake began to earnestly engage in heir lessons and sword training that he had never properly received, having been held in check by his father and crushed by the Hero’s duties.
“The Duke was pleased to hear the news that you’ve been attending lessons without missing them for the past few days, Ellen-nim.”
“Sword practice? I’ll escort you to the training grounds.”
“You want to receive sword instruction from the knights? Not sparring? I’ll prepare it right away.”
Though the eyes of the servants in charge of Ellen narrowed as time passed, it wasn’t a sign of suspicion.
After confirming that there was no one doubting his identity, Jake walked around the ducal castle even more confidently. Wielding the luxurious sword the Duke had gifted him, saying his son had finally come to his senses, was Jake’s main daily activity.
Hik- hik-
A smile gradually settled on Jake’s previously expressionless face. Even the Duke, who had sent cold looks and clicked his tongue, quite liked ‘Ellen’ with his changed attitude. Jake quickly regained his vitality in the midst of the Duke, whom he could call father without much awkwardness, and the ducal knights who didn’t look down on him.
Life in this place was satisfying.
Except for just one thing.
Thuk.
Jake’s sword, which had been cutting through the air, touched the ground.
Even while pleasantly sweating, there were times when emptiness would strike without warning. A feeling as if his heart were empty. Since he had no mana from birth, his heart should have always been in an empty state, but it had never felt this vividly before.
At times like this, his pleasant mood would plummet instantly, sink to the bottom, and disappear.
“Phew.”
Just what was the problem? Jake exhaled briefly and pressed firmly on his chest.
When he felt empty like this, strangely, Klad’s image would come to mind. More precisely, he kept thinking of that gaze that had looked at him when he made the proposal to run away.
“…Mm.”
It’s a shame. If only Klad were by his side, everything would seem perfect.
Was there no way for Klad to stay here with him? Klad wouldn’t have disappeared leaving him behind, but seeing that there was still no news, Klad might not have come to this world together. If so, what should he do?
‘…How about meeting this world’s Klad?’
This place was the past from 750 years ago, but dragons were known to live for thousands of years. Then wouldn’t the dragon called Klad also be alive and breathing in this time period?
He didn’t think the Klad of this place was the same dragon as the Klad who had spent time with him and built up their bond. However, if he met him and spent time together, he might be able to form the same relationship as the Klad he knew.
‘Good.’
After much deliberation, Jake decided to try meeting another Klad.
Whether it was the Klad of that world or the Klad of this world, their whereabouts were equally unclear, but at least there was a way to find out information about the Klad of this world.
Whether Klad existed in this place. Where he was. Whether there was a way to meet him. That much could be resolved by asking a dragon, the same species as Klad.
And fortunately, Jake knew a way to meet a dragon.
***
Dalkak.
In the deep night when most of the castle’s people were asleep, Jake carefully opened his door and came out into the corridor. His eyes met with the knight guarding Ellen’s room, but Jake walked confidently as if going out in the middle of the night was no big deal.
As expected, the knight didn’t block Jake. Instead, he sent a look that said ‘I knew it’ and greeted him with a smile in his eyes. He was surely thinking Jake was going on an outing somewhere in the capital after leaving the ducal castle as usual.
‘Thanks to Ellen, this will be easier.’
Even if he encountered someone while going to meet the dragon, he just had to act like he was taking a night walk because castle life was boring.
Who knew exploring the ducal castle at midnight would be this easy? He couldn’t help but be grateful to Ellen.
‘I just need to avoid being seen going underground.’
No matter how severe Ellen’s wandering habit was, there was no way to excuse being seen sneaking into the underground space where the dragon was confined. It would be disastrous if Duke West started being wary of him. Jake killed his footsteps to avoid being noticed as much as possible.
When night came, all the servants working in the castle returned to a separately prepared mansion outside the castle. What remained were some knights guarding the main gate and the castle. Since there would be no knight who would find going downstairs itself suspicious, he could meet the dragon without being suspected as long as he avoided whoever was guarding the door leading underground.
‘A way to avoid the knight…’
The easiest method was to throw a stone or a noisy object nearby to turn the knight’s attention. However, that wouldn’t give him enough time to open the door and go down. And there would be no way to avoid the knight on the way back after finishing his business.
‘I should have thought more before coming out… This is troublesome.’
Unlike his own father who minimized knight placement within the ducal castle because he didn’t trust the knights’ vows of secrecy, he had failed to consider that this Duke West might be thorough about security.
‘What should I do about this?’
Jake seriously deliberated. If nothing else came to mind, he should return for today and revisit after finding a more certain method…
‘Ah!’
A thought that suddenly occurred flashed through Jake’s mind.
Klad’s secret passage.
In the past… no, in the future, Klad had freely moved around the underground through a secret passage hidden in the ducal castle’s basement. He had used that passage when escaping with Jake who had been imprisoned in the underground dungeon, and Jake had clearly seen where that passage led.
‘If I can just find the passage, I can go down without anyone noticing.’
The place where the dragon was confined was a space slightly below the underground dungeon where Jake had been imprisoned. It was exactly the space where Klad had been staying when they first met.
If he found the passage used then, he could face the dragon directly without going through other places. Since that passage was on the opposite side from the stairs connecting to the upper floor, there was no need to worry about how to open the giant, thick iron door.
If it was created after the current point in time, it couldn’t be helped, but for now, it was the only opportunity given to Jake.
‘The place where the passage led was outside the ducal castle.’
Jake moved without hesitation.
The knights guarding the castle gate, like those guarding inside the castle, didn’t block Jake. They were probably thinking something like ‘You’ve been scarce for a while, but you’re going out for the first time in a long while.’ As expected.
Ellen might have escaped the castle through windows or back gates in deserted places without going through the main gate to avoid the Duke’s eyes, but he wouldn’t have been able to jump over the castle gate firmly guarded by the dragon’s magic. So he would have had no choice but to confidently come and go through the castle gate at least.
The Duke knew this fact but didn’t pressure the knights guarding the castle gate to control Ellen’s actions. Whether the reason was that Ellen’s influence was greater than the Duke’s, or because the Duke pretended not to know since Ellen would cause bigger trouble if his outings were blocked, was unknown. However, the Duke he had seen, unlike the impression from their first meeting, was quite attentive to his son, so he could only guess it was closer to the latter.
‘Thanks to that, it’s very easy to move around.’
Jake, having been helped by Ellen’s lifestyle habits once again, sent his thanks inwardly and stepped outside.
