TMLOH 41

Chapter : 41

Near the sealed-off Lake Charit.

A gate appeared in midair, dropped off five mages, and then disappeared.

“Haah. Why do I have to do this kind of work too?”

A red-haired mage complained with a thoroughly annoyed expression.

“We don’t have a choice. It was a decision by the Bregemin (High Council of the Mage Tower),” said a man wearing a white robe embroidered with star sigils and carrying a white staff as tall as himself.

After the incident, the Charit district had been temporarily shut down.

The Mage Tower dispatched an “Investigation Unit for Barrier Repair and Anomaly Inspection.”

Not just any mages—they were Star-class mages from the Sky Tower, the holy land of magicians.

“Shouldn’t something like this be handled by a regional branch?”

“They say the southern branch’s own investigation couldn’t identify the source of the anomaly.”

“I’m busy enough raising a new apprentice I just picked up—why do I have to do this too?”

The red-haired mage looked incredibly disgruntled.

“Instead of complaining, how about we get moving?”

Grumbling didn’t last long—the investigation proceeded smoothly.

“Nothing unusual here.”

“The barrier’s intact. What exactly are we supposed to be repairing here?”

“The other barriers seem normal too.”

The great magical beast Charit’s sealing barrier formation.

There was no way a barrier that had functioned without issue for hundreds of years would suddenly go awry. Sure enough, the barrier itself wasn’t the problem.

Then they reached the site of the incident.

“So the rift to the Otherworld appeared here?”

“Yes. According to the report, it was a temporary rift caused by overlapping barrier layers.”

“Isn’t that kind of phenomenon extremely rare? Damn, it’s a shame I wasn’t here when it happened.”

The investigation confirmed that the barriers were functioning properly.

“Which is probably to be expected. If there had been a problem, all the buildings would’ve been submerged under the lake by now.”

“Then what was the issue?”

“Finding that out is our mission.”

Just when the investigation team hit a dead end—

“Here.”

The smallest mage, who was cloaked and crouched in the center of a mansion, raised a hand.

“What is it?”

The red-haired mage, who’d been grumbling earlier about raising an apprentice, walked over.

“The sealing barrier for the great magical beast…”

That was when they all noticed the anomaly.

“The energy of Charit the great magical beast—”

“—has disappeared.”

All the mages fell silent.

The bonus had been returned to my account under the name of “pocket money from Mehen.”

“Isn’t this basically not giving me a bonus?”

To my light protest, Mehen smiled contentedly and replied,

“But I received your heart, so it’s fine.”

“I-I didn’t give you my heart!”

“But it was there.”

“Ugh.”

Mehen was getting cheeky.

Whatever it was that made him so happy, Mehen started smiling so broadly from that day on that it spawned bizarre rumors in the mansion.

“Are we all getting fired soon?”

“Did we do something wrong?”

“I’m scared. If we messed up, I wish someone would just tell us.”

A bizarre rumor spread: whenever Mehen smiled that warmly, it meant someone was about to be dealt with…

“What the heck does he usually do all day?”

Once again, I was reminded who really ran the Halbern estate in the Duke’s absence.

I also gave bonuses to the childcare squad, who always worked hard by my side.

“An envelope! Please give it to us in an envelope!”

Their request was very specific.

Huh? Do they prefer physical cash?

They even asked for bank checks with my signature, which puzzled me.

“This is the Lady’s heart.”

“This is the Lady’s love.”

“This is the Lady’s…”

They all carried it on them like a protective charm.

These people… Just wait and see if I ever give you a bonus again.

“At least we’re glad you’re safe.”

“We can’t let anything like that happen again.”

“Yeah, next time let us come with you.”

“A date with the Lady…”

…You’re just jealous I went on a date with Mehen, aren’t you?

“Anyway, nothing really happened.”

The mark left on the back of my hand still bothered me a little, but it didn’t seem to have any negative effect on my body, and no one had noticed it, so I just left it alone.

Someone probably knew what this symbol meant, if I investigated.

But for now, both Mehen and the childcare squad were being way too overprotective for me to even bring it up.

Besides, I had dreams to worry about.

“What was that?”

All I could clearly recall was the platinum-blond hair that sparkled like honey and those rose-petal-pink eyes, beautiful as anything I’d ever seen.

“Hm.”

Could it have been… my mother?

I quickly shook my head. Just imagining someone that beautiful as my mom felt like blasphemy.

“That extra’s hiding way too many secrets.”

Of course, maybe it just felt like they had a lot of secrets because extras never have detailed information written about them.

Sometimes I even forgot I’d been reincarnated into a novel world.

“…Maybe this isn’t so bad.”

Living like this.

“…I want to play the violin.”

That thought suddenly crossed my mind.

Crown Prince’s Palace.

Fession was in a rare foul mood.

“I miss Arellin.”

He’d visited her every day before—and now, after just one day apart, it felt like his mouth was full of thorns.

“There’s too much homework. Too many classes! Damn it, how long is this going to last?!”

“It’s only a week, Your Highness. Please endure it.”

“Grieum, I hate you!”

He said he hated him, but he still attended every class and completed every assignment diligently.

He was just in a bad mood, that’s all.

“Is this… lovesickness?”

“Sounds like lovesickness, doesn’t it?”

“Our prince, suffering from lovesickness.”

“He’s grown up…”

The attendants and maids who knew the truth couldn’t help smiling every time they looked at Fession.

“What? What’s with everyone?”

“You really don’t know?”

“…?”

Even Lord Sirua, who shared some classes with the crown prince, looked at Fession with a strange expression.

“Sirua, why are you looking at me like that?”

“Are you insane?”

“You’re the insane one! Watch your tone!”

“This is weird. Something’s weird.”

Sirua couldn’t put his finger on what exactly had changed about Fession—but something definitely had.

All he could do was mutter about how strange it was.

Fession, meanwhile, steeled his resolve.

“I’ve decided on a goal.”

“A goal?”

“I’m going to be Arellin’s dad.”

“…What are you even talking about?”

Grieum was dumbstruck.

Was this a declaration that he was giving up the throne to become the Duke of Halbern?

Was he planning to marry in as a live-in son-in-law?

While Grieum struggled to process the statement, Fession reflected on his recent behavior.

It had been too shortsighted.

“Yeah. More than anything else…”

Arellin’s health is the most important.

“Arellin! I missed you!”

A week passed, and Fession returned.

“Didn’t you miss me too, Arellin?”

He whined like a puppy, and it was honestly shameful.

“Hmm? You really didn’t miss me? Not even a little?”

…Okay, maybe I missed him a little.

Peace was nice and all, but without that annoying voice beside me, it had been—just a little—boring.

“Back off.”

“Aww…”

“I’ll pet you instead.”

“Yay!”

He smiled so brightly just from that. What a simple guy.

“Sir Parselo clearly lacks a human heart. Do you know what I’ve been through this past week…?”

Fession wore a constantly pitiful expression.

“All my teachers doubled my homework. Said it was punishment. Twice the classes and twice the assignments. I trained all day too. It was hell.”

“Must’ve been rough.”

“I thought I was going to die missing you.”

“Well… at least you got through it okay.”

“Yup!”

He nodded confidently, thinking the day was wrapping up like normal.

That’s what I thought, too—until he said:

“So I’ve been preparing something.”

“Huh?”

“After what happened, I realized… Maybe it all happened because Arellin was too weak.”

That’s not it. It was a natural disaster, you idiot.

What are you even talking about?

“I wondered how I could help Arellin become healthier—and I gathered the best experts I know to prepare this!”

What, poison?

“Ta-da! Arellin’s exercise regimen!”

He held up a chart so tightly packed it made my eyes hurt.

“What do you think? Amazing, right?!”

Go back to the palace, you little punk.