Chapter: 13
“I-I was startled……”
At the Friatin mansion, Vally had become sensitive to sounds because her family would shout at her even over the smallest mistakes.
So when Wayne’s low voice suddenly reached her ears, she felt as if her heart had dropped.
The area around her chest still felt strangely numb, and she tightly clasped both hands together while taking deep breaths to calm herself down.
Just then, she suddenly felt a gaze above her and slowly raised her head.
“……”
“……”
She met Wayne’s red eyes directly as he looked down at her with slightly furrowed brows and narrowed eyes.
Only then did Vally realize that she had been resting her head and back comfortably against his firm thigh.
Vally jumped in surprise, quickly pulled herself away, and stood up.
“I-I’m sorry. I was so startled that I suddenly lost my strength……”
While Vally politely apologized, Wayne only stared at her silently.
His blazing red eyes watched her without wavering, making Vally feel embarrassed as heat rose to her cheeks.
She lowered her head slightly and fanned herself with her hand, causing Wayne to immediately ask.
“Was it hot?”
“Pardon?”
“When you leaned against me.”
Only after hearing his meaning did Vally hurriedly lower her hand and shake her head.
“No, it wasn’t hot at all.”
Everyone in the Empire considered Wayne a ticking time bomb.
When fire attribute users died from mana explosions, their bodies would explode like bombs, leaving not even ashes behind.
Moreover, the explosions were so powerful that they could erase around five three-story mansions without a trace.
There had even been an incident where a fire attribute mage lost control while being dressed by a servant, resulting in innocent lives being lost.
As such incidents accumulated, fire attributes eventually became objects of avoidance and fear.
On the day Wayne himself died in his previous life, rather than mourning the loss of the commander of the Empire’s Special Forces Zero, there were more people who felt relieved that the final bomb had disappeared.
Remembering how no one approached Wayne at Imperial Palace parties, Vally denied it even more strongly.
“It really wasn’t hot at all. It was so firm that it was actually very comfortable, like leaning against a huge tree.”
Vally, who knew when Wayne would die, did not want to show even the slightest fear toward him.
However, Wayne instead looked dumbfounded.
“I didn’t ask for an evaluation of my body.”
“…I-I wasn’t evaluating it.”
Realizing that her consideration had gone too far, Vally became embarrassed for a different reason and avoided his gaze.
While she was not looking, Wayne gave a faint smile and checked the mana measuring device he had kept in his pocket.
The needle had not moved.
Was it just a coincidence back then?
Wayne raised one eyebrow, tightly gripped the measuring device, then put it away again.
After that, he glanced over the landscaping plan Vally had drawn.
He had only told her to complete one flower bed, but she had already been planning every flower bed in the entire mansion.
“Looks like you think you already passed the second test.”
“That’s not it…… I just thought that even if I failed, I wanted someone else to complete the flower garden, so I was drawing the entire landscaping plan.”
At that answer, Wayne’s eyes widened slightly.
He had received a report that Vally, who arrived at the mansion yesterday, had not come out of her bedroom.
Was becoming a gardener merely a method to escape the Friatin family?
He had no intention of playing along with that escape game. If she showed a lazy attitude, he planned to send her away immediately.
But Vally was thinking about the mansion even more than Wayne was.
“…Considering you only arrived at the mansion yesterday, you learned the outdoor garden quickly.”
Vally felt guilty and quietly avoided his gaze.
Because she had visited this place so often in her previous life, she naturally remembered the entire layout of the large mansion.
“T-The maids explained everything to me in detail, so I was able to memorize it quickly.”
“Good. Are you planning to plant around 300 seedlings in each flower bed?”
“Yes. I think that many would be needed to make it look bright and beautiful.”
“To imbue each of those flowers with mana, it would take more than a month.”
“…I’ll practice my mana control a lot too.”
Vally’s expression, which had been bright while talking about flowers, immediately became gloomy when mana was mentioned.
She tried to hide her emotions, but she could not stop her large blue eyes from trembling or the ends of her thin eyebrows from drooping.
Wayne wondered what kind of expression she would make if he looked away for even a moment.
Then, right at that moment.
“My Lord!”
Piru finally came out of the mansion’s front entrance and ran toward them.
“Why do you keep leaving through the window when there is a door?! I have told you several times not to do that because you could get hurt!”
Even though he was still far away, Piru had already begun scolding him, so Wayne naturally turned his back toward him.
“What if your body temperature rises again after using mana?”
“Not using it too much also hurts.”
“Are you alright now?”
Piru arrived while panting and walked around Wayne, checking his condition.
Then he met eyes with Vally standing beside him.
When she smiled brightly and greeted him, Piru awkwardly looked away.
“Hello, Piru.”
“…Yes. Well, it’s not exactly a very good day.”
“Pardon?”
“You said you disliked it, yet you are wearing the clothes His Grace gave you.”
At those words, Vally remembered and quickly bowed toward Wayne.
“Now that I think about it, thank you so much for sending me the clothes. It was a gift I never expected. I will treasure them and wear them carefully.”
Her polite voice was filled with sincerity.
The two men glanced at each other.
Canna had clearly said that Vally disliked the clothes and threw them away.
But now Vally was showing a completely different attitude and thanking him.
Was this the real Vally, or was she acting?
Wayne composed his expression again and met Vally’s eyes.
“Do you like the clothes?”
“They are very comfortable to move around in, so I like them very much.”
“Then why did you cut off the sleeves?”
“Pardon? The clothes were already like that when you gave them to me. I only altered them……”
“What? That can’t be……”
Unable to hold himself back, Piru interrupted, but Wayne raised his hand halfway, signaling him to stay quiet.
“Did you apply the ointment I gave you with it? It should help with your swollen cheek.”
“Ointment…?”
Vally blinked with an expression that showed she was hearing about it for the first time.
Wayne looked at the slightly swollen area of her cheek and then turned toward Piru.
“You didn’t deliver it?”
“I-I definitely delivered it. She should have received it together with the dress.”
Piru quickly stepped closer as if asking her to answer properly.
Vally bit the inside of her mouth.
If she said she never received it, Piru might get scolded.
So she nodded.
“I-I received it. I’m sorry. I must have forgotten for a moment.”
Taking responsibility for her own mistake felt easier.
“The blue container, right?”
“Yes, yes, I think so.”
“It was green.”
“…What?”
Wayne crossed his arms and tilted his head slightly.
Only then did Vally realize that it had been a test question.
Before she could explain herself—
“Piru Patro.”
Wayne spoke first in a low voice.
At that cold call, Piru immediately placed both feet together, straightened his back, corrected his posture, and froze.
“Yes, My Lord……”
“Was the person you ordered to deliver it Canna?”
“…Yes.”
“Bring her to my office.”
“I understand.”
After receiving the order, Piru quickly headed back into the mansion, naturally leaving only the two of them behind.
Vally, unable to even lie properly, became anxious that either Piru or Canna might be punished.
She nervously picked at her fingernails.
“I-I must have only looked at the dress carefully and missed it. I’ll go check again, so please don’t blame Piru……”
“Vally.”
His tone told her to be quiet, so she swallowed the rest of her words.
“Canna has worked as a maid in my mansion for five years, while you are still only under consideration.”
“…I know.”
“My employees are working beside me while risking their lives. Because of that, I have no intention of simply casting them aside.”
“……”
“If a misunderstanding occurs between you, who suddenly entered this mansion, and my employees, I will naturally take their side.”
Since she would have done the same in the exact situation, Vally nodded.
“However, allowing you into this mansion was also my decision, so I will take responsibility.”
“…What kind of responsibility?”
What was he trying to say?
Was he going to tell her to leave because she could not get along with the employees?
Vally’s mind gradually filled with anxiety.
“I will ask only once, so answer honestly.”
Wayne took one large step closer to her.
Because of the reduced distance, their eyes became clearly visible to each other.
Looking down at Vally’s blue eyes, calm like a quiet sea, Wayne asked.
“Is Canna bullying you?”
