Ten days passed since then.

It had been just over a day until the deadline the Emperor had set when Lutis, who had returned to the Knights’ Order a week ago, finally spoke.

“Is there still no reply from the Masons?”

The aide bowed his head and answered the irritated voice.

“The communication device we received the other day is not receiving at all. Upon checking, it seems there is currently a problem with the communication device at the Mason residence, and it has been sent to the Magic Tower for repair.”

“Even though the family head is a wizard?”

Lutis rested his elbows on the desk in his office and rubbed his forehead at the answer.

It had already been four days since he had sent the letter by pneumatic tube. Unable to connect through the communication device, he sent a letter, and when there was still no response, he personally dispatched someone yesterday.

Shouldn’t they have been able to contact them by now?

“…Well, apparently he went down to the territory last month without a word, so there is no way to immediately convey the news…”

“Leaving at this timing without a word.”

“He instructed to deliver a letter to Ratliff when he left. Come to think of it, I remember a letter arriving from the Masons around that time…”

“…Is this a joke?”

Lutis narrowed his eyes and asked upon hearing the aide’s words. It meant why he was only mentioning it now when there had been no news until now.

“I did convey it to you. You said you understood and told me to leave it.”

At those words, Lutis bit his lip and turned his head to one side of the office. It was where a pile of letters was stacked.

“……”

How long had it been since he last checked those?

He had been entrusting business-related letters to his aide and only reviewing the settlement documents.

Likewise, meaningless ones were handled before reaching his level.

‘The types that make it to the office are usually not urgent matters…’

Lutis, who had double-checked the pile of letters, closed his eyes and sighed.

He seemed to have told them to send up letters from families with ties when asked if they should.

However, for Lutis, who had been under the care of the Masons from a young age until entering the Academy, there were practically no other families he could call personal connections.

“…Here it is.”

Lutis, who had picked up something from among the pile of letters, rubbed the back of his neck.

A light wheat-colored envelope with a green wax seal stamped on it. The pattern of vines climbing up a deer’s antlers was the symbol of the Masons.

So it was only exceptional that he had checked the letter from the Imperial Palace.

It made sense that he didn’t notice it, as he had piled up the urgent letters that came up without even opening them.

Having confirmed that much, Lutis pressed his forehead firmly and spoke in a sharp tone.

“Contact the Mason territory now.”

“Pardon my presumption, but I actually already tried after receiving the news during the day. However, it seems Marquis Mason has set it up so that communication to the territory can only be received by blowing a specific magic power into the device…”

“……”

“After Madam passed away… it seems they had been periodically receiving scrolls imbued with the Marquis’ magic power to contact the previous Marquis and his wife, but currently there are no scrolls left.”

The aide, who had trailed off in the middle of his words, bowed his head. He was probably referring to the loss of Aeli’s magic power.

As rare as it was for someone to awaken magic in the Empire, the lack of magic power was not a flaw.

However, the Masons were a bit different.

Since the first generation Marquis Mason, a founding hero, the family had successively inherited the lineage of Grand Wizards until now.

Even if their innate magic power was weak and they did not excel in skill, there had never been a single person who could not use magic at all.

‘And in the midst of that, her magic power completely disappeared, so of course there would be talk.’

It was a considerable dishonor.

Measures were taken to prevent the story from leaking to Aeli, so there was no particular talk within the ducal castle.

However, he knew what kind of rumors had circulated among the nobles at the time.

[Could it be a curse?] [The Masons may have been great in the past, but it’s already been over 700 years since the Empire was founded, right?] [It’s all past glory. They’ve passed their prime.] [Come to think of it, wasn’t the identity of the previous Marchioness also unclear? No matter how fallen of a noble family, I’ve never heard of such a household.] [There were many aspects of her behavior that were unbecoming of a noble, so one could even doubt her bloodline…]

Lutis clenched his fist on the desk, causing veins to bulge on the back of his hand.

As if his head was naturally starting to ache, Lutis repeatedly rubbed his stiff neck and jaw before opening his mouth.

“If we send a messenger to the Mason territory now, around when would they arrive?”

“If using the general routes, it would take anywhere from five to seven days at the quickest.”

“What about unconventional paths?”

“It would be dangerous, but if they rode a horse and took shortcuts across the mountains… they could arrive within three days.”

“…So a round trip of six to ten days.”

With that timeframe, the general routes were out of the question. It was the same even assuming the Marquis would immediately depart after confirming the letter if it took the shortcut.

The only assumption was that the letter would arrive before the full three days passed and the Marquis would come up to the capital using a scroll.

“……”

Even so, time was too tight. Lutis washed his face with his hands and exhaled shortly over several breaths.

It was then that the aide, sensing something strange in the ongoing conversation, cautiously asked.

“By the way, Your Excellency, may I ask why you are looking for the Marquis…?”

“……”

“Your Excellency?”

“…I need a place to entrust the child to.”

Even after ten days passed, the Emperor did not rescind his order. It had practically become certain that he would be dispatched to the border region.

[This is the timeline separator]

If war truly breaks out, who would be in the most danger? Himself?

“It’s too risky to leave the child alone for a long time…”

No, that wasn’t it.

In the past ten days, assassins had come in the middle of the night twice.

Even after reorganizing the mansion’s guard and protective magic after the first incident, the security had been breached.

It had been a while since he intentionally spread the rumor that he was directly keeping the child by his side, so for them to be able to penetrate such strict magic and surveillance…

‘Just how many more were there originally?’

Wary that spies may have infiltrated the ducal castle, he had recently given severance pay and letters of recommendation to all the servants hired within the past year and sent them away.

Even so, if by chance there were still some he failed to filter out…

The one who would be targeted as the top priority was already practically decided.

“Although the Masons are not a completely safe zone either…”

It was incomparable to having no protectors nearby at all.

It became even clearer considering there would be those who viewed it as defenseless with the sole reason of his absence from the ducal castle, even if security was increased and protective magic was strengthened.

So he had intended to ask the Marquis to take care of the child in the meantime.

“……”

“Your Excellency, then even now, shall we first send a messenger–”

“Diego.”

“……”

“If we contact the Magic Tower now and request an absolutely unbreakable protective magic to be cast on the mansion… how long would it take?”

“That, we would have to contact them to find out. However, if we request large-scale magic of that strength, the cost–”

“The cost doesn’t matter. Tell them to reply with the fastest possible completion time.”

Give them an hour. Lutis said as he got up from his seat.

And after that, things proceeded swiftly.

If prepared tightly, it was possible within two full days, but entry would be restricted to designated individuals and the magic would not apply once leaving the designated area.

Also, if someone not permitted to leave attempts to go beyond the designated range, the magic will break.

Upon hearing the answer, Lutis immediately ordered the remaining long-serving servants in the mansion to be sent to the annex.

‘It’s not that I didn’t consider casting magic on the main building…’

The main building had more people coming and going compared to the annex, and it was rejected on the basis that the magic could not be completed within the remaining time.

Instead, he told the head servant to allocate a sufficient monthly allowance, furnish and manage the largest room with only high-quality items, so there would be no inconvenience in daily life.

Lutis, who had said that, looked at the items being moved to be brought into the annex.

Then, spotting a locket lying in a box gathered in a corner, he spontaneously opened his mouth.

“This is a locket.”

“Yes, Your Excellency. It’s not an urgently needed item, but as it’s a high-end product, we decided to put it in storage for now, but…”

Lutis half-turned his back and stared at the door of the room where the child would still be sleeping.

‘Come to think of it.’

It was customary to hang portraits of the current family head in both the main building and the annex, so his was already there, but they had not been able to separately arrange Aeli’s.

The reason was that Aeli had insisted on having a family portrait painted together when the child grew up, as it would only be staying there for a day or two anyway.

“……”

There were few portraits of Aeli in the first place because she disliked sitting still.

So forget the annex, there weren’t even enough to hang in the main building. There was barely one hung in the central hall, in a place where portraits of previous family heads and their spouses were displayed.

Lutis stared intently at the locket, then picked it up and opened it. It was an empty locket with nothing inserted inside.

Was that why he was impulsively moved to speak?

“…I’ll take it for a moment.”

“Pardon?”

Without answering, Lutis turned around and entered his office, opening a secret safe and taking something out.

[I had a hard time forcibly coaxing her to sit still when she was making a fuss about not wanting to be painted. Don’t let her find out, she’ll definitely be embarrassed and demand it back, saying to hand it over.] […Brother.] […Hey, who’s your brother? Can’t you speak properly?] [I didn’t mean it that way.] [….]

There was only one portrait of a portable size, even for himself.

The Marquis had secretly given it to him, saying it was a copy of the one painted just before Aeli’s debutante, and he had been keeping it hidden from Aeli since then.

“……”

Click.

Lutis quietly inserted it into the locket, which he had originally intended to carry with him when dispatched.

After pondering for a moment, he similarly opened a small glass bottle in the safe and put its contents inside as well.

Then, opening the door to the room where the child was, he faced the maid who had been Aeli’s personal attendant. She was one of the servants who had come together from the Masons, and when they returned to their original workplace, she eventually came back asking to be accepted again.

“……”

“…Greetings to the Duke.”

The maid, who had been looking at the child lying in the crib with reddened eyes, bowed her head.

Lutis, gazing at the maid while fiddling with the locket in his hand, opened his mouth.

“I heard you will go to the annex with the child.”

“Yes. Because the young master is still young.”

“……”

“The young lady, no…”

“……”

“As the child grows up… I thought there should be at least one person left to tell stories about Madam when she was alive.”

“…I see.”

Although he noticed moisture seeping into her voice as she spoke, Lutis nodded without saying much.

Handing the locket to the maid, Lutis said.

“Then you keep this.”

“…?”

[This is the timeline separator]

“…I will return by the end of the year at the latest. Make sure to take good care of the child without any shortage until then.”

Lutis turned his back as he tossed the locket to the maid. He never looked back at the child’s face in the end.

…Because if he did, it seemed his feet would not move.

“Your Grace, it’s about time for you to depart.”

The head knight, who was also leaving for the dispatch, had been waiting in front of the main building when he spotted Lutis and spoke.

“……”

“Your Grace?”

“……”

“……”

“…Let’s depart.”

And so, Lutis left the ducal castle.

Contrary to his wishes, he had no idea that he would barely return only after several years had passed.