Chapter 17

“What are you doing?”

Rahar asked as he looked down at Caldeon and Enria’s joined hands.

It was almost possible to see the blood draining from his face in real time.

“What do you mean, what am I doing?”

“Why are the two of you, in broad daylight, just…”

Looking utterly baffled, Rahar stopped mid-sentence and closed his mouth.

Since he’d already heard everything from Roseanne, whatever Caldeon did with Enria inside his own fortress wasn’t exactly an issue anymore.

Of course, since his sister was still acting as the Grand Duchess’s proxy, some basic courtesy was still expected of him.

But given that there was nothing beyond a professional relationship between Roseanne and Caldeon, there was no real problem with Caldeon walking around the castle holding Enria’s hand.

‘Still, showing it off that openly is just disrespectful to my sister.’

Rahar swallowed down the question of why are you holding hands and stared at Caldeon with a stiff expression.

Caldeon noticed and asked, “Then why are you here at this hour?”

“To see Enria and Hayden, of course—”

“Why would you?”

“What do you mean, why?”

“Why would you come all the way to the Grand Duke’s castle to see my woman and my child?”

Caldeon’s voice was sharp.

At the words “my woman and my child”, Enria’s eyes widened in surprise.

She realized that the possessive “my” hadn’t been attached to the word child—and that made her oddly relieved, though her feelings were complicated.

“If you’ve got that much free time, use it to track down Groen’s informant.”

At that, Rahar frowned.

“I’m already on it. And I’ve been teaching Enria spellcraft, so I have a reason to be here.”

“Spellcraft?”

Caldeon turned to Enria, his tone suggesting this was the first he’d heard of it.

“Ah, yes. I’ve been learning,” Enria admitted.

“You? Spellcraft?” Caldeon raised a brow in disbelief.

Rahar cut in,

“Rose must not have told you yet. Enria has talents beyond just holy power.”

Caldeon’s other eyebrow twitched upward.

Curious to hear more, Caldeon brought Rahar along to the dining room.

While Rahar explained everything that had happened, Caldeon calmly attended to Enria’s meal—cutting her meat and feeding her himself.

Rahar lost his train of thought several times because of it, but eventually managed to explain that Enria’s divine power had blended with the abilities granted by a spirit, allowing her to form unique summoning circles.

“So you’re saying you can summon monsters using the power of a spirit?”

Caldeon asked, glancing at Enria.

She nodded.

“Well, they’re technically monsters, but different. Since divine power mixes in, they end up being really cute little things!”

Blushing from being hand-fed throughout the meal, she promised she’d show him later. Caldeon nodded once, then speared another piece of meat and lifted it to her lips.

“I—I can eat by myself now.”

“There’s still plenty left.”

“That’s your portion.”

“You’re eating well. That’s enough for me.”

“But I always eat plenty of—”

Before she could finish, the piece of meat was already in her mouth.

Unable to make sense of his behavior—and having long since given up trying—Enria simply chewed in silence.

As he offered her another bite, Caldeon said, “You don’t need to learn all those abilities. You have me.”

Her brows lifted slightly.

“Still, I should be able to protect myself. What if something happens when you’re not there?”

“Nothing will happen. I’ll protect you, no matter what it takes.”

“Easy for you to say. Did you already forget I almost died in Endelie?”

She shook her head, saying that she didn’t even like to think about that incident—and that she would’ve been dead if not for Rahar.

Caldeon sighed quietly.

“I’ve regretted that ever since. I never imagined the Tower would target your life. That was my mistake.”

He looked as if he hated remembering it as much as she did.

“It won’t happen again. I won’t let anyone separate us ever again.”

Enria blinked slowly at that.

Rahar, still composed, spoke up.

“Even so, it’s safer if Enria grows stronger on her own. There are always variables in life.”

Caldeon turned to him, displeasure evident in his gaze. After a short silence, he set down his fork and wiped his hands with a napkin.

“Fine. You have a point.”

Rahar looked surprised by the unexpected agreement—but his expression quickly darkened at Caldeon’s next words.

“If she’s going to learn, she should learn properly. I’ll ask the Grand Duchess to teach her.”

“What?!”

“A magician like her can teach better than a spirit user like you.”

“Are you looking down on me right now—”

“Perpetual second place.”

Caldeon said it casually as he lifted his glass of water.

Rahar froze.

“…That was because of you!” he shouted, scowling.

He complained that his unfortunate fate of sharing classes with Caldeon back in the academy was the only reason he’d been stuck with that humiliating nickname.

He added that he’d since become the Empire’s sole spirit master to contract with a greater wind spirit—Silri—but trailed off again, realizing Caldeon had formed contracts with several other high-ranking spirits even harder to obtain.

Not just in physical strength and swordsmanship, but thanks to the dark mana he inherited from his late mother, Caldeon had been talented and lucky from the start.

Of course, that same mana could spiral out of control, putting his life in danger—but if someone asked Rahar whether he’d trade places to gain such dangerous power, he’d refuse without hesitation.

“Anyway, this conversation’s over. Stop hanging around Enria.”

“I’m not hanging around her. And Rose is busy—you know she’s been handling Grand Duchess affairs.”

“I’ll handle that coordination myself. You stay out of it. Enria, are you finished eating?”

Caught off guard, Enria blinked.

“Ah, yes.”

When she nodded, Caldeon rose from his seat.

“We’ll have tea in my office.”

‘I don’t particularly want tea, though…’

Enria hesitated, standing awkwardly.

“Rahar, you can go now.”

Caldeon’s words made Rahar shoot him a glare.

“Don’t be ridiculous. I’m going to see Rose too—and Hayden.”

Leaving the two bickering men behind in the dining hall, Enria declined the tea, saying she was worried about Hayden.

Rahar tried to follow her, but Caldeon caught him and dragged him off for a “forced” tea time in his study.

In the original story, the two men had been childhood friends—but never exactly close.

Later, Rahar even killed Enria on a whim, and they’d become worse than enemies for a time.

It was only after Caldeon fell in love with Roseanne that he began mending his relationship with her brother.

‘So, I guess in this timeline, they’re just starting to get close again,’ Enria thought. ‘Once Roseanne becomes Grand Duchess and Caldeon starts falling for her, they’ll get along better…’

At least Rahar won’t try to cut off my head this time. That’s something.

Without realizing why she was even worrying about their friendship, she found herself hoping they’d get along.

“He ate two bowls.”

Lost in thought, Enria looked up as Chavel spoke. She’d just finished feeding Hayden his baby food.

“Yeah, he usually eats well,” Enria said, taking Hayden into her arms.

“Did you enjoy your meal, Hayden?”

She rubbed her nose against his, and he laughed, babbling,

“Mya, mya.”

“You didn’t have tea after your meal, did you? Shall I bring some?”

Chavel asked.

Enria hesitated for a moment, then shook her head.

“No, that’s fine.”

Knock, knock.

Just then, a maid of the Grand Duchess entered.

“Her Grace the Grand Duchess requests to see you.”

Enria blinked, surprised.

‘Why would Roseanne want to see me?’ she wondered—then remembered Caldeon’s words at lunch about asking Roseanne to teach her spellcraft.

“Where should I go?”

“Her Grace will come here.”

“Ah, I see.”

The maid bowed politely and left.

Chavel said she would prepare tea in the parlor for their conversation and hurried out as well.

Watching her leave, Enria looked down at Hayden in her arms.

Somehow, the thought of meeting Roseanne still made her uneasy.

After staring blankly at her child for a moment, she finally rose to her feet.