*Edited

“Huh, heok! Gasp! My Lord, you, here……! Cough!”

Dressed nicely in the uniform of the Ambrosia Knight Order, he was Ethan Ambrosia’s aide, Jade. And surprisingly, Jade carried the butler on his back and the head maid in his arms.

“Mr. Jade, you can drop me off now.”

“Thank you, Mr. Jade.”

The butler and the maid jumped out of Jade’s arms lightly with expressionless faces. Seeing the two standing behind Duke Ambrosia without looking back, Jade gaped like a fish for a moment, unable to speak.

Soon after, however, he shook his head from side to side as if trying to calm himself down, he approached the Duke and shouted.

“Why did you run alone like that?!”

“Ah.”

“Do you know how surprised I was when you suddenly jumped out of the carriage, My Lord?”

Jade’s red hair fluttered every time he jumped up and down. Ethan finally realized what he had left behind in the carriage when he saw his fluttering aide and asked, wrinkling his forehead.

“What about the letter?”

“The Knight Order is guarding it well now!”

“That’s a relief.”

“Of course it should be a relief! How can you throw it away like that? How?”

Jade hit his chest and got angry, but now he began to mumble and sniffle as if he were sad. 

“The Knight Order disappeared in an instant following you, My Lord! Some of the rest stay back to escort the carriage, saying they have to keep the letter! Butler Veron and Head Maid Ronda chased me, asking why I don’t follow My Lord!”

“That……”

Looking at Jade, who looked 100 years older, Duke Ambrosia clicked his tongue as if it were pity. That was why he came all the way here carrying the butler and the head maid. 

Although he wore the uniform of the Ambrosia Knight Order, Jade was actually Ethan’s aide because of his intellect rather than his brute force. Thinking about how hard it must have been for him to carry the butler and the head maid on his back, Ethan felt sorry for him. 

“How sad! It’s My Lord who ran away, so why am I……?”

Hearing a voice full of sorrow, Ethan Ambrosia looked at the butler and the head maid behind him as if asking. However, the two just looked at Jade, who was whining at the master, pitifully. Eventually, Duke Ambrosia soothed his aide with a soft voice.

“I’m sorry. It wasn’t intentional. Absolutely.”

“I’m sure it wasn’t intentional. If it’s intentional, I’m going to cry!” 

“Of course, making you cry is super fun, but this time it’s really not.”

As his beautiful face dimmed in embarrassment, Jade felt like it was his fault at the moment. When Duke Ambrosia apologized, tremendous momentum erupted from the servants, the butler, and the head maid’s side. It meant to hurry up and receive the Duke’s apology and stop whining.

“I’m so sad!”

He eventually buried his face in his hands in despair. There was no one on his side in this mansion. All to be possessed by His Lord! This was why His Lord ran here and there at will.

In the end, it was his job to deal with it. As much as he was trusted by the Duke, he had to fix many problems.

“Haha.”

Hearing the Duke’s laugh, Jade turned his head and looked around. His ferocious eyes quickly noticed the brutally broken window.

“What happened to that? Don’t tell me the boom I heard earlier……”

Only then did Jade look around in a hurry. Jade’s eyes widened when he saw Claude calmly in Sarah’s arms. It was only after checking Sarah’s face that he could realize where the boom came from.

‘Young Lord is so calm in the arms of a stranger……!’

Claude seemed to be in a very good mood, seeing the blush on both cheeks. It was the first time Jade saw a sight like this since he became the Duke’s closest aide. After a brief moment of surprise, Jade recognized Sarah and hurriedly bowed his back and lowered one of his arms to greet her with courtesy.

“I’m late to greet you. Countess Millen. Please forgive me for my rudeness. This is Jade Harper.”

“I’ll forgive Sir Harper if he understands my rudeness of responding this way due to circumstances.”

Sarah also smiled with her knees bent slightly as she was holding Claude. Duke Ethan Ambrosia looked strangely at the earlobes of his subordinate turning red.

“As expected, Countess Millen has a lot of generosity. I can only thank you for your generosity.”

Where did his whining attitude a while ago go? Jade was trying to look skillful in front of Sarah. Ethan, who was looking at it curiously, sighed and spoke to Sarah.

“I can’t take back what I said, so I’ll keep my promise. Countess Millen.”

“I really appreciate it”

“Then excuse me first.”

He turned around without hesitation. Of course, his one hand was grabbing his aide’s back.

“Let’s go, Sir Harper.”

“Uh, uiya! My Lord, wait a minute……! My face!”

“You don’t seem to have anything to do.”

Jade, who was humiliated by His Lord’s grasp and being dragged along ugly, eventually covered his face with both hands. Sarah smiled at the scene, but soon erased her smile, recalling the Duke who had never looked at Claude.

“……”

The child was looking at the back of his father leaving without saying any words to him. Claude’s face, which had been in a long resignation, was subdued unexpectedly. It’d be better if he were disappointed openly. There seemed to be no disappointment because there were no expectations, so Sarah’s heart throbbed.

She unknowingly opened her mouth and grabbed the Duke who was trying to leave the room.

“Your Grace.”

“……? Do say.”

“If you keep my power unknown to the public, I’ll reduce it for another hour.”

Claude’s body trembled at Sarah’s words. She smiled as she gently stroked the child’s back with her palm. He couldn’t pinpoint Sarah’s intentions but it wasn’t a bad offer for him. Ethan replied with a smile.

“I’ll be happy to do that.”

Ethan turned around and grabbed Jade’s neck, which he had let go for a moment, again, and continued to leave. Jade once again buried his face in his palms. As he stepped out of the broken door and walked down the hallway, Ethan spoke to the butler and the head maid, who quietly followed him.

“Veron, make sure she has what she needs most in Ambrosia and report it.”

“Yes, I understand.”

At the order of the Duke, the butler stopped walking and turned back to Claude’s room. As the butler disappeared in the distance, the Duke released Jade’s back.

“Sigh, you’re so mean. My Lord.”

“You need to withstand it for your embarrassing behavior just now. What would Her Ladyship think?”

“She may think that the aide of Duke Ambrosia is very cute.”

“Haha, that’s enough sincerity for nonsense.”

Jade pouted as he watched the back of His Lord walking with a smile. However, he realized that Ronda, the head maid, was still behind him and immediately stopped his pouting. She looked at Jade silently with her cool face.

Although they had been serving His Lord together for several years, Veron and Ronda, the twin brother and sister, were too difficult for Jade. Jade also had blind loyalty to His Lord, but they were very different. They hated Jade, who always talked back to their master.

Ethan sighed and beckoned Ronda and said.

“Tell the servants to serve her attentively. I hope the time I have to give her ends in just one hour.”

“Yes.”

As Ronda bowed her head and gradually moved away, Jade let out a sigh.

“Sir Harper, do you know Sarah Millen well?”

Jade recalled Sarah Millen, who once turned the social world upside down.

Beautiful face with youthful eyes. Someone said that she was the most beautiful woman on the continent. In addition, there was always something behind her confident attitude that was not explained by the word ‘elegance’. 

“I know. I’ve been suffering a lot because all my friends saying is Lady Millen, Lady Millen.”

And above all else, after making her debutante at the age of 17, she was promised the title of Countess by the Emperor. Only speculative gossip spread abundantly through the mouths and mouths of nobles who had no way to see her.

“Was she that great?”

“How dignified she must have been since she, who had never even attended a coming-of-age ceremony, was in charge of the etiquette education of the deceased Duchess and Her Highness the Princess.”

“……I see.”

“And that Countess Millen is a magician! It’s the first time in 40 years in the Crombell Empire, a magician appeared, My Lord. Probably no one in the Empire would have known that she was a magician.”

He opened his mouth, patting his bright aide on the shoulder.

“In the future, no one should know. To save more of my precious time.”

At Ethan’s words, Jade asked with a little hesitation.

“By the way, what will you do if that rat messes up?”

“That, of course……”

Jade trembled without realizing it, looking at the face of His Lord smiling with one corner of his mouth raised.

“It’ll be a little more fun.”

“Uh.”

Someone should know that that friendly smile was actually the most dangerous. Jade opened the door of the carriage ignoring the goosebumps on the back of his head.

“Hmm!”

Then he made eye contact with the man who was bound and gagged, his eyes wide open.