#17
Standing in the snowfield, Aeongi gazed at the distant mountains.
Should he return to the mountains like this? Snow that had fallen all night was piled high, making the mountains appear completely white.
The sound of snow that had accumulated heavily on the coniferous trees falling with thuds could be heard from here and there. Since morning, the knights had been cleaning up inside the castle instead of training, shaking the trees to remove snow before the branches broke under the weight.
While it was cozy during the snowfall, as the snow stopped and dawn approached, a cold wave struck. In this situation, Noah, armed from head to toe with clothes, scarf, hat, and thick fur boots, was making his green eyes shine.
“Noah, it’s cold today, so why don’t you play when the weather warms up a bit?”
Noah shook his head vigorously at Lucas’s words and was busy messily leaving his footprints while stepping on the fine snow that no one else had stepped on. Though the snow came up to Noah’s knees, when he got tired from walking with difficulty, he would just lie down comfortably. He smiled brightly while looking at the shape created in the snow matching his form.
He had seen snow fall many times and had been to ski resorts often, but this was the first time he had directly experienced such high-quality snow piled up like this. Even while staying here, whenever it snowed heavily or got cold, no one allowed him to go outside.
“Dad! Hurry up!”
Noah, who had been making snow angels and deliberately falling strangely to leave mysterious traces, looked back and forth between Aeongi and Lucas, who were still standing there blankly.
“It seems like it might be dangerous.”
“Right?”
“No! It’s not dangerous. It’s okay. It’s fine!”
With snow stuck all over his clothes, Noah approached Lucas and lightly grasped his hand. This was something he always did when Lucas fell into contemplation. He carefully touched Lucas’s fingertips and then slowly put his hand inside Lucas’s large, warm hand.
Then he spread his small hand wide and loosely put his fingers between Lucas’s fingers, interlocking them. Finally, when he tilted his head back as far as possible to look at him while gently shaking, Lucas’s gaze, which had been looking elsewhere, turned toward him as expected.
“Dad~”
Drawing out the end of the word while shaking his hand more strongly and swaying his body along with it, Noah slightly squinted his eyes.
Look here, father.
Won’t you give in even to this?
I think it’s about time you gave in.
Do I have to embarrassingly rub my lips against your cheek here?
“Your Grace, they’re sending the item you ordered from the Magic Tower in the capital right now.”
Just when Lucas’s stiffly hardened facial muscles moved slightly and his lips seemed to curl up, someone’s voice interrupted, making Noah’s head whip to the side.
It was almost done – if they had given him just 3 more seconds, Lucas would have given in to him. It was natural that resentment dripped from Noah’s eyes as he looked at the person who had cut off the flow at such a moment.
“Magic Tower? Did they just send the item?”
“Someone named Raymond personally brought the item and came through warp.”
Noah, who had been holding Lucas’s hand and shaking it to convey what he wanted, let go of Lucas’s hand as if shaking it off.
“Remona? Remona is coming?”
If I didn’t mishear just now, they’re sending someone from the Magic Tower, and that person’s name is Raymond. The man who stole his heart completely at first sight is coming here now?
“Raymond?”
While Noah couldn’t pronounce Raymond properly and shouted “Remona” in his urgency, Lucas said the person’s name once more as if confirming, and Noah nodded vigorously beside him.
“Yes. He said Raymond.”
As soon as he heard the confirmation, Noah kicked Aeongi’s front paw, who was standing beside him.
“Hurry. Hurry~”
This action came because Aeongi was standing rather than sitting, making it difficult to climb on. Usually when carrying him around, Aeongi would lie down to make it easy for him to get on and off, or directly grab him and toss him into the air to make it easy to mount, but today Aeongi was just standing there blankly.
“Aeongi!!”
His hearing should be sharp, yet Aeongi was still standing there. Noah, who had been struggling to grab Aeongi’s fur and climb onto his back, quickly mounted behind his neck and gripped his fur when Aeongi tossed him into the air.
“No!! No!! Where are you going…”
We need to go to the castle. Only the voices of Aeongi suddenly running toward the mountains and the flustered Noah remained in that spot.
A short while later, Noah, who had coaxed and persuaded Aeongi, who had been heading to the mountains, and returned to the castle, was standing in front of his wardrobe with Elisa.
“How about this one?”
“No.”
Noah, who rejected all the clothes Elisa brought out, began selecting clothes himself. It was none other than Raymond. How handsome would he have become after meeting him in 2 years? To look good to him, whom he had marked as a potential husband candidate, he needed to dress up well.
It shouldn’t look too young, but it shouldn’t be too mature either. What would be just right?
Pink doesn’t seem right, and canary yellow looks too young. Why are all the clothes these colors?
Isn’t there something in achromatic colors that would look chic and cool?
For Noah, whose hobby was frequently disappearing in the Austen region filled entirely with achromatic colors, there were still only colorful clothes in full natural colors.
“I think this would be best for you.”
No matter how much he searched through clothes with his own hands, they were all the same, and if he delayed like this, it would only reduce the time to see Raymond, so Noah stayed still and let Elisa dress him as she pleased.
How handsomely would he have grown? Would that long, soft hair still be well?
How much taller would he have gotten? His face must have become even more handsome, right?
With an excited heart, Noah’s heart began beating rapidly as he waited for Elisa to open the door.
The door slowly opened and the interior of the reception room filled with bright sunlight gradually came into view.
“Wow.”
Noah, who entered inside, let out a small exclamation upon seeing Raymond sitting bathed in sunlight. You got through the cursed age of 17 well. As expected, my eye wasn’t wrong.
I’m having an awakening here.
“Hello, young master.”
His voice has gotten better too. Though he wanted to run to Raymond and hug him, embarrassment washed over him and Noah headed toward Lucas instead of Raymond.
“So the bracelet I ordered before is finally finished.”
Held in Lucas’s arms, who quickly embraced him and placed him on one thigh, Noah looked at the silver bracelet he showed him.
The day he went for a short walk and picked up Aeongi.
Lucas and Loren had a big marital fight while leaving sleeping Noah behind. And the conclusion they reached was to put a bracelet with location tracking magic on Noah. And Raymond had personally brought that bracelet they had ordered from the Imperial Magic Tower.
“A bracelet?”
Looking at the bracelet with a clean silver band and a small green gem, Noah reached for the green gem. It was the same color as his eyes, which he had now become accustomed to. The green gem shimmered beautifully in the sunlight.
“Since the Tower Master who went out hasn’t returned without any word, I made it myself.”
While Noah’s attention was on Raymond, who was explaining the situation in a gentle voice, a perfectly fitting bracelet was already on Noah’s wrist.
It was a public secret that the current Imperial Tower Master was absent. The only reason everyone tolerated him not staying at the tower and frequently disappearing was purely because of his outstanding skills.
It was only maintained because Raymond, who was said to have skills comparable to him, was staying at the tower, but from the current atmosphere, it seemed like Raymond would become the Tower Master as soon as the long-absent Tower Master returned.
“Fortunately, it performed better than originally ordered, so if you’re within a 500km radius, we can find you within about 5m margin of error. However, if you go more than 100m away underground or above ground from the surface level, you’ll be outside the detection range and can’t be found.”
Noah’s eyes widened as he looked at the pretty bracelet while shaking his hand.
Wait a moment, father.
It seems like you’ve put something worse than a dog collar on me?
A collar is something I can use at my own discretion, but doesn’t this mean you’ll immediately track and come catch me if I disappear?
“Since there’s no reason to go that far underground or above ground, it seems sufficient.”
“Oh, and like the collar, it requires a certain amount of mana to be injected to remove it, so it would be difficult for the young master to remove it alone. It’s also difficult for others to forcibly cut it.”
“Now I can worry a little less.”
Noah, who had suddenly received a dog collar that couldn’t even be removed as a gift, looked with a hollow expression at Aeongi, who was lying down in one corner of the reception room, having arrived at some point.
On the day Aeongi first got his collar, he sulked all day. He wouldn’t come even when called, and wouldn’t let Noah ride on his back. Though he didn’t leave the castle, Noah remembered that he had even refused the thick meat given for dinner.
Is this how you felt?
Noah got down from Lucas’s knee and went to Aeongi’s side, who was sitting listlessly, hugged his neck tightly, and touched his thick leather collar with his hand.
Should I remove yours?
At the end of Aeongi’s leather collar was a round metal piece, and it had information written on it that Aeongi’s name and owner was Noah.
Though he missed Raymond’s handsome face and his subtle scent, comforting Aeongi’s heart came first now. Perhaps Noah was the one being comforted by Aeongi’s fluffy fur and warm body temperature.
“By the way, isn’t the young master going to enroll in the academy?”
Academy means school, right? For Noah, who already found it quite burdensome to study three hours daily with a tutor, this was troubling. Though pretending not to know what he knew was difficult, it was quite hard for him, who was used to living with a free schedule and doing whatever he wanted, to sit still for three hours every day at regular times.
I don’t like school – it’s a life of servitude.
I really hate that thing where you move according to bells.
“That’s also under consideration.”
Noah’s happy childhood seemed to be ending like this.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
