#61
“This isn’t right.”
Noah was moving his hand quickly over the white paper before stopping to carefully examine what he had drawn so far.
“What’s wrong, not going well?”
“Mom, what does this look like to you?”
“Some kind of container?”
Noah looked at Loren who was setting down a tray with warm tea and snacks on the table. As she said she came out for exercise rather than asking a maid to do it, he gave her a small smile as if she was incorrigible.
Lucas had said she was only critically ill for a moment and was fine now, but what Noah had heard from the butler wasn’t something to take lightly.
He said Loren’s condition had been bad enough to call Noah from the academy in the middle of the night. Though she had regained her color and looked vibrant now, it would be no exaggeration to say that she, already pale, had turned deathly white that night.
Her lips, usually with a reddish tint, had lost all their color, her hands and feet were ice-cold, and her consciousness was fading. When the doctor present told them to prepare their hearts, they had to summon Noah so urgently.
Anyway, by the time Noah arrived, she had stabilized, and the next day, Loren appeared so healthy it was hard to believe she had been at death’s door. And now she could move around Schwein Castle without anyone’s help.
“Yes, it’s a container. I just don’t know how to make it.”
Noah, who had been drawing a sweet potato roaster modified from a drum, put down the pen he had been twirling rapidly with his fingertips and picked up a cookie Loren had brought.
“Are you really going to do this?”
“Of course.”
Noah smiled brightly at Loren as she stroked his head. He knew what she was thinking. She would be anxious no matter what he did.
In her eyes, he was still a three-year-old child. She would worry whether he was at the academy or at home.
Meanwhile, Lucas was talking about going to the southern region for recuperation, buying a house there and whatnot, and Noah, who had naturally assumed he would go with them, was suddenly locked up in his room talking about starting a business.
Every day he drew strange pictures and wrote business plans, and most of all, Loren was worried and anxious about Noah staying alone at Schwein Castle, so after getting back on her feet, she frequently came in and out of his room.
“Noah, you don’t have to do this.”
Noah slightly shrugged his shoulders as he looked at Aeongi, who was lying on Loren’s lap like a small kitten, perhaps having followed her in. Now Aeongi could change size freely even without Noah using magic.
It’s not like Aeongi would answer if asked, and it was also true that Aeongi wasn’t an ordinary cat.
When Noah searched his memories, cats could live at most 20 years, but since Lucas said he had seen Aeongi since he was young, Aeongi must be at least over thirty years old. Obviously, it wasn’t ordinary, being considered the guardian spirit of the notoriously treacherous Heidel Mountains.
Once, while chatting with Raymond, Noah was asked how he met Aeongi, so he shared his childhood memories. The response he got was quite something.
‘It’s a dragon.’
‘What are you talking about? Dragons are super powerful and fearless beings. No one has actually seen one, and they’re mythical creatures only written about in books, so why would one be hanging out with me like this?’
While saying that, he had handed the cookie he was eating to Aeongi, who was vigorously scratching behind his ear with his hind leg.
After that, he briefly wondered if Aeongi might really be a dragon, but when he saw how much Aeongi loved cookies, loved sleeping, and went out alone to play when bored, it seemed utterly absurd.
Dragons were indeed a peculiar species—it was said that some green dragons, with nothing better to do, transformed into trees and enjoyed amusement for 200 years or so in one place. But still, the idea of a dragon pretending to be a cat beside him was truly unimaginable.
Anyway, whether Aeongi was a dragon or a divine beast, it was certainly not an ordinary animal, so it wasn’t particularly surprising that one day he arbitrarily changed his size. After all, he himself had experienced transmigration and even regression multiple times, so an animal that could change its size at will wasn’t that remarkable.
“Noah.”
Noah, who had been lost in thought for a moment, looked up at Loren who was holding his hand and calling his name affectionately. Feeling anew how frightening time was, he held Loren’s hand, now similar in size to his own, and looked into her eyes.
“Mom…”
“Mom.”
Noah spoke at the same time she began. Normally, he wouldn’t have interrupted her, but he couldn’t keep having this argument with her forever.
She was clearly about to suggest that rather than doing this, he should go south with them and live comfortably. She would probably say that he could live comfortably and leisurely, meet a suitable alpha or beta, and get married.
Given the atmosphere of this place, her words weren’t wrong, as that was the life of most omegas.
“Mom, just try what I make once before saying anything. You’ve never tasted my cooking before. Your son is a good cook!”
“I know my son is good at everything. I know, but…”
“Mom, do you love me?”
“Of course.”
“Then trust me just as much as you love me, just that much. I’m really confident about this.”
When he deliberately spoke playfully, a faint smile appeared on Loren’s face, which had been serious in trying to persuade him. Not missing that timing, Noah leaned toward her, gently shaking their clasped hands.
“Mom, I love you as much as you love me.”
Gaining confidence from seeing Loren’s slightly smiling face, Noah planted a light kiss on her cheek and delivered his final, winning line.
“My goodness, where did you learn such things? Do they teach that at the academy too?”
“Why? Mom, did your heart flutter? Being stoic like Dad isn’t charming.”
“Instead of you taking after your father, your father should take after you.”
“I’m just such a sweet man!”
Noah burst into laughter at Loren’s words. Indeed, Lucas’s character was quiet, solitary, and like a lone, elegant wolf—the Grand Duke of the North.
Lucas had said “I love you” to Loren exactly once by the time the book ended. There was an episode afterward where Loren acted cute to hear the words “I love you,” but Lucas had intensely expressed his love physically rather than verbally, as Noah recalled.
After Loren, who had been drinking tea and eating snacks beside him, left his bedroom, Noah collapsed onto the bed and rolled around wildly.
They say life is unpredictable, but why is my fate like this?
In Korea, he could have just bought or rented a commercially available sweet potato roasting machine, but here there was no such machine at all. Moreover, although it would be a street vendor business, he had to determine where to sell it himself and research all the ingredients to use.
I just want to get supplies from a chain or something.
After rolling around for a while and then lying still on his stomach, Noah slightly raised one arm for Aeongi, who approached and wriggled, trying to burrow into his embrace.
Placing the small, warm Aeongi on his stomach, Noah was touching his head and cheeks when he slipped his hand under Aeongi’s armpits and lifted him up.
What an idea bank you are.
After picking up Aeongi and shaking him vigorously before setting him down, Noah sprang up from the bed, took out paper again, and began moving his hand quickly.
* * *
[A taste so good you’d die happily sharing it!]
[Try it!]
[Opening special: Buy one, get one free!]
Around Noah’s small stand were promotional signs he had drawn and made himself. And Aeongi, who had changed to a medium size with the Dean’s permission, was sitting quietly next to the stand. In front of Aeongi was a small sign.
[He won’t bite or harm you as long as you don’t touch him~]
Noah smiled brightly and began confidently stacking firewood, when Aeongi, who had been sitting still until now, started bringing pieces of wood in his mouth. Noah laughed as he accepted them.
“Don’t worry. I can do it myself.”
The place where Noah was preparing to do business was none other than the busiest street vendor area in Feyrn, the capital. Honestly, he had wanted to start in Austen, but first, he needed people to come and eat, taste it, and spread the word.
Once Loren also granted permission for Noah’s challenge, everything proceeded quickly. It was Loren who encouraged Lucas, who couldn’t easily accept Noah’s business plan. She had urged him to support their son who wanted to achieve a big dream.
After putting in an appropriate amount of firewood and lighting the fire, Noah stood proudly with his hands on his hips and grinned.
Now, shall I try selling some roasted chestnuts and sweet potatoes?
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
