episode_0007

Episode 7

An invitation to a party from a prestigious family.

Request for financial support.

Stories about marriage.

The types of tasks that come to me are quite diverse.

Thanks to this, I feel less bored even if I sit and work for hours.

‘Uhm..’

However, there is nothing you can do to feel the stiffness of your body.

It would have been better if I had been the successor to a knightly family, but unfortunately, the Mervis family is a magician family.

Moreover, I have just had a coming-of-age ceremony, so the difference in my inner patience is bound to be big.

Move your head for a moment to relieve the stiffness in your neck.

Turn your shoulders too.

I picked up the fountain pen again and started working…

“Master… Are you having a hard time..?”

Rinne quietly stood behind me.

“It’s a little… stiff.”

“…Can I help you?”

“You?”

Rinne’s small hand begins to massage my shoulder.

The strength I could feel in my small grip was poor, but somehow I felt like the pain was going away.

Massage not only the shoulders but also the neck area.

On my own, it seemed like I was squeezing as hard as I could, but even if I tried to use my skinny body, it wasn’t that strong.

‘This is not the time.’

After enjoying Rinne’s massage for a while, I almost put off work again.

I quickly turned my attention to the letter, but my consciousness still went to the place Rinne’s hand could reach.

‘..trying to disturb me..’

Rinne’s massage had a strange charm that made me think of blasphemous thoughts for a moment.

I wasn’t good at it, and it wasn’t cool, but I guess I should say it suited me perfectly.

Now I’m pressing all the way to the back.

I tried to ignore it and focused on work.

As a result, I was able to focus on work about half the time.

‘ha…’

There is one more thing to pay attention to during work hours.

***

Jomuljomul-

He is diligently massaging his master’s back.

‘It’s…stiff.’

I saw it when I was changing my master’s clothes in the morning, and even though he wasn’t a knight, he was in extremely good shape.

Even when touching the clothes, I could feel the firm fine muscles on my back.

Thanks to this, it is not easy to massage.

‘My neck is at least better…’

If you keep massaging your neck, your master will pay a lot of attention.

While massaging like that, I began to see things that I couldn’t see at my master’s feet.

Since I didn’t dare to spy on my master’s work, I only looked at the envelopes of letters that my master had not yet read.

‘..huh?’

As I keep looking at the letters, something seems to be stirring…?

“Why are you doing that, Rinne?”

Oops, I guess I stopped my hand without realizing it.

“Sin…I’m sorry, master. I saw something in the letter…”

You can’t lie.

It was one of the few lessons I learned from my trashy biological parents.

If you turn away the collectors who always come by with lies, you will pay a big price next time.

In the end, he was the one who paid the price…

Anyway, lies lead to bigger lies.

I didn’t want to lie to my master, so I told him the truth.

“What do you see?”

“Yes.. I see something like an energy around the letters over there that I haven’t seen yet..”

The master listened to me, thought deeply about something, and brought a bundle of letters in front of me.

“Linnaeus. Enough with the nitpicking and just do whatever comes to mind with those letters. Like ‘organizing’ or ‘classifying’.”

“I…I dare not do my master’s work…”

“It’s okay.”

“….”

I couldn’t bear to let my master’s letters touch the ground, so I took off my jacket and tried to lay it on the floor.

Then, the master spoke in a stern voice.

“Linnaeus. Please know one thing. Those letters were sent to me, not written by me. Also, the clothes you are wearing were given to me, so what should you prioritize?”

“Ah… I understand, master.”

I quickly put my jacket back on and put the letters on the ground.

The owner is a neat person, so there was no other desk in the office, so it was for the best.

As I stared at the letters for a while, the swaying energy grew even bigger.

Most of the waving shapes were different, but there were also some that had the same shape.

I collected and sorted letters that had the same shape.

These bundles of letters were made into three bundles.

“Master. It’s all done.”

The owner looked down and placed the bundles I shared on the desk to check.

“…Ha. Was it something like this?”

The owner muttered something unintelligible and made me sit on his lap.

“Huh?”

I was so embarrassed that I made a stupid noise, but soon he started stroking my head, so I had no choice but to remain calm.

“Well done Rinne.”

“ugh…”

The warm scent of my master made my head dizzy.

I didn’t notice it at the meal because it was covered by the smell of the food, but the owner had such a cozy scent even though he didn’t spray any perfume.

The owner dropped me off again and started working again.

I wrapped my head around it and tried not to let the feeling go away.

I was so lost in the lingering feelings that I suddenly realized that I had not done any service.

“Lord.. Master… I’m sorry… I forgot to serve you…”

“…”

The owner is silent.

I slowly raised my head and looked at the owner’s expression, and it seemed like he was deeply concentrating.

Is it okay to provide service in this situation?

‘…no.’

no.

If you’re that focused, it must be something very important.

It was not acceptable for someone to step forward to serve and then break their concentration.

‘…I’m sorry, master.’

The shortcomings were something that could be achieved with effort.

***

[To the head of the Mervis family.

The matter with the former head of the family may not have been resolved yet, so I feel uneasy about asking this…]

In the golden envelope, there was a greeting that did not seem appropriate to say to the head of the Mervis family.

There is only one place where you can use an introduction like this.

It is the imperial family.

The content was a little different from what I had imagined.

The unified empire appears to be progressing smoothly, and the letter contains a request to grace the occasion by attending the crown prince’s birthday banquet.

‘Crown Prince…’

Perhaps he wants to form a close relationship with Mervis, who wields great influence in the empire.

There is no problem with the relationship with the current imperial family, but it seems that the emperor wants to develop this relationship.

I have accompanied my father to the imperial palace several times, so I have a vague idea of what kind of person the Crown Prince is.

The next emperor is the same age as me and recently had his coming-of-age ceremony. He is intelligent and stands out in politics.

Even though he was the second son, he was recognized for his ability and was the favorite of the era, taking over the position of crown prince at an early age.

I am no different.

Even though he was the highest-ranking noble, he was respected for his reputation and character, and my father wanted to quickly pass on the position of head of the family to me.

In some ways, the crown prince and I are similar types of people.

The emperor’s proposal was not a bad idea for me, so I wrote a reply saying I would definitely attend.

Then suddenly, Rinne came to mind.

“Hmm…”

Let’s look at ourselves, Rinne sitting quietly.

No matter what, I can’t take you there.

However, if that happens, I will have to break the soul bond while I am in the imperial palace.

Jockey’s advice is at stake.

Do I trust Linnaeus?

Even if that were the case, we cannot know what was in Linnaeus’ mind.

There is no way to confirm whether the loyalty you show me right now is a lie.

You have to be careful.

When I silently put my hand on Rinne’s head, Rinne rubbed her own face.

“Master?”

“…”

I needed to think of a good way.

***

After finishing the accumulated work, I took Rinne out of the mansion.

A huge mansion site worthy of the Mervis family.

There were many things around the castle-like mansion.

The place we are taking Rinne to now is one of them.

A wide plain spreads behind.

It is an open space with green fields spread out on a hill.

I loved standing there and watching the world disappear into the distance.

It was always a place I went to when I had concerns.

I happened to bring Rinne with me, but it was actually nice.

“…Master?”

He has been looking at himself in silence since before, or is now standing there with his eyes closed.

Rinne keeps calling me as if she’s anxious.

“…Linne. Be quiet.”

“Oh, ah… I’m sorry.”

I don’t like noise in this space.

However, I hugged Rinne from behind and took a deep breath.

Thankfully, Hamung was not wrong in saying that bringing in slaves would make one feel at ease.

When I look at Rinne, a change occurs that puts me at ease.

Even more so when you’re this close.

In the space where I feel most comfortable, I hug Rinne, who makes me feel relieved when I get close to her.

“…Good.”

Rinne’s ears were a little red for some reason, but it was okay.

While the sun goes down like that.

I didn’t move from there.

Inside the room we returned to with Rinne.

As usual, Rinne changed my clothes, and I lay down on the bed and thought.

Is it right to leave Rinne behind, or should I take her with me?

I was anxious about leaving it behind.

I was worried about the attention that would pour on me when I took him there.

It didn’t really matter if it was only his reputation that would fall.

However, if a slave was brought to the crown prince’s banquet, it would tarnish the reputation of the Mervis family, the crown prince, and even the emperor.

-I don’t respect you guys enough to bring slaves to the celebration banquet.

Should I say this is the same as saying this out loud?

Even if I could somehow cover up the pattern on my wrist, there was nothing I could do about the pattern on Rinne’s neck.

“Phew….”

It was so difficult that I had to sigh.

“Master?”

Rinne seemed to be worried about the sound of my sighing, and spoke to me from next to the bed.

“What are you worried about?”

It’s natural for her to be worried because she just hugged her without saying a word or just sighed when she entered the room.

“It’s difficult.”

“What…?”

“Everything.”

Rinne’s voice becomes more serious.

The sound of swallowing was heard, and Rinne spoke carefully.

“….’Service’… Can I do it for you, sir?”