Episode 28. Isabella Lottera
Kassius leapt forward, grabbed Terion by the collar, and slammed him against the hallway wall.
“Forget it.”
“What did I just say...”
“I misheard. Forget it!”
Kassius snapped. Terion, regaining consciousness, smirked.
“What should I forget, Lady Jojo?”
Kassius’s golden eyes gleamed.
Kassius lowered his head and muttered an indescribable string of curses into Terion’s ear.
They all meant one thing: if he uttered those words again, he would turn him into minced meat.
Terion burst into laughter.
He wasn’t afraid at all, even in the face of such a threat. After all, he’d just heard such a powerful word.
This would be enough to tease Kassius for the rest of his life.
His heart swelled with excitement at the thought of relaying this news to the knights.
“You crazy bastard.”
Kassius threw Terion by the collar, still laughing despite the insult.
He'd done it. There was no other way than to kill him.
Kassius leapt forward, grabbed Terion by the collar, and slammed him against the hallway wall.
“Forget it.”
“What did I just say...”
“I misheard. Forget it!”
Kassius snapped. Terion, regaining consciousness, smirked.
“What should I forget, Lady Jojo?”
Kassius’s golden eyes gleamed.
Kassius lowered his head and muttered an indescribable string of curses into Terion’s ear.
They all meant one thing: if he uttered those words again, he would turn him into minced meat.
Terion burst into laughter.
He wasn’t afraid at all, even in the face of such a threat. After all, he’d just heard such a powerful word.
This would be enough to tease Kassius for the rest of his life.
His heart swelled with excitement at the thought of relaying this news to the knights.
“You crazy bastard.”
Kassius threw Terion by the collar, still laughing despite the insult.
He'd done it. There was no other way than to kill him.
Kassius reached for his sword at the moment, reaching for his waistband.
"Kassius, Sir Terion. If your urgent business is over, come in."
"Yes!"
Terion ran inside, his tail wagging.
Renisha was completely taken with him. She was a perfect hostess.
Kassius wiped his face with a dejected expression.
This was a disaster.
It was a complete mismatch of dreams.
Renisha gave Terion a clear answer when he returned to the issue of where to live for the servants and knights.
The mansion wasn't finished yet, and while there was an annex, it would take over a month to fully renovate it.
Therefore, they had decided to all live together in the main house for the time being.
Usually, a proper family would have separate quarters for the knights, but this place didn't have the resources for that.
“I guess once Hiloshine is renovated, the townhouse will be properly...”
Renisha glanced at Kassius.
It must have been because of the lack of sleep, but his face was even more tired now.
It had been like that since Terion left. Even though there were still things to sort out.
“Kassius.”
“...Please speak.”
“Hmm.”
Renisha considered it for a moment. Renisha was no longer the Empress.
It didn’t seem right to be overbearing toward Kassius.
Of course, Kassius would remain the same no matter how Renisha treated him.
If she wanted to respect him as a husband, Kassius was better than Laxus.
Renisha smiled after contemplating her thoughts.
“Kassius, it’ll take time to get the mansion tidy. But you should also prepare to leave within this week.”
Kassius nodded.
“I agree with that.”
It was better to leave quickly before the Emperor did something crazy again.
Even though this week was tight.
“And I think I’ll leave the castle management to Lindy. She’ll be well-versed in the workings of a noble family and how to run a household.”
“Do as Renisha wishes. Just leave the Knights’ affairs to Terion.”
“We need to re-elect the head butler and the head maid to look after the servants...”
Renisha choked.
“Let me go over this again.”
“Yes. Actually, I’ve been on the battlefield all this time, so I’m not used to that kind of thing... Wait. Renisha. Are you speaking to me formally now?”
Kassius asked, finally noticing something strange.
Renisha burst into a bright laugh.
“I’m no longer the Empress, but I can’t remain one forever, right? That seems more natural.”
Kassius opened his mouth.
“You don’t like it?”
Kassius quickly shook his head.
It wasn’t that he disliked the past Renisha, but he liked the current Renisha better.
It was as if a weight had been lifted from his shoulders.
"...As you please. Renisha can do whatever is most convenient for you."
"Thank you."
Renisha thought the urgent matter had been settled.
Kassius had been cooperative in everything, making everything smooth.
However, Renisha still had something to confirm.
Leaving behind all the fatigue from yesterday.
"Kassius. And...where is he?"
Renisha rubbed her neck nervously.
"Isabella, I want to see her."
Kassius felt himself shrink before Renisha's clear pink eyes.
Isabella.
Isabella Lottera.
"Kassius sent me a letter written by Isabella. It was definitely her handwriting, Kassius."
Renisha urged him with an unresponsive impatience. Tesha was probably behind this.
However, he hadn't yet heard confirmation from Tesha. He hadn't heard how the child had ended up here, why her pink eyes had mutated, or how she had managed to so convincingly claim she was a boy.
Kassius shook his head.
However, all of this was a problem he could solve together with Renisha.
In fact, it was a good thing Isabella had been under Kassius's protection all this time.
There was no need to search for the child.
"...I'll bring her."
There were no servants or maids in this mansion to run errands. He had no choice but to act for himself.
Renisha nodded.
However, the news that had arrived for Renisha, who had been brimming with anticipation...
The fact that the child was gone.
“Tesha!”
“Where are you, Tesha!”
“Tesha!”
The knights shouted at the top of their lungs, searching the mansion thoroughly.
It was time for darkness to gradually fall.
Tesha was nowhere to be seen, not a single hair in sight.
Where had the child, who had been running around the mansion with such a small body, gone?
Fortunately, it didn’t seem like she had gone outside. Having served in the war, they were particularly sensitive to guard duty, so they were always checking who came and went.
Even though she was as nimble and small as a flying squirrel, there was no way to avoid that surveillance.
“Where on earth did she go?”
Lindy asked with an anxious expression.
“Me, you mean me?”
Terion said, looking as if he had seen a ghost.
Lindy clicked his tongue lightly and said,
“Then who are you asking, me?”
“...Ahem.”
It was the first time a woman had spoken to him so abruptly.
Having spent his dreary adolescence on the battlefield, he couldn't get used to the smell of perfume in the mansion.
Yet, Lindy was treating him so unhesitatingly.
"...I don't know. Tesha is small, so if he decides to hide..."
"We should find her quickly. I'm worried that the Empress... no, the Lady might collapse."
Lindy nodded, and Renisha was desperately calling the child's name, her face pale.
The pale face of the already pale woman was even more worrying.
"We'll find him. But why are you looking for Tesha? And the child's sudden disappearance..."
Terion cast a suspicious look.
Lindy flatly dismissed it.
Having served as Renisha's chief maid, she'd seen all sorts of things.
This look was nothing.
"That child is Isabella Loterra, a descendant of Lottera. So it's only natural that the Lady is desperately searching for her."
“Ah... Huh? Huh?? Tesha?”
If it was Isabella, then wasn’t she the child Terion had been searching for on Kassius’s orders?
But she was inside the mansion? This was what they meant when they said it was dark under the lamp.
Terion stuck out his tongue and resumed his search.
Lindy stared at Terion’s back, who looked somehow innocent.
They needed a shepherd dog to guide the sheep. He seemed perfect for the role.
Lindy snickered despite her impatience.
She felt her blood rush to her toes.
The eerie feeling of her heart dropping to the floor and then being picked up.
Tesha had disappeared.
When she first heard the news, she had despaired, but watching Kassius apologize with a bewildered expression, she had gathered her thoughts.
Fortunately, she was relieved to hear that she didn’t seem to have left the mansion.
“Tesha!!”
She shouted at the top of her lungs the name the child had been using.
He said she seemed to have lost her memory. No, she pretended to.
They even said she had gray eyes, not pink.
It was unclear what kind of pain the child had endured to make such a choice.
Right now, the only one who could hold Isabella was Renisha.
Renisha stamped her foot.
"Tesha, please!"
A shadow fell over Renisha, who had been wandering through the mansion, oblivious to her shoes slipping off her feet.
"Kassius?"
“...You should wear shoes. It looks like you’re already hurt.”
Kassius let out a small sigh and quickly picked up Renisha.
“We have to find Tesha, Kassius.”
Renisha grabbed Kassius by the collar and said with a sharp gaze.
She was telling him to put her down right now.
Kassius said, walking slowly.
“I found her. I found her, but she won’t come out of that corner, so I think it would be best for you to go and check it out yourself.”
“...Found her?”
Renisha blinked.
Renisha, who had seemed like a wolf just moments ago, ready to tear Kassius apart, calmed down again.
Kassius nodded heavily.
“The child is safe. I found her in the kitchen. She must have been hiding among the potato sacks and not seen.”
“...Why is she there?”
“I don’t know. I think she might have been startled by Renisha’s arrival.”
“That could be true.”
The strength drained from Renisha’s body.
A sharp pain surged from something embedded in the sole of her foot.
Renisha covered her eyes and bit her lip.
The shock subsided, replaced by relief.
Her face pale, Renisha placed her hand on Kassius's shoulder.
"Let me down. I can walk. The child will be even more frightened if she sees this."
Kassius hesitated, then set her down. He carefully brushed off Renisha's bare feet from the floor.
He removed the wooden splinters embedded in her soles with his hands and wrapped them in a handkerchief.
Only then did he put her shoes on.
Her feet, once cold, were now covered in wounds.
The suffering of her small feet never ceased.
Kassius let out a small sigh.
Renisha stared at him quietly, meticulously observing every movement, every muscle twitch.
The series of subtleties hidden within this large man gave Renisha a strange feeling.
Renisha licked her lips.
"Thank you."
"Kassius, Sir Terion. If your urgent business is over, come in."
"Yes!"
Terion ran inside, his tail wagging.
Renisha was completely taken with him. She was a perfect hostess.
Kassius wiped his face with a dejected expression.
This was a disaster.
It was a complete mismatch of dreams.
***
Renisha gave Terion a clear answer when he returned to the issue of where to live for the servants and knights.
The mansion wasn't finished yet, and while there was an annex, it would take over a month to fully renovate it.
Therefore, they had decided to all live together in the main house for the time being.
Usually, a proper family would have separate quarters for the knights, but this place didn't have the resources for that.
“I guess once Hiloshine is renovated, the townhouse will be properly...”
Renisha glanced at Kassius.
It must have been because of the lack of sleep, but his face was even more tired now.
It had been like that since Terion left. Even though there were still things to sort out.
“Kassius.”
“...Please speak.”
“Hmm.”
Renisha considered it for a moment. Renisha was no longer the Empress.
It didn’t seem right to be overbearing toward Kassius.
Of course, Kassius would remain the same no matter how Renisha treated him.
If she wanted to respect him as a husband, Kassius was better than Laxus.
Renisha smiled after contemplating her thoughts.
“Kassius, it’ll take time to get the mansion tidy. But you should also prepare to leave within this week.”
Kassius nodded.
“I agree with that.”
It was better to leave quickly before the Emperor did something crazy again.
Even though this week was tight.
“And I think I’ll leave the castle management to Lindy. She’ll be well-versed in the workings of a noble family and how to run a household.”
“Do as Renisha wishes. Just leave the Knights’ affairs to Terion.”
“We need to re-elect the head butler and the head maid to look after the servants...”
Renisha choked.
“Let me go over this again.”
“Yes. Actually, I’ve been on the battlefield all this time, so I’m not used to that kind of thing... Wait. Renisha. Are you speaking to me formally now?”
Kassius asked, finally noticing something strange.
Renisha burst into a bright laugh.
“I’m no longer the Empress, but I can’t remain one forever, right? That seems more natural.”
Kassius opened his mouth.
“You don’t like it?”
Kassius quickly shook his head.
It wasn’t that he disliked the past Renisha, but he liked the current Renisha better.
It was as if a weight had been lifted from his shoulders.
"...As you please. Renisha can do whatever is most convenient for you."
"Thank you."
Renisha thought the urgent matter had been settled.
Kassius had been cooperative in everything, making everything smooth.
However, Renisha still had something to confirm.
Leaving behind all the fatigue from yesterday.
"Kassius. And...where is he?"
Renisha rubbed her neck nervously.
"Isabella, I want to see her."
Kassius felt himself shrink before Renisha's clear pink eyes.
Isabella.
Isabella Lottera.
"Kassius sent me a letter written by Isabella. It was definitely her handwriting, Kassius."
Renisha urged him with an unresponsive impatience. Tesha was probably behind this.
However, he hadn't yet heard confirmation from Tesha. He hadn't heard how the child had ended up here, why her pink eyes had mutated, or how she had managed to so convincingly claim she was a boy.
Kassius shook his head.
However, all of this was a problem he could solve together with Renisha.
In fact, it was a good thing Isabella had been under Kassius's protection all this time.
There was no need to search for the child.
"...I'll bring her."
There were no servants or maids in this mansion to run errands. He had no choice but to act for himself.
Renisha nodded.
However, the news that had arrived for Renisha, who had been brimming with anticipation...
The fact that the child was gone.
***
“Tesha!”
“Where are you, Tesha!”
“Tesha!”
The knights shouted at the top of their lungs, searching the mansion thoroughly.
It was time for darkness to gradually fall.
Tesha was nowhere to be seen, not a single hair in sight.
Where had the child, who had been running around the mansion with such a small body, gone?
Fortunately, it didn’t seem like she had gone outside. Having served in the war, they were particularly sensitive to guard duty, so they were always checking who came and went.
Even though she was as nimble and small as a flying squirrel, there was no way to avoid that surveillance.
“Where on earth did she go?”
Lindy asked with an anxious expression.
“Me, you mean me?”
Terion said, looking as if he had seen a ghost.
Lindy clicked his tongue lightly and said,
“Then who are you asking, me?”
“...Ahem.”
It was the first time a woman had spoken to him so abruptly.
Having spent his dreary adolescence on the battlefield, he couldn't get used to the smell of perfume in the mansion.
Yet, Lindy was treating him so unhesitatingly.
"...I don't know. Tesha is small, so if he decides to hide..."
"We should find her quickly. I'm worried that the Empress... no, the Lady might collapse."
Lindy nodded, and Renisha was desperately calling the child's name, her face pale.
The pale face of the already pale woman was even more worrying.
"We'll find him. But why are you looking for Tesha? And the child's sudden disappearance..."
Terion cast a suspicious look.
Lindy flatly dismissed it.
Having served as Renisha's chief maid, she'd seen all sorts of things.
This look was nothing.
"That child is Isabella Loterra, a descendant of Lottera. So it's only natural that the Lady is desperately searching for her."
“Ah... Huh? Huh?? Tesha?”
If it was Isabella, then wasn’t she the child Terion had been searching for on Kassius’s orders?
But she was inside the mansion? This was what they meant when they said it was dark under the lamp.
Terion stuck out his tongue and resumed his search.
Lindy stared at Terion’s back, who looked somehow innocent.
They needed a shepherd dog to guide the sheep. He seemed perfect for the role.
Lindy snickered despite her impatience.
***
She felt her blood rush to her toes.
The eerie feeling of her heart dropping to the floor and then being picked up.
Tesha had disappeared.
When she first heard the news, she had despaired, but watching Kassius apologize with a bewildered expression, she had gathered her thoughts.
Fortunately, she was relieved to hear that she didn’t seem to have left the mansion.
“Tesha!!”
She shouted at the top of her lungs the name the child had been using.
He said she seemed to have lost her memory. No, she pretended to.
They even said she had gray eyes, not pink.
It was unclear what kind of pain the child had endured to make such a choice.
Right now, the only one who could hold Isabella was Renisha.
Renisha stamped her foot.
"Tesha, please!"
A shadow fell over Renisha, who had been wandering through the mansion, oblivious to her shoes slipping off her feet.
"Kassius?"
“...You should wear shoes. It looks like you’re already hurt.”
Kassius let out a small sigh and quickly picked up Renisha.
“We have to find Tesha, Kassius.”
Renisha grabbed Kassius by the collar and said with a sharp gaze.
She was telling him to put her down right now.
Kassius said, walking slowly.
“I found her. I found her, but she won’t come out of that corner, so I think it would be best for you to go and check it out yourself.”
“...Found her?”
Renisha blinked.
Renisha, who had seemed like a wolf just moments ago, ready to tear Kassius apart, calmed down again.
Kassius nodded heavily.
“The child is safe. I found her in the kitchen. She must have been hiding among the potato sacks and not seen.”
“...Why is she there?”
“I don’t know. I think she might have been startled by Renisha’s arrival.”
“That could be true.”
The strength drained from Renisha’s body.
A sharp pain surged from something embedded in the sole of her foot.
Renisha covered her eyes and bit her lip.
The shock subsided, replaced by relief.
Her face pale, Renisha placed her hand on Kassius's shoulder.
"Let me down. I can walk. The child will be even more frightened if she sees this."
Kassius hesitated, then set her down. He carefully brushed off Renisha's bare feet from the floor.
He removed the wooden splinters embedded in her soles with his hands and wrapped them in a handkerchief.
Only then did he put her shoes on.
Her feet, once cold, were now covered in wounds.
The suffering of her small feet never ceased.
Kassius let out a small sigh.
Renisha stared at him quietly, meticulously observing every movement, every muscle twitch.
The series of subtleties hidden within this large man gave Renisha a strange feeling.
Renisha licked her lips.
"Thank you."
Kassius paused, then straightened.
"...Don't get hurt."
Renisha nodded, feeling like a child being cared for. It was a series of new moments for both of them.
Kassius and Renisha.
"...Don't get hurt."
Renisha nodded, feeling like a child being cared for. It was a series of new moments for both of them.
Kassius and Renisha.
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