CHAPTER 15

Sep 9, 2021
6 min read

How The Male Lead Cures The Young Lady Who Has A Limited Time

“……Why did you call me today?”

It was early in the morning. Noel, dressed in a neat uniform, opened his mouth making the man sitting opposite him smile.

“Of course, I called because I have something to ask of you.”

The man had hair and eyes that seemed to be melted gold. The slightly curled up corners of his lips and half-moon-shaped eyes were enough to win the heart of any viewer.

“Aren’t you going to taste the tea first? It was specially ordered from the Kingdom of Yendeil.”

The man spoke kindly and pointed to the teacup in front of Noel, but he answered firmly.

“Speak quickly about what business you have.”

“…You weren’t like that in the past. After you became the Duke, you changed.”

Talking in a more comfortable tone than before, the man groaned and ruffled his hair with one hand.

“It is all thanks to your immature Majesty that I have changed.”

Noel replied briefly and there was no smile to be found in his stiff face.

“We are the only ones here, so what’s up with calling me ‘your Majesty’? Just be comfortable."

The man frowned at the official title. His name was Liandrie Gladius Cairon, the ruler of the Empire and a childhood friend Noel had known since they were children.

“…..just because you can’t see it doesn’t mean there aren’t people there.”

Noel's gaze turned to Liandrie's back. Now they were meeting in a small parlor attached to his bedroom, in this particular space, you can't see a shadow, but you can feel people everywhere.

Most of them were escorts to protect the emperor, but...

'It seems that there are one or two others who are not.'

Noel clicked his tongue slightly.

Liandrie, who turned 25 this year, was crowned the new emperor about three years ago. It was because the previous emperor suddenly died of an illness and young Liandrie ascended to the throne with no time to prepare himself.

Many of the old nobles disapproved of such a young emperor, and among them, there were always those with impure motives.

“It would be good to strengthen the security of the Imperial Palace.”

After looking around for a moment, Noel turned his attention to Liandrie.

"I'm already preparing to renew my escorts, so you don't have to worry about it."

Liandrie answered calmly and raised the teacup.

“By the way, you and Young Lady Blanche, no. Is she a Countess now? Anyway, I heard that you were engaged to the girl. Is it true?”

Instead of answering his words, Noel blinked his eyes slowly. Liandrie’s expression brightened, accepting his friend's silence as a positive answer.

“Congratulations, friend! Finally, you have become a human too!”

“...I pray that you didn’t call me out during this busy period just to mention my engagement.”

Noel wrinkled his brow and looked at the Emperor. Liandrie hurriedly shook his head at the look full of displeasure.

“What do you see me as? Of course, there are other important matters.”

The Emperor held his breath for a moment, then opened his mouth again, this time a serious voice without any sense of playfulness, flowed.

“I found a clue about the artifact.”

“When you say artifacts, are you referring to the relics of ancient wizards?”

"Yes. That's right."

Liandrie nodded his head, and Noel corrected his twisted posture sitting upright.

"Didn't the wizards' original artifacts exist only in legends?"

Noel also stared at Liandrie with a serious face incomparable to before.

The relics of the ancient wizard were said to be about 1000 years old. It refers to the magic tools used in the days when mana overflowed from the ground and magic was commonplace.

Originally, it was a treasure handed down from generation to generation, but at some point, it disappeared. Because of that, it remains only as a legend in the present days.

“I thought so, too. But it seems that they found it at a site that was excavated recently.”

Liandrie nodded slightly, at that, Noel raised an eyebrow.

“So, where are the artifacts now?”

“Um, that’s the problem.”

A troubled smile appeared on his lips. As he dragged his time fiddling with his petty hair, the impatient Noel asked first.

“What the hell do you want to say?”

The Emperor just then reluctantly opened his mouth.

“Well, hmm. That’s it… it must have been robbed while transporting it to the Imperial Palace.”

"What?"

Noel looked at his lord with a dumbfounded look.

“How the hell did you manage to get such an important thing stolen?”

At Noel's rebuke, Liandrie had a pouting look on his face.

"Do you think I wanted to lose such a precious thing? If the thief weren't a wizard, this wouldn't have happened."

"...a wizard. Are you sure the thief is a wizard?”

Noel froze as soon as he heard the word wizard.

"According to the investigator, there are traces of the use of mana around the safe where the map was stored."

“……Did you contact the Tower?”

"I'm still asking Viscount Magnus for help. Among those stubborn old men, he is at least a man of words.”

Liandrie sighed and muttered at the same time. His head hurt just thinking about it, and there were deep wrinkles on his forehead.

“…… If it’s Viscount Magnus, are you referring to the wizard that the former Emperor cherished?”

"That's right. He seems to have been confined to the estate for a while, and for some reason he recently returned to the capital.”

The Emperor paused for a moment, then looked into Noel's eyes.

"Speaking of which. Noel, I want you to proceed with the investigation together with Viscount Magnus."

“……Why me?”

“Who else can I trust with this kind of work but you?”

Liandrie laughed bitterly and Noel kept his mouth shut for a moment. To be honest, it was a request he was not very happy with. Noel probably would have refused without hesitation if the person had been someone else.

However, the opponent was the Emperor of the empire and a close friend he had been together for a long time.

"........All right. I’ll get in touch with Viscount Magnus."

Noel pondered for a moment and nodded with a sigh. Only then, feeling relieved, the Emperor finished with a bright smile on his face.

"Thank you. After all, you are my true friend.”

“This is the last time fulfilling Your Majesty’s requests. From now on, please figure it out on your own.”

"Yes. I will make sure to repay this favor someday.”

After a short conversation, the two got up from their seats. Noel readily ignored Liandrie’s request to come back to play at any time and left the parlor.

"...I'm going to be a little busy for a while."

Noel came out of the hallway and murmured quietly. As soon as Liandrie asked him to do this job, the first thing that came to mind was Yvette's face.

As he gets busy, he will naturally have less time to meet with her.

'Just in case, I'd better meet her before I get busy.'

As he thought such things inadvertently, Noel stopped in his place without even realizing it.

'…..When did I start to take care of her like this?'

Noel smiled in vain while sweeping his face down.

At first, he offered Yvette an engagement to keep an eye on her. His particularly friendly and affectionate behavior was closer to a bait to find out what she was thinking.

However, at some point, the bait had become a daily routine.

'This is unlike me, I became soft'.

Noel, who smirked, began to move again. Just in time, a person walking on the other side found him and gave greetings in a welcoming voice.

"Oh, I see the Duke of Aberon is here."

"......Viscount of Magnus."

Noel raised one eyebrow at the unexpected meeting. Magnus was a skinny man who appeared to be in his early 20s and one unique thing is that he covers half of his face with a mask.

"Duke Aberon was also called by His Majesty?"

Viscount Magnus spoke friendly to Noel, but obscure yellow eyes glanced up and down at him. On the other hand, Noel was consistent with his cold and expressionless face.

“I am just on my way out from meeting his Majesty.”

"Aha. Then the Duke must have heard the news.” (Magnus)

Viscount Magnus was always smiling, even in situations that were not exactly happy.

“If I am right, I think we will see each other more often in the future. Why don't we get closer now?" (Magnus)

Viscount Magnus smiled softly and held out his hand to Noel. But instead of taking his hand, Noel turned his back coldly.

“I have a prior appointment, so I will go first. Well then."

With those words, Noel passed by the Viscount, seeing Noel disappearing in the distance, Viscount Magnus lowered his hand. His face, which had been smiling for a while, had subsided terribly.

“…Like father, like son. It’s like they hail from an arrogant race.”

This ordinary human being who only had a name and a title doesn’t know his place, the Viscount muttered to himself and ruffled his hair.

A black shadow flashed in his bright yellow eyes.

Contrary to his appearances, Viscount Magnus was close to his sixtieth birthday. He succeeded in restoring his youthful appearance, but as a side effect, half of his face was horribly distorted.

People who knew him before called him a monster and kept away from him and even after most of those people died, the notoriety of being a monster did not go away. The only reason he was able to live comfortably was because the previous Emperor favored him.

But now that he died, he was no different than a dog who had nowhere to go.

The nobles who called him a monster excluded him from everywhere and the current Emperor was wary of his abilities.

Perhaps the moment he lost his value, his neck might fly off.

‘Of course, I have no intention of being a push-over.’

Viscount Magnus stared at the place where Noel had disappeared for a long time, then turned away.

The eyes hidden behind the mask shone dangerously.