Chapter 88

Chapter : 88

Preparing for the Final Exams was more difficult than I had expected. Since I had passed the exams in the first semester so easily, I had vaguely thought this time would be fine too if I invested a little time, but that was not the case.

There was a problem.

I had practically thrown away the last exam, yet the Final Exams included the range from the previous exam as well. The amount I had to study had doubled.

Spending every spare moment of the day with a book open and a pen in hand made my head throb. But even as I ground time into it like that, there was something more important I had to do.

Something with a much greater weight than the Academy exams.

Mayonnaise.

Over the weekend, I took time to obtain Mayonnaise. When I explained it, some people did know what it was, but it was not a widely used sauce, so I had to run around for it.

This was because of Agares’s request. This semester was his last before graduating from the Academy, and he planned to return to his territory as soon as the Final Exams ended. Before that, we had decided to share one last meal, and the menu for that meal was Fried Chicken.

It seemed Agares had taken a liking to Fried Chicken too. He said he wanted to eat it together with the sauce I had mentioned in passing before.

To grant that request, I bought Mayonnaise and Chili Peppers at the market. This time, instead of grinding the Chili Peppers, I chopped them finely and mixed them into the Mayonnaise, making my own sauce.

Before serving it to Agares, I tasted the sauce first, and it was exactly as I had imagined. It was not too spicy and was just right. After finishing the sauce, I called Agares. Fried Chicken tasted best when eaten right after frying, so I had not fried the chicken yet.

“Everything is prepared, but I have not fried the chicken yet, so please wait a moment.”

“Thank you for putting so much care into this. I wanted to eat it once before leaving. If not for you, where else would I ever taste food like this?”

“Not at all. It does not take much work.”

As I had said before, Academy exam grades were purely for self-satisfaction. The grades I received here would not have any influence on my future.

Agares, however, was different. My connection with him, a powerful noble, would continue to matter until the end, so I had to leave a good impression until the very last moment.

I fried the chicken in oil. By now, even this had grown familiar, and my hands were used to it. After adjusting the strength of the fire a few times, I found a more suitable temperature. The more I fried chicken, the crispier the Fried Chicken I made became.

Sometimes, while eating Fried Chicken, strange thoughts came to me.

If I opened a restaurant with this, it would do well.

Since I had a reliable way to make money, part of me wanted to use it, but it took a lot of labor. Compared to the income I was already earning, it was not even worth mentioning, so going out of my way to start a business felt troublesome.

While I was justifying why I was not opening a fried chicken shop like that, the Fried Chicken was complete.

When I held out the Fried Chicken together with the sauce I had prepared, Agares picked up one piece and dipped it deeply into the sauce. He ate the piece of Fried Chicken coated generously in sauce.

From his mouth came the crisp sound of chewing chicken. His eyebrows twitched left and right, and his chewing grew faster. After chewing and swallowing the chicken, he spoke.

“The sauce certainly suits it well. When you said it contained the seasoning you used to make Tteokbokki, I thought it would be spicy deep down, but it is not like that at all. My tongue does sting at the end, but it is a taste that keeps making my hand move.”

“Haha, yes.”

“So when will you visit my territory? When will you teach my Head Chef how to make this?”

“Thank you for viewing my skill so favorably. During vacation, I will come visit as soon as I have time.”

“That is good.”

After finishing the Fried Chicken, which had been my task, I scanned Agares’s surroundings. Looking over the number of liquor bottles he had brought, I inwardly froze.

He had brought an enormous amount of liquor, saying today would be the last day he drank with me, and the alcohol content was very high too.

“Do you intend to drink all of this?”

“Hmm, of course.”

One chicken would clearly not be enough, but Agares seemed unconcerned. He seemed used to drinking only alcohol without any snacks, but I was not like that at all.

As we drank alcohol and ate Fried Chicken, the chicken quickly ran out, and we only sipped liquor. By the time Agares emptied one bottle, I had barely drunk about half of mine, yet heat rose from deep inside me.

Let us restrain ourselves from here.

Whenever I got drunk like this while drinking with Agares, I always ended up saying nonsense at least once. I always lived carefully, sorting what I should say from what I should not, but once alcohol entered me, I could not restrain that properly.

“There is something I want to tell you. The old me believed I solved problems by killing people. No, to be precise, I would say I profited from it. As long as I had justification, I killed people without much thought.”

Since I had nothing to say to that, I quietly closed my mouth.

“Even now, I do not think that was wrong. It was something I had to do. But since you hate me killing people so much, I grew curious. Do you think I was wrong?”

“There are people who make you think they would be better off dead. And there are probably situations where you have to kill. In that case, I would kill too. But the reason I acted, hmm... harshly toward you, Your Grace, is that your line is too low.”

“Line?”

“Someone might bump your shoulder while passing by, but you would try to kill the person who bumped into you, would you not?”

As though dumbfounded, Agares snorted and frowned.

“No one has ever struck me with their shoulder while passing by, so I cannot cite an example, but I know that makes no sense. What sort of bizarre nonsense is that?”

“Yes, well, it makes no sense. I am saying that is how it looks to me. You kill people too sensitively over things that are not much at all.”

“Because killing is convenient. Half-hearted threats or intimidation only invite backlash. If I spare them and let them live, they come rushing at me, saying they will take revenge. I am doing my best as a Lord.”

“I know.”

I had never once expected to persuade Agares on this subject. Perhaps I might be the one who was wrong, just as he said. Since it was such an uncomfortable topic, I brought up something else to change the subject.

“Do you remember that matter from before? How I knew Amadeus’s name.”

This seemed to interest him a little, because Agares’s eyes shone. Conversely, I blamed myself. Why did I bring this up here? I had spoken whatever came to mind simply because I wanted to change the topic first.

This is the problem.

I keep doing things that are not part of the plan.

“That... if I ever become able to tell someone about it, I will tell you first, Your Grace.”

“Hmm, the way you say that makes it sound as though you are the only one who knows.”

“Yes, that is right.”

“Thank you for that.”

Since I had no intention of telling anyone anyway, I could throw around a promise like this as much as I pleased.

---

The Academy was noisier than ever.

As expected of nobles, they liked whispering and gossiping, but today, the noise made the Academy rumble and churn.

Navier had returned from the Imperial Palace. Since she had returned with a promise of engagement to the Crown Prince, calling it a triumphant return would not be an exaggeration.

The subject of the rumors came to find me from the morning. Her face was glossier than ever, and perhaps because of how hard she had managed her expression, even when she stood still, the corners of her mouth hung from her cheekbones. Either that, or she was simply that happy.

“Welcome back.”

Navier’s expression twitched. Her eyebrows, eyes, nose, mouth, and so on moved freely, twitching as though each were a different insect. She laughed, “Huh-huh-huhaha,” and held out to me a box of confections she said she had received from the Imperial Palace.

“It is a gift. I prepared more than this, but I wanted you to taste these first. And giving a gift by hand feels better, after all. It is probably a taste you have never tried before.”

When receiving a gift, as always, one had to react in a way that would satisfy the other person. I tried to separate my eyes, nose, and mouth as she had, but failed. Apparently, it required a technique of its own. I smiled normally and thanked her.

“How did it go?”

Based only on her expression and atmosphere, I could tell in detail what had happened at the Imperial Palace, but I asked her the truth.

It was not that I was truly curious about what had happened with Kartea. I was laying out a mat for her, so she could brag happily.

“You see? It went really well.... His Majesty’s health has not been very good, you know? Ah. No, I do not mean that His Majesty’s poor health is good....”

A laugh slipped out at the fact I already knew. Yes, there had been that setting. Kartea’s marriage had to be settled before the Emperor died. That had been the background behind Kartea trying to find a spouse before graduating from the Academy.

“I know what you mean. You are saying they need to quickly find His Highness the Crown Prince’s wife.”

“Yes, yes! That is right. Exactly that. So I went to the Imperial Court and received various tests, but they were tests I had been preparing for since I was young, so I mostly knew the correct answers. That made me confident, but there was one problem. My family.”

Navier’s family, Loveone, was a Count House, but its history was not very long. Though it had recently earned quite a large amount of money through business, it was enough to become gossip fodder for a prospective Empress. After all, countless people wanted to put their own relatives in the Empress’s seat.

“That was when Lord Kartea helped me, and it was resolved well.”

“Helped you? How?”

At my words, Navier’s eyes rolled upward. It seemed she was imagining what had happened then. She grinned and spoke.

“This is too long, so I will tell you next time. The reason I came to see you as soon as I returned to the Academy was because I wanted to tell you this first. I also had a gift to give you. Haha... Today, I want to go rest now. Let us set aside a day soon.”

To be honest, since it was not something I was particularly curious about, I thought inwardly that this was good. I quickly accepted her words.

“Yes, let us do that.”

“Then I will see you next time.”

We said goodbye, and I parted from Navier, but there was something I had forgotten.

“So when is the engagement?”

“Next month!”

When I created a calendar inside my head and counted the dates, it was the day right after the Final Exams ended, the day the Academy’s vacation began.