Lord Baby Runs A Romance Fantasy With Cash [EN]: Chapter 87

☆ Episode 88 ☆

* * *

“Aren’t you spending too much time with Zeon these days?”

I flinched at Ixion’s words.

“I feel like I’ve lost my little sister,” Ares added, making me feel even more guilty.

Honestly, I had been spending so much time in Zeon’s room every day that I had spent less time with the two of them for weeks.

“N-no! What do you mean, lost? Ares and Ixion are having snacks with me right now.”

“It’s much less frequent than before.”

“You don’t even come to see me every day.”

Seeing the two of them so obviously sulking made me sweat.

“What’s so great about that bastard?”

“Do you like Zeon the best?”

“No!”

Their voices started to drop, so I quickly shouted.

Ugh!

It’s a little embarrassing, but I can’t help it.

“Ixion has a wall [emotional distance], and Ares is a mixed-blood [of noble and common lineage]. Zeon has nothing.”

“Yes, you said you felt a wall with me. Perfect.”

“To my little sister, I was a mix of heaven and empire.”

“Umm…”

I never thought I would say those words again with my own mouth.

“Zeon has nothing.”

“And he won’t have anything in the future, right?”

“Of course!”

I’ve already done so many embarrassing things; I don’t want to do any more here.

I’ll protect my image with my own hands!

“Try this kumquat jam too. It’s delicious. I’ll spread it for you.”

“You’ve finished your cocoa. I’ll pour you some more.”

I was enjoying snacks with Ares and Ixion, who were in a better mood, when suddenly they both flinched and looked to one side with wary eyes.

‘What is it?’

I looked in that direction and saw Zeon in the distance.

Zeon stared at us silently before turning away.

His inorganic face, like a glass sculpture, still didn’t reveal what he was thinking.

The two of them didn’t take their eyes off Zeon until his figure had completely disappeared.

Only after he was out of sight did Ares speak.

“It’s best to be careful of that guy.”

“Right. He has a terrible personality.”

“Worse than Ares’s?”

At my question, the two of them widened their eyes.

“Ah, right. This guy’s personality is just as bad as that guy’s,” Ixion chuckled.

Ares looked at me with a somewhat shocked expression.

“But it’s true, isn’t it? I love Ares, but Ares’s personality isn’t good, honestly.”

Ares smiled as if he couldn’t help it at my words.

“It’s sad that I can’t argue with that. But I’m glad my little sister still loves me.”

Ares tilted his head and looked at me.

His fine black hair fell, and his slightly drooping eyes curved gently.

‘Wow…’

It was a sight that always impressed me.

Ares smiled even more deeply as I stared blankly.

“But it’s strange,” Ixion said, propping his chin up with a crooked expression.

“What is?”

“That guy never keeps anyone by his side. He’s sensitive.”

The tone of ‘sensitive’ was somehow subtle.

It felt different from simply saying someone had a sensitive personality.

“That’s right. He’s been with Lulu every day for weeks. How is he putting up with it when he can’t stand it?”

The two of them turned their gaze to me.

“Well, this one is a bit different,” Ixion said with a shrug, and Ares nodded.

“My little sister is very lovely.”

Oh, come on.

Seriously.

Do you think I’ll like that?

Handsome, little-sister-obsessed brothers are the best!

Hehe.

* * *

Several days passed.

I was still practically living in Zeon’s room.

“Zeon, I watched you while we were eating together.”

These days, I was trying to figure out Zeon’s preferences.

“Zeon is a meat-lover. He always eats just the right amount of whatever is served, but when steak comes out, he subtly uses his knife faster. And he likes simple flavors rather than strong sauces.”

It was such a subtle difference that you wouldn’t notice unless you watched him closely for weeks.

Zeon eats emotionlessly and mechanically, so it’s hard to notice.

Even if I asked him if it was delicious, he didn’t really give me an answer.

“And he seems to like sweets unexpectedly.”

That was quite a cute aspect.

I smiled and turned to look at Zeon when—

“Huh?”

He’s asleep?

‘Come to think of it, this is the first time I’ve seen Zeon asleep.’

His long limbs were sprawled out defenselessly on the sofa, and his neat eyes were tightly closed.

I quietly approached him.

A strand of hair had fallen, revealing his tidy, white forehead.

The autumn sunlight brightly colored the boy’s face.

‘His sleeping face is like an angel, as expected.’

It was like a work of art that God had painstakingly created.

‘I could just take him to a museum like this.’

I drew the curtains, worried that the sunlight might wake him from his rare nap.

Then, I took a blanket and approached Zeon.

‘It’s my personal blanket, but I’ll lend it to him today!’

I smiled a little as I imagined Zeon covered in a pink blanket.

‘It reminds me of Dad with pink hearts on his cheeks back in the day.’

I smiled and was about to cover Zeon with the blanket when—

Thwack!

My wrist was roughly grabbed.

Zeon half-raised his body like a wild animal that had been attacked and stared at me.

His face was furrowed, unlike usual.

His eyes seemed to briefly assess the situation before becoming frighteningly sharp.

“…What were you doing?”

“I was just covering you with a blanket.”

My wrist hurts.

Zeon’s gaze went to the blanket I was holding.

His eyes, returning to my face, were filled with confusion.

And even greater than that confusion was wariness.

“Get out.”

In his shadowed face, his red eyes flashed vividly.

Clear hostility.

“Now.”

* * *

‘Was it because he didn’t like the pink blanket?’

I thought we had gotten somewhat close, but to be rejected like this in an instant.

But I won’t give up this easily!

‘Should I find out what color he likes?’

If I keep watching him, like I figured out his food preferences, I’ll be able to find out.”

“Lady Lulu.”

At that moment, Count Kandor approached me. His expression was quite stern.

What’s wrong?

“It’s a message from Anseur [the secret merchant guild].”

At his whispered words, my face also hardened.

“Is it serious?”

“There’s someone who has dug quite deeply into our identity.”

“…Let’s go to the office and talk about it.”

When I arrived at the office, Viscount Dier was already there.

“I’ll cut to the chase. Which side is it that dug up the secrets of the Merchant Guild? The Emperor, the Empress, or another member of the Imperial Family?”

“No. We’re actually monitoring them closely, so it’s harder for them to find out about Anseur than other forces.”

“They’re actually being friendly and bending over backward, as if they’re competing to avoid damaging the relationship by rashly investigating our identity.”

“Then a high-ranking noble? A Duke or Marquis? Or a Margrave [titles of nobility]?”

“Not a noble either. Not a large guild, nor the Magic Tower.”

“Then who the hell is it?”

“A new mercenary group.”

A new mercenary group?

Not a famous large-scale mercenary group, but a new one?

Viscount Dier handed me a document.

Semen Mercenary Group Report

“They were formed a few months ago and are rapidly growing by absorbing large mercenary groups.”

I flipped through the data.

From the commissions they’ve taken on to their growth rate.

‘Wow, they went from D-rank to B-rank in one go, and from B-rank to S-rank [mercenary ranking system].’

It was an unprecedented speed.

The commission they took on to go from B-rank to S-rank was just one.

In fact, they should have been given S-rank right away from D-rank, but it’s as if they went through it because they didn’t want to give it to them.

Even going from D-rank to B-rank right away was a first, so how much internal resistance must there have been?

Perhaps because of that, the S-rank promotion commission was truly extremely difficult.

‘Semen, Semen, huh.’

I feel like I’ve heard that word somewhere, but I can’t quite remember it.

“But how did this mercenary group find out about Anseur?”

“Undercover infiltration. And they did it carefully over several months. It’s not just one or two people.”

“Does that make sense that information is leaking? We operate as a point organization, so even if they’re employed by the Merchant Guild, they don’t know anything other than their own duties.”

Moreover, people hired after the Black Gold was sold are never transferred.

“The leader of the mercenary group seems to be quite good at piecing together who we are.”

That alone doesn’t explain it.

“I’m sorry, Lady Lulu.”

Count Kandor and Viscount Dier lowered their heads, and I let out a deep sigh.

“No. We were focusing our vigilance on large forces like the Imperial Family, nobles, and the Magic Tower. We never thought a new mercenary group would move like this. If it had been an information guild, we would have responded more quickly.”

I tapped the document and asked.

“What kind of person is the leader?”

“Their identity is shrouded in mystery. All we know for sure is that they’re very strong.”

“Rumors are rampant. Some say it’s a man, some say it’s a woman. Some say it’s an experienced mercenary, while others say it’s a complete rookie.”

Ugh.

Then it will take time to dig them out.

“Then let’s start by weeding them out. It would be difficult if more information leaked.”

“Yes, we’re already in the process of doing that. First, please look at this data.”

“If we weed them out, there will be a gap in our manpower resources. What should we do?”

“Let’s postpone hiring new people for now.”

“Yes, then…”

I had a long meeting with the two of them.

There will be a major reorganization.

We’re reorganizing as carefully as possible, but it’s uncertain how it will turn out after it’s actually applied.

We’ll have to keep checking the actual situation and see if there are any problems.

‘And after that, let’s reverse-track Semen [mercenary group name].’

It would be nice if I had an information guild like that.

Count Kandor, Viscount Dier, and I.

There was a lot of work to do because only these three were handling matters related to Anseur.

‘Pianke, Grunde, and Yelloche should all be joining soon, shouldn’t they…’

For now, information was leaking.

‘We should add people when things are stable.’

The Paeraton Dukedom is already under heavy scrutiny.

From the fact that they made the head of the family participate in the war in a situation where they had just lost the Duchess, the mistress of the family.

During that time, they made the Duke’s castle a place without an owner.

‘When Dad was away at war, the Imperial Family sent someone saying they should bring in a Duchess, didn’t they?’

The reason for bringing a Duchess into the empty house was obvious.

The nightmare of Lady Aphelia briefly came to mind, and my head started to ache.

‘It’s like this now, but what will happen if it’s known that we’re monopolizing Black Gold [a valuable resource]?’

On top of that, if it’s known that it was made by processing empty mana stones [magical energy source]….

Even the people who sold me the mines at a cheap price will go crazy.

‘That would be troublesome.’

It might be known someday.

Maybe I’ll reveal it with my own mouth.

But not in the current situation where we’re not interacting with other forces.

‘I have to work hard to prevent that!’

I devoted myself to work for a while.

I had been preparing to open a Kochon Chicken branch before, so the other retainers seemed to think I was busy with that.

Occasionally, they would come and subtly say, “Cough, there’s a good location near my house…”

There were also people who gave me all sorts of food and lobbied me.

Yes, if there’s a chicken restaurant close to home, the quality of life goes up.

It’s worth coveting.

But my quality of life index was plummeting right now.

‘Ugh, I’m tired!’

This isn’t a schedule that a five-year-old can handle!

Of course, I was forcibly sent back every evening.

And I had to stop working and rest not only during meal times but also during snack times and nap times.

Otherwise, Viscount Dier would get furious.

“No! Lady Lulu must rest now! It’s nap time!”

“But still—”

“If you don’t sleep now, I’ll comb your hair ten million times!”

“…”

“Ah, come to think of it, you don’t have to sleep.”

“…I’ll sleep.”

“Then shall I sing you a lullaby? You want to hear it, don’t you? Don’t you?”

“Get out.”

Thinking about it made me feel even more tired.

‘Compared to when I investigated Sid’s geas [magical compulsion] before, this is a much more relaxed schedule.’

I didn’t even know I was tired back then, but why is it so hard this time?

I stretched and walked down the hallway. I was on my way to my room to take a nap.

‘Come to think of it, it’s been a while since I’ve seen Zeon.’

Ixion and Ares join me during snack time, but I can’t see Zeon unless I go to him.

‘Don’t tell me I have to start all over again because I haven’t seen him in so long.’

Um, considering that he got angry with me last time, maybe it’s better to keep my distance.

I don’t know why he got so angry, but his anger will subside over time.

‘…But hasn’t too much time passed even after time passed?’

The Duke’s castle was warm, but when I went out to the garden and breathed out, a white breath came out.

Winter was already approaching.

It was soon the last month of the year.

‘It’s been so long since I’ve seen him like this. How come he hasn’t come to see me even once?’

I was so persistent in visiting him, but if I suddenly stopped coming, he would come looking for me out of curiosity.

My lips pouted with disappointment.

‘Zeon might be happy that the annoying kid who bothered him every day has disappeared.’

Hmph.

Thinking that, I turned the corner, and someone was standing in front of my room.

Am I seeing things because I’m too grumpy?

I rubbed my eyes and looked again.

Still, the boy in front of my room didn’t disappear.

“…Zeon?”

Did Zeon really come to see me?

Zeon strode towards me.

Somehow, his eyes were full of fatigue.

Closer, closer.

His footsteps stopped only after his tall shadow completely covered me.

“What did you do to me?”

…I didn’t do anything?

But isn’t this a line I’ve heard somewhere before?