I Will Try to Save My Dad - Chapter 108

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

Chapter 108

An hour earlier.
Calips entered the Study Room and began pulling books from the shelves, stacking them haphazardly onto the desk.

“You won’t get a break until you finish all of this today.”

He smiled with unmistakable mischief. So this was why Calips had so readily agreed to study at Sapphire House.
‘Planning to torment me through academics?’
Calips had never taught anyone before, so he clearly underestimated the role of instructor. I could see it plainly.
‘This won’t be easy for him.’
Especially since his student ranked at the very bottom. Calips was badly mistaken about how simple this would be.

“Ten divided by two equals five.”
“Why five?”
“Just five.”
“But Madam Frea said there’s no ‘just’ in mathematics.”
“…Look, see these cookies here? There are ten of them. If you and I split them, we each get five. Understand?”
“Huh? But I’m your younger sibling? Calips, you should eat one more… then I’d have four!”

After draining Calips’s energy with this relentless questioning all along, he finally surrendered, asking for just ten minutes of rest.
“Oh? Already tired?”
“Because of you. How do your questions never end?”
Calips grumbled and stood up from his seat.
“I’m going out for a bit, so rest however you like.”
“Huh? Where are you—”
“Don’t talk to me. Please.”
As if he couldn’t bear to hear my voice any longer, Calips hurried away. Watching his retreating figure as he fled, I couldn’t help but smile wickedly.
‘Ten minutes? That’s more than enough~’
I poked my head out through the wide-open door and glanced left and right down the corridor. After confirming no one was there, I closed the door and was heading toward the inner room where Uncle by Marriage kept his wardrobe when—
“Isn’t it ridiculous?”
A voice came from around the corner I was about to turn, and I could see a bucket half-protruding from beyond it.
‘Oh no. The maids must be cleaning the corridor.’
I slowly backed away, perking up my ears.
“She didn’t even wash or clean those expensive shoes when they got dirty. She just does the dishes every single day. I need to check the other shoes too. She wouldn’t have bought just one pair, would she?”
“The Head Maid of Sapphire House acts so high and mighty. The previous head maid never went this far. Look at her now—we work so hard, but she doesn’t even show her face.”
They were gossiping about the Head Maid of Sapphire House over what happened earlier. Either way, I couldn’t go this direction. If I got caught heading to the inner room, it would be troublesome.
‘Which way should I—’
[Little Quartz!]
‘Oh!’
A welcome voice came at just the right moment. Akum had come to meet me.
[I found a secret path where no one can see us!]
Akum wagged his tail, urging me to trust him. Following Akum as he led the way through rooms and corridors, we soon arrived at Aunt Mariane’s inner room. We quickly entered and retrieved the jewelry box hidden deep within the wardrobe.
[The key? You brought the key, right?]
“Of course!”
I pulled the key from my pocket. Then I hesitated for a moment.
[Why?]
“Hmm…”
Julia Quartz’s jewelry box—the one no one else could open.
Count Trabel would never lie to me, so that much was certain.
‘Did I really open it that night?’
But the sound of the lock clicking open and closed, and the vivid sensation of Theon’s hair against my fingers that night—it all felt so real.
Either way, I’d find out once I opened it.
“It’s nothing~”
Without hesitation, I inserted the key into the lock and turned it.
And the key turned to the right, following my hand.
“Ooh…!”
Contrary to my worries, the lock clicked open with a soft sound.
[Hurry! Hurry!]
Urged on by Akum, I carefully opened the jewelry box lid. What could be inside that Edgar kept with him instead of leaving it in its proper place?
‘Jewels? Money? Blackmail evidence, since she mentioned dredging up the past?’
My heart raced with anticipation. But the moment I saw what emerged from the jewelry box, both Akum’s hopes and mine dissolved into disappointment.
[What is this? Paper?]
“Seriously. What even is this.”
I nodded in agreement with Akum’s disappointed tone. Inside the jewelry box were merely two bundles of folded paper.

***

“Miss Berry has gone to Sapphire House with Master Calips.”

After training ended, Theon went to the Education Hall to pick up Berry. But she was nowhere to be found. They hadn’t made any promise to return together, and she could have been at the Main Estate, so Theon stood in the Central Corridor waiting for her. Head Butler Serber spotted Theon and informed him of Berry’s whereabouts.
‘Calips and Sapphire House?’
That was strange. The Calips that Theon knew was always itching to pick fights with Berry.
Theon’s unease grew. Something nagged at him—a memory of last night, when Berry had gone to the Greenhouse near Sapphire House, saying she was doing something dangerous.
‘With Calips….’
Yet Theon’s worry didn’t end there. He couldn’t tell whether his sudden anxiety stemmed from Berry attempting something ‘dangerous,’ or from the fact that she was ‘with Calips.’
His feet naturally carried him not toward Stone House, but toward Sapphire House.
“Hey.”
“….”
“Theon Phil Voltman.”
He stopped at the sound of someone calling him by his full name. Turning to find the source, he saw a blonde girl standing there. It was Ciel.
“What are you doing here?”
With flushed cheeks and a shy demeanor, she spoke to him in a way that left Theon bewildered. This wasn’t the first time she’d approached him so unexpectedly since the handkerchief incident.

“Berry said she doesn’t want to play with you.”
“You don’t have any friends, so what will you do?”
“Would you like me to play with you instead?”

But his words held no discernible intent. It baffled me that he spoke of things that weren’t true. Since I had nothing particular to say in response, I would simply shake my head or leave.
So I couldn’t fathom why Ciel, someone I’d never even formally introduced myself to, would call my name and ask such a question.
“….”
This time too, I tried to leave without a word. Ciel urgently called out to me.
“You came all the way to Diamond House. You didn’t come to see me?”
Her tone carried a hint of wounded feelings.
Only then did I realize that the building beyond the iron fence was Diamond House. On the path from the Main Estate to the second-ranked Separate House, there was the first-ranked Separate House.
“No. I was just passing through.”
Now I understood exactly why Ciel had spoken to me. It stemmed from a misunderstanding.
But there was no need to elaborate that I was on my way to see Berry. As I shook my head and tried to continue on, Ciel blocked my path.
“Do you know my father is going to become the head of the Trabel Family?”
“….”
I regarded Ciel quietly. I knew how the Trabel Family determined their successor. Though Berry’s Uncle currently ruled Diamond House, that didn’t guarantee anything about the future.
‘Victor said my teacher would become the master of Diamond House.’
Of course, even that couldn’t be stated with certainty. But there was no reason or need to discuss such matters with Ciel. So I remained silent.
As my silence stretched on, Ciel’s heart raced faster. She swallowed hard and spoke to me.
“Let’s be close friends.”
“….”
“When I grow up, I’ll hire you as my guard. You’re going to be a Knight, right?”
Ciel knew how sweet such an offer was to knights. A guard knight serving Diamond House. A chance to become part of the Trabel Family’s upper echelon.
But—
“I don’t need it.”
I rejected her outright. As I passed the bewildered Ciel, I spoke.
“The person I want to protect isn’t you.”

***

I returned to the Study Room as the break time drew to a close.
Calips arrived around the same time, though it seemed he had abandoned whatever plans he’d harbored to torment me. He furrowed his brow and spoke to me.
“You—go home.”
“What about studying?”
“Your level is far too low. I understand you’d like to learn from someone as brilliant as me, but—”
“Fine! I’m going!”
“…You’re leaving?”
“You said to go~ See you tomorrow! Bye!”
There was no reason to stay. I had accomplished my objective in coming to Sapphire House!
Leaving Calips with his disgruntled expression behind, I hurried outside. I locked the jewelry box again and returned it carefully to its original place. What Julia Quartz had meant to leave behind wasn’t the jewelry box itself.
Inside the bag I carried were the map and the letter written in ancient script that I had extracted from the box.
“Jackpot.”
I murmured to myself, recalling the contents of the letter I had read moments before.

———-
Can you see Akum?
———-

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————