Young Master, Please Put Some Pants On! - Chapter 18

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 18

A few days later. Mellis was dumbfounded when she received an unexpected visitor early in the morning. Malcolm had come to see her alone after Garulus had left for his lessons.

“The Capital?”

“Yes. We depart tomorrow afternoon.”

And he came with a sudden proposal to go to the Capital. Of course, it wasn’t just Mellis and Malcolm who would be going.

“I don’t mind, but I’m not sure if Garulus will like it. Moreover…”

A trip to the Capital together with Kermanomon. In short, Malcolm’s words were as follows. The cookies that Garulus had courageously given a few days ago had created a great wave of emotion in Kermanomon. However, due to an urgent summons from the Imperial Palace, he had to go straight to the Capital without being able to say a single word of greeting to Garulus.

Due to the terribly misaligned timing, Garulus had been completely dejected. He had become gloomy, wondering if his cookies hadn’t tasted good, and it took so much effort to console him. Moreover, contrary to the schedule, Kermanomon’s itinerary had been extended, and when Mellis was also stamping her feet in frustration, Malcolm had come to visit.

“The Young Master will surely like it too.”

Along with those words, Malcolm held out an invitation.

“‘Count Benito’s Special Collection Exhibition’… What is this?”

“It’s literally an event hosted by House of Count Benito. You could say it’s a kind of social gathering where the Count reveals his personal collection to others.”

“But why would Garulus attend this event…”

“Because what the Count collects are rare insect specimens.”

“Ah.”

Then that changes everything. Mellis nodded at his perfectly suitable proposal.

“He would definitely like it.”

“His Grace also said he would make time for it, so you should be able to attend without much difficulty.”

Garulus would surely like it. Moreover, since there would be something to enjoy together, the somewhat awkward atmosphere would naturally ease. From deep within her heart, she heard a cry to push forward strongly now that Garulus’s mood had improved.

“Yes! I’ll talk to the Young Master about it!”

Mellis clenched both fists firmly, showing her determination. She had a feeling that things would go well somehow.

“Thank you so much for taking care of this, Malcolm!”

In fact, for the past few days, Mellis had been having slight worries about whether she had been meddling too much between the two of them. The people of the manor who had been watching the two for much longer than her didn’t interfere at all, yet she, who hadn’t even been employed for a full month, had rolled up her sleeves and stepped forward.

However, the response that came back from Malcolm was completely unexpected.

“Rather, I should be the one expressing gratitude. Thanks to you, Mellis, I realized what I had been missing.”

“Pardon?”

What he had been missing. Mellis, who couldn’t understand his words immediately, tilted her head and asked back.

“The fact that simply assisting His Grace with his work is not my only duty.”

“Ah…”

At that moment, Mellis could see a faint smile cross his lips, albeit very briefly.

“Well then, I’ll leave it to you.”

Having returned to his usual stone-like demeanor, he bowed politely and left his seat. For some reason, Mellis couldn’t take her eyes off his retreating figure for a long time.

* * *

“Aaaaah!”

Sandra, who had just woken up, thrashed about as if having a seizure. She hadn’t been able to sleep properly lately. Whenever she closed her eyes, Mellis would appear with her bright face and tear up her insides. Even after thrashing about, her anger wasn’t relieved, so she roughly tousled her hair with harsh movements.

“Huu, huk…”

How on earth had her situation come to this? All of this felt like a dream. And the more she resented her circumstances, the greater her anger toward Mellis grew.

In less than a month, the atmosphere of the Portier Barony had completely changed. Silence filled the spaces where servants had disappeared, and the decorative items that had sparsely adorned the corridors had also vanished without a trace.

“….”

Among all the changes, the greatest was in Sandra Portier, the mistress of the baronial house. Her once elastic and lustrous skin and hair had become dry and rough, returning to their natural state befitting her age, and her clothing, which had once been so splendid that rumors circulated about her leading the village’s fashion trends, had been replaced with plain dresses without a single decoration.

After that day, she had scoured the kingdom like hunting for mice, but ultimately failed to capture Mellis. Lord Gazet came to collect the dowry as sharp as a blade the moment the promised period ended. Two thousand nifs was far too large an amount for a baronial house with no other source of income.

In the end, Sandra borrowed money from relatives and acquaintances and sold off all valuable household items to barely manage to repay Lord Gazet’s money.

However, the money borrowed from all sides was accumulating interest daily, and her son’s living expenses while studying abroad were also going out monthly as a fixed cost. The small pension that came out in her dead husband’s name was nowhere near sufficient. Eventually, she had to cut back on all luxuries and leisure, take on work from other noble ladies under a false name, and live quietly as a mouse in the manor.

“Mellis, because of that thing…. Insolent and detestable creature.”

Gritting her teeth roughly, Sandra’s eyes bulged wide. Her bloodshot eyes were utterly venomous. Though all she had was a small manor in the countryside and the title of baroness without honor, she had been quite satisfied with her life here.

But Mellis had ruined her simple and perfect life overnight.

“Sandra!”

Just then, the door burst open hurriedly and her lover Joseph appeared.

“What is it now? What’s happened this time?”

“Come down and see. You’ll be amazed when you find out who I’ve brought!”

Joseph made a fuss as he pulled her to her feet. After Mellis disappeared, Joseph had put more effort into searching for Mellis than anyone else.

“You haven’t brought another strange swindler, have you?”

Over the past few weeks, Joseph had commissioned detectives and guilds several times, but they had all been fruitless. Among them were several strange swindlers mixed in, and they had lost money countless times. At Sandra’s irritated voice, Joseph strongly denied it.

“No. This time it’s real. It’s a dark guild that’s famous among nobles for getting things done properly. They say they won’t even look at requests unless they’re from high nobility, but I barely managed to get an introduction through the baron’s connections.”

“What? But if it’s that kind of place, the commission fee won’t be small change. What on earth are you thinking!”

Sandra, who had been about to get up, stopped her movement and snapped sharply.

“Finding Mellis this way has to be the priority! Don’t you think?”

However, unlike usual, Joseph showed a firm attitude. When you thought about it, his words weren’t wrong.

Even though she had caused a big incident, Sandra still needed Mellis. There were plenty of nobles who liked young and pretty women. Of course, she couldn’t get as much money as before, but right now every penny was precious to her.

Besides, Sandra had another reason why she needed to find Mellis. When her husband died early, she had manipulated the household as she pleased under the pretext of being the guardian of the young children. She had planned to pass the baronial title completely to her son when he came of age and live luxuriously with the remaining assets.

Mellis was the biggest obstacle to that plan. It turned out that before her husband died, he had marked young Mellis as his successor. Fortunately, the person in question didn’t know this fact, so she had tried to marry Mellis off to another family before she noticed. But now that things had turned out this way, she regretted having delayed Mellis’s marriage until now just to get a few more coins of dowry.

‘No matter what, I have to bring Mellis back. Even if I have to break both her legs. If I can’t find her, then rather….’

Sandra, who had been thinking deeply, nodded and prepared to receive the guest.

A short while later, having finished her preparations, she headed to the reception room. Inside sat a man wearing a black robe.

“Pleased to meet you, Baroness Portier.”

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