OHNIR - Chapter 69
Chapter 69: The Duke
Mr. Dite, shouldering his enormous medical kit, stepped languidly out of the carriage, yawning. He was mentally planning to go back to bed for a bit when he returned home; after all, he had a romantic date to get to that evening.
However, as if fate itself were conspiring to ruin his nightlife, the moment the physician—weary from his trip to the magic academy—stepped through the courtyard gate, he was intercepted by the butler, who had been waiting for him and politely blocked his path.
“Mr. Dite, welcome,” the butler said with a slight bow and a smile. He stepped aside and made a gesture of invitation. “His Grace the Duke has given instructions. He is waiting for you in his study.”
“Oh, Reginald is back already?” Dite paused, scratching his head, knowing his plan to catch up on sleep had just gone up in smoke. He discreetly pursed his lips, rolled his eyes, and sighed. “I’ll go see him in the study after I put my things away… It’s rare for His Grace to be back so early—but it’s perfect timing. I just learned something important that I need to have a good talk with him about.”
The butler nodded slightly and turned to leave first.
Although he was destined to lack the energy to spend a pleasant evening with the girl he’d met yesterday, the chance to gossip with the elusive Duke about his son was a decent consolation for his lost fun.
In this rather good mood, Dite ascended the tall, spiraling staircase, expertly making his way to the study door on the third floor. He curled his fingers and knocked lightly three times on the closed wooden door.
“…Come in.”
A deep voice came from within. Given permission, Dite opened the door and walked in. He was greeted by the sight of massive rows of bookshelves filling the three walls, leaving only the entrance clear. The collection was so vast and magnificent it resembled a small library.
The First Ducal Family was indeed close to the royal family; one could glimpse as much from these paper books alone.
In the center of the room stood a dark brown wooden desk. A handsome, silver-haired man sat on the leather bench behind it, dressed in a pure black formal suit, his aura unspeakably noble. He was currently looking down, flipping through a book in his hands.
Hearing Dite enter, the man lifted his eyes slightly. His deep blue pupils, identical to those of his two children, were filled with a calm expression. He spoke first, his voice faint, “Have a seat.”
The furniture in the study could almost be described as spartan. Besides the desk and chair currently occupied by the Duke, there seemed to be no other place to accommodate a guest.
Dite looked around carefully—up, down, left, and right—and found that the only object in the room that would allow him to perform the action of “sitting” was a dusty, wood-carved chair leaning in a corner by a bookshelf.
“…” He was speechless. “Is this your idea of hospitality, Lord Reginald?”
“If you find it distasteful, you can choose not to sit,” the head of the Nobili Kingdom’s most noble family said, raising an eyelid with perfect justification. “Being able to speak to me from a superior height is a special honor most people couldn’t even dream of.”
“Thanks, but anyone who wants this godforsaken honor can have it!” Dite shot Reginald a bold eye-roll and shrugged dramatically as he walked toward the chair.
Reginald, who was being openly mocked by the physician he had personally hired, acted as if he hadn’t heard a thing. With great composure, he watched his friend extend a hand in disgust and frantically beat the dust from the seat.
After watching for a moment, he averted his gaze. Sitting before his own clean desk, he nonchalantly began the conversation. “I heard you were dragged to the Holy Light Magic Academy by Wend today… Did something happen?”
“I really wish you would realize your mistake and choose a different word,” the physician grumbled, finally having dusted off the chair. He sneezed from the effort and complained as he dragged it toward the desk, “What do you mean, ‘dragged away’…? That sounds so awful. It should be, ‘Wend insisted on inviting me over.’ That’s a bit more accurate.”
“Oh, my apologies, but what I heard was that Wend hauled you directly out of bed,” Reginald said with a smile, lazily setting down his book. He added mercilessly, “How embarrassing, Dite. And you’re supposed to be an elder.”
“…It’s called being approachable. I can become one with the children,” Dite retorted, lacking confidence as he placed the chair across the desk from the Duke.
“Literally become one?” Reginald clasped his hands over the book. After a chuckle, he finally steered the conversation back on track. “Stop beating around the bush. What did Wend want you for—is he sick, or is Gloria sick?”
“Relax, old man. Their lordships are healthier than I am,” Dite shrugged, a profound expression on his face. He said mysteriously, “The one who’s sick is, in fact, someone else entirely!”
“…Are you a monster made of toothpaste?” Reginald took a deep breath, incredulous. “So slow, answering one question at a time. Is it going to be dark by the time you’re finished?”
“I was just afraid the shock would be too much for you,” Dite rolled his eyes again, pursing his lips. He crossed his arms and finally got to the point. “Alright, alright, Your Grace. Since you’ve asked with such sincerity, I shall be merciful and tell you directly—”
The Duke stared at him with a smirk, assuming a posture of listening intently.
As he spoke, Dite’s expression gradually grew serious. He took a deep breath, slapped the desk for emphasis, and declared in a resonant voice, “Reginald, my friend, after my observations at the magic academy today, I suspect—”
“You suspect?”
“It’s good news!” Dite said excitedly. “Your son Wend is about to fall in love!”
“…”
As Dite had expected, the ever-composed nobleman was so shaken by this news that a look of clear astonishment appeared on his face.
But this rare expression lasted only a few seconds before he frowned. He glanced at the smug-looking Dite, his clasped fingers tightening slightly, and said in a tone full of conviction, “Impossible.”
Dite’s eyes widened. “Why don’t you believe me?” he demanded.
“Because he is my son. I know him,” Reginald replied.
“That boy Wend is so rigid. Regardless of his true personality, he always puts on a cold and hard exterior, a spitting image of Susan,” Reginald’s deep blue eyes filled with a rare warmth at the mention of his late wife, and both his expression and tone softened. “He’s a block of wood… so proper and clueless about romance. He’s lucky any girl would even look at him. Who could possibly have the skill to move him?”
Lucky any girl would look at him?
…Are we talking about the same Wend?
The Wend who is known at the Holy Light Magic Academy as “the dream lover of every girl in this year’s freshman class”?
“You can’t be so absolute, Reginald,” Dite said, leaning back lazily against the soft chair. He spread his hands before the Duke, full of confidence. “Frankly, what you’re saying here is just speculation about Wend’s love life—but me? I saw it with my own eyes and heard it with my own ears. Even the young lady was there and can testify to everything I know.”
“…Gloria was there too?”
The fact that Dite would bring up Gloria as a guarantor undoubtedly raised the credibility of his claim to eighty percent.
Thus, Reginald’s tone was no longer as certain as before, but rather filled with surprise. He knew very well that Gloria held a status akin to a second mother in Wend’s heart. If Wend dared to speak of love so openly in front of his sister, then it was most likely true.
“Tell me in detail what happened.”
“Aha, just a moment ago you were complaining I was squeezing out words like toothpaste, so why are you demanding details now?” Dite tutted. Ignoring the Duke’s glare, he raised his voice confidently. “Fine. It does concern little Wend’s future happiness, after all… I won’t hold it against you. I’ll tell you.”
Reginald crossed his arms, his brow furrowed, and assumed a posture of listening intently.
“The reason Wend frantically dragged me to the magic academy today was to examine a girl I’d never met, who was supposedly running a high fever.”
Dite recounted from memory, “But by the time I arrived, the young lady’s fever had already broken… Hmm, she should be in the same year as Wend. She’s very pretty, with a sweet smile, and her speech and mannerisms are very poised. What’s even rarer is that at such a young age, she already knows how to read people. She’s a truly fine girl.”
Reginald asked, “And this is the one you suspect… is Wend’s love interest?”
“Yes, that’s her,” Dite waved his hand. “I’ve given her a preliminary screening for you. Absolutely satisfactory.”
“…That’s not what I meant,” Reginald sighed, still not believing that his block-of-wood son could one day blossom. “Since you just said Gloria was there, how can you be sure this girl isn’t Gloria’s friend, and that she didn’t ask Wend to go home and get you? I saw Madam Lechena at the Royal Palace today, so the school infirmary was unattended. Based on that alone, you can’t directly conclude that Wend was the one who arranged for the treatment.”
“Alright, alright, my meticulous friend—even if you have a good point, if I dared to tell you this, my evidence would naturally not be so pitifully scarce.”
Dite crossed his legs, leaned back in his chair, and held up two fingers to the esteemed Duke. “What I just said was point one… and point two is that Wend admitted with his own mouth that this young lady was a ‘classmate he invited to test a potion’.”
Dite didn’t need to say more. Reginald, who knew his children inside and out, reacted instantly upon hearing the words “test a potion.” He was shocked. “Wend actually asked an outsider to test a potion? A new potion still in its developmental stage?”
“Yes, he said so himself.” Dite stroked his chin and chuckled twice, shaking his head. “Young people are so thin-skinned. When he said it, he even stressed, ‘What’s wrong with classmates testing a potion for each other?’… Such an innocent little boy. He probably had no idea that the brilliant Mr. Dite had already seen through everything.”
Reginald looked at him, speechless, thinking to himself that Dite was exactly the kind of meddling uncle that young people despised, eagerly running to share gossip with their parents.
But everything Dite said was indeed true. If Wend had known that the casual excuse he made up to obscure the truth would bring him so much trouble, he would have never helped Kelusta come up with a reason to muddle through, not even if it killed him.
What did the poor tool man do to deserve this!
But what was done was done. Wend, busy in the potion classroom investigating the cause of Kelusta’s high fever, had no idea that he had been completely sold out by this physician who fancied himself a man of great perception.
“…”
Reginald was truly hesitant.
With Gloria as a witness, and Wend’s own admission that she was a potion tester… could it be that this girl Dite spoke of might actually become his future daughter-in-law?
Comments
Post a Comment