Chapter 25

“Avery! Stop there and rest for a moment.”

Hearing the voice from behind, Ash set down the wooden crate full of cabbages he was carrying into the storage area. The musty smell characteristic of storage spaces lingered at his nose in the dark, cool space. Turning around and coming outside, Mrs. Loska gestured for him to follow with a bright, smiling face.

“Having an extra pair of hands really makes things finish faster. When it was just Olga and me, what with kitchen work and filling the storage, the work just never seemed to end. Gabe must be breathing easier too?”

Half-listening to Mrs. Loska walking ahead, Ash silently pulled out a handkerchief from his back pocket and wiped sweat from his neck and face. Each time he moved his hands, his clearly defined arm muscles rippled, revealed by his rolled-up sleeves.

Following Mrs. Loska into the kitchen, a large wooden mug was prepared on the big table. Ash lifted the mug and smelled it. A musty odor brushed past his nose. When he and Gabe had gone to the village and loaded groceries onto the cart, there had been one not-too-large wooden barrel among the items—it must have been a barrel containing beer.

When Ash’s gaze turned toward her, Mrs. Loska winked one eye.

At that sight, Ash brought the mug to his mouth without complaint. Lukewarm, sour, poor-quality beer went down his throat. Still, since he was thirsty after working hard, it wasn’t bad. After drinking it down with his throat working, he wiped his mouth with his forearm.

It had already been three months since Ash returned to Raven Manor under the name ‘Avery’.

When contacting the capital to verify Ash’s false identity, perhaps because lawyer Gale Hardrock, who was skilled in administrative matters besides legal work, had helped, it passed without much suspicion.

‘Infiltrating as a worker was also Gale’s idea…’

Having emptied the mug and slouched in his chair, Ash briefly recalled and dismissed the lawyer whose work handling was meticulous despite his rough appearance. The manor hadn’t changed much from before he left. The scenery of the manor, which had become quite hazy, came back clearly when he saw it again.

‘Annoyingly unchanged. This place…’

Ash briefly closed his eyes as if tired.

Cold air touching his tear-soaked cheeks, the voice of his young self shouting loudly while being led away by someone.

The boarding school Ash attended by order of Baron Giles Ian Walton was a prestigious school where noble children built their basic accomplishments.

The teachers weren’t those who taught half-heartedly while receiving meager salaries like some schools, but were enthusiastic about teaching and filled with pride in producing intellectuals who might head to ivory towers with their own hands.

Though the historic school building was somewhat old, the meals, clothes, writing materials, and paper provided to students were all abundant, funded by entrance fees paid when students first entered, tuition paid twice a year, and donations from graduates.

Most young children who came to this new world after being confined within the narrow relationships of family were spirited and bright, as befitted their age. But cases like Ash, sent to boarding school by relatives after losing parents, weren’t uncommon.

Even among all those children, there couldn’t help but be those who envied Ash, who stood out with his handsome appearance and excellent mind. One child with mischief filling his cheeks claimed one day, with knowledge picked up from adults’ conversations, that Ash’s distant relative brother, no different from a stranger, had sent Ash to boarding school to steal his title and territory.

‘Saying I’m no different from a stupid fool robbed by a bastard?’

Before he could even think about those words, his fist moved first.

Since entering school, he had sent letters to Raven Manor every month. But no replies ever came back. If even one reply had returned… he would have dismissed it as nonsense and ignored it.

When he felt his face was damp and his fist hurt, the troublesome child was lying beneath him, thoroughly beaten.

Soon he was caught by someone’s summoned hands and made to stand up.

‘Good heavens, Ash! What is this behavior?’

The teacher who lifted Ash heard the situation from surrounding children and gave disapproving warnings to both Ash and the child who had been underneath. Ash closed his mouth and hung his head.

After that, Ash, who originally had no friends, began to drift even more on the outskirts. Those who spoke to him were mostly adults who highly valued his abilities.

When alone, Ash often recalled the sense of stability given by the hand that used to stroke his hair and pat his shoulders. A man with fluffy straw-colored hair and a somewhat pale, sensitive face, but whose expression was always gentle and who knew how to smile without ulterior motives. The first guardian who had protected him without any compensation.

Ash wanted to believe that this guardian sending him here wasn’t simply due to title or territory.

‘He said he was temporarily taking care of the manor until I came of age.’

And Ash hoped Ian would continue staying at Raven Manor. At least it was a place he knew. If he stayed in a place he knew, he could find him later.

Ash decided to graduate from boarding school upon coming of age and advance to the capital academy. On the day he was packing in the dormitory where he’d lived, someone came looking for Ash as he busily packed with thoughts of returning to the manor. It was a rough-looking man he’d seen long ago and a tall man he’d never seen before.

Hearing the man say he was looking for Ash Walton, Ash stood up and looked at the man. The face he’d seen in the past didn’t seem to have changed much despite the passage of time. If anything had changed, perhaps his sideburns had grayed slightly. A thought inadvertently came out of his mouth:

“You’ve hardly aged.”

At the young man’s words, eyebrows flecked with white hairs raised. Disbelieving eyes looked at the young man.

The face that had seemed delicate enough to mistake gender if seen wrongly had grown bolder features, and his height had grown tall enough to be almost similar to Gale’s.

“…Young master Ash? Who would have thought you’d grown so much…”

Seeing the family lawyer who used to frequent the manor, Ash became somewhat excited and approached Gale recklessly, grabbing one of his arms.

“Has brother finally called for me?”

At those words, a flustered Gale soon shook his head with a dark expression. The hope that had swelled up instantly extinguished, and resignation soon washed over him. If it had been a misunderstanding that could be resolved so easily, it wouldn’t have come to this.

Ash’s hand fell powerlessly from Gale’s arm.

“Then what’s the matter?”

“Is this Ian’s relative younger brother?”

The man with a mild face who had kept his mouth shut the whole time slipped into the conversation between the two. Ash narrowed his eyes at the completely unfamiliar face.

“This is Jason Brook. He’s a friend of Baron Giles.”

Gale quickly introduced the man.

“Brother’s friend…? But why did you come looking for me…?”

A family lawyer and brother’s friend looking for him. It was a really strange combination.

According to Gale’s words, it didn’t seem like something brother had ordered either. And he scanned the man before him. From his ordinary-looking face and attitude or manner of speech, he didn’t get the feeling of nobility.

However, thinking the man’s surname Brook was strangely familiar, Ash soon changed his expression. His face was cold as if asking when he had been excited.

Jason looked Ash up and down with a curious expression.

“When Ian asked for a tutor before, I thought he was completely a little kid, or has too much time passed?”

At the mention of asking for a tutor, something came to mind in Ash’s head.

Was this person the friend of Ian’s who had introduced Jeremy Shiller? At the name Jeremy Shiller, he recalled the face that had taught him, the silly pranks, and the conversations with brother while grinning.

And lastly, the pale frozen face he’d seen.

When his thoughts reached that point, Ash bit his lips. Turning around and organizing the luggage he’d been packing, he spoke with an indifferent attitude:

“Please state your business quickly. I have somewhere to go after packing…”

“Is the place you’re going the capital academy?”

At Gale’s words, Ash frowned, then noticed that capital academy documents were visible among the papers he’d put up while packing. And he nodded.

“…That’s right.”

At those words, Gale exchanged glances with Jason.

“We’ll escort you there, so could you give us some time?”

At Gale’s subtly spoken words, Ash sighed.

“I don’t know what this is about.”

“It’s related to the Baron. And I should tell you first… I’m no longer the Walton family lawyer.”

At those words, Ash looked at Gale as if not understanding what he meant.

“It’s been about 8 years now, I think… I was fired then. The reason I’m here now is entirely because of this person.”

Opening his palm to point at Jason, Jason shrugged his shoulders.

Ash looked back and forth between the two for a moment.

“…”

“I won’t take too much time. I don’t have that much time either. I don’t know if it’s meddling, but I’m concerned, you see.”

When Ash didn’t respond, Jason added:

Ash, who seemed lost in thought for a moment, made his decision:

“The road from here to the capital isn’t short… Let’s talk on the way. I’ve almost finished packing anyway…”

The conversation held that day changed Ash’s life. Taking a leave from the capital academy, years later Ash came to sneak into the manor.

‘The rain made it more plausible.’

After being formally employed, the work Ash was assigned was mainly odd jobs.

He mainly helped the kitchen by carrying heavy things or assisted Gabe. Though it was work he did to make contact with Ian, there was no opportunity.

He knew it hadn’t been that long since entering the manor, but he was strangely growing impatient.

Someone tapped the shoulder of Ash, who had been lost in thought for a moment.