Ash ate his breakfast first.
Tyllian would definitely get angry if he heard that Ash had left food again.
He ate lunch and dinner, and the next day’s meals as well.
The person who brought in the tray wasn’t Tyllian, though.
It was a servant he seemed to have seen around the castle but had never spoken to, who brought and cleared his meals.
Ash knew without even looking.
Owen didn’t keep any friendly staff around Ash.
Tyllian’s case had been an unusual one.
Even the knights guarding his door were people Ash didn’t know well.
These servants were terribly afraid of Owen, even though Ash hadn’t heard any rumors of him treating subordinates harshly.
Because he absolutely didn’t want to think that Owen possessed some kind of innate ruler’s authority, Ash believed that he must be doing terrible things to the servants where they couldn’t be seen.
He didn’t know what those terrible things were, though…
In any case, handling servants well wasn’t something only Owen could do.
Ash took advantage of a moment when the servant clearing his dishes was off guard and casually asked,
“Tyl?”
“Did you mean Lord Meyner?”
Ash’s voice sounded pure and artless.
The servant, who had answered without thinking, was startled by his own action.
Ash didn’t give him a chance to collect himself.
“Yeah. Is he guarding outside?”
“Ah, no. A different knight is on guard duty.”
“Since when?”
“Pardon?”
“Since when hasn’t it been Tyllian? When was the last time you saw Tyllian?”
“Well, that is… I don’t think I’ve seen him since the morning shift change yesterday.”
Pressed by Ash, the servant was helplessly drawn in.
‘Foolish Owen Mills.’
Ash sneered inwardly.
No matter how tightly he controlled the castle, Ash was the young master of this place.
Since birth, he had been the lord’s son, and the servants were accustomed to serving him.
Would those ingrained habits just disappear overnight?
They might steel themselves to ignore the little master throwing a tantrum demanding to be let out, but they would end up answering such casual questions.
However, the servant didn’t let his guard down again.
He cleared the dishes as if he had five hands and then left, dragging the tray.
‘Hmm.’
Ash decided to wait for another opportunity.
For now, digesting the information he had gotten was the priority.
First of all, Tyllian seemed truly angry with Ash…
He had known it, but now it was clear.
There was no doubt that last night’s events had greatly angered him.
Would Tyllian never come back?
What if he had completely lost affection for Ash and his loyalty to that bastard Owen had grown?
No, it seemed his affection had already reached rock bottom.
And his loyalty to Owen seemed to have been there from the start.
So, wasn’t it natural that Owen trusted Tyllian and assigned him as a guard?
Ash could almost hear the mockery: ‘Even your knight listens to my orders so well.’
Owen wasn’t the type to say such things, but wasn’t that roughly what he meant?
‘Yes. That’s what it was.’
That’s why he had sent Tyllian away.
Ash was furious at this extreme act of mockery.
Yet, he had no way to retaliate, and his frustration boiled over.
His hands and shoulders ached from pounding on the door so much.
His back and everywhere else were sore from the previous night’s activities.
His overall condition was terrible.
It wasn’t easy to cause a ruckus in this state.
Rampages required physical strength.
Ash knew this from experience, having thrown several fits after the ‘Owen’s Entry Incident’—that’s what Ash called it.
Still, it wasn’t bad that his tongue had enjoyed a satisfying meal.
With a full stomach, his dizziness had subsided.
His back still ached, though.
His abused hole, strained for too long, felt strange.
Didn’t Tyllian even worry about him?
Of course, Ash was an experienced omega, and he had been in the position of teaching the virgin knight.
But wasn’t it inevitable that the novice wouldn’t be considerate of his partner’s stamina?
That part wasn’t Ash’s fault.
If your sleeping partner fainted during sex, shouldn’t a well-mannered alpha apologize?
Of course, Ash knew perfectly well that he was the one who should be apologizing…
Ash rubbed his face.
Owen’s taunts or whatever, it didn’t matter.
So, was Tyllian really not going to come see him?
Just like he had avoided him after their last fight, was he going to do that again in the future?
But this time, the premonition was worse than before.
At this rate, he really felt like he would lose Tyllian.
He couldn’t forget Tillyon’s last expression.
Ash felt truly uneasy and couldn’t stand it…
While he was holed up in bed with a frown, a sudden sound came from somewhere.
Flap!
The sound of wings beating filled the air, and then a flamboyant skylark pecked at the window with its beak.
Tap tap.
Ash sprang up as if jolted.
He immediately opened the terrace window.
The bird flew in through the large opening.
Then, it transformed into a person right in front of Ash.
He was an incredibly flamboyant man.
If the bird he had just seen had been born as a human, this would have been its appearance. His curly hair was a bizarre mix of colors.
Pink, sky blue, and gold were intertwined, and it even glittered, like a poorly concocted magic potion.
His face was small and slightly pale.
His large, sleepy-looking eyes were half-closed.
His long eyelashes captivated anyone who looked at him every time he blinked, but what was even more striking were the dark circles under his eyes.
“Master!”
Ash clung to him.
“Ah…? I didn’t expect such a warm welcome.”
The man said, sounding flustered.
However, his voice was languid, so he didn’t really sound surprised.
It was a voice as if he were half-dreaming.
“How can you say that? When have I ever not welcomed you, Master? I missed you so much! You can’t even imagine what I’ve been through.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes, it is! Seriously, the last two weeks have been the worst! But Master, how many nights have you stayed up?”
“Sleep? Ah, that’s right, there was such a thing.”
“What are you talking about…? Have you even washed?”
“Hmm. Bathing. Did I ever mention to you, my disciple? I’m renovating my workshop. I’ve set up a magic enchantment within the workshop that always maintains the optimal conditions for research. For me, time-consuming, useless processes like sleep, bathing, and eating are no longer necessary.”
The man said proudly, in his sleepy voice.
‘Are all magicians crazy after all?’
Ash subtly unwrapped his arms from the man.
He was happy to see him, but he didn’t want to hug someone who hadn’t washed.
The man was a magician.
His current name was Cecil More, but his real name was unknown, as were his birthplace and age.
Ash only knew that he was at least as old as his grandfather.
After all, he had originally been his mother’s magic teacher.
Since his appearance hadn’t changed from the first time he met Ash’s young mother until now, Ash could only guess, ‘He must be incredibly old.’
He was Ash’s first teacher and the only one who had stayed by his side.
It wasn’t for any particular reason; it was simply because he hadn’t come looking for Ash when he was going through his rebellious phase.
At that time, Ash, in his full rebellion, had declared to all his teachers, “I’m quitting my studies,” and they had all welcomed it.
‘Huh? Isn’t this only a loss for me?’
By the time Ash belatedly realized this, Cecil had returned to the castle.
It had been almost half a year since their last lesson.
Even then, Ash had been so happy to see his only teacher that he had hugged him and cried his eyes out.
He seemed to have clung to him like glue for a while.
Well, that was in the past.
Ash wasn’t that young anymore.
He had grown up, he was an adult…
“Master…”
He clutched the hem of Cecil’s robe.
As he lowered his head, tears fell with a plop.
His sniffles soon turned into sobs.
No, Ash needed help.
He needed his teacher.
He was lonely.
He was scared.
He cried like a child.
“Oh dear. What’s wrong?” “Master, Master…, I, Master, Father, he…!”
A choking sound came from his throat.
“Tell me one thing at a time. What about the Duke?”
Cecil asked gently.
As he did, he made Ash lift his head, but all Ash could see was the fluttering sleeve of his robe.
Ash buried his face in the sleeve.
He didn’t want to show such an unsightly appearance, but he couldn’t stop the tears and snot from pouring out and soaking the sleeve.
He took a breath, trying to speak calmly.
But he had too much to say, and his throat was tight.
He didn’t know where the tears had been hiding, but the dam had burst, and he gasped for air as he broke down.
“Father passed away, and Master didn’t even know, and Owen locked me up, and now you’re here, and Tyllian doesn’t want to see me anymore, and what did I do wrong? If I did something wrong, he should tell me so I can fix it, but he doesn’t even come to see me, I guess he doesn’t expect anything from me, it seems he wants to be Owen’s knight, and Owen won’t cause any trouble, but, but, really…, shouldn’t he be on my side?!”