Raymond was afraid that Seiana might think of him strangely for being like this, but because neither of them had friends, he couldn’t understand the other’s oddness.
In any case, Raymond gently folded the letter he had finished reading, without creasing it, and placed it back into the envelope.
Like the previous letters, it would be carefully stored in a safe.
With the care of handling a glass cabinet as thin as a dragonfly’s wing, Raymond placed the letter inside the envelope and set it on the table for a moment before picking up a document placed on the side.
The document was none other than investigative materials about Seiana’s acquaintances.
“If Seiana finds out, she’ll be upset…”
He knew it was wrong to do something like this.
He acknowledged that it was bad, but in the end, Raymond had no choice but to use people.
The name came from his mouth, incomplete but familiar.
It was the name that Seiana had said, someone who might be a familiar presence, though Raymond didn’t know exactly what their relationship was.
Thinking about their conversation at the time, it was likely a man, and that bothered Raymond a lot.
“What if he’s someone cooler than me?”
Unlike Raymond, who was a supernatural ability user, if he was someone Seiana’s family liked, in the worst case…
Raymond’s expression grew grim.
Seiana was young.
That meant Raymond still had a chance.
However, engagements often happen even before birth, and despite her young age, it was possible.
“Seiana said she didn’t have an engagement…”
But that didn’t necessarily mean there wasn’t someone prearranged.
Right now, both were young, so it wasn’t a scandal if they were together, but in the future, who knew?
It would be impossible for someone with an engagement to be seen with another person of the opposite sex.
If they got caught up in gossip, it would tarnish both of their reputations.
“I don’t care about my reputation, but…”
Raymond didn’t want Seiana to be spoken ill of, and he didn’t know if that “. . . ro” person would just stay quiet.
Even if his personality was bold, Raymond doubted the possibility that the person would allow Seiana to be around him.
“I thought if I dealt with the Count’s family…
I never expected there would be such a hidden complication.
I should have thought it through more thoroughly.
In the end, this situation where I had to act was painful.”
There were a few methods Raymond could use to investigate Seiana’s acquaintances.
The first was to ask Seiana directly.
However, this might make her uncomfortable, so it wasn’t even considered.
The second was to ask those around her, like her family.
However, this might easily reach Seiana’s ears, and he didn’t think they would give him proper information.
So, the most objective and untainted source was the Imperial Palace’s information office…
“It’s certain, but…”
It was obvious that the materials Raymond had requested wouldn’t only reach him.
The same documents, without omission, would likely be in the hands of the Emperor and Empress as well.
Raymond had requested the information using his royal status, after all, and they would be curious about it.
The fact that he was the son of both the Emperor and Empress was one reason, but the biggest reason was that Raymond was an ability user who worked for the state.
That was why Raymond didn’t want to use this method if possible.
But now, what good was it to regret?
He sighed and turned the page of the document.
At least, he wasn’t investigating everyone around Seiana, just those whose names contained “Ro,” which could serve as an excuse, if anything.
Flipping through, his eyes scanned every line of the document.
There were 19 pages in total, but each page contained a brief profile of one person, so there wasn’t an overwhelming number of names.
After checking the last page, Raymond’s face turned into an expression of surprise.
“Why isn’t he here…?”
He asked himself in an astonished voice and checked the documents again, but the person Seiana had mentioned, the one with “. . . ro” in their name, couldn’t be found.
It wasn’t that there weren’t names with “Ro” in them in the documents.
There were people like Andro, Seshiro, Hero… Names that ended in “Ro,” and even surnames like Benaro and Fabro.
Even Seiana’s older brother, Halo, was listed.
It seemed like everything was included, but the problem was that all of them were much older than Seiana.
The only one who could be considered her peer was her brother, Halo.
Apart from him, everyone else was either a knight of the Count’s family, a servant, or a bureaucrat, so there wasn’t a single person who could be considered a friend of Seiana’s age.
He checked again, but of course, nothing changed.
He even checked the pages carefully for any missing parts, but there were markers indicating “current pages/total pages,” confirming nothing was missing.
“Maybe it’s just someone she met briefly?”
That might be a relief.
If it were someone with a longer or closer relationship with Seiana, the possibility of her leaning towards Raymond when they had a disagreement would be significantly lower.
Thus, the issue with “. . . ro” was resolved.
But…
“Who was the idiot who made Seiana say such foolish things?”
The one who clouded her expression with nonsense.
The “. . . ro” person was less troublesome, because at least they were just a disliked person for Raymond.
“I really want to find this guy and teach him a lesson…”
But Raymond had far fewer clues about him than he did about the “. . . ro” person.
At least with that person, he knew one letter of their name, but this guy… all Raymond knew was that he spoke nonsense.
Seiana had clearly hidden everything thoroughly.
Raymond didn’t think it was because she was worried he might hurt the guy.
It seemed more like she didn’t want to bring up such unpleasant topics, so she had carefully avoided giving any further information.
If he could just find out who it was, Raymond would make sure to let them know exactly how foolish they had been…
Just then, as Raymond was pondering in frustration, a hand suddenly popped out from behind his armpit. It was a startling move, but Raymond coldly slapped the hand away.
The hand had been reaching for the letter from Seiana on the table.
“Ah!”
With a loud slap, the back of the hand turned red from the pain, but the person didn’t stop trying to snatch the letter.
Raymond quickly placed his palm over the letter to prevent it.
“What’s this?”
“I was going to say that.”
A whiny voice came from the thief who had suddenly appeared and tried to steal the letter.
Raymond responded with a look of disbelief.
The one who had slithered out from behind his chair was a girl about his age.
With tightly curled dark gray hair and deep green eyes, the girl faced Raymond without showing any fear.
Instead, with an arrogant expression, she glanced at the documents Raymond was holding and said,
“What is this? Am I going to have an interview or something?”
Raymond’s expression was one of annoyance, as it was reasonable to think that the documents containing personal information about others might invite such thoughts.
The girl seemed curious, so Raymond quickly folded the papers in half to prevent her from seeing them.
In that moment, she tried to steal the letter again, so Raymond quickly used his abilities.
“Ah!”
“Let go?”
With an invisible force, he lifted the girl into the air.
Despite floating in mid-air, the girl wasn’t scared.
She simply scowled and stared straight at Raymond.
Raymond glared right back.
“Don’t you know that stealing is bad?”
“Hmph, who says I’m stealing? I just wanted to check it for a moment.”
“Even peeking without the owner’s permission is stealing. Are you an idiot?”
The winner of the argument was Raymond.
The child tried to retort but seemed speechless, puffing up their cheeks and flailing their arms and legs in mid-air.
Although they were just lifted, they weren’t really restrained, so the child squirmed like a live fish.
Even so, when they didn’t move as if stuck in the air, the child glared at Raymond more fiercely.
Suddenly, the books on the bookshelf behind Raymond collapsed onto the floor with a loud crash.
There was no earthquake or anyone shaking the shelf.
One might expect Raymond to turn around in surprise, but he stood still, staring at the child without flinching.
As a few books floated up behind him, he asked in a sharp voice:
“Are you using your ability just to steal?”
“It’s not…! It’s not stealing!”
The child swung their arms violently, as if commanding, but surprisingly, nothing happened.
Instead, the floating books calmly fell back down as if they hadn’t floated at all.
The child’s breathing became ragged.
It seemed Raymond had suppressed her ability, and she looked deeply humiliated.
“You’re really a bad person. Dog poop! Cow poop! Diarrhea poop!”
“Yeah. And you’re a thief.”
Raymond coldly spoke back to the child, who was yelling crude insults, while rubbing his temple and sighing at her noisy behavior.
Lately, he had been acting differently because of his obsession with Seiana, so naturally, the child would have noticed.
With frequent outings and letters being exchanged often, it was only natural for her to wonder what was going on.
Raymond didn’t like this situation.
He wanted to keep Seiana all to himself, so he hated the idea of another ability user showing interest in her.
‘He’s not the type to listen if I tell him to stop being interested.’
Even if he was a nuisance, Raymond didn’t want the child obsessing over Seiana.
Especially since the child’s personality was simple and impulsive, it was highly likely she would act without thinking.
This was the worst possible scenario.