Florin gave His Blackstone a smile in return, then left the study as well.
At that moment, only the bewildered Ni Wei and His Blackstone remained in the study.
“Hey, what are you spacing out about?”
His Blackstone walked up to the girl and waved his hand in front of her eyes.
“Ah! You… you guys are done talking?”
“Yeah, everything that needed to be arranged is arranged. By the way, did you not listen to any of that?”
“I… I was listening. Anyway, it just means we don’t have to worry about the Church of Light anymore, right?”
Hmm…
Looks like hoping this girl would help share the workload in the future was out of the question.
Seeing the look His Blackstone gave her, as if she were an idiot, Ni Wei immediately swung her little fist and hit him.
“What’s with that look?! Am I wrong?”
“Right, right, that’s exactly it.”
“I’m telling you, don’t judge me by how I am now. Someday, I’ll be able to understand all those words in the contracts too.”
“Mm-hmm, mm-hmm.”
“Hey!”
“Alright, alright.”
His Blackstone first reached out and firmly ruffled Ni Wei’s head, then turned serious.
“I know you want to help me out more, but you don’t need to force yourself to do things you’re not good at. Leave the professional stuff to the professionals, or else their salaries would be for nothing.”
“Hmm… I guess… that makes sense?”
Ni Wei broke free from His Blackstone’s clutches.
“So what exactly am I good at?”
“Let me think…”
His Blackstone put on a show of thinking seriously.
“Nope, can’t think of anything.”
“You!”
Seeing Ni Wei charging at him with her pink fist raised, His Blackstone quickly added,
“I’m joking! Don’t take it so seriously.”
Seeing His Blackstone cave so quickly, Ni Wei instead drooped her little head.
“Hey, come on, don’t tell me you’re actually mad?”
“No… I’m not mad. You’re right, I really don’t have anything I’m good at.”
Ni Wei sniffled.
“Sister is so capable and has such a good personality. The housekeeper seems to know everything and can help you with a lot of work. Even that White Hair, she… at least she can warm the bed…”
“Hey, don’t say things like that!”
At the mention of warming the bed, His Blackstone quickly cut off the girl’s murmuring.
“Hmph…”
Ni Wei let out a light snort.
“Anyway, every time I see her, she’s on your bed.”
“I told you, it’s a misunderstanding…”
“Whatever… the whole mansion, only I don’t have anything I’m good at, and I’m always causing you trouble…”
As she spoke, Ni Wei turned around, her back to His Blackstone, her voice catching a little.
“See… there’s no way you could ever like someone as annoying as me, right?”
Whoa, this girl’s got skills.
She managed to steer the conversation back to that in an instant, huh?
His Blackstone sighed inwardly as he stepped forward and gently placed his hands on the girl’s shoulders.
“That’s not what I think at all.”
The girl didn’t respond, but her body gave a slight tremble.
“To me, you’re very important.”
“Now you tell me this…”
“Even if you do cause some trouble sometimes… Pfft!”
“Hey!”
Ni Wei turned around and punched His Blackstone in the chest.
“What was that for?!”
His Blackstone rubbed the spot she hit.
Even though the girl didn’t have much strength in her body, that hit was surprisingly hard.
“So you really are dissatisfied with me!”
“Can’t you listen to what I’m actually saying?!”
“The point is, you think I’m a lot of trouble!”
The girl lunged at him, flailing, and the two began a chase around the study.
“Hey, hey, don’t you want to hear my answer?”
“Wasn’t your answer just now clear enough?”
“Huh? What did I answer?”
“Stop talking! I understand everything now!”
“I’m telling you…”
Their voices grew louder and louder, neither noticing Rafina, who had been standing frozen in the doorway for some time now.
“Um… Young Master His Blackstone…”
After a long while, seeing that the two showed no signs of stopping, Rafina cleared her throat and spoke up, her voice noticeably louder than usual.
The study fell silent in an instant.
The next moment, Ni Wei’s face flushed bright red. As if trying to escape from her sister, she fled the study at lightning speed.
“Ah, Rafina, what’s the matter?”
His Blackstone felt a bit embarrassed too. After adjusting his breathing, he walked over to Rafina.
“Young Master His Blackstone, a letter has arrived from the Royal Capital. It’s addressed to you.”
“From the Royal Capital? Could it be from the old man?”
His Blackstone took the letter and noticed there was no Blackstone Family crest on the envelope. Instead, it bore the emblem of the Kingdom Knights, and he had a good guess who it was from.
[His Blackstone:
I hope this letter finds you well.
Given the current stability at the border, the Knights have also been granted a rare few days of leave. I have decided to return to the Blackstone Duke’s domain for a visit, after all, it is somewhat of a hometown to me.
I wonder if you have time in the near future? We could travel together.
Your fiancée, Ai Lin.]
It really was her.
Though, come to think of it, since she had gone out of her way to emphasize her status as fiancée, it would be hard to justify not making time for her.
After all, she was coming to his family’s domain now. Both personally and publicly, he had to take this seriously.
“Young Master His Blackstone?”
“Ah, nothing. Um… go prepare a guest room. We might have a guest coming in a couple of days.”
“Yes.”
Rafina gave a slight bow, then left the study.
His Blackstone slowly walked back to the chair behind the desk, sat down, and let out a breath.
Who would’ve thought that the Sword Maiden of the Kingdom would actually want to come see me on her own…
***
The next afternoon, a carriage from the Royal Capital came to a stop at the front gate of the Blackstone Duke Mansion.
“That was fast. I thought you wouldn’t get here until tomorrow.”
His Blackstone stepped forward and helped his fiancée down from the carriage.
Well… not that she actually needed it.
“Yeah, actually, I set out the very same day I finished writing you that letter.”
Ai Lin naturally held His Blackstone’s hand and lightly hopped down from the carriage.
“Haha, no need to rush that much.”
“After all, a Knight’s leave… can be revoked at any moment.”
“Understood, so you have to seize every second of your own time.”
“Yeah, seems like you get it.”
Watching the two chatting and laughing, Rafina, who was standing at the mansion’s entrance to greet them, had a hint of loss flicker in her eyes.
So that’s the Young Master’s fiancée. She really is a beauty…
And I heard she’s the Vice Captain of the Kingdom Knights. She must be incredibly skilled.
“Rafina, go brew a cup of tea for our guest.”
“Ah? Yes.”
His Blackstone’s voice snapped Rafina back to reality.
Standing on the other side, Ni Wei showed no intention of hiding anything, her gaze fixed directly on Ai Lin.
“Oh? Hello there, little miss. We meet again.”
Ai Lin didn’t seem bothered in the slightest. Instead, she took the initiative to greet Ni Wei.
“You…”
Ni Wei was about to flare up, but seeing the look His Blackstone shot her, she had no choice but to swallow the words that were on the tip of her tongue.
“Um… Ai Lin, let’s head inside first.”
His Blackstone made a gesture of invitation, then entered the Duke’s Mansion together with Ai Lin.