The moment Elias stepped into the dining room with Alistair, he spotted Evelyn and Elysia already seated and enjoying breakfast.
At the head of the table, Arhan Nocturne, head of the household, sat eating alongside Valeria.
The room had a calm, easy atmosphere, the occasional clink of knife and fork against porcelain threading through their quiet conversation.
A few maids stood along the walls in neat, orderly rows, while Alistair took his place at one side of the room with Elias beside him.
Elias noticed a few empty chairs around the table but had no intention of sitting.
He just stood beside Alistair, watching the Nocturne family enjoy their breakfast.
‘Isn’t this a little too big to just be a dining room?’
He watched Evelyn cut into her food with practiced ease, Elysia doing the same beside her, calm as ever, while Arhan and Valeria simply went about their breakfast like any other morning.
‘At least nothing weird’s happening right now.’
He let out a small breath and settled back into a calm stance beside Alistair.
“Arhan, do you have anything keeping you busy today?”
“If you’re asking it that way, I’ll say no. Though there are a few things I need to handle.”
“That’s the same as saying you’re busy, isn’t it?”
“N-no, that’s not it, dear. If there’s something you want to do, I’ll clear my schedule and come with you!”
Elias found himself a little caught off guard by the exchange between the two of them.
Valeria clearly wanted to spend time with Arhan, but she’d asked about his schedule first anyway.
Meanwhile Arhan, who clearly did have things to do, was more than willing to set all of it aside just to be with her.
‘These two…’
All he could do was force a small grimace, a bead of sweat forming on his cheek.
“Father, Mother. Don’t talk while you’re eating. Do you want to end up eating your own words?”
‘W-what?
Elysia, you’re not into this whole warm family moment your parents are having?!’
“U-uhuk! Sorry. Alistair, tell Rudia I’m leaving the Blackwood Forest matter in your hands.”
Alistair bowed with one hand pressed to his chest.
“Understood, my lord.”
Alistair walked out of the dining room, leaving Elias behind on his own.
Honestly, Elias had been kind of hoping to keep watching that sweet little moment between the older couple.
He wasn’t much of a romance guy, but adult romance was a different story entirely.
Adult romance usually skipped all the unnecessary drama and just got straight to the point, which made sense, since they were adults.
They could figure out what they actually wanted without dragging things out.
Not like the romance you got between a bunch of schoolkids.
As far as Elias was concerned, that kind of thing was mind-numbingly boring, and the plots were basically all the same template anyway.
Once everyone had finished eating, the maids lining the walls moved in to clear the plates and leftover food from the table.
They filed out of the dining room carrying everything with them, leaving Elias alone in the room with the Nocturne family.
The moment he noticed, Elias tried his hardest to stay composed, swallowing down the shakiness threatening to take over. New chapters come out on novelping.com first.
The sweat already beading on his forehead, though, made that effort pretty much pointless.
Noticing Elias still standing off to the side, Elysia rose from her seat and walked toward him.
Watching her approach, all he could do was clench his fists tighter behind his back while forcing himself to keep staring straight ahead.
“Hey…”
“Something wrong, my lady?”
“Hmm… have you eaten?”
“I already had a box of bread for breakfast, early this morning.”
“…Where’d you even get that bread? Did you steal it? If you did, I’ll have to punish you with—”
The instant Elysia’s hand moved toward her sword, Elias panicked and threw both hands up.
“Wait! I bought it!”
“Bought it?”
“Yes! I bought it during my morning jog!”
Elysia went quiet for a moment, hand still resting on the hilt, before finally turning and walking back to her seat, her expression oddly reminiscent of someone whose plan had just fallen through.
Elias’s heart, meanwhile, was still hammering away, sweat still dripping down his face.
For a second there he’d genuinely thought he was about to die, but thankfully Elysia had actually believed him.
This girl is terrifying!
Forget the pretty face and the chest for a second.
Underneath all that, Elias was pretty sure there was a demon’s face lurking, one that wouldn’t think twice about actually killing someone.
‘Seriously, what did I even do wrong?
I was being careful, I wasn’t being reckless at all, and just standing there saying I’d already had breakfast nearly got me killed?
This is the second time now I’ve almost gotten cut down.’
“Elysia, don’t scare him. Sorry about that, Elias, she was just curious where you got the bread. She was worried you hadn’t eaten yet, more or less.”
“It’s fine, Madam. I really did eat early this morning. Since my job is being Caretaker to the young ladies, I need to always stay one step ahead.”
Hearing that, Arhan simply nodded and raised his glass.
“Good. I like people who stay sharp.”
Elias bowed, one hand pressed to his chest.
“Thank you, my lord.”
“Father, Mother, we’re heading out. Elias, come on.”
“Huh? R-right away!” Before hurrying after the two of them, Elias bowed to Arhan and Valeria.
“Excuse me, my lord, Madam.”
* * *
Elias fell in behind Evelyn and Elysia as they walked ahead.
He kept close, taking note of the path as they made their way out of the Nocturne estate and toward the back grounds.
After cutting through part of the garden, they finally reached a fairly spacious training field, already equipped with wooden dummies and racks of various weapons.
The two of them stopped in the middle of the field, and Elias came to a halt a few steps behind them, glancing around briefly before turning his attention back to the sisters.
‘What are they planning to do?’ Follow the newest chapters on novelping.com.
He didn’t ask, though.
He just stood quietly, waiting for one of them to say something.
As their Caretaker, he figured he needed to keep up a professional front in front of them.
Even though, honestly, he had no idea what he was even supposed to be doing.
A moment later, he started feeling a little lost himself, since Evelyn and Elysia were just glancing at each other without saying a word either.
‘Wait, do they not know what they’re doing either?’
Elysia finally let out a small sigh and turned to look at him.
“So… what are we doing?”
Evelyn seemed to think it over for a second too before turning to Elias as well.
“Hmm…”
Elias just stood there, straight-backed, wearing a calm expression like there was nothing at all wrong, even though internally he was just as lost as they were.
‘Why are you both looking at me?
I have no idea either.’
After a moment, something seemed to click for Elysia.
“How about we test out Elias’s skills?”
Evelyn turned to her and nodded.
“That’s a good idea.”
Elias couldn’t help but flinch a little at that.
‘Test out my skills?’
Elysia walked out to the middle of the field and stopped a few meters in front of him.
“Fight me, then.”
“…Huh?”
Elias hadn’t expected “testing his skills” to turn straight into an actual fight.
He glanced over at Evelyn, who was already stepping off to the side to clear space for the two of them.
“Don’t worry. It’s just training.”
He turned back to Elysia, already standing there waiting.
Letting out a small sigh, he finally walked to the center of the field and took his place a few meters in front of her.
“Alright, Lady Elysia.”
The two of them now stood facing each other in the middle of the training field.
No one else was joining in this time, since all they really wanted was to see what Elias could do.
Elias was well aware he probably couldn’t win this, but turning her down was never really an option.
Besides, he wasn’t going to die from trading a few blows…
right?