Zoemi tensed up, using up almost all of his self-control to not attack the young-looking butler on the spot.

The black-haired boy really had to continue telling himself that the dark-blue-haired man had no ill intentions while feeding him the bitter dessert that triggered the painful memories of his mother to resurface from the depths of his memory.

”Young… young master…! You came back…?”

Benevirau’s chin trembled as he stepped forward and his misty-gray eyes filled with tears.

”I did. What about it – are you now going to tell me I am not the heir to the Banemor family?”

Zoemi frowned and scoffed at the young-looking butler.

He was certainly still extremely bitter – even more than the caramelized apples were…

”N-no! I am extremely sorry, young master…! Please pardon this foolish servant! I only thought about myself – I never considered that even though both of us might have the memories of young lady Learen preparing the food, yours might be completely different from mine…”

The dark-blue-haired butler ended up kneeling down and began apologizing with a truly heartbroken expression.

”…”

Still, only that didn’t seem to completely convince Zoemi that the misty-gray-eyed butler was nearly as good and emotional a person as he was showing at the moment.

”Sir Benevirau, please, get up…!”

”…?”

While Zoemi was still full of doubt, the green-haired Reo seemed to be completely on Benevirau’s side, going as far as leaving Zoemi and approaching the young-looking butler pulling his arm and making him get up from his knees.

”Zoemi, you are not angry at him, right?”

The green-haired capture target asked, looking hopefully at the black-haired boy.

|Ah…! Right! I am getting angry at him over nothing – Reo is actually going with the original plan while I am too preoccupied with my own feelings! Again with the overthinking…|

Although at first Zoemi had frowned, glaring at Reo while feeling betrayed – he soon realized or thought that he realized, what was really going on.

Umm… no. I think this is the other mode of yours that the prince mentioned… The ultra-dense one.

|Huh…?! What? Why…? Wait…! You were listening?!|

Ludier’s shadow called out in Zoemi’s mind, surprising him with a completely different opinion than he expected – again.

…

If the black-haired boy expected an explanation or excuse from Luier’s shadow, then those expectations were completely betrayed.

”I am, actually, still mad – but I am willing to give him a chance.”

Regardless, Zoemi tried to get back into his role but it was incredibly hard now to get back into the proper state of mind…

It honestly would have been better if someone had walked in on them or attacked the mansion or something, but alas, the black-haired boy had no such luck this time around.

”Young mas…!”

”First of all, do you know what changed in the sculpture you made? Because I was the one to change it, just so you know.”

The dark-blue-haired man gasped and was about to go down on his knees and kowtow to the annoyed Zoemi, but the black-haired boy scoffed while shaking his head and asked in an annoyed voice.

”I… do not…”

Benevirau stopped in place in an awkward position with Reo attempting to make him stay upright.

”Just as our memories about those caramelized apples didn’t match, the same could be said about the looks of my mother. Go on, check for yourself. This is how I remember her, and that the looks of her that you reminded me of with your cooking, fishing for nostalgia.”

To further prove how angry Zoemi was, he actually was unable to stay calm and composed as the attendants training he went through had taught him to be at all times – which was the second or at most the third time in his life that happened.

”…”

At his words, Benevirau face became slightly paler and he loudly gulped down his saliva before he turned toward the three ice sculptures he made himself.

Seeing his reaction, Reo let go of his arm and stepped back looking between the black-haired attendant and the dark-blue-haired butler with an anxious expression.

The young-looking water sage approached the sculpture that was altered by Ludier’s power and raised his hand to touch its face.

”…!”

It didn’t take long to make him bite his lips.

Benevirau’s fingers were tracing the adjusted facial features and the more time he spent on that, the more pale and the more miserable he became.

”…that… that is the young lady… what happened to her…?”

Unable to continue experiencing the stark difference between the image he undoubtedly had in his mind with the version seen by Zoemi, Benevirau lowered his hands and took a step back, while asking in a weak voice.

”I don’t know when she ended up in the slums of the capital, but that was apparently the place where my mother has given birth to me. Believe it or not, but the way the sculpture looks now is showing her how she was on a good day, where the pain would allow her to move out of the bed.”

”…!”

Zoemi spoke indifferently, not really all that interested in answering the question in a straight way and his words certainly had an effect on Benevirau and Reo who both reacted similarly by showing shocked and scared expressions.

”The slums in the capital…? Bellcephora’s kingdom capital…? BUT THE KING HAD SWORE TO ME THAT THE SEARCH PARTIES HAVE FOUND NO TRACE OF HER THERE!”

”S-sir Benevirau…?!”

After a moment, when the realization had sunk in, the dark-blue-haired butler raised his trembling hands to his face and gasped before clenching his fists, unable to stop himself from roaring in fury – his body shone with such ridiculously intense blue light that the whole room started looking as if it was made out of stained glass – not to mention that the air itself started trembling in an air quake…

…an air quake caused by just the activation of enchantments…!

it was mindboggling to even think about the strength that the dark-blue-haired butler had at his hands at that moment.

”How many times did they search? Maybe my mother had simply arrived there after they already gave up, or maybe she was using the darkness attribute spells to hide in the shadow?”

Zoemi, who still suspected the young-looking butler to be acing, shrugged his shoulders and pointed out.

”…what…?”

He succeeded in making Benevirau calm down, but it looked like he did that by completely shocking him and not because he exposed his lies.

”…darkness attribute…? So… young lady really did turn from the shadow magician into the darkness magician…?”

The dark-blue-haired butler asked in a trembling voice, clenching his fist so hard that even with the enchantments still active, he managed to hurt himself as his fingernails pierced the skin on his palms and drew blood.

”That’s a question you should be asking the Ghosts of Bellcephora, not me. I only remember how my mother died, crumbling into pieces after the darkness attribute mana had corroded her from the inside.”

”It was… the Ghosts’ fault…?”

Zoemi scoffed and shrugged his shoulders while biting his lips and looking away in anger as Benevirau stood there in disbelief, lowering his head.

”…”

Zoemi gritted his teeth, half-expecting the dark-blue-haired butler to reject the notion of the Ghosts being the culprits…

”…did… did they do that to the young lady because of me…?”

”H-huh…?”

…but Benevirau’s reaction ended up being so different from that, that the black-haired boy ended up gasping in utter shock.