*knock*

”…!”

With only a single knock all the noises stopped as if whoever was inside ended up being taken by surprise.

”Young master, goo morning! Please come in!”

Less than five seconds later, the dark-blue-haired butler opened the door and bowed his head with a greeting, moving to the side to allow Zoemi the entrance.

”!!!”

The room was a small office with various papers and account books stacked on the shelves by every single wall.

There was a small window there too, with a desk and a chair right under it – and in front of the said desk the brown-haired green-eyed girl that Zoemi met the day before was standing, all fidgety, not knowing what exactly she should do or act like.

”Good morning, Benevirau. Good morning Ririe. Benevirau, I have some matters I want to discuss with you, should I come back later? I was thinking about doing some light exercise in the garden anyway.”

The black-haired boy looked between the dark-blue-haired butler and the bashful maid-in-training and asked, shrugging his shoulders.

Although he first came up with the training part only to give the two of them a chance to finish whatever they were discussing before without his interruption, Zoemi realized that it indeed wouldn’t be a bad idea to actually move around a little bit.

”N-no…! Sir Zoemi, do not bother yourself with me – we were just discussing my employment here that’s all…!”

The brown-haired magicless girl gasped, waving her hands dismissively, slightly panicking about being an inconvenience.

”You are only discussing it now? Were there any trouble?”

”…!”

Zoemi furrowed his brows and turned the question to Benevirau, which had caused Ririe to tens up and clench her fists from anxiety.

”Young master – since you have returned you should be the one to approve things like that – I wouldn’t dare make a selfish decision…”

”Even though there would be no Banemor family without you? If I understand the paintings on the floor above correctly, you do have all the rights you need.”

The dark-blue-haired butler lowered his head and assured him, but the black-haired boy merely sighed and motioned at the ceiling with his chin.

”There might be a bit of misunderstanding – despite what little Mekirien’s drawing might suggest, I was merely his guardian and foster father – I do not have any right to contest the rights to the territory in any way shape, or form.”

”…”

Despite Zoemi’s expectation, Benevirau’s answer was a lot smoother and honest-sounding than he assumed it would be.

The misty-gray-eyed young-looking man merely smiled softly at a distant memory without raising his head.

”Don’t say it like that – I would get sad if my father talked about himself in that way.”

”…! Young master…?”

Interestingly enough, the black-haired boy also started smiling and shrugged his shoulders, causing Benevirau to straighten his back and make a confused expression.

”Anyway – let’s employ Ririe properly, I give my approval.”

Having said that, Zoemi turned to the magicless girl and nodded at him with an encouraging expression.

”Just so you know – this is a sign of good will. Do not think about it as an opportunity to make a profit out of messing with the Banemor family.”

”O-of course…!”

The black-haired boy added, pointing his index finger at the ceiling, slightly confusing the girl.

Still, if she was confused, it was a good sign.

Of course, her just being confused wasn’t a definite proof that she wasn’t some sort of a spy or someone bought by Aerea and Vianee to mess with him and Reo from backstage – but her looking utterly clueless was certainly suggesting that she was just a normal person.

”…! Young master…! You already thinking about the family…! I will get to writing a contract with your friend immediately and then hurry with all the legal procedures that would allow for you to officially take over the territory!”

Zoemi’s words had another effect too – Benevirau perked up and basically hop-skipped-jumped to the desk and reached out for the stacks of papers that must have been specially prepared for him for many years as the quality paper had clearly aged quite far.

”Ah…! What m I doing…! Young master, what was the matter that you wanted to discuss with me?”

Still, before the dark-blue-haired butler managed to sit down, he had realized that there was a reason why Zoemi showed up at the door – and it wasn’t originally connected with the new hire.

”Oh, you know – you already unknowingly answered one of my questions – that being of your connection to the first official Banemor member as he became a high noble.”

The black-haired boy raised his brows and nodded a few times while learning to the side stretching his body.

”The other thing was that I wanted to talk about the name that my mother would want to give me – Zoemi isn’t that one – I would like to keep it though, as a lot of feelings was put into it – but I thought that since I will be inheriting the territory and therefore becoming a high noble, I would use the original name as the middle one.”

Zoemi explained while moving around the subject just trying to gauge Benevirau’s reaction.

”…”

”…?”

And curiously enough it seemed that the dark-blue-haired butler wasn’t clueless about the matter – at least judging by the torrent of various emotions showing up on his face one by one.

”Young master… it… it’s not like I don’t have any guesses – young lady Learen was very vocal about her wishes for a big family and any instance of a potential suitor sending in engagement propositions would end up in her thinking about the names for the possible children – but in the end, what young lady Learen had chosen remains a mystery for me. Are… are you saying that you don’t remember it yourself…”

Just as the black-haired boy was dancing around the subject, so was the misty-gray-eyed man as he didn’t want to give a single specific answer.

”Are you sure?”

”…”

Zoemi asked calmly, not pushing too far – but even so, it looked like he had asked a question that made the butler sad.

”…there is one that she always teased me and lord Vizta, but… with how things were, I don’t think she would choose it… She must have hated us both so…”

The dark-blue-haired man spoke with a terribly sad smile and his shoulders slumped before he breathed out in shame.

”Sir Benevirau…”

Seeing him like that Ririe’s chin trembled and she stepped towards the young-looking man, but then…

”Benevi.”

”…eh…?”

”!!!”

Zoemi said in a flat voice, making the magicless girl let out a short confused gasp – but when it comes to the dark-blue-haired butler, his reaction was far more intense as he literally crumbled down to his knees with tears streaming down his eyes.

”Benevi…? But – isn’t that just…”

Ririe asked in confusion, looking between Zoemi and Benevirau – she undoubtedly was going to say that it was just a shortened version of the butler’s name.

”…when I was leaving for the escort mission to deliver help to the island nation Thradoansa – the last time that I saw her – young lady Learen said that she would name her first child after me and her father…”

Benevirau spoke slumped on his legs and explained in a shaken voice.

”She laughed that Benevi would be perfect because it is the mix between Benevirau and Vizta, but because it just sounds like a short version of my name, she would be able to ease her father that he didn’t make the cut…”

He added while taking out a handkerchief from his pocket to start drying out his tear-stained face.

”It is a nice name – make sure it would be listed as my request for the middle name. It’s rare for the person to pick it by themselves, but this is certainly an unusual situation.”

Zoemi nodded his head, after seeing the reaction that he expected, and turned to the door.

”I will be in the garden – If you will need me for anything before I return, you will find me there.”

He added and left leaving Benevirau and Ririe in the small office.

The dark-blue-haired butler calmed down after a while and stood up with the help of the brown-haired magicless girl.

”I’m sorry for acting so unprofessional, young master’s friend, let’s’ write the contract. But first, let’s clarify something… I was convinced that your name was Reo Serentii Moyena but it seems that young master is calling you Ririe…”

Benevirau composed himself and apologized before asking with a confused expression…

”Ah! AH! Not so loud! Please! The thing is…”

Which prompted the girl to panic while glancing at the door worried that Zoemi might have heard that.

…and she certainly wasn’t ready to tell him the truth…