”Son, good job.”

The pale-blue-haired knight entered the office already smiling and the first thing he did was to approach the black-haired boy and pat his shoulder.

”They gave me quite a scare for a moment – we were really lucky that lord Lazaram had waited with the reveal of the localization device. If he showed it off from the start and activated it then, we would have nowhere near as successful outcome.”

Zoemi smiled brightly but then he breathed out and said in a bothered voice.

”Young Zoemi, this was much less of a stroke of luck than you think – the current royal magician s known for his weakness for theatrical flair and showing off. He also wanted to make sure that Telorius would be as agitated as possible before revealing his triumph card. Thankfully that had worked out in our favor – because, let me be honest here – although Telorius was on our side from the beginning, he isn’t much of an actor. Being actually angry sure added to his performance.”

Lord Espine who followed after Mizoe, laughed hearing the boy voicing his opinion and explained.

”Exactly, and with how things turned out anyway, lord Lazaram will have a hard time talking his way out of it – especially after being so confident and all.”

Mizoe added, and although Zoemi’s expression brightened, lord Espine was the opposite.

”The problem is that with how useful Lazaram is for the kingdom with all of his inventions finally pushing the development of artifacts that have been stagnant for over three hundred years, he will most likely be able to get away with just minimal punishment – if any at all.”

The red-haired man stroked his beard and said in a somber voice.

”Even after the queen went ahead and pushed for the vote establishing that the missing modern artifact is in an emergency on the scale of an entire kingdom…?”

Zoemi furrowed his brows and asked.

”Believe it or not, lord Lazaram actually voted against that. If the king will be in good mood, it is possible for Lazaram to simply come up with an excuse like – he actually made a mistake and the artifact that was given to Victureos wasn’t the modern artifact – or something. It would be unwise to base all of the future plans on the premature assumption about Lazaram falling out of grace.”

Lord Espine once again shook his head and pointed out.

For a moment there was a silence in the office as all three of them thought about the problems that unfortunately would not get solved as they hoped for.

Lord Espine ended up sighing before walking towards his desk and seating heavily on the comfortable armchair.

”That said – it is undeniable that both of you had done a splendid job today. Mizoe, whatever training you have done to increase the level of control over your mana, it is amazing – if you didn’t report your progress daily, I would surely think that I am dealing with a transcended ice magician! And here you were worried that moving more duties onto other knights would not be worth it in the long run.”

”No, my lord, it is nothing. I am still far away from the place I want to reach.”

The red-haired man nodded at the pale-blue-haired knight with a benevolent smile, which made the knight bow to him and respond with a strained voice sounding as if he was holding back bitterness.

”…father is having fewer duties and more time to train…?”

”…!”

Zoemi tilted his head in confusion, looking between the two men – of which Mizoe ended up flinching and looking down in embarrassment.

”Yes, yes. You see, your father is really working hard to show off to the brave young woman who proposed to him!”

”My lord…!”

The red-haired nobleman smiled with pride and nodded his head while nodding towards the pale-blue-haired knight who turned pale and gasped.

”Hmm…? Who is it this tim… Wait! Could it be that it was teacher Rokiana?! She confessed?! No, wait – she PROPOSED?! That’s amazing!”

To that revelation, Zoemi almost tripped and fell even though he wasn’t even walking.

The black-haired boy’s eyes widened and instantly shone with excitement when he fully realized what was being said and he connected the dots.

One thing for sure – he certainly hoped for a similar outcome, because he knew for sure that his father was too dense to understand any argument or declaration with less stopping power than a mace.

…and a straight-up marriage proposal was definitely on such level – if not even higher.

”Indeed. I expected you to know who that woman is – indeed, miss Rokiana Grea Perserios is the one who made such a bold move. I am glad to say that in-person she is just as formidable as all the information we have on her claimed her to be.”

Lord Espine’s smile grew even wider as he leaned forward and confirmed Zoemi’s guess while putting his elbows on the desk and resting his chin on his hands.

”…ted her…”

”…”

Mizoe muttered something that the red-haired man didn’t quite catch but what did make Zoemi freeze in place with a shocked expression.

”Hmm? Ah, yes, it’s obvious that this time he would accept her, after all, it requires a lot of courage to call out to someone like Mizoe – after all, even I sometimes get scolded by him!”

Lord Espine thought that what he managed to hear was a part of – I accepted her proposal – and ended up leaning back with a content expression while reaching towards the cupboard hosting his secret stash of sweets only to remember that it was locked by his wife.

”…”

Mizoe breathed out before straightening his back and looking at him with a serious expression.

”I rejected her.”

”…!”

The pale-blue-haired man repeated so this time even the red-haired nobleman could properly hear him.

”What…? Why would you do that? Each time you mentioned her before you seem to be favoring her greatly! Did something change…?”

Lord Espine gasped and asked the question that the frozen Zoemi also wanted to know the answer to but was too shocked to do so.

”Yes, something did. My family is making things difficult for me – and they sent me a letter explaining how things would be… I first need to be done with them to be able to live in peace.”

Mizoe nodded and declared without getting into any details.

”B-but father…! They already disinherited you! What else they can do?!”

Zoemi finally managed to shako of the initial shock and gasped.

”To me? Nothing, as I don’t hold nor seek a political career. Thankfully, once you inherit your rightful status, they would not be able to do much at all to you either… But the same cannot be said about other noble families… Perserios family is in a precarious situation right now… They are all born fighters and would surely not back down under any pressure, but if I can spare them the trouble that comes with having me – I will.”

Mizoe declared with a steely gaze that clearly showed his determination in the situation.

”…Mizoe… you say it as if you want to clear the situation with your family by yourself, but, you do know that miss Rokiana might not wait for you or rather give you a second chance after the rejection…?”

Lord Espine pointed out, getting serious again and asking calmly.

”I am not doing this because I hope she would. This is simply something that I need to do… by myself.. .after all I have already wasted enough time thinking that the current status quo was fine…”

the pale-blue-haired man nodded with the same determined expression.

”…”

Zoemi wanted to add something, but at the moment he was opening his mouth he noticed his father’s hands…

Mizoe was clenching his hands so hard that his fingernails pierced the skin of his palms and drew blood.

…the man had made his decision, and it was no one else’s business…

”I see…”

Lord Espine seemed to share the same opinion as he merely nodded and breathed out while thinking of another subject.

”Zoemi – no matter how much lord Lazaram and her majesty will try to diminish it, today’s success is all thanks to you. From my position, I can assure you that we are doing everything in our power to make the inheritance procedure go smoothly. But if there is something else that you would like me to help you with…”

The red-haired man ended up looking up at the black-haired boy and did his best to smile.

”It’s alright, my lord. I need to go now… Benevira will get worried if I don’t show up on time, especially since I was the one who gave myself the limit. Farewell. Bye, dad…”

The black-haired boy looked at him and shook his head with a sour expression and simply vanished in a flash of murky light.