With Miriette's great escape, only Zoemi's father and her father stayed in the black-haired boy's room.
"Son, I'll bring you something to eat soon. Why don't you try to get some more rest, for now, your body surely needs to rest after all that..."
"Okay..."
Mizoe smiled weakly while tucking his confused son in and Zoemi nodded before obediently closing his eyes.
"Well... I was here to get my daughter anyway... Mizoe, let's not bother your boy, come with me.
"Thank you for your concern, my lord. At once."
When both men agreed and left the room, the duke reached out his hand - stopping the surprised knight - and tilted his head towards him in a conspicuous way.
"That thing about your son being the attendant of my daughter..."
Lord Epsine spoke up, looking at the pale-blue-haired knight with a serious yet warm expression.
"My lord...?"
Mizoe straightened his back in preparation for whatever the duke would say.
"I like his character. Send him to the head-butler as soon as his wounds heal. All students of the Aspakeony Academy can only take one servant with them and I want him to be able to cater to my daughter's every need when the time comes."
"M-my lord...!
Mizoe gasped in awe and hurriedly kneeled on one knee.
"Treasure that boy, Mizoe, people with conviction like his are far and few between."
The red-haired duke nodded benevolently and began walking, leaving the knight behind.
"Thank you, master!"
Mizoe called out after him and did not stand up until he heard the sound of the duke's footsteps fade.
---
Three weeks have passed and Zoemi's wounds are healed completely.
Well, almost.
With the lack of healing magic in the world, even the light wounds could leave a scar – and it was a certainty for the severe ones...
The flames left almost no scars except for a change in pigmentation on the black-haired boy's body – the places where the flame scalded his flesh through his clothes before he could take them off were now darkish pink spots all over his torso and legs.
Unfortunately – those weren't the spots with the most serious damage...
By far the worst wound, the one on his face, was a bit a different thing altogether.
Someone with an extremely optimistic outlook on the world could say that nearly one-third of the boy's face had healed but it looked way worse than the other two-thirds...
Zoemi's right side of the face – right below his eye - has melted into a peculiar spiral pattern that was bumpy and uneven to touch and the ear that got hit wasn't any better.
It became a lot smaller than originally and was now a bit pointy.
If a mythical fairy or elf got its ear horribly scalded it would look just like the black-haired boy's right ear.
Zoemi was never a vain person who cared about his looks over anything else, but each time he was forced to face the mirror after the bandages were taken off, he would touch his face and compare the smooth left side to the rough right side and sigh clenching his fists.
Will I be hated now? What noble would want a hideous servant like me around them...? Will father cast me aside....? Will Miriette be too disgusted to look at me...?|
The scarred boy would think to himself and dread the interaction with others.
But soon enough, he learned how wrong that dark thought was!
If anything - everyone in the duke's household started treating him far better than ever before!
Even lady Miriette would often visit him and she seemed to not mind his scar at all!
He certainly didn't have to fear being cast aside either, as the healthier he got, the more responsibilities were entrusted to him.
One day after finishing helping out with the laundry, Zoemi was told that he'll become the attendant of the little lady Miriette and would go with her to the Aspakeony Academy.
Things couldn't have been better!
Zoemi was worried about how would he be able to interfere with the scripted events taking place in the Academy where the vast majority of the story was taking place and where the events that would lead Miriette to her tragic end would happen.
Normally he wouldn't be able to attend that school, even though he got adopted into a noble family because he couldn't use magic.
A qualified person was even called to check on Zoemi's magical potential and found out that the boy's mana reserves are below even the commoners!
There was no reason to check for the affinity with the six attributes, someone with such low mana would simply never awaken.... though the person checking commented that maybe it was for the better since the jet-black hair and dark eyes that sometimes seemed dead and didn't properly reflect light did not leave much to the imagination in terms of which attribute would it be.
But!
As an attendant, the black-haired boy could get inside the Academy and watch over Miriette and Horeo relationship without causing any commotion!
Therefore, the black-haired boy would continue the sword practice with his father in the morning, eat breakfast, then Miriette often dragged him with her to eat it with her parents, after which he would go to the main butler and learn how to do all the household chores like cleaning, cooking, doing the dishes, washing clothes - even the duke's family undergarments - learning how to assist in dressing up for a special occasion, and many more – all the way until dinner.
Then all the way up until supper he would be allowed to play with Miriette in the gardens, and then, before sleep - he would be learning the basic knowledge so he wouldn't bring shame to Miriette with his manners when they would leave to the Academy at the age of fifteen.
---
One day, worried Zoemi realized that the prince hasn't been visiting Miriette all that much... It's been some time already since his last visit...
That made the black-haired boy anxious...
Could it be that the prince had stopped liking his fiancé for some reason...?!
Although that might have been an option – as much as Zoemi dreaded it – there was another possibility – thankfully.
The thing was, young Miriette fell ill a week before and was in no condition to have any guest – even Zoemi was told to keep away from her.
The black-haired boy was worried about her even more than about the lack of interest from the prince but he couldn't do anything about it.
The duke had already called the best medics and the little lady herself forbade Zoemi from entering her room.
Hence - the same was most likely said to the young first prince.