"You serve a very unique family, Mr. Butler."
Alice started speaking to Kevin as he was showing them to their rooms once again. Ale somehow managed to persuade them to stay at the duchy for the night once again.
"Yes. And I'm truly grateful for having the chance to serve them."
Kevin smiled wholeheartedly as he replied to Alice.
"I've never seen a noble family like this before."
"I know right? I thought it was just Ale at first, but today's incident changed my mind."
Even Rob and Stuart showed interest in their conversation and joined in. Ash was busy checking out their surroundings, although nobody knew why.
"It wasn't always like this though."
Kevin started sharing the history of the Ducal family as they all slowed down their walk. It served as a tour to the mansion as well.
"Wasn't like this?"
Rudy also showed his interest since it was a chance to know more about Ale.
"Yes. In the past, the death of the Duchess brought great sorrow upon this family. The Duke didn't leave his office, and his two children grew up under the servants care."
"Really? Unbelievable."
Rob couldn't even begin to imagine this bright and jolly mansion being gloomy and dark. It was too out of place.
"Yes. Everything started to change three years ago, when young master finally decided to break the ice and open the gates again."
"Ale did that? Wasn't he also a child back then?"
"Yes. Yet, that child managed to pull his father out of his sorrow and help not just his own family, but also save countless people of the duchy."
"Save the people of the duchy?"
Everyone wondered what Kevin was talking about. Even for someone who was blinded by love and respect for their master, using this type of sentence would be considered more than an exaggeration.
"I know it sounds unbelievable, but not only did he save us from a disease outbreak, there was also the drought, and then the problem with the bandits."
"Disease outbreak?"
"Drought?"
"Bandits?"
"Yes. And these are just some of the the major issues. There were countless minor issues and problems that he solved in the span of three years."
"He did all that? By himself?"
"I mean, we already know that he's talented and smart, but still.. "
"And he was just a kid.."
Their heart grew heavy as they thought about all the difficulties Ale had to go through to reach the point where he was today. A kid who hadn't even entered society yet, managed to preserve the safety of an entire duchy.
"But.. if he did all that, why is he not the heir?"
A question that popped up in their mind every so often, just why in the world is someone as talented and charming as Ale not the heir? It didn't make sense. If anything, he deserves to be the master of this duchy more than anyone.
"I can understand where you're coming from. Even I myself had the same thought."
Kevin agreed with their confusion and question. Anyone who knew Ale personally or at least knew about the things he had achieved would ask the same question.
"Do you know the reason? Can you tell us why?"
"Just like you guys, one day, I also couldn't suppress my curiosity any longer and asked the young master. Can you guys guess what he said to me?"
"..."
Everyone remained silent, wondering what kind of gut-wrenching story would come out of Kevin's mouth next. For something like this to happen, there had to be a dark backstory, or so they thought as they clenched their fists.
"Isn't it such a pain? Managing a duchy?"
Kevin mimicked Ale's voice and spoke word by word what he had heard that day.
"A... what? Sorry?"
The others looked at him, confused. He nodded his head as if to show his agreement with their confusion. If there was a mirror that day and he could check his own face, Kevin was sure that he'd have had the same expression as them back then.
"He found it bothersome, paperworks, and managing the duchy."
Kevin laughed as he unlocked their doors one by one. The others were so hooked in his story that they even failed to notice that they reached their rooms. But the ending of that story really wasn't what they expected at all.
"He really said that?"
"Isn't that just an excuse? How could that be a reason to give up his position as the heir to a duchy?"
"Unbelievable."
While Rob, Alice and Ash showed their disbelief, Rudy took a moment to himself, thinking about all this time he spent with Ale. Looking back on Ale's actions and words, there was only one conclusion he could come up with.
"That actually sounds like Ale."
He could tell. The Ale that mingled with the commoner kids like he was one of them, the Ale that felt anger towards the authorities who didn't do their job properly, the Ale that couldn't handle compliments, the Ale that jumped into the ocean to deal with the disaster, the Ale that showed no interest in the treasures of a Dragon's lair, he had seen many sides of Ale during their short time together.
And the Ale that he came to know through all this was definitely capable of saying something like 'What a pain' and refuse to become the Duke of a Duchy. If was definitely possible.
While they all pondered over Rudy's words as they settled into their rooms, Ale at that moment was facing his father and brother's array of questioning in the Duke's office.
"Are you okay? You didn't get hurt anywhere, did you?"
"No, I didn't get hurt, father."
The Duke asked, his eyes as sharp as a hunter, searching for even the tiniest amount of scratch on Ale's body.
"Did you lose weight? Why do you look so skinny?"
"I've actually gained half a pound cause the foods were so tasty."
As they checked Ale out from head to toe, searching for any abnormalities, Ale had to go through this for half an hour. Their excessive worry always made him fearful.
"Also, I'm here to discuss an urgent matter with you two."
Ale finally managed to evade their questions and change the topic. The reason why he didn't return to his room and was in his father's office instead, that reason peaked it's head out from inside Ale's bag as soon as Ale gave the signal.
"As you can see, it's a matter of utmost importance."
The baby dragon came out from his bag and jumped on top of the Duke's table as it fluttered its wings.
"A... A.. a d-dra-!!!"
"I-is that-! Really ?! a dragon?"
The two of them were in awe and left speechless at Ale's nonchalant behavior and the presence of a living, breathing dragon in front of them. This was the normal reaction.
This jaw dropping, glass shattering reaction is what would be considered normal, unlike the nonchalant attitude that Ale, Rudy and their party has been showing till now.
"Yes. It's a baby dragon that just hatched."
"A-a-a baby DRAGON?!"
"B-BROTHER?!? where did you find this-it-them-! This ! The dragon! Where?!"
The Duke and his youngest son were still having a hard time believing that there was a living, breathing dragon in front of them. And the fact that their son was behaving so calmly was not helping at all.
"I picked it up. And.. was wondering if I can keep it..?"
Ale, on the other hand, was acting like a kid who had just picked up a puppy from the roadside, brought it home and was asking for permission from his parents so he could keep it.
'Keep what? A frigging DRAGON? As a pet?'
That thought went through both his father and his brother's mind at that point, but they were simply too shocked to utter anything on the surface.