"Y-Y-Young Master Vaan! I-I can tell you why Lady Seraphina ordered me to be your servant!
It is definitely something you should know!"
Just as Vaan was about to leave, Aldric shouted in desperation.
Young Master Vaan just called Lady Seraphina his enemy…
Hearing that, Aldric decided.
This was his only chance to stay alive.
He…
He would jump ships…
Vaan turned around and glanced at Aldric who still had his forehead on the floor. He observed the man for a while, and then,
"What is it?"
"She wanted me to keep an eye on you."
"That's it? That's your grand answer to save your life? Do you think this is something I cannot deduce on my own?"
Vaan questioned back.
"She asked me to report your behavior every 3 months. She seemed particularly concerned about your interest in learning magic and instructed me to report it immediately if you spend more than 2 hours reading books related to magic or engage in continuous magic study for 3 days.
It was fine if you were punished by Lady Astra, however, if you ever do it on your accord, I was told to report it to her, and every time I did report her,
Something happens and your recently grown interest in magic returns back to normal and you stop focusing on it."
"Something happens…?"
Vaan raised his eyebrow.
Seeing that Vaan was finally showing interest, Aldric's expression brightened up. He quickly raised his head and replied,
"Y-Yes, oftentimes, Lady Seraphina calls you to meet her, and since she rarely does that, you get excited and leave the house to meet her. Then when you return, you stop studying magic again and only talk about how your day with Lady Seraphina went and how if you actually tried, you might get to marry her."
"I stop pursuing my magic studies after meeting her…? Does she cast some kind of magic on me to do that…?" Vaan wondered.
"I am not there with you when the two of you are together, so I do not know much, however, I highly doubt that she can do that. First, Magic related to mind are much more complicated. Lady Seraphina, as impressive as she maybe, doesn't have the capability to use magic like that, and even if she hires someone else to do it, your mother would have noticed that by now and she and her family would have been wiped out by now."
Aldric answered.
Vaan glanced at Aldric, then, after thinking about it for a while, he questioned,
"Can you think of another such incident?"
"T-The incident of your 5 friends challenging you to a Magic Duel… it also happened after I reported Lady Seraphina about you studying magic longer than you normally do."
"So… you are telling me that me getting beaten up was arranged by Sera?"
Vaan questioned as he narrowed his eyes.
Seeing that expression, Aldric gulped again.
"I-I am not s-sure b-but that is highly l-likely." He stuttered.
"That bitch…"
Vaan cursed as he clenched his fists. Then, he took a deep breath and, sighed,
"Guess I need to fix this mess first."
Then,
"Gabel."
With a cold look on his face, he called.
Gabel quickly walked into the room.
His eyes quickly fell on Aldric, who was kneeling on the floor with bruises and cuts all over his face, then, he glanced at the broken pieces of the plate he had given to Young Master Vaan.
Gabel couldn't help but sigh,
'At least it is not the worst-case scenario, this much is still acceptable. Plus, that rude bastard needed a beating. This expression looks much better on him than the previous ones.' he thought inwardly.
"What can I help you with, Young Master Vaan?" Gable questioned with a respectful look on his face.
"The five people who attacked me, do you know about them?"
"Those five…?"
Gabel frowned. He couldn't understand why Young Master Vaan was asking about them right now.
"Give me all the details of the families these guys belong to. Their strength, their backing, the strongest person in their family, their land, their money, I need a thorough report on all this.
You have an hour."
"Huh?" Gabel frowned in confusion.
"What? Can you not do it?" Vaan questioned.
"C-Can I ask why you need that information, Young Master?"
Gabel questioned.
"There are some things I wish to know.
And I want revenge."
Vaan spoke with a cold look on his face.
Then, he turned towards Gabel and questioned again,
"Can you do it?"
"Everything you have requested will be in your hands in an hour, Young Master Vaan." Gabel bowed his head.
Vaan's aura was too overpowering, his orders… he felt like he could never refute them…
"Good." Vaan praised.
"I will go see Mother now, you two do not have to follow me.
And Aldric, I will be keeping an eye on you from now on.
You have successfully managed to hang onto your life, do not do anything foolish and ruin your efforts."
Vaan spoke as he walked out of the room.
"Y-Yes, Young Master Vaan…"
Aldric nodded even after Vaan had left the room.
"…"
Gabel glanced at Aldric, who was kneeling on the ground.
"You look different than you did in the past." He commented.
Aldric simply glanced at Gabel and, "Try going through what I did."
"Heh, you brought this upon yourself."
Gabel laughed.
"…" Aldric didn't say anything.
Gabel seemed like someone Young Master Vaan trusted, there was no reason to antagonize him.
…
On the other hand, Vaan, who was walking in the corridor smiled as the little Fairy appeared in front of his eyes again.
"Hmm? Why are you looking at me like that?" Vaan questioned with a frown on his face.
The Little Fairy, who he had barely made up, was looking at him with a wary look on her face again.
"Are you scared of what you saw?" Vaan guessed.
"…" The Fairy didn't say anything, however, Vaan understood.
"He was a bad person, he deserved it. I only beat up bad people.
Don't worry, I will never hit someone as adorably as you."
Vaan spoke as he slowly moved his index finger towards the Fairy again.
The Fairy observed him for a while, then, she decided to trust him and sat on top of Vaan's head.
"Krriiiii~"
She exclaimed.