Surviving As An Obsessive Servant

Manellano turned his attention to the nearby gatekeepers and butlers with his beautiful lips raised.

At the same time, he looked at their confused faces as if he were enjoying them—. He did this on purpose because he was sneaky.

If I said no, I knew they would tell people that the Young Master was a nobleman who didn’t greet guests because he was taking a nap.

I sighed inwardly and, at the same time, smiled kindly on the outside.

“Rather than taking a nap, he should take his medicine and rest now. As soon as he feels better, he is expected to focus on his studies.”

I couldn’t openly say it was nap time like before, so I changed my words a bit.

Then Manelano laughed as if he could see my insides very clearly.

It seemed like a sneer. Anyway, it’s been a while, so why don’t you go?

‘Anyway, it is not polite to do this in front of guests.’

The butler was standing by and watching. He knew how powerful the Stell family was, so he seemed to want to stop the fight and bring him into the drawing-room.

But then, Manellano turned his head back.

“Oh, just in time.”

…Who else did you bring?

I turned my head too. Then, in the distance, I saw a long line of carriages.

Each of them had an ice pattern symbolizing the Stell family.

At that time, I remembered an episode I had forgotten.

So—it was one of the things that Manellano, who belatedly recognized his feelings, did to Edric.

Gift attacks.

“Can a guest come empty-handed?”

… As expected. 

Manellano is from the Northern Counts, and the Stells family is rich and owns all of the best mana stones in the Empire.

People even joked that they could buy the Emperor’s castle if he were willing to sell it.

So, to win people’s hearts, it also meant that there was no way he would refuse to pay. To have a lot of money—I’m so jealous.

In fact, when it comes to Manellano, money is not an issue.

Since so many people are watching, rumors will spread quickly in the capital by tomorrow.

‘Well, Stell’s successor bowed his head to Denkart’s heir, and these provocative rumors will come and go.’

Manellano, who was born a wolf pup, is not an idiot, and there is no way he wouldn’t know that.

But he’s desperate enough to live with it—. No, was it passionate?

‘This… It would have been quite a shock….’

But I looked up at him, whose heart was about to break, with a sad face.

This kind of personality especially can’t stand his failure…He’s not going to retaliate against our Young Master, is he?

I shook a handful of pity and looked at him with wary eyes.

But then, Manelano smiled pleasantly.

“Take it.”

He had a sweet voice that seemed to give away everything he had.

*****

Edric closed the book he had read.

During the whole reading, he didn’t need any help from Lobel. He almost knew everything in Denkart’s old new book, which he got from the butler during the day.

Compared to before, it was a great improvement.

And there was another improvement.

‘….’

Edric looked down as he fiddled with the thick leather book cover.

He was learning how to use a sword like a knight and also how to use a sword like a mercenary.

Thanks to that, his weak hands were taking the form of a warrior. 

The blisters that had formed on the insides of his hands and on the tips of his fingers had burst or hardened into calluses. 

At first, it was strange and hurt, but now he was proud of it, just like when he got his first medal.

Still, he was still trying to hide it from Lobel.

‘…I’m sure Lobel will be more worried than I am if he finds out.’

As he clenched his rough fist and opened it with a sad feeling, a boy suddenly came to mind.

Manellano Stell.

To be precise, he remembered the day he had a brief handshake with him.

He had to keep wiping his hands because it was so unpleasant, but that rough and strong feeling stayed with him for a long time.

‘…He was also a natural warrior.’

After Flower Day, Lobel briefly explained about the aristocratic boys he visited.

But Edric was second to the others, and Manellano was quite annoying.

It is still the same now.

Just thinking about it quickly made him feel bad.

He hadn’t yet gotten used to life in the capital, so he didn’t want to see him.

‘…But he’s one of the leading nobles, so I can’t help it.’

Even though he hates it, he sent out an invitation letter to this reading session.

At that time, it was comforting to see Lobel look tired of him.

‘I don’t know this time, but next time everything gets better, and we meet—’

He needed to punch him in front of Lobel.

As he thought about it, his hands itched like crazy.

“Crimson.” 

“…Uh. Y, yes. Young Master.” 

Crimson, who was dozing off in a chair when he got back, raised his head.

“Let’s go to the training ground.” 

At those words, Crimson took out the key from his arms and remembered the expression on the butler’s face which gave it to him.

Maybe the boy who likes knights wants to watch swordsmanship, but it won’t take long, so he just gives him the key with an indifferent face.

At first, even Crimson thought so.

But now, he thinks completely differently. Because even though he couldn’t move, the Young Master tried to learn how to use the sword somehow.

Even though he was in bad shape, he was impressed by how hard he worked on a hard subject.

So he had no idea he was more worried about that. 

“Where’s Lobel?”

Edric’s calm face made it look like he wondered why Lobel didn’t prepare for the reading session.

Crimson, who was about to tell the truth, immediately bit his mouth. 

This is because the face of Lobel, who asked him not to tell the Young Master that he was there, seemed to overlap.

“Why can’t you answer me?”

“That, Lobel must have gotten sick from eating something in a hurry.”

Crimson came up with a line of excuses belatedly.

“I saw him walking in and out of the toilet. So I told him to take a break.”

“Shouldn’t we call a doctor then? What about the medicine???”

“Of course, I told him to take it. He will take care of himself.”

Crimson kept telling a lie because he thought the Young Master, who never took his own medicine, had changed a lot.

“Isn’t he the kind of guy who takes care of himself? He’s good at even licking things that fall on the floor.”

“…Does Lobel lick something that fell on the floor?”

“Ehem. It’s not like that. Anyway, let’s go to the training ground!” 

Crimson, who coughed loudly, quickly pushed the wheelchair.

Edric, who looked at him with suspicious eyes, stood up with his arms on the sofa.

Now, standing like this for a while was easy enough.

As he pushed the wheelchair out, Wayne, who was waiting in the hallway, said he would pick him up.

Edric said bluntly, without even looking at him.

“You don’t have to follow me.” 

“Yes, Young Master. I will wait here.”

Wayne calmly responded to the Young Master’s refusal and quietly stood in front of the door.

There were no signs that he was disappointed or embarrassed by himself, so Edric felt better in his heart.

‘If you have that kind of personality, you won’t mistreat Lobel.’

Actually, he was kind of worried.

He won’t have a bad relationship with anyone because Lobel, unlike himself, is quite sociable.

Only Arif followed Edric in such a wheelchair and Crimson who pushed him.

Crimson, who was pushing the wheelchair, suddenly stopped and immediately pushed again.

Feeling strange, Edric instinctively turned his head.

‘….!’

Then, a scene that should never be seen from afar came into his eyes.

Manellano’s hands were still around Lobel’s shoulders, just like before.

A spark flashed in Edric’s eyes.

“Stop!”

Crack!

And as soon as the command was done, there was a strange sound.

…Huh? 

Crimson’s eyes, which stopped reflexively and looked down, grew so large that they couldn’t get any bigger.

Edric jumped out of his wheelchair.

But the wheelchair handle he caught was broken in half.

******

The bridge of love…

Manellano’s tactics are still quite classic.

To win over the Young Master’s heart, he’s trying to buy my favor as the servant—.

“One belongs to the Young Master, and the rest are all yours.”

He was very happy, as if he thought I would take the bribe.

Still, I don’t know about the Crown Prince, but I have no intention of playing the role of Ojakgyo for this guy. (t/n: Ojakgyo refers to the bridge that birds make once a year to connect the male and female main characters in Korean traditional fairy tale.)

“Thank you, but… I hope you don’t mean to put me in trouble.”

Manellano’s face was twisted when he heard what I had to say.

Yeah. The nobles have a room where they can store gifts like that, but I’ve been given a room that I share with Rimson Hyung.

When I asked where I should put this gift with my eyes, his handsome eyebrows furrowed.

Maybe he bought it in a hurry because he was busy, and Manelano seemed to have remembered it belatedly.

“…My thoughts were short.”

Well, then there’s only one thing I’m gonna say here.

A polite refusal.

As usual, I was about to say, “I will only be thankful with my heart,” but Manellano took the lead first.

“Let them be kept in our Stell. So whenever you want, take one out and take it with you.”

“….”

“Well? Surely you are not trying to ignore the sincerity of the person who gave it to you, right Lobel?”

…As the word continued, I couldn’t refuse right away without checking what it was.

It also means ignoring the Count’s son, Manellano himself.

‘And it’s not good to get more attention here—’

Being aware of the butlers and servants around me, I had no choice but to nod my head heavily.

Above all else, I didn’t know what else Manellano would do if I took more time.

Manellano, who was looking at the pocket watch, raised his head as if he was in a hurry.

Then he suddenly laughed.

“Ha. It’s fun.” 

…Why is he laughing all of a sudden? As expected, he’s crazy punk, right?

I looked at him strangely, but he skillfully put his arms around my shoulders.

It was a strong physical contact that even close friends wouldn’t be able to handle well.

‘….Still, we’re not friends, right?’

When he caught me out of nowhere, I looked up at Manellano in surprise.

‘…Did you really try to get close to me because of Young Master?’

But the smile, which had seemed a little rotten before, looked really bright now.

So it made me feel weird. Something makes me anxious

However, there was something else that caught my eye.

‘…Is he taller than before?’

I thought, for some reason, that the height of the gaze had gotten higher, but it was actually true. 

In a few months, not only did the Young Master get bigger, but Manellano also grew taller a bit.

He was already tall and had a great physique, so he seemed like the perfect man from behind.

Manellano, who was clearly bigger than before, patted my shoulder as he held me.

“See you soon, Lobel.”