Meanwhile, when Selina saw the cart, she could not hide her astonishment.

“So... you’re planning to buy teleportation portals with all of this?”

“Mm-hmm! Selina will give a friendly sale.”

“But I didn’t think you would buy so many...”

“Oh... so we can’t buy a lot...?”

Selina shook her head.

“No. Just in case, I’ll ask my parents. There’s a communication artifact on the second floor.”

“A communication artifact?”

Bale stepped in.

“You have a communication artifact in your house?”

Selina nodded.

Bale involuntarily raised his eyes toward the railing of the second floor.

People called them upstarts, but Selina’s house truly was filled with luxury and expensive items.

But to even have a communication artifact.

In Tallocium, communication artifacts were expensive and rare.

Even using them required authorization, so for ordinary people they were almost inaccessible.

“And how did they get authorization? They say without connections to the Imperial Palace you couldn’t get it even after death.”

“I don’t know. They probably paid.”

Shrugging, Selina added:

“My parents have a lot of money. Anyway, this way.”

Selina began climbing the stairs, and Tie hurried after her.

Lucarion and Pupu, as if they had been waiting, also went up.

Watching the children disappear upstairs, Bale slowly surveyed the first floor of the mansion.

The cart stood before the staircase.

At the same time, he felt strange gazes on him.

‘What is this. The atmosphere is suspicious.’

A crooked smile formed on Bale’s ❀ Nоvеlігht ❀ (Don’t copy, read here) lips.

Three in the kitchen, two in the basement.

One standing near the entrance, someone else in the backyard.

Although a single girl lived here without her parents, there were more than nine servants in the mansion.

And none of them, as far as Bale could tell, had a normal expression.

All had dull, fishlike eyes, and they looked at their young mistress as if she were a burden.

What he had seen upon entering was telling.

“Ah, how exhausting, why does she suddenly want breakfast! Let her handle it herself and eat.”

Remembering the woman who had spoken so brazenly without fear of being overheard, Bale became even more interested.

“That’s why children need their parents nearby.”

He murmured softly and approached the cart.

He lightly lifted one sack of gold coins and set it back down, then went upstairs.

“Selina, who are those people in aprons?”

Tie asked as they entered the room with the communication artifact.

Selina widened her eyes and, for some reason, looked away.

“T-they’re servants who work in the house.”

“Servants?”

“People who clean and cook. I told you yesterday, didn’t I? My parents are often on business trips, so I live alone.”

Tie nodded.

Selina’s parents owned enormous trading companies.

So they were absent from home more often than present.

And yesterday, when Tie asked how she had been living all this time, Selina had answered weakly.

“Just at home.”

“Alone? Then how do you eat? Children can’t just eat fried eggs and noodles, you have to eat a little of everything...!”

“I don’t know. I don’t cook.”

“Then?”

“There are people in the house who cook. They also clean and send me to the academy every morning...”

But despite her words, Selina’s expression had been very gloomy.

Just yesterday, while playing squirrels with corn, she had been a happy squirrel.

Now she looked like a squirrel whose acorns had all been taken away.

Tie remembered yesterday and silently watched Selina operating the communication artifact.

Suddenly Selina turned her head awkwardly.

“I haven’t used it in a while. It takes time to turn on. We’ll have to wait.”

Tie waved her hands as if to say it was fine.

“Mm-hmm!”

And she said to Lucarion beside her:

“Kkamani, let’s wait a little!”

“...As long as you like.”

Selina moved closer and secretly glanced at Lucarion.

“And who is this young master?”

“Young master?”

Tie’s mouth opened slightly.

But soon a thought came to her.

Young lady and young master both start with young.

So young master must be like young lady!

Satisfied with her deduction, Tie replied:

“Mm-hmm, Kkamani young master is Tie’s friend! Say hello!”

Selina nodded shyly.

Then she asked:

“But how did you end up with this young master so early in the morning?”

Tie giggled.

“Mm-hmm, we live together!”

“Really?”

Curiosity appeared on Selina’s face.

Her eyes lit up.

“I didn’t know, Tie is amazing. You already have a political marriage partner.”

“Politi...?”

Tie looked at Lucarion.

But Lucarion only frowned and said nothing.

Selina laughed.

“It’s nothing. I heard they do that in Rosevabelle. Engagements from infancy.”

“Engagement...?”

Tie’s face grew even more confused.

What was that supposed to be? It wasn’t cognac.

And Lucarion beside her only sighed, which made her even more curious.

In the end Tie spoke:

“Tie doesn’t know what engagement is. But Tie lives with Lucarion not because of engagement, but because Tie is a mercen—”

At that moment.

Grrrrrrrr—

A loud sound rolled through the room, and Selina’s face turned red.

“That’s...”

Grrrrrr—

This time it was Tie’s stomach.

At that moment Bale slowly appeared in the doorway.

“Shouldn’t you both eat something? The communication artifact won’t be ready anytime soon.”

Selina, frozen, quickly nodded. 𝐟𝕣𝗲𝕖𝕨𝗲𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝗲𝚕.𝗰𝚘𝐦

After going down to the dining room, Tie sat at the table and swung her legs.

In the visible kitchen, those same servants were moving about.

“Why is this so dirty? Didn’t you wash it?”

“Ugh, we usually wash in the morning! If I’d known this would happen, I would’ve washed yesterday. She suddenly comes with a pile of things and demands food...”

Tie tilted her head.

They were supposed to be people who took care of Selina.

But their voices did not sound kind or gentle at all.

Across from her, Selina lowered her head again.

And then.

“They say she’s an aristocrat?”

“No, those are the commoners from the house across the street.”

The kitchen voices, which had been barely audible, suddenly became perfectly clear.

Turning her head, Tie saw a transparent tube stretching from Lucarion’s fingertips toward the kitchen.

Through it, the servants’ conversation sounded even clearer.

“And why is that tin can playing with people like that? If the baron and baroness find out, they’ll faint. They sent her to the Imperial Academy after all...”

“Shh! What if they hear?”

“They’re commoners. Even if they hear, so what? And they won’t hear anyway.”

“Is that so? But did you see that cart? They’ve got tons of money... Maybe she’s an illegitimate aristocrat’s daughter?”

“Who knows, what’s it to us. Later the housekeeper and the gold— No, we’ll talk later. Bring it quickly.”

The kitchen became busier.

Two servants approached Tie and Selina.

With a clatter, they placed plates before them.

Tie looked down and her eyes widened.

‘This is...’

Black, burnt bacon.

Bread that looked moldy.

Butter with someone’s leftover seasoning mixed in.

Bale shot the servants a hard look, but they only smirked.

“It’s a bit modest. We didn’t know you were coming, so breakfast wasn’t prepared.”

At that moment.

A wave of magic burst out from Tie’s body—boom.

And—

“Well, even if we serve it like this, the foolish miss will eat it, won’t she? She’s got a dark temperament, she won’t tell the baron and baroness. If she doesn’t eat what we give her, what can she do?”

The servant who had suddenly blurted out his true thoughts froze in place.

“Ah—”

He abruptly clapped a hand over his mouth.