Hearing the sudden knock, all three of them turned to the door.

The lady then looked over her shoulder, meeting eyes with Colette. That was enough for Colette to understand what her master wanted from her.

Colette walked to the door and opened it enough for her to slip outside.

As she exited the room, she saw a man wearing the military outfit of House Ravenshade’s knight order. She recognised the knight in front of her. He was the person the lady had assigned to monitor Young Master Adrian and his friend during the test the lady had given him.

’If he’s here, then...’

Colette shook her head; this was not her job.

Turning to the door, she raised her voice slightly and spoke.

"My Lady, it is the knight you had assigned to monitor Young Master Adrian during his test."

The answer came from inside soon after.

"Let him in."

Having gained permission, Colette courteously opened the door and politely gestured the knight to enter.

As the knight stepped inside, Colette, too, followed behind him as he closed the door. She returned to her previous position, standing right behind her master.

Seeing the knight, Winston turned to the lady.

"If there is nothing else, may I take my leave now, Duchess? Because it seems that you have other matters to tend to."

The lady answered with only a light nod. Seeing her nod, the butler offered her a small bow before opening the door and walking out of the office.

As the door shut once again, Colette saw her master smile with an amused expression as she supported her chin with a hand.

"Now then, seeing as you are here before the sun sets completely, it probably means Adi passed the test I had given him. Though I don’t see him anywhere."

The knight cleared his throat with a cough as he took something out of his military coat and put it on the table in front of the lady.

As Colette focused a bit, she saw several silver coins and a few copper ones now lying on the table. The knight spoke after offering a small bow.

"I recovered this from a guard who was assigned to guard the entrance. Apparently, Young Master Adrian had given these thousand lux worth of coins and ordered him to deliver them to you, My Lady."

As the knight finished speaking, Colette heard a sigh coming from the lady’s mouth.

"So the boy didn’t even feel the need to give them to me personally, huh?"

’Oh no, Young Master Adrian might get in trouble at this rate.’

Even though she knew it was rude, Colette opened her mouth and hurriedly spoke.

"My Lady, Young Master Adrian is still only ten, no more than a child. I’m sure he was feeling extremely tired when he returned after finishing the test. That was most likely the reason he didn’t give these coins to you personally."

Saying all that in one breath, she looked at the knight and signaled with her eyes, asking for cooperation.

As if understanding her signal, the knight also opened his mouth, following up.

"Your maid is absolutely correct, Young Master Adrian is sitting under a tree right now with his eyes closed. He really must be exhausted."

As he finished, the two of them went quiet, waiting for her reaction. Her master had a frown on her face.

"The two of you must think I am stupid."

Colette felt her heartbeat quicken as she hurriedly explained.

"N-No! That’s not—"

But she was cut off.

"Do you think I can’t figure out that simple fact myself? That was just a casual remark I made; I didn’t really mean it."

Both of them lowered their heads as their expressions turned awkward.

’Ah, I messed up.’

Perhaps this was why reading the room was important; no wonder Winston always did that after speaking. Perhaps she would need to ask for his advice.

"Anyways, back to the matter at hand. It is time you report everything you saw. Don’t leave anything out. I wish to know every single detail."

The knight bowed once again and started explaining.

But as he continued, Colette’s mouth unconsciously hung open, getting wider the longer the knight continued speaking.

Soon, he neared the end.

"—I would like to add that I am unsure how much of it was orchestrated by Young Master Adrian. This is everything."

And silence.

It wasn’t only Colette, her master was also silent. She was unsure what expression the lady was making since it was hard to see her face from behind. But the knight seemed to have seen it, which caused his own expression to twist strangely.

Suddenly, Colette heard laughter.

"Ha... haha... hahahah—

The laughter gradually grew louder.

—hahaHAHAHAHAHAH!!"

Both of them tensed slightly as they watched the lady laugh maniacally. After some time, the laughter slowly died down, and the lady returned to her usual calm self. But there was still a lingering smile on her face.

"I have seen him do absurd things time after time, and I have gotten somewhat used to it by now. But after hearing how he earned these thousand lux, I have a hard time believing that all those things were done by a child no older than ten."

Colette couldn’t agree more.

’This is simply on another level.’

The method he had used to solve the problem was not something a child could possibly think of. To come up with something like that, one would need a very deep understanding of human nature.

Young Master Adrian had barely interacted with even the people in the mansion. For him to have come up with such a plan... it was simply unthinkable.

That wasn’t all. The plan might not seem all that complicated on the surface, but to execute it so perfectly and take advantage of the situation so completely, Young Master Adrian had to have been aware of all the details surrounding that conflict.

’Seriously, just how much does he know...’

She had always had this feeling, but now more strongly than ever, Colette felt that she couldn’t measure that young boy.

The lady picked up the coins lying on the table and looked at them.

"To be honest, even I would not have thought of the method he used to earn these coins had I been given the same test. Looks like I will have to reevaluate Adi."

’This revaluation would probably be significantly different than the previous ones.’

The reason her master made Young Master Adrian take these tests was to make sure he developed the way she intended. According to her, at least.

But Colette suspected that it was only half the reason.

Another reason was probably to figure out the range and extent of his abilities. That was probably why her master increased the difficulty of the test each time.

Young Master Adrian was a mystery to everyone. Even his personal maid, Rue, who had spent the most time with him, understood very little about him.

He never showed the desire to get close to anyone, even the lady, who was his mother, or his siblings. It was as though he didn’t care about anyone.

And no one knew the reason.

’But I’m not really sure there is any point in figuring him out. The more we get to know about him, the stranger he seems.’

Suddenly, her master leaned back in her chair. Her face had a look of contemplation. Her smile from before was now gone.

The two of them remained quiet so as not to disturb her.

After a while, her eyes gained clarity as she turned to the knight.

"You did well, you may go now. Also, send Joran Ashfeld. I need him here as soon as possible."

The knight seemed confused at the mention of Joran Ashfeld, but still nodded. He left after offering her a light bow.

As he left, the room turned quiet. They both waited patiently for Joran’s arrival. But suddenly, her master turned to her, meeting her gaze. The lady smiled and asked her a question.

"Colette, what do you think is the essence of an individual’s growth? What is the most important factor that induces growth?"

Colette was somewhat taken aback by that question. After all, her master wasn’t one to engage in idle chatter.

Then she focused on the question itself.

’The most important factor that induces growth...’

There could be many answers to this question depending on how she thought about it. It was not a question that had a universally correct answer.

The answer would depend largely on which direction the thoughts went.

On one hand, she could say that it was the person themselves. They were the ones who needed to grow, so how could anything be more important?

On the other hand, it was all about wisdom. The church preached very highly that the essence of growth was wisdom.

But if she had to give her own answer...

’It’s the desire for growth. There can be no growth without it.’

Just then, a knock was heard on the door, signaling Joran’s arrival.