Please Don’t Come To The Villainess’ Stationery Store! - Chapter 50

We sat around the round table once Carat told us to sit down.

But, even after ten minutes, Carat hesitated to speak.

‘Maybe he’s here to talk about something that’s hard to say?’

When a child is like this, the first thing to do is create a good atmosphere for talking.

‘What should we talk about?’

It was the first time I met Carat alone, so I didn’t know exactly what to talk about.

So I decided to start a light conversation by talking about what happened a while ago.

“You know, Carat, I was invited to a ball.”

Then, Carat finally spoke with a surprised face.

“Really?”

“Yeah, but a partner is a must-have. The problem is that there’s no one for me to dance with. Sad, right?”

I clenched my fists, put them around my eyes and pretended to cry.

“……”

However, Carat’s eyes, without saying a word, suddenly began to sparkle.

I asked Carat in a playful way,

“Should I go with Carat?”

Carat’s lips opened slightly.

Listening to the sound of his breathing, I continued indifferently.

“Do you happen to know any noble adults around you?”

In fact, I didn’t think Carat, a commoner, would know any male aristocrats. It was simply a moderate remark to liven up the mood.

“A noble adult?”

But Carat’s expression was the brightest one I’ve seen from him so far.

“I know a good peson to partner with! He’s a very good teacher!”

“Teacher…?”

It was a great compliment for the ice boy who often had a cold look on his face. On top of that, a teacher?

“Ung! Teacher! I’ll introduce you, he’s a great teacher!”

“Really…? Your teacher is a noble?”

I asked Carat carefully not to offend him.

The Malten family valued their lineage like an orthodox emperor. Although it was not written in the invitation that only nobles were allowed, they were people who would clearly think of it as rude to take someone who was not a nobleman.

“…yeah, probably?”

But Carat’s expression became a little blurry.

I looked at Carat.

“He must be an Academy professor.”

“Similar.”

I nodded my head.

Indeed, professors at the Academy were often buried in learning and would not know much about my notoriety.

Besides, most of them were middle and lower class aristocrats, so they never ran into me.

‘That should be fine. They won’t care much about my notoriety.’

“Thank you, Carat. Then I’ll be in your care.”

I smiled softly at Carat.

Carat clenched his fist and asked me.

“Just trust me, Mel! And I have one last question. About that cheating man, Duke Hesman.”

…You’re only talking like that to me, right?

A commoner, Carat, can’t get arrested for insulting the aristocratic, narrow-minded Lenox.

I nodded nervously.

But Carat went on without hesitation.

“Has he ever taken Mel out on a date?”

“No?”

“Has he given you flowers before?”

“Not once.”

“Has he ever taken you to a restaurant?!”

“Never.”

“Gifts!”

Ah, a gift.

I paused.

‘Come to think of it, he gave me a bracelet with a strange vibe that day.’

I put it in a bag to give it back whenever I meet him.

He used to hand me accessories all the time. They weren’t designs that ordinary aristocratic ladies would like.

If I had to say, they were like magic artifacts?

‘You must wear this bracelet.’

And if I didn’t wear the bracelet I was told to wear, there would be scolding.

Ah, of course, everything he’d given to me had been thrown away as soon as I came into this world.

“He did. He gave me something weird, so I told him to get lost…”

“Trash! Trashy bastard!”

Carat shouted with a distorted expression.

I was surprised. Carat seemed strangely more combative than before.

“I’ll come with Mr. Escorter tomorrow.”

“Okay.”

“I’ll bring a cool present too.”

“Carat is my gift.”

I patted Carat’s head and answered back lightly.

Then, the boy’s face, which resembles a fox, became more coy.

‘So he can get embarrassed.’

I patted Carat’s head and giggled.

***

That night, Carat’s letter arrived to the Tower Lord, Isaac, again.

Inside the tower was a calm darkness, and Isaac was checking his work in a neat manner as usual.

There were explosions of artifacts outside the palace, kidnappings of aristocratic children, and missing wizards.

He was too busy to open Carat’s letter, so he put it on the table.

At that time, Rasmus, who was sitting on the sofa and checking magic goods, quietly spoke.

“No matter what, I think there’s a thief.”

“Who.”

“Princess Meldenique Vaveloa! How can someone who doesn’t have mana officially present illusion magic? Do you think she hired a wizard? No, that’s weird too. How would that that person hire a great wizard?”

Rasmus spoke rapidly.

But Isaac lightly dismissed his remarks.

“There are a lot of things you don’t see in the world.”

Rasmus, who had been silent and glancing at Isaac for a while, scratched his chin and squinted.

“Rather than that…”

Isaac lifted his gaze and stared at Rasmus.

Humming. If you describe that expression, it would be ‘humming.’

Isaac looked at him with a bored face.

“What.”

“I really didn’t expect the Lord to visit the Academy again.”

“……”

“Who goes so far to catch a thief suspect?”

“I did.”

“Meldenique, she was bothering you, wasn’t she?”

Rasmus recalled Meldenique’s white complexion when she created cotton candy, and Isaac’s eyes at that time.

There must have been an ulterior motive.

“No.”

“You went there on purpose to help.”

“Not really.”

A short response again!

Rasmus slapped his neck as if he was frustrated.

Rasmus, a man who only knew how to go straight, decided to strike a final blow.

“You gave her some mana so she didn’t fail, right? You helped her!”

“If she plays with mana and it goes wild, the people who were there could have died.”

“There didn’t seem to be a lot of mana for it to go berserk… That, we don’t know ourselves as well, but if she already used the mana vessel, she already has a lot of mana.”

Ramus shook his head and briefly clicked his tongue.

“…No, so you really didn’t have any self-interest?”

“Yeah.”

It was a cold and short answer.

But the tactless Rasmus also found a smile of Isaac’s lips.

“Sigh, spring has come…”

Isaac had no intention on spending any more time on useless emotional wrangling.

He turned his head while quietly handing over the documents.

“Bring me stuff about Duke Hesman.”

“I put a watchman on him. But Lenox, he’s a little weird.”

“Why?”

“He suddenly stopped going to the information guild, he keeps looking for rivers, he doesn’t go to the tomb… and he’s still chasing after Princess Meldenique.”

Gazing at Isaac’s oddly changed look, Rasmus quickly teased him again.

“I think something’s going to happen between the two soon.”

Isaac put down the pen he was holding.

“And there was a bizarre incident.”

“Talk.”

“There was a report that a wizard who was looking for the mana vessel is missing.”

“……”

“This missing wizard is so eccentric that he often hides himself, but he disappeared near the Hesman Duchy.”

‘The wizard who was looking for the mana vessel disappeared near the suspect’s mansion?’

“That’s quite strange.”

Isaac’s hand, which was rolling the pen cap, was wonderful.
(T/N: Lol, what is this sentence. P/R: Yes, I agree. This sentence suddenly appeared in a serious conversation. Haha.)