Kays Translations

Chapter 12: A Gift Arrives at Just the Right Time

“Why? Where are you going?”

Licia hurried toward Ren, seized his arm, and looked up at him with eyes already filling with tears.

“I have been relying on your family for too long,” Ren said.

“I told you that you do not need to worry about that. Stay in the guest room.”

“I cannot. I am a member of House Ashton, and I now work for your father.”

“I do not care about that. Please go back inside.”

The first tears escaped her eyes.

Ren immediately realized that she thought he was returning to the village. Servants and knights had begun appearing in the corridor, drawn by Licia’s voice, but none interrupted.

Ren turned to a female servant nearby.

“Could you tell me how to reach the old manor?”

The servant clasped her hands with an expression of sudden understanding.

“I suspected that was Lord Lessard’s intention.”

“How did you know?”

“From your age, your behavior, and the fact that the master has wanted someone trustworthy to manage the old manor.”

Licia wiped her eyes and stared at Ren.

“The old manor? You are not going back to the village?”

“No. I should have explained before saying I was moving.”

He told her everything: he had decided to remain in Clausel at least until reconstruction was complete; Lessard had hired him as caretaker; and renting elsewhere was impractical for an eleven-year-old without his parents nearby.

“This is the first I have heard of any of it,” Licia said.

“I am sorry. Nothing had been settled until today, so I thought I should wait before telling you.”

She said nothing. Instead, she took his hand and began pulling him down the corridor.

The servant stepped forward and accepted the wooden box from Ren.

“I will carry this for you.”

“Thank you. But which way—”

The woman merely smiled and gestured after Licia.

Ren allowed himself to be led through a section of the mansion he had never visited. An old door opened onto a long, sunlit passage connecting the main residence to the former servants’ manor.

“Is that the building ahead?” he asked.

Licia remained silent.

At the far end, she placed her hand against the entrance. The door opened by itself, revealing that it was a magic tool.

The interior was far more luxurious than Ren had expected. Dust lay everywhere, but the entrance hall, stained-glass ceiling, polished woodwork, and solid furniture showed that the building had once been carefully maintained.

(This will require a great deal of cleaning.)

“Sit there,” Licia said.

She wiped the dust from one chair and sat opposite him. Morning sunlight filtered through the stained glass and illuminated her refined face, where faint tear tracks remained.

“You did all of this without telling me.”

“I was not trying to keep you in the dark.”

“I know you do not think I should decide where you live. I know I am younger and sometimes selfish. But you could have trusted me enough to talk to me.”

Her anger was directed as much at herself as at him. She did not want to control Ren or make his life difficult. She was simply hurt that he had made an important decision without consulting her.

Ren wanted to repair her mood, but no suitable words came to him.

A knock sounded at the entrance.

The same servant stood outside with a package.

“I thought this should be delivered here. It is addressed to Ren-dono.”

She glanced at Licia, then gave Ren an encouraging look before leaving.

“A package for me?”

Licia recognized the crest burned into the wooden container.

“Did you buy something from that clothing shop?”

That reminded Ren what the delivery must be. He opened the box and found the simple white one-piece dress he had chosen after his first hunt.

“If you are willing to accept it, this is for you.”

“For me?”

“It would hardly fit me.”

He unfolded the dress and held it out. Licia stared, then quietly whispered, “It’s beautiful.”

“I bought it on my way home from my first guild job. You gave me several sets of clothes, so I wanted to return the favor.”

The dress had technically become the first thing purchased with his first earnings. He had forgotten the wallet he originally intended to buy.

Licia drew the fabric against herself and buried the lower half of her face in it.

“If you dislike it, I can exchange it for something else.”

“No. I will not return it.”

She peered over the dress with shimmering eyes and tightened her grip.

“That was unfair.”

“I am sorry.”

“That is not what I mean. It was too sudden. I was not prepared at all.”

Her words sounded reproachful, but the happiness in her voice was unmistakable.

Ren relaxed.

“I am not in a better mood merely because you gave me a dress,” Licia insisted.

The joyful expression she could not conceal said otherwise.

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