The Guardian Knight of Affection-Starved Young Ladies

96 – Plache (03)

097.

Except for the royal family, who have more money than they can ever spend, who is the richest in the empire?

The first thing that comes to mind is naturally the names of the five great families of the empire or other top noble families.

After all, they have wealth and status that anyone would envy.

But if you ask whether all commoners are poor, it’s hard to affirm that question entirely.

There are certainly commoners who surpass the Dranus family, which recently revived after losing power, or the Hyat family, which is far from wealth or status.

Of course, these are very rare cases and not very realistic.

Lyle Trading Company.

Starting as a commoner, it proudly took a place among the two major trading companies of the empire.

Its history is not that long, but.

Lyle Trading Company had enough money to overlook even such a short history.

Today, almost all essential items for living, such as miscellaneous goods, raw materials, crops, or other trivial things, pass through Lyle Trading Company.

Recently, it has shown interest in information and theater troupes, and is evaluated to have surpassed the other major trading company, Detre Trading Company.

And the great ninth head of Lyle Trading Company, Flaver Lyle, is said to have a natural talent for sniffing out money.

Whenever something looks profitable or involves a large amount of money, Flaver Lyle is always involved.

He not only successfully inherited Lyle Trading Company but also led it to a higher level.

Flaver Lyle was an extraordinary person, enough to justify the public’s evaluation.

However, Flaver Lyle was not satisfied with just that.

His obsession with ‘noble blood’ was evident from the moment he became the head of the trading company.

While handling enormous amounts of money that ordinary people could never touch in their lifetime.

He always desired noble blood, a sacred lineage.

Starting with a small rural baron’s family, Flaver Lyle finally succeeded in marrying his daughter to the head of one of the four great families.

Thus, the union of the four great families and the two major trading companies was achieved.

Now, no more gossipers consider Detre Trading Company higher than Lyle Trading Company.

And now, inside a luxurious office of the Plache family, which has become one of the five great families.

An old man, adorned with all sorts of ornaments, was standing with his hands behind his back, gazing out the window.

“So. Did you go inside just like that?”

“Yes.”

“Hmm.”

Across the large desk.

The man he had seen before was also kneeling with his head bowed.

The old man, Flaver Lyle, who was looking out the window, stroked his neat chin.

Since becoming the head of the merchant guild, he had shaved off his messy beard, but it was a habit that remained.

“Is there a reason you didn’t follow?”

“…The spray of water obstructed my view. I followed them briefly at the entrance, but I lost them because I couldn’t secure my sight.”

“Hmm.”

The man’s voice was truly apologetic.

“Alright. If it’s you, not anyone else, I understand. I’ve heard about the Latia Falls, so I get it.”

“…Thank you, guild master.”

“But this is a different matter. Did you find out why they went there?”

Although Flaver Lyle’s gaze was still directed out the window, the man could tell.

He knew that his mood was very uncomfortable right now.

After taking a moment to catch his breath, the man answered cautiously.

“…It seems they went to bury the former mistress of the Flache family.”

There was no response from Flaver Lyle.

Knowing that this meant to continue, the man steadied his pounding heart and went on.

“Before disappearing into the spray, I heard them say they were holding a funeral for the mother. They brought the boy for that purpose, and it seems they plan to leave the family after finishing the task.”

He didn’t hear much that could be considered an answer.

Following the two of them had involved considerable risk.

The kneeling man recalled that time.

The time he had almost been caught while following them inadvertently.

The boy.

The boy was in danger.

The young lady of Flache was nothing special, but the boy was different.

Even though he kept a much greater distance than when tailing others, there were several times he had almost been caught.

For that reason, I could barely overhear the conversation they had just before they entered the spray of water.

The man tightly closed his eyes, and only then did Flaver Lyle, who had turned around, open his mouth.

“Yes. You’ve done well.”

How did he take the man’s reaction?

Flaver Lyle nodded with a complicated expression, then picked up a piece of jerky from the plate on the desk and threw it to the man.

“It’s a reward.”

“Thank you.”

The man picked up the jerky as if he was grateful.

It looked so familiar.

“Prepare the children.”

Flaver Lyle’s words after confirming the man had finished eating the jerky.

The man paused for a moment, swallowed all the jerky, and then nodded.

“…How should I scale it?”

“Hmm. Hmm. It would be difficult to do it all. It would be troublesome if the impudent son-in-law found out about this. Do it in five groups.”

“Understood.”

“Yes.”

Flaver Lyle waved his hand.

At that gesture, the man quietly left the room.

Click.

When the door closed, Flaver Lyle leaned back in the soft-looking chair.

“To bury the mother.”

Then he scratched his chin for a long time, thinking about something, and then raised the corner of his mouth as he took a sip from the glass with a little bit of alcohol left.

“Still dreaming such futile dreams.”

From the time he tried to become the top leader to achieving everything until now.

There were few things that brought joy to Flaver Lyle.

And one of them was when the prey, which he thought had given up everything, struggled again.

After drinking all the alcohol, Flaver Lyle recalled the reaction of the man who could hardly breathe in front of him.

His prey had brought something unknown to the master.

And he was trying to proceed with the forbidden task on his own.

The fact brought such joy that the head of the Lyle merchant guild could chuckle for a long time, something he hadn’t done in ages.

*

Upstream of the Latia Falls.

Swoosh-

The distant sound of the waterfall could be heard faintly.

Perhaps because of that, the cool breeze felt even more refreshing.

A place that seemed perfect for reminiscing about someone.

There, a boy and a girl sat quietly.

“Is this the place?”

“Yes.”

Kallen asked, and Laris, with her eyes closed, gently swayed with the wind.

It had been quite some time since they climbed up the cliff.

Kallen had now recovered much of his strength.

So he was just fulfilling his promise.

Laris, with her eyes closed, smiled pleasantly as she felt the wind.

In her small hand, she held a necklace.

“If I had known it would be this easy, I would have tried it alone.”

“I don’t think you could have climbed up here alone.”

“It was a joke. I meant to say thank you, Kallen.”

Laris continued, without opening her closed eyes.

“For believing in my mother’s false dream, for going along with my stubbornness, for everything.”

A soft voice.

She seemed a bit more relaxed than when they were at the banquet hall.

Laris slowly opened her eyes.

Her grayish-white eyes, which seemed clearer, turned to Kallen.

“Thank you sincerely, Kallen.”

There was a slight feeling of unease.

There was nothing as life-threatening as when Kallen made this decision.

Nothing dangerous happened as he had thought when he heard Laris’s ‘long-cherished wish.’

It simply ended with climbing up the cliff and burying the necklace.

Before departure, the young ladies’ worries were unfounded, as there was nothing but the inherent danger of the Latia Falls.

Kallen, feeling as if he hadn’t done anything, quietly nodded.

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“Really. Would it hurt to react a little more?”

“I’m sorry.”

Kallen knew well that he was far from such things.

So, since he had already bowed, he decided to bow a little more, and Laris, watching him, smiled faintly.

Kallen, with his head bowed, couldn’t see Laris smiling.

Laris, enjoying an unknown pleasure alone, stood up.

Then, before sitting down to rest, he approached the small grave Kallen had dug.

A place with a good view of the scenery beyond the falls.

The edge of the cliff where the waterfall’s water fell.

That too was at Laris’s request.

If Latia Falls was his mother’s dream.

If it was a longing for unseen beauty.

Then surely, the place that would bring the most joy would be here.

In Laris’s opinion, Latia Falls was not as beautiful as he had thought.

But if he had to choose the most beautiful place, it would be this cliff edge where the spray and river sparkled beautifully.

“What will happen to me?”

But Laris could smile.

Thanks to Kallen, he had fulfilled his “long-held wish.”

And finally, he could escape that terrible man.

“I boldly said I would leave the family… but now I have nowhere to go.”

However, it was also daunting.

Since his stepmother’s family wanted to erase his real mother, if it was revealed that he had held her funeral, he would not be safe.

So he said he would leave the family, but in truth, he was just a young girl who had achieved nothing on her own.

He had to say goodbye to his mother and sister, and leave his father and home.

That fact kept tormenting his heart, so Laris tried hard to hold back the tears that were about to flow.

He crouched down, placed the necklace in the grave, and covered it.

Brushing the dirt off his hands, he rested his arms on his crouched knees.

And he buried his face sideways on them.

How much time had passed like that?

It was the moment when Laris forced a bright smile and stood up, trying to look back at Kallen.

“…Perhaps, Kallen. Because I have no one else to rely on but you-“

“-Laris!!”

Thunk.

The grave was facing beyond the cliff of the Latia Falls.

In other words, Laris’s body was facing beyond the cliff, so she didn’t know what was happening behind her.

And when she turned around, there was someone crying bizarrely, who she didn’t know when they had appeared.

The only fact that existed was that Kallen threw himself towards Laris, and they both fell below the waterfall together.

In Laris’s eyes, as she fell below the Latia Falls, embraced by Kallen.

Boom-!!

She could clearly see Kallen’s back severely burning and the top of the cliff, which had been fine until just before, exploding.