I Won't Accept Your Regrets

He didn’t hear the full dialogue with the Marquis, but words still reached him about preparations for ‘returning to the center’.

Jeremy looked at the Duke with wide eyes and continued softly.

“And even if my father doesn’t admit it, I’m still the successor of Duke Drua. Can’t you give birth to bastards? Save me from such happiness?”

After Raymond’s rebellion, his mother, the Duchess, died. Lady Drua, who had weak body all her life, couldn’t bear his younger brother.

Subsequently, the family broke up, and the Duke didn’t get a young wife who was willing to submit to him for a lifetime.

Thanks to this coincidence, Jeremy remained the sole successor to the Honorable Duke Drua.

“You! You!”

Those dark brown eyes were now shooting lightning.

Jeremy gradually loosened his grip on the Duke’s arm.

“Your Excellency. Upon your ‘return to the center’, please, take care of your noble dignity. Otherwise, I won’t even be able to play in front of others that I respect my father.”

Jeremy grinned at the Duke, who was about to burst with anger, and said goodbye to him.

“Well, I’ll go, there’s a lot to do.”

Ignoring the anger still simmering behind him, Jeremy left with a firm gait.

“The time has come. It’s time to end this.”

* * *

After discussing everything with Rosaleen, I went straight to the Phoenix branch.

While I was preparing a project for a perfumery company with Lumont, the sun was already setting outside the window.

“So it means. The day after tomorrow I will visit Marquis Celine, and we will immediately start work.”

“The daughter of the family Celine is a special person to me. So I hope you don’t lose tact with her.”

“Of course.”

Lumont smiled his characteristic self-confident smile.

As I was about to leave the branch, I remembered Jed, who had been missing since our last meeting.

“But where is Jed?”

“Jed didn’t show up because he had an important meeting.”

“With whom?”

Someone showed up here who deserved to meet them in person?

Lumont shrugged.

“I can’t know. I don’t even know who is the counterpart. Well, that is, Jed assured me that he was a friend.”

So you have friends in your Empire…

I asked Lumont:

“What’s going on with Jed these days?”

“Huh?”

I remembered how the other day Jed avoided my gaze and muttered something under his breath.

After that, we only saw each other once in the mansion, but that day he somehow strangely avoided me.

But Lumont didn’t seem to know the details.

“There is nothing. Oh, and Lumont…”

“Yes?”

“Find an academy worthy of Carlisle.”

“Og course… Wait, what?”

Lumont opened his eyes wide.

“Do you want to send him to study?”

“Hm. I don’t think that soon I’ll be able to run away from here across the seas.”

Suspicions grew that Marquis Sios was planning a big whirlwind. I can’t run and leave my father here.

However, keeping Carlisle in the Empire was also fraught with dangers.

I made my decision after hard deliberation.

I’ll hide Carlisle in the academy until it’s cleared up.

“Will you do this? It seems that now it will be difficult…”

“While Carlisle lives in peace, the price of that doesn’t tickle my nerves. So… I need an academy of the highest level, with security and the best tutors.”

“As you wish.”

“Then that’s all.”

On leaving the branch, the red glow of the sunset had already disappeared, and the sky had turned purple.

“It’s time to go back.”

At that moment, when I gave the order to the coachman and was about to get into the carriage, I noticed a prominent man in the crowd.

Jeremy…?

“Wait here.”

I quickly left the coachman and went to him.

Coming closer, I heard a thin female voice.

“You seem to be a mercenary. Come with me, and if you start working for us, you will earn like a dozen of your colleagues.”

“I’m grateful for your offer, but the life of a mercenary suits me.”

And the voice of her interlocutor was familiar to me.

Jeremy. You are really here.

“Does it suit you? All this dirt and blood, danger? I need your help. Do it and drown in gold.”

“I’m really happy with everything. Unless you want to share information, then just leave me, Milady.”

Jeremy’s voice was annoyed by the stubbornness of this young lady.

The situation escalated further.

“I won’t accept refusal… If you won’t come with me, and I will tell the guards that you robbed me. Your answer?”

I stopped at the moment when I heard the threat.

I thought he would give up now.

But Jeremy didn’t even move.

This young noblewoman probably regarded Jeremy as the lowest ranked mercenary and believed that such a threat would motivate him.

I stopped right behind him and said:

“Jeremy.”

His shoulders shuddered.

And he slowly turned to me.

Jeremy’s amber eyes widened to his forehead. This expression of his told me that now he didn’t even understand whether he was in a dream or in reality.

I walked closer with a slight laugh.

And when I turned away from him to that young lady, I saw a displeased young face.

The girl, who had rustic brown hair and green eyes, looked young, as if she had just passed the coming-of-age ceremony.

When I looked at the door of her carriage, I saw a certain crest.

I don’t remember that, so their family doesn’t use influence.

“Who are you… all of a sudden?” the girl asked me, unable to hide her displeasure from her face. She looked at my outfit and mumbled inaudibly.

Probably because my attire wasn’t easy.

I took off my hat and answered her:

“Nice to meet you. I’m Ellie Croft.”

Her face was flushed with embarrassment.

“I apologize for the suddenness, but I couldn’t pass by, because this is my friend.”

“Friend… What?”

“Right. Jeremy, are you in trouble with this lady?”

Instead of exchanging empty remarks with this girl, I turned my attention to Jeremy.

“So I actually… accidentally picked up the thing that this lady dropped. And I went to get her back.”

“Yes! Yes! This person helped me.”

The girl interrupted Jeremy in her high-pitched voice.

With a gesture of perseverance, she pointed to Jeremy’s arms.

“Haha, my bag is full of valuables. Thank you very much.”

And she even bowed her head in front of Jeremy.

“Then I think it’s time for me to take my leave. I was honored to meet Lady Croft. And another ‘thank you’ gentleman.”

The girl babbled quickly and rushed into the carriage, wanting to get out of sight as soon as possible.

The door slammed shut and the carriage rolled away quickly, raising a cloud of dust.

“Ha-ah.”

Jeremy waved his hands to blow off the dust flying in our direction.

“What a rudeness.”

He frowned and turned his gaze to me.

His irritated eyes quickly calmed down.

I was the first to break our awkward silence.

“We haven’t seen each other for a long time.”

“That’s what it is for sure. I didn’t think we’d meet like this.”

“Well, but this time I saved you, right?”

“What?”

“You have always helped me out. But this time I pulled Jeremy out of the hole. Right?”

When I looked at him for confirmation, the previously frowning Jeremy smiled relaxedly.