Chapter 463

“…Actually, that works out.”

Ulrike had the exact same thought I’d just had, but unlike me, he said it out loud. He quickly stepped in front of the head butler.

“Sir Walter!”

“Good heavens, what is going on…? Young Master, I already contacted the Bavarian Medical Center, but they told me you had already gone to Prussia…!”

The head butler raised an eyebrow at Ulrike. When we returned after the incident, the Bavarian government had contacted all the families. After all, we had come back from the brink of death, so it was only natural that the Kleist family would have been worried. Ulrike shook his head and spoke quickly.

“I’m fine. You can see that everyone’s here, right? But what about Mother?!”

“I am very glad to see that you have returned safely. But why didn’t you tell your mother you were coming? You should have let us know so we could prepare enough food for everyone.”

At that, Leo and I exchanged a glance. It was an unfamiliar sight to both of us, at least compared to our own households.

‘The way he talks… He sounds more like a relative than a servant.’

Or a tutor, perhaps. Ulrike shook his head firmly.

“It’s fine. Everyone’s already full from eating sugar.”

“That will not do. Come to think of it, I came in because I smelled sugar throughout the building. What are you up to this time? You really ought to tell me before you start things like this!”

“What? You can smell it?!”

‘Of course he can, obviously…’

While I was thinking skeptically to myself, Narke quietly slipped behind the head butler and changed his wand into a staff.

“Excuse me for a moment.”

White light spread from the tip of the staff. Narke poured divine power into the corridor, then returned to his place. Only then did the head butler turn to us and offer his greetings.

“Please forgive my late introduction. My name is Jochen Walter. I apologize for failing to show you the proper courtesy under such hurried circumstances. I shall have rooms prepared for you immediately, so—”

“No, Sir Walter!”

Ulrike waved his arms, cutting the head butler off. He took both of his hands and said, “We need you right now. Please help us.”

We gave Sir Walter some of the dalgona we had just made, intending to discuss our plans for what to do next. He took a bite, then immediately clutched his teeth.

None of us had even considered that Sir Walter was an Old Human—even after hearing his surname—so it took us a moment to realize that, given his age, his teeth probably weren’t in the best condition. In our defense, people generally paid more attention to someone’s social standing than whether they were an Old Human or a New Human. The distinction mattered in this case, though, especially when it came to showing proper respect to the elderly.

Ulrike, who had casually popped a piece of dalgona into Sir Walter’s mouth without thinking, sincerely apologized as he rubbed his jaw.

“I’m sorry. You can throw it away.”

“Not at all. So you were making candy.”

“Yes, that’s right.”

After Ulrike answered, I pulled him closer by the shoulder and whispered, “What on earth did you give him? Did you give him some while it was still caramel?”

“Yes. I purposely gave him some before it had fully hardened. That’s the best part, you see.”

I sighed at Ulrike’s youth-centered way of thinking. Fortunately, Sir Walter seemed to be lost in an old memory and changed the subject.

“Seeing this reminds me of when I used to pick grass with my friends and make gum out of it when I was young.”

“Did you?”

“Yes. Commoner children often play like that.”

At the mention of childhood games, Ulrike suddenly chimed in.

“I actually taught it to the neighborhood kids myself.”

“Haha! That’s because I taught it to you when you were little. I am glad to see you making good memories, Young Master. But please let me know beforehand from now on.”

“Yes… I just wanted to surprise everyone with a little gift.”

Ulrike looked a little dejected for a moment, but soon perked right back up and said excitedly, “So I’m going to give these to Mother and the other servants, too! How about putting them on the table for lunch?!”

“These?”

“Is that not allowed?”

Ulrike widened his eyes and leaned forward. He looked as though he might spring off somewhere at any moment, despite having nowhere to jump to. Sir Walter seemed quite accustomed to hearing requests like this from Ulrike. He calmly shook his head, then gave him an agreeable answer.

“No, that can be arranged. Shall I take them now?”

“…! Then, Sir Walter, we’re in this together from now on. You have to do it without Mother finding out. Understand?!”

“I understand. I will make up a good excuse so the other servants won’t find out either, so don’t worry.”

‘He really has his work cut out for him…’

Considering his age, I doubted Ulrike’s mother was particularly fond of candy either. They were probably all thinking the same thing, but no one stopped him. That was how excited Ulrike was. He gathered the finished candies into a basket and called out, “Would you like some more?!”

“Thank you, but I will have to decline.”

‘Figures…’

My own throat was starting to sting from the bits of dalgona I’d been snacking on here and there. I’d eaten so much sugar that I was craving water. Sir Walter rose from his seat and looked at us.

“So, will you be doing more experiments—I mean, cooking? If you are thinking of taking a rest, I can show you to your rooms now.”

Ulrike quickly waved his hands and rose from his seat as well.

“Ah, no, absolutely not. When will Mother be back?”

“He should arrive in Frankfurt in about an hour.”

“Then we’ll keep making these for the whole hour. If we go outside, the others will realize that we’re here, won’t they?”

“…….”

“…….”

Silence fell. Elias gave Zähringen a miserable look and nodded toward Ulrike, probably telling him to do something to stop this. Zähringen merely shrugged and smiled.

“Good day, General Kleist.”

Leo was shaking hands with Ulrike’s mother as he greeted him.

At last, an hour had passed, and we met Ulrike’s mother in the dining room of the estate. He was dressed neatly, with his short hair slicked all the way back from his scalp. He was taller than Ulrike—which was only natural, since Ulrike was still growing—and the bones above his eyebrows protruded noticeably, casting shadows over his eyes and giving him a distinctive air. Like Ulrike, he had a gentle and kind appearance, but he looked less like Ulrike than I had expected. For one thing, unlike his mother, Ulrike usually let his hair fall over his forehead.

The mana I felt when we shook hands, however, was remarkably similar. Just as I had felt when dealing with Einsiedel and Heike separately, the two looked different, but their nature was similar.

I released the general’s hand and greeted him politely.

“I am Lukas Askanien. It is a pleasure to meet you.”

“You look exactly like your father.”

“…….”

Why did I keep hearing that?

I answered with a smile. The general laughed heartily with a playful expression.

“I hear the government has high expectations of Lord Askanien. Seeing you in person, I can certainly understand why. You have every reason to live up to them.”

“You flatter me.”

“I remember working with Duke Georg Askanien in the government some thirty years ago. It is quite amusing—and a pleasure—to meet his child like this.”

I could see where Ulrike got his personality from. Ulrike’s mother patted me on the back and took his seat. I followed and sat down as well, waiting until he had finished reciting the prayer before picking up my spoon.

“Well, it is a pleasure to meet my Luise’s schoolmates and fellow members of the Association. My child hasn’t been giving you too much trouble, has he?”

Ulrike looked at us with shining eyes, as if he were waiting eagerly for our answer. Leo smiled and replied to the general.

“Not at all. He is an indispensable presence to our team.”

“How so?”

“He is exceptionally good at bringing the team together. He is such a good-natured person that he is someone I always want to take after.”

“We are always learning a lot from him, too.”

Elias added that without changing his expression. Perhaps he hadn’t expected Elias to speak up, because Ulrike’s eyes grew as wide as saucers. Zähringen also raised an eyebrow, looking intrigued.

“Hahaha! Our Luise always tells me about school in his letters, but ever since the beginning of this year, I have heard about you all every week. In particular, he never fails to mention playing board games with Lord Farnese and Lord Einsiedel.”

“Luise is quite good at board games.”

Narke replied with a small smile.

“Hahaha. I am proud to hear that. I have also heard that he frequently takes on reports concerning Rampagers with Lord Zähringen. And whenever he spends an entire letter talking about having gotten to speak more with Lord Hohenzollern, I cannot help but laugh. It seems the lot of you are having quite a good time together.”

Perhaps because the subject had turned to Elias, Ulrike finally gaped and began making excuses to Elias and the rest of us, darting his eyes around awkwardly.

“…You see, it’s not like I only wrote about that. I mean, I just didn’t have time to keep in touch with the others, so I only wrote about you guys…”

Zähringen, who had been laughing along with the others, gave him a short reply as he fumbled.

“What an honor.”

Following his lead, I answered and then asked the general, “Come to think of it, didn’t Luise tell you anything about me?”

“Oh, plenty. Especially about all the things you said to your seniors—”

“Mother, please stop…!”

To be honest, I was only doing this because watching Ulrike’s reactions was entertaining, but I could understand how he felt. As Ulrike leaned over the table and shifted from side to side in embarrassment, the general raised an eyebrow and said, “He is telling me to stop.”

“I understand. I will have to hear the rest directly from him later.”

“A good idea.”

After we had talked for quite some time, the main dish was brought out to us, covered with a lid. The mood had grown somewhat subdued as we talked about what had happened early that morning, so this was a good opportunity to change the subject. A spark returned to Elias’s eyes after he had been picking at nothing but soup and bread the entire time. Ulrike also began expressing his delight quite openly, perhaps because he was in his own home.

“Wow~”

The cook, having cleared the table, lifted the lid covering the silver platter.

The moment he did, we were all left speechless. The general pointed at the silver platter with a baffled expression.

“What is this?”

All the light went out of Elias’s eyes. Narke remained perfectly calm, but Zähringen looked a little startled, while Leo was even more shaken. Ulrike was gaping as well.

“…….”

So Sir Walter had gone one step further, apparently. The main dish was the crude dalgona we had made. I felt like my stomach was turning.

Perhaps Ulrike thought he couldn’t let this opportunity slip away, because he quickly regained his composure and said brightly, “Just try some first, Mother.”

The general was still bewildered, but after looking around at the atmosphere with wide eyes, he cautiously picked up a small piece of dalgona, brought his knife down on it, and ate a piece. He tilted his head as he let it melt in his mouth, then answered matter-of-factly.

“It is good. Is this some kind of English candy?”

It was obvious he was trying his best to give it a favorable review. The general gave us a good-natured smile and held out his hand.

“So, is there anyone who can explain why this candy is here?”

Only then did I smile and quickly answer, “Luise really wanted to give it to you, so we came to the estate about two hours ago and made it together. I just… didn’t expect it to end up being served as the main course.”

“Hahaha!”

The general laughed heartily and nodded.

“I see how it happened. Luise used to pull little stunts like this all the time when he was young.”

“I made it according to the recipe Lukas taught me. How is it?!”

“Lord Askanien seems to be quite knowledgeable about cooking as well.”

“Pffft.”

Just as I was about to respond to the general’s lighthearted joke, Elias covered his mouth and laughed at me. Zähringen and Leo soon joined in. I had no idea why two of the three were laughing when they hadn’t even tasted my first batch of dalgona.

The general, who had no idea what was going on, gave us another puzzled smile. Elias glanced at me, clearly preparing to snitch on me to the general.

“Well, you see, General Kleist, Lukas is actually—”

“It is nothing.”

I cut him off firmly, but the general’s attention was already on Elias. He tilted his head and smiled just like Ulrike did.

“Lord Askanien is actually what?”

“Phew…”

“Luka… hang in there.”

As we left the dining room and headed upstairs to the hall, I sighed. Elias put on a sympathetic voice and massaged my shoulders. His hand naturally slipped inside my shirt collar, so I took the opportunity to swat his arm away and answered curtly.

“Hang in there? There’s nothing to hang in there for.”

“Why not?”

“Since when have I ever been bad at cooking? When did you ever actually see me cook properly?”

“Ha…”

Leo let out a hollow laugh from beside me and joined in. Before I could even sigh at Leo’s reaction, Elias patted me on the shoulder.

“Then why did you go on and on about how much sodium bicarbonate to use? Isn’t it always the people who aren’t good at something who have the most to say~!”

Ulrike actually clapped his hands in agreement.

“Hahaha! That’s true! Lukas, you usually hardly say anything, do you? You just think a lot.”

“When did you start paying that much attention to me…?”

I shook my head and dropped onto one of the sofas in the hall. Through the long windows lining the hall, I could see outside. We were at the Kleist estate in Frankfurt—the family also had a residence in the Prussian province of Pomerania, next to the Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg-Strelitz—and in the distance, I could see the road leading toward Berlin.

‘Still… this isn’t what I expected.’

I had heard that the Kleists were a Prussian military family, so I had expected a more rigid atmosphere. Instead, the household was surprisingly relaxed and humorous. There were so few mages with large amounts of mana that holding multiple positions was practically the norm, making it difficult for them to live with a single identity, but even so. Come to think of it, the Kleist family had produced quite a few artists as well. There was no reason to hold any particular prejudice about someone else’s family.

Ulrike went into one of the rooms and came back out carrying a box-shaped case. Leo looked at him.

“So why are we sitting here?”

“Guys. It would be a problem if we just ate, went to sleep, woke up, had breakfast tomorrow, had lunch, and then went straight back.”

Ulrike said it with a serious expression. Elias patted his stomach.

“Why would that be a problem? I ate enough goose to burst. I want to sleep now.”

“Ah, no…”

“…Spit it out.”

Elias leaned his head heavily against the sofa and shrugged as if he had resigned himself to his fate. Ulrike clapped his hands to get everyone’s attention and announced, “Let’s play Wichteln!”

“Hm?”

“Oh, that sounds fun~.”

Zähringen and Narke reacted at the same time. Elias narrowed his eyes and pouted.

Wichteln. A game where people secretly give gifts to someone else around Advent. In Korea, it would be more familiar as Manito. I had played it a couple of times back in school, but it really didn’t suit my personality, so I remembered finding it terribly boring.

Still, it felt different this time. Maybe because there were only six of us instead of dozens of people, or maybe because I had grown comfortable with these friends. I nodded and asked, “Hmm. When? It’s not Saint Nicholas Day or Christmas right now. We could buy the gifts after we get back to Bavaria…”

“No!”

Ulrike shouted firmly and looked around at all of us.

“Let’s buy them before midnight. We’ll leave them with Sir Walter, and he can put them on the table tomorrow morning! Then we’ll open them one by one and figure out whose is whose! What do you think?!”

Silence fell. Just as Narke was about to say something with an unusually mischievous smile, Leo beat him to it.

“I’m in.”

“Me too~ Ah, I absolutely have to remember not to use Insight.”

With two people already joining in, Ulrike clapped his hands excitedly.

“Julia, what about you?!”

“Sounds good. Elias is doing it too, right? Lukas?”

“Of course.”

“Great. I knew you would…”

Ulrike rummaged through his suitcase and pulled out a box filled with folded slips of paper.

“So I already made this in advance!”

“…….”

He really had everything planned out. I was laughing at Ulrike’s antics when he suddenly thrust the box toward me.

“Here, Lukas goes first!”

“Me?”

“Yep. You.”

I was suspicious, but I ran my finger over the slips.

Strangely, every single one had some sort of mark on it. One had an indentation from a fingernail, another had its edge torn by about a millimeter, and another had turned slightly yellow with age. There were only two slips without any marks.

I picked one of them and unfolded it.

[Leonard Wittelsbach]

“…….”

I let out a hollow laugh. What could the other unmarked slip have been?

Pressing a hand to my forehead, I cast a soundproofing spell and muttered, “Luise. You—”

“Hmm~?!”

“You really know me well.”

Ulrike leaned close and whispered into my ear—even though I had already cast the soundproofing spell.

“Hahaha, right? You were easier to predict than Leo. I figured he’d just pick one without thinking too much.”

“You planned all of this?! Let me draw again!”

Ulrike snatched the box away.

“No! No redrawing. This is a chance for you two to get closer—!”

“We’re already close! I’m serious! How many more times do I have to say it before you believe me?”

“…Honestly, I’m a little confused. Ah, this is weird.”

“What’s weird? Look at him. The way he kept getting on my nerves the whole time we were cooking. If we weren’t close, he wouldn’t—”

I couldn’t finish that line of reasoning, because Leo was perfectly capable of being a total pain in the neck even if we weren’t close. I let out a long sigh and muttered with a pout, “This isn’t fun… I want to give something to one of the other guys.”

“Hey! You can’t tell anyone who you got!”

“You already know, though…”

“Then think about who your Nikolaus might be. Aren’t you curious who’s going to give you a present?!”

“I suppose I’m a little curious.”

“See?!”

Energetically shattering the soundproofing spell, Ulrike instructed the rest of our friends to draw their slips. He then began handing out personal stationery and spare gift boxes to everyone. While he was occupied with that, I sank into contemplation.

‘Leo. Can’t I just buy him a box of soft chocolate?’

I didn’t really know what else he liked. I knew he liked magic, of course, but there was no way I could exactly give that to him as a present. And it wasn’t like I could give him an artifact or a potion. He already had more than enough of those.

‘Ah, this is harder than I thought.’

Should I really just get him some chocolate? But he probably ate the finest chocolate at home anyway, so I wasn’t sure he’d be happy with just any chocolate I bought. And now that I actually had to choose a gift, I didn’t want to give just anything to a friend I cared about. What could I give him that would actually make him happy when he received it?

‘Alcohol? No… He’s not Elias.’

Clothes? Leo already had a good eye for fashion and dressed himself well. There was no point buying clothes for someone who already had his own sense of style. And this wasn’t exactly an occasion for expensive gifts, but given who everyone was, the budget would probably end up being high anyway. I decided to stop worrying about the budget and just think.

“…….”

Even after setting the budget aside, I still had no answer. After agonizing over it for a while, I opened my eyes with a frown.

‘Whatever. I’ll think about the gift once we’re outside. I’ll write the letter first.’

I moved to a side table in the hallway and took out the high-quality navy stationery Ulrike had prepared for us. In neat cursive, I wrote, To Leonard Wittelsbach.

I had never been particularly good at handwriting as a child, since I wasn’t very dexterous, but I’d worked on it as I grew up, and now it was at least pleasant enough to look at. Besides, to be honest, I found it easier to make the alphabet look pretty than Hangul.

‘Good.’

Once I finished writing, I lifted the paper and blew gently on it. Navy stationery with gold ink—a pretty good combination. Even the outside of the stationery looked fancy enough to make me feel like I’d already accomplished something important.

I turned the card over and smoothly moved my pen across the cream-colored surface.

[Hi, Leo.]

[Hope you’re doing well? Always keep your chin up. You’re a really great friend.]

[From your friend.]

I usually ended things with a single word, so writing three whole sentences was a decent effort. Leo would surely understand.

‘How much more am I supposed to write on a card anyway?’

This was enough. I let the ink dry properly before putting the card into the gift box Ulrike had prepared in advance. Then I went back to wondering what I should actually give him.

‘…Oh.’

A decent list suddenly came to mind. It was still only a vague outline, so I hadn’t settled on anything yet, but I found myself wondering if I should give him that. I closed my eyes and worked out the plan in detail. Just then, apparently finished drawing lots for the Wichteln, Ulrike suddenly sprang to his feet.

“All right, we’re done! Let’s go to the market! I’ve got something else prepared for midnight, so we have to buy our presents and get back before then! Got it?!”

Now that everything about this was starting to feel suspicious, I cautiously asked Ulrike, “What did you prepare?”

“It’s nothing!”

“…….”

“Leo! Do you want to go to the market with Lukas and Narke?”

“Huh? Sure, I—”

The blood suddenly drained from my face, and I hurriedly cut Leo off.

“No. I’m going with Luise. Anyone else want to come with us?”

I changed into something comfortable enough to wear outside and asked Narke to change my eye color to something ordinary before heading out with Ulrike. Once I made sure there was no one around, I cast a soundproofing spell.

“What are you doing?! We’re going there to buy presents. Why would I drag the person who’s supposed to receive the present along with me?”

Ulrike shouted back without a care.

“We have to spend time together and get closer! You can just hide the present you buy!”

“Ah… No, Luise. There are plenty of other opportunities.”

“Yeah. There are.”

“…?”

A chill ran down the back of my neck as I stared at Ulrike.

What does he mean, there are? What other bonding activities does he have planned for us?

This was not the time to get closer to Leo. He was already the first close friend I had made here. How much closer could we possibly get? Along with Elias and Narke, those were the three people who immediately came to mind whenever I thought of ‘close friends.’ If anything, I wanted to get closer to Ulrike.

Just then, a voice came from behind us.

“Let’s go, guys.”

Zähringen was walking out in casual clothes, just like us.

Right. I wanted to get closer to Julia, too. Contrary to Ulrike’s intentions, I wasn’t going to get any closer to Leo today. Instead, I planned to spend more time with these two. Zähringen smiled and held out his hand.

“I’m a little nervous. It’s been a long time since I last did Wichteln, except when I was a kid.”

Ulrike smacked his hand away and replied, “Me too. Lukas said it’s been a long time for him, too.”

“I figured.”

From now on, all six of us would be going around town looking for presents. Zähringen held out his hand to me as well. With a small smile, he said, “Let’s pick something good. Something that’ll make everyone happy tomorrow morning.”