Volume 8 Chapter 7: I Must Inform Him.

"Aghh," Keith sighed as he returned to his room. What Violet said was correct. That was what he did; he wanted to avoid opening a bakery in the duchy. Well, not right now. The duchy was unstable.

Opening a bakery didn't make sense right now.

However, he wasn't going to tell Cedric about this. This guy would probably do something crazy for the bakery.

"Ugh." Keith's body slumped on the bed.

"Wow, are you okay?"

"Mmhmm, just got chewed out by someone." Cedric's words were ringing through his head. Staring at the great spirit of wind,

"Nephele, thank you for helping me with the incident." Keith had called Diana and told her to get Nephele the moment he met with Rodrick. One look, and he understood this guy was shady. Nephele was sneaky and could make herself into the wind, allowing her to listen in on their conversation.

"Of course, Keith! I'm always here to lend a hand." Nephele's smile was warm and reassuring.

"By the way, Keith. Are you going to tell them about the cloaked person?" The culprit was Rodrick. However, he was only a pawn in this game; the true person was the cloaked man.

"I will, but for now, I think they need to focus on the duchy." Stabilizing it first; then tell them about it.

"How did tailing him go?" Hearing about this cloaked person, Keith had asked Nephele to tail the guy. She had been doing this for a few days now. So her being here was a little surprising.

That question caused Nephele's expression to contort, "I did. But that person realized it and was able to lose me."

"He lost you?" Keith blinked. For him to escape from the great spirit of wind? That person had to be skilled.

"I'm sorry."

"It's fine." Keith patted her head, "We at least know that there's a mastermind involved." This was an excellent clue for them.

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"Mmhmm."

"You should go home now. Also, take these." Keith then handed the girl a group of fruits, "I'm sure Diana could do something with this."

"Yippe! Gotcha!" Nephele quickly disappeared. Keith was about to go to bed when a knock came,

"Who is it?"

"Keith, can I come in?"

"No."

"..." There was a few seconds before Krystal entered.

"Hey! Didn't I say not to enter? What if I was naked?"

"That's why I gave you a few seconds."

"..." This girl was prepared.

"... He's my grandfather," Krystal muttered. She couldn't hide anything from him.

"At least you gave me a head start." That was the only saving grace with all of that. Keith then questioned, "What do you need?"

"Remember what you said about helping me with my face?"

"Oh yeah! Come sit down." Keith took something out, "I'm going to smear this on your face."

"The honey?"

"Mmhmm, surprisingly, it's really good for the skin. It even clears pimples and red spots."

"…Put a lot."

"Didn't peg you to be this worried."

"When I've been working so hard, of course, I would be worried," There were some sleepless nights she had to go through because of paperwork.

"But you still look beautiful." There was really nothing wrong with Krystal's appearance.

"...Just put it on."

"Close your eyes." Keith started to smear it on.

"It's cold."

"I chilled it. It'll tighten up your skin."

"So nice."

"You really relaxed a ton." Keith chuckled.

"That's because of you." Krystal realized he was the cause.

"I'm glad that I made you really relaxed." The two didn't say anything as they rested with the honey. After a while, the two needed to wipe it away.

"Why are you rubbing your face so roughly?"

"Eh?"

"That also messes up skin." Keith shook as he helped her wipe. Krystal went silent as she let him do it. While he did this, what they didn't realize was how they were being watched,

"That damn playboy."

"Father, calm down. Also, I think I need to talk with Krystal." Those two were just wasting coins left and right! Not even nobles would dare use dragon honey for something like that! It was considered to be a powerful medicinal ingredient!

"Dear, what's the matter?" Edmund stared at his wife, who was silent throughout all of this.

"I wonder if I can ask Keith to do that for me." Seeing how her daughter's face was so smooth, she felt envious. She wanted to be like that as well.

"..." Am I the normal one?

...

While Keith did this with Krystal, things were not doing well for the cloaked man. He showed a tired look as he hid in a room.

Who was it that was protecting him? Nephele wasn't only tailing the cloaked person; she was trying to take him back! The cloaked person looked down at his arm; well, the area of it.

Over the past few days, he had felt something staring at the back of his neck. It was unsettling and dangerous. That was why he devised a plan to escape from there today. Yet,

That magic sliced off my arm. He didn't know what it was, but he used a mana barrier to guard it. Even with it, he survived with a missing arm and wounds etched around his body. He stared at his right hand; it had been shaking uncontrollably even when he escaped an hour ago.

How strong is the Bradley? With such a protector beside Keith, it only made the Bradley and Freed family's power unimaginable.

If they join with the Rustchil, everything will be turned to shreds. The power the two had together would make them unbeatable.