It seemed he had aged prematurely.
'Usually, people whose faces age quickly keep that face even as they grow older.'
Just like before her regression, the man never revealed his name. Of course, Adel wasn't curious either. There was no reason to build a close relationship in this strange cohabitation.
"Well then, I'm off to work."
The man hadn't even touched his food but was already preparing to leave. Perhaps he was struggling financially. To be sure, even from the perspective of someone living off him, it wasn't a house she could say was nice.
But Adel wasn't exactly the conscientious type.
'Not my concern. If it becomes a burden, I'll just tell him to leave, won't I?'
After the man left, Adel patted her belly and remembered the child she'd forgotten for a few days.
"I'm full now. Should I go check on my subordinate?"
Duke Usthe Rogato felt a cold draft in his quiet study, shivered, and opened his eyes.
'When did I fall asleep?'
He had been sleeping peacefully in his chair, his head tilted back. This was the first time something like this had happened while he was working, so he felt somewhat flustered.
He put down the pen in his hand. It seemed best to end today's work here.
"I must have been tired lately."
Muttering to himself, he turned his head and felt an unexpected pain, letting out a groan. The back of his head was so numb that he couldn't breathe for a moment. As if someone had struck him.
But when he felt the back of his head, there was no wound. There was no swelling either, so it was unimaginable that he'd been hit.
Was it just accumulated fatigue? Perhaps it was a severe migraine.
Whoosh—
Once again, a cold draft entered the room. Looking to the side, he saw that the window was broken. A small stone could be seen among the shattered glass fragments.
It appeared that the stone had broken the window.
"What in the world?"
There was no way the sensitive Duke could have slept through the sound of shattering glass. It was a suspicious scene that suggested someone might have snuck in.
But strangely, he had absolutely no memory of what he had been doing before falling asleep, or how that window had ended up like that.
The more he tried to remember, the worse his headache became, so the Duke shook his head and stopped thinking.
He rang a bell to summon a servant and ordered the study to be cleaned up.
Vincent, being carried on Adel's shoulder, was recalling whether what had just happened had actually occurred.
It was so absurd it felt like a dream. But with little Adel carrying him on her shoulder like a log, running as she was, the constant jostling was making him nauseous. His churning stomach proved this wasn't a dream.
Tap-tap-tap-tap—
The rhythmic sound of footsteps echoed along the path leading up the mountain behind the house. It seemed this was indeed reality, not a dream.
Just moments ago, he had been in his father's study. Everyone in the mansion had been tense because the Duke was working in his study instead of at the palace for once—except for Vincent, who, excited about becoming Adel's subordinate, had been training in the garden by swinging a tree branch.
Apparently, the Duke found the child hopping around outside the window extremely annoying, even though he could have simply drawn the curtains if it bothered him.
It wasn't long before Vincent was summoned to the study.
〈How dare you disturb your father's work!〉
Today's instrument was a thin, long branch. Where on earth did he keep finding these things? The number of whipping implements in the Duke's study was steadily increasing.
Once the Duke started hitting, dozens of strikes were the minimum, so Vincent took a deep breath and steeled his trembling heart. Then he rolled up his pant legs.
When his pale, small calves were exposed, the Duke swung the branch through the air to warm up.
Vincent flinched at the sharp sound of the branch cutting through the air. The Duke seemed to feel no pity even at that sight. Having finished his preparations, he raised his arm high.
And just as the Duke was about to bring the branch down on Vincent's calves—
CRASH—!
Suddenly, a stone flew in and shattered the window.
〈What in the— Ugh!〉
The startled Duke of Rogato let out a short scream and collapsed. Taken aback by the sudden turn of events, Vincent turned around and stared down at his fallen father with wide eyes.
He trembled, wondering if an assassin had sneaked in and if he was next—when he heard a familiar voice. Adel's figure appeared, climbing through the window into the room.
〈Don't worry. I took him down with a very professional technique that couldn't possibly fail. He'll probably lose about 30 minutes of memory.〉
After that, Adel skillfully propped the Duke up in his chair. After a moment's thought, she even placed a pen in his hand. One thing after another—it was truly an astonishing sight.
Vincent finished his recollection.
That wasn't a dream? And what was that "very professional technique" that makes someone lose 30 minutes of memory? How did Adel even know about that?
And was it really right for him to be carried like this by a girl smaller than him?
Adel continued running at a steady pace even while carrying Vincent, showing no sign of fatigue. Ever since meeting this child, his common sense had been crumbling.
"We're here."
At those words, Vincent looked ahead and saw a clearing much smaller than his own room. Vincent, who hadn't known such a place existed in this neighborhood, brightened as if he'd discovered a secret hideout.
Adel set Vincent down on the ground like a piece of luggage.
"Th-thanks."
"You memorized the way, right? From now on, you'll come here running every day."
"What?"
Adel looked up at the flustered Vincent with an expression that seemed to say, "Isn't that easy?"
"The goal is to carry me on your back and get here in 10 minutes. It'll probably take about 15 years..."
She trailed off, but Vincent heard it clearly. Perhaps because the wall seemed too high, Vincent's pride wasn't even wounded. His heart simply pounded at the thought of what lay ahead.
Adel had found this place purely by chance.
She wouldn't have discovered it if she hadn't been running around near the construction site where she worked, claiming to be training her stamina.
She watched Vincent, who was admiring the training ground as he moved around, and thought:
'I'm doomed.'
How could this guy, who couldn't even properly hold a wooden sword right now, become such a skilled swordsman in the future? Unbelievable.
Vincent was so frail that, if not for his clothes and sleek hair, it would be hard to believe he was the only son of a noble family.
His thin limbs and hunched shoulders made that clear. It meant he hadn't been getting proper nutrition and had lived his life constantly watching others' reactions.
The arrogance typical of noble children was ingrained all over his body, but there was a clumsiness to it, as if he was mimicking his father.
Should she bring him food? Adel looked at Vincent's gaunt body and fell into thought.
And yet, it was Adel who was actually struggling with poverty. Well, technically, it was the nameless mage who was temporarily taking care of her.
"Doesn't your family feed you at home?"
At Adel's question, Vincent's face flushed. It had only been a guess, but it seemed she was right.
"Steal some from the kitchen then."
"What?"
"You're so thin you'll collapse during training."
At Adel's sincere advice, Vincent nodded. Unlike when he was grown, his attitude hadn't completely lost its edge—thankfully.
Adel got to the main point with her disciple, who was waiting for her next words.
"The first thing you'll learn is stealth."
"Stealth?"
Adel sighed at the precarious situation from earlier.
She'd been thinking of raising this villain into a decent person, but that father of his was about to ruin everything.
Who would take responsibility if their villain went down the wrong path!
That said, she couldn't just slit Vincent's father's throat.
If the child lost his guardian, he might be even more traumatized and go astray. And it wasn't emotionally sound to teach him to strike first before being hit by that little man.
So the only option was to teach him to hide.
"When danger arises, you hide. Now, watch me carefully."
Adel closed her eyes. Then, she emptied her mind and began aligning the power surrounding her with her surroundings. Just as she felt herself and the world becoming one, something amazing happened before Vincent's eyes.
"Huh? Huh?"
Adel was clearly standing in front of Vincent. But unless he focused hard, her presence was so faint that he could easily miss her.
Even when Adel walked right next to him, he couldn't track her movements.
"It's a technique to erase my presence. With this, you'll be good at both hiding and running away."
At some point, Adel was speaking from behind him. Vincent, startled by the sudden voice from behind, whirled around. There stood Adel, her hands clasped behind her back—when had she even appeared?
For a moment, she emanated the aura of an adult in their thirties, and Vincent rubbed his eyes and looked again.
