chapter6

  Dawn broke with birds’ chiming. When the people in the town were still asleep, there was a man watering flowers outside a house on the hillside. 

  Montague dressed formally and took care of  every detail of his complex butler outfit, making people wonder how early he had to wake up for the preparation.

  “The flowers are all good, and the house chores are done. It’s time to make breakfast. Master is getting up early today.”

  Montague returned to the house, put on an apron and started cooking. All the egg whipping, chopping were like a piece of cake to him. Very soon, the house was filled with the scent of food.

  “Oops, I almost forgot about the hot chocolate, master’s favorite. It ought to be filled in that cup.” Montague grabbed a cup with a black cat on it, which was given by a mysterious admirer of Enoch. The person sent birthday gifts to Enoch every year. The cup was from the second year, and this year’s gift was a brand new cape.

  Enoch treasured these gifts, so Montague had to be extra careful when he held the cup. 

  His master was nowhere to be seen when Montague had finished setting the table. He then came to a bedroom and knocked on the door. As the knock was not responded, he opened the door and went inside, where there was a blanket pile on the bed.

  “Master, it’s time to get up, or you’ll be late,” Montague urged. He frowned when the blanket pile remained still.

  “Guess I have no choice but that now.”

  With that thought, Montague went to another room, where the furnitures were clean as brand new. Still, the stuffed air implied that the room had been vacated for a long while.

  Putting on a coat gotten from the wardrobe, Montague returned to his master’s room and spoke again, but with a soft while indifferent female voice.

  “Enoch, get up. Don’t be lazy.”

  “Hmm...Mother!”

  A youth crawled out of the blanket and hugged Montague happily.

  “You’re back finally! Great...You’re much bigger than before...No...You’re not my mother!”

  Enoch let go and stepped back, looking into the eyes of the smiling Montague.

  “Good morning, master.”

  “Montague...Why are you dressing like her?”

  “It’s because you’ll be late if you don’t wake up, so I dressed like Mistress and it worked just as I had expected. You got up right away. Let’s not waste anymore time and get dressed, master.”

  Montague reached to touch Enoch, who smacked his hand with a long face.

  “...Out.”

  “Pardon, master?”

  “I said GET OUT!”

  Enoch pushed Montague out of his room and slammed the door.

  “He’s angry. Master loses control when it comes to mistress…” Montague heaved a sigh. “Mistress Tawil, how could you leave your children?”

  Later on, Enoch left his room with himself dressed, striding all the way to the house gate silently. At this moment, Montague called his name to stop him.

  “Master, aren’t you going to eat breakfast?”

  “...No.” Apparently Enoch was still mad at Montague.

  Montague said worriedly as he saw the dark circles around Enoch’s eyes, “Master, I know you’re working hard to save Charlouette, but you ought to take care of your body. You’ve hardly had any rest this week and you still have three jobs today. You’ll overload——”

  “It’s none of your business! Leave me alone!” Enoch stormed out of the house, leaving the worried Montague behind.

  “Hmm...What’s with the noise?” A girl with messy hair came over and asked Montague with a yawn.

  “Miss...It’s my fault. I did something that master didn’t like.”

  “He must be acting tough again. Just leave him be and eat breakfast.” The girl grabbed a seat and started eating Enoch’s breakfast.

  “But something might happen to master…” Montague clenched his fist. “I need to follow him.”

  Returning to his room, Montague took a notebook out of the drawer with “Master’s Schedule” on it.

  “Hmm. Today’s jobs are escorting the magic books, purifying the contaminated lake and banishing the beast from the farm...Master, don’t worry. I’ll try my best to serve you!”

  Montague then went out field. His first stop was to secure the escort route by capturing suspicious passerbys; next stop, he gathered the water-purifying materials and put them at the doorstep of the village chief; At the last stop, he banished the beast before Enoch arrived. When Enoch arrived, he was greeted by the villagers as if he was a hero.

  “Thank you for banishing the beasts!” A man held Enoch’s hand, who was clueless.

  “Huh? But I haven’t——”

  “Now my father’s farmland is safe...Boohoo…” The man shredded his tears, freaking Enoch out.

  “W-What’s wrong?”

  “I had a big fight with my father, and he passed away before I had the chance to say sorry. This farmland is all he left...I’d hate myself forever if I can’t even secure it. So thank you.”

  Unable to tell him the truth, Enoch accepted the man’s gratitude as he didn’t want to ruin his mood.

  As all the jobs were finished, Enoch came home early. He picked up the scent of food as soon as he opened the door. Meanwhile, Montague left the kitchen to greet Enoch. 

  “Welcome back, master. Dinner is almost ready.”

  When Enoch was looking at Montague, he thought of what the man had said earlier the day. He finally spoke after a moment of hesitation, “I was acting out of the line this morning… I’m sorry.”

  “Everything’s alright, master. You’ve been in a bad mood because of mistress Tawil, and it’s my fault that I couldn’t share your problems,” said Montague, shaking his head with a caring smile.

  “Thank you, Montague.” Enoch was touched.

  “Yes. To protect you all...To protect master Enoch, I’ll do anything and everything at all cost.”

  At this moment, Montague looked at his steel arms determinedly.

  “For this is the reason why I was made, right? Mistress Tawil.”