Let’s Block the Ruined Route in Advance Chapter 53

“Uh, hey.”

 

At breakfast, Eileen waved at the unfamiliar man who entered the dining hall. Laquerta walked up to the table where Eileen was sitting, wearing a smug look on his face as if he didn’t like the crowds.

 

“Why do we have to eat here?”

 

“I told you to tell me what you wanted, and now you’re changing your mind?”

 

“Ugh.”

 

Laquerta  turned to pick up his plate, his anger tightly contained. Eileen watched with a small smile, amused.

 

The children were fed and sheltered last night. Back at the academy, Laquerta’s mood had been somber, and he’d shouted at Eileen unnecessarily.

 

“Tell me what you want!”

 

“Oh, what do you want? You don’t have to go hungry anymore, so come eat with me. All three meals.”

 

With the two children’s meals solved, only the oldest child’s meal remained. Having cleverly solved the last problem, Eileen smiled smugly at Laquerta. It was a mischievous smile that told him to resist if he could.

 

“Enjoy~”

 

Eileen said gently as he sat down with his plate. Laquerta wordlessly picked up his fork and shoved a fried egg into his mouth.

 

“…Well, hot food is different after all.”

 

After a couple chews and swallows, Eileen’s eyes widened as she caught his muttered words.

 

“You said you ate lunch in the cafeteria, is that true? Come to think of it, I don’t remember seeing you at lunch either.”

 

“I ate at the Academy, not the cafeteria. I brought it out in my lunchbox and ate it in the woods.”

 

Eileen put down her cutlery and covered her face with her hands. It was enough to make her wonder when the last time he’d eaten something warm.

 

“Eat more of this, and some bread!”

 

“Okay! That’s enough! But I’ll take the eggs.”

 

In a panic, Laquerta rejected Eileen’s offer, but secretly wanted the eggs. Cordelia snorted at his expressionless but secretly pleased complexion.

 

“I hope that little girl’s weirdness isn’t dangerous.”

 

Laquerta’s rugged appearance had initially made Eileen wary of him, thinking he was involved in something dangerous.

 

But when she unwrapped the package, she realized that what was inside was transparent compared to the darker Lucian and Felix.

 

‘I’d rather have a big, fierce-looking lizard next to Eileen.’

 

Cordelia smiled as she sipped the water contentedly.

 

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

“Are you sure?!”

 

Lucian threw down the wooden sword he was holding and grabbed his best friend, Allen, by the scruff of the neck.

 

“Eileen is really eating with that guy?!”

 

“My sister says so, and they’ve been eating three meals together for days now…”

 

Lucian said hollowly, looking over Allen’s shoulder.

 

“You really do have a taste for those muscles, Eileen.”

 

“Really?”

 

Lucian said with a serious look at Allen, who was watching Lucian with a bored expression.

 

“What do you think would happen if I tripled my muscles here?”

 

“Uh, you’d be gross.”

 

“Pick up your sword.”

 

“Hey, hey!”

 

Lucian angrily grabbed his wooden sword and lunged at Allen. Kicking the spare wooden sword off the floor and grabbing it with his foot, Allen quickly returned the favor.

 

“It’s ugly that you’re jealous of your junior’s muscles!”

 

“It’s even uglier if it’s your will!”

 

Lucian spoke nonchalantly and swung his sword, but his heart was boiling.

 

‘I’m going to lurk outside the first-year cafeteria tonight. I’ll have to see what he’s really like.’

 

Lucian gritted his teeth and brought his sword down.

 

“Argh! Gentle!”

 

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

“Laquerta, how does it taste?”

 

“It’s chicken soup with walnuts on top.”

 

“That’s right.”

 

Eileen asked Laquerta, who had furiously scraped his way to the bottom of the bowl, and he gave a short review of the food.

 

At first, he shouted at her for asking such a thing, but as she repeated the question, he began to rave about the flavor.

 

“Eileen, do you really have to ask that?” Cordelia asked, unsure of the meaning, and Eileen nodded solemnly.

 

“That’s the way it is with tastes: there’s a lot of good food in the world, you try it all and pick the one that makes your tongue the happiest.”

 

Cordelia nodded approvingly. A few days earlier, when she had asked Laquerta what Eileen’s favorite food was, he had replied, “Something warm and filling.”

 

When Eileen asked him what he liked to eat, his answer was similar.

 

“It’s not so much the flavor, but the nutrition and filling. If you eat a lot, you can last a long time.”

 

From the moment Eileen heard Laquerta’s answer, she was eager to find out his food preferences.

 

“The state I seek is not just full, but happily full!”

 

Cordelia patted Eileen on the shoulder as she clenched her fists and took the bowl from her.

 

“Okay, when you’re done, let’s get up.”

 

“Yeah.”

 

The three of them walked out, feeling pleasantly full. They were chatting on the bench when Gray’s eyes fell on Laquerta.

 

“Look who it is.”

 

Gray slowly rose from his seat. Gray, a thin man with gray-brown hair, was a fairly tall man, but Laquerta was so tall that he had to look up at him. His face contorted as if his pride had been wounded.

 

“Don’t look down on me like that.”

 

“You’re the little one.”

 

Eileen stared at Gray in disbelief. She couldn’t believe he was doing this again after getting his first detention as a first year for bullying Laquerta.

 

“You’ve been a good boy, but you can’t take it anymore, can you?

 

Cordelia whispered softly as Eileen pondered what to do about it.

 

“Should I hit him first?”

 

“…Please don’t do that.”

 

Dueling addiction or battle addiction. A little giddy, Eileen shook her head.

 

“What have you done to me, what’s so wrong with saying such things to Suyin? Neumann, do you think this beast is arrogant too?”

 

As he continued his tirade against Laquerta, he looked back at Neumann, who was sitting on the bench, watching them from a distance, his face expressionless, just as it had been when Gray had persecuted Andrew a few weeks earlier.

 

“What do you think you’re doing, hiding behind yourself?”

 

Eileen glared at Neumann, her brow furrowed. She didn’t like the way he was casually observing the situation, not even bothering to stop his friend.

 

“Neumann, what do you think we should do with him? I’ll do as you say.”

 

Gray smiled a wicked grin and turned to Neumann with a twisted smile. Neumann, still expressionless, slowly picked himself up and said, “That’s enough, let’s just go.”

 

“What?”

 

Gray’s face contorted into a scowl.

 

“Neumann, you’re not going to side with this guy over me, your friend, are you?”

 

“…You know that’s not what I meant.”

 

“Then hang out with me. All we’re doing is making fun of a reptile, right?”

 

A thin vein rose in Eileen’s neck.

 

“They think they’re so great.”

 

They had no idea how much Laquerta cared for the children, how lovingly he laughed and delighted in the smallest of things.

 

He was too precious to be taken from those filthy mouths.

 

Eileen, her anger tightly contained, turned to check on Laquerta.

 

“Ah—”

 

Eileen opened her mouth to speak.

 

Laquerta looked calmer than she expected. His gaze was subdued, but he seemed more annoyed than hurt. It was a noticeable change from before, when he’d been so quick to burst into flames of emotion.

 

“If you’ve been scolded by your own flesh and blood, it’s because you’ve done something wrong. Blame yourself.”

 

With that, Laquerta looked at Eileen and Cordelia and nodded. It seemed to be a sign to leave. Eileen barely controlled the anger that flared up at her calm demeanor; if he didn’t want to escalate things, she would respect that.

 

But Gray had other ideas.

 

“Flesh and blood?! Do you think those two would have mingled with you if you were a real noble? Reptiles and commoners dressed in expensive clothes that don’t even fit in a fountain would be a good match, Neumann, you think so too, tell them straight!”

 

“…Yes. They don’t fit in the fountain.”

 

A lump rose in Lakerta’s throat at the outrageous remark, and her pupils, which she’d been holding in check, narrowed. The beast’s fiery yellow eyes lit up with life.

 

“I have something to say, and something I can’t say!”

 

Eileen was about to speak when she realized he couldn’t take it anymore. Eileen’s eyes narrowed as a shadow loomed behind Neumann’s back, and she tugged at Laquerta’s sleeve as if he were about to jump.

 

“What is it?”

 

There was a pause in their confrontation as Laquerta looked back at the tugged sleeve in confusion, and a voice that sounded all too familiar to Eileen cut through the moment.

 

“What the hell is going on here?”

 

Lucian stood behind Neumann and Gray, his anger evident. Eileen smiled in satisfaction as the two boys turned white.

 

“If you’re going to make a power grab, you might as well do it in front of the heir to the dukedom!”

 

The timing was perfect. Eileen let out an inward cheer as she felt the ultimate blow.

 

Lucian, on the other hand, felt very tattered.

 

 

 * * *

 

 

As Lucian lurked in front of the cafeteria, hoping to catch a glimpse of the brash first year who had stolen Eileen’s heart, he was confronted by a group of jerks who were blatantly insulting Eileen and Cordelia.

 

“Do you think those two would have hung out with you if they were actual, real, nobleborns?!”

 

The scions of a real noble family.

 

It was rumored throughout the Empire that Eileen and Cordelia were treated as more than just daughters in Gaudium. But it was also true that many people looked down on them as mere lucky commoners because they weren’t their real daughters.

 

And Lucian hated this.

 

“What the hell is going on here?”

 

A cold voice echoed through the night-filled garden, freezing the breath from Gray and Neumann.