Revisit the Villain

Several days have passed after my duel with Aldric ended and like what Lyra said, Father let me do anything I wanted to do. He didn't interfere anymore and he never called me 'disappointment' again. 

I guess I can now finally say, this is a real victory!

And about Livius and what we did to sneak out just to heal Sebastian, of course, Father didn't punish me or Livius because of that. Instead, he rewards Livius for anything that he wants. But our villain didn't ask anything in return.

He just heroically said, "I just did what I needed to do, Your Grace. The fact that Sir Sebastian is now healed is a reward for me. It's enough for me."

Just kidding! Since when did he act like a hero?

Well, it's true, he never asks anything from Father. He just hid his face smiled at the duke and asked me if he could go home because he was worried about his herbs.

Then after that incident, Father released a public notice about what Livius did to Sebastian. And as a powerful man of this estate, no one knows that before Livius's success, he imprisons him first.

Well, I must say it's a good thing that no one knows about it as I wanted to protect Livius from mockery. But I can't help myself but get pissed that no one realizes that their duke is an idiot sometimes.

For the past few days, I acted as a responsible son of a duke. I finished some work so that no one can complain that I am neglecting my duty again. And when I say 'no one can complain,' it's just my sister.

And to be honest, I only did that because I thought I could also get some rewards from CC if I took the side of being a responsible man for quite some time but I didn't. My intuition is wrong. I guess CC will only give me rewards if what I did is related to Livius.

But it is not wasted at all. At least I am free to go wherever I want without worrying about what will Nicomaine say to me later.

Currently, I'm having a relaxing sightseeing outside the window of the carriage while waiting to arrive at Livius's greenhouse. I wonder if I could ask Father to make Livius agree to live with us as our new private physician so I could save trouble from travelling like this.

If CC can't reward me for doing a good job as a son of a duke, then I just work with the quest like she wanted me to do.

As I arrived, I wasted no time and headed to the greenhouse. I'm sure for now if ever Livius cultivated another herb after he went home from his stay at our mansion, he is now free since it has been days that passed. He now has time to complete some quests with me.

"Ah, there you are. Is a zombie approaching?" I greeted him as I entered his greenhouse.

It turns out I'm wrong. I found him planting herbs and I'm certain he planned to spend all his day planting more as I saw many seedling trays with different kinds of plants scattered everywhere.

Why he is not bored doing this all day and every day? Is this normal?

"My lord!" Livius straightened, clearly startled, his hands twitching nervously. "I—I wasn't expecting you…"

I smirked at him. For the record, he doesn't look alert compared last time I visited him here.

I speak while still facing him, maintaining eye contact. "If you wanted to be safe, you should learn to put locked on your greenhouse."

I lift my right arm to the side, bending it at the elbow so that my thumb points backward over my shoulder. "Anyone can attack you if you are this careless."

He still bows his head.

I put down my arm and continued speaking, "Anyway, how are things going? How's life after my father's public statement about you?"

Well, I already know the answer as our servants talk about it a lot of times inside the mansion. I just wanted to hear his thoughts about it.

"People started to visit me oftentimes… m-my lord. That's why… I always wanted to… thank you… for your kindness…"

Both of my brows raised at him. "Oh? Then that's good." Then I shifted my gaze to the herbs he was currently planting. "Would you like to replenish your herbs in the fastest way?"

He finally lifted his gaze to me. "P-pardon… my lord?"

A smirk never leaves my lips as I look at him again while crossing my arms. "People visiting you oftentimes to ask you to heal them. And I am well aware that healing them all will be exhausting if you only use your bare hands," I said.

I continue speaking, "So to avoid that, you still prefer to use herbs to heal them and you sure get out of supply of herbs from that. I can say that because I am now seeing you planting more. But I know it is still not enough, isn't it?"

Now he doesn't know where to look.

I fiddled with a pair of scissors I found on the table beside me. "Remember that book I mentioned? Turns out there's a faster way to get herbs—ready-grown, out in the forest. Why wait for them to sprout when we can gather some now?"

Livius blinked, clearly caught off guard. "The forest? But—"

"Unless you plan to sit here and wait for plants to grow all day, of course. Your call."

To be honest, I never read that book and I don't know by now where the hell I put it down. I just know herbs can be found in the forest because if you watch many adventure fantasy series in your old life, you will know it's true.

"Look, if we get this done quickly, we'll both save time. I'm not exactly keen on wasting a whole day watching plants grow," I said.

I saw his mouth open and closed as he touched his hair. He bows his head and he can't find a word to answer my suggestion.

I rolled my eyes. "Come on, don't make me say it!" I raised my hands in a gesture of surrender. "Okay, fine I'll say it anyway!" I said.

He pays attention to whatever I am going to say next.

I scratch the back of my neck while looking away. "I'm looking for a companion that will come with me to the forest…" I said.

"Because I'm planning to train alone. The thing is, I need to hone my skills so that I can pass the entrance exam to the Magindale Academy," I explained.

What I said is half true and half lie. I am indeed planning to enter Magindale Academy because I want to explore this world. But it is a lie that I wanted to train. Come on, I already have CC. Why should I train?

Suddenly, a yearning look appears on him. "If that's what you want… I will be happy to accompany you, my lord."

[NOTICE: Livius's hatred decreases to 18%.]

I raised my eyebrow. Huh. I didn't realize dragging him into the forest would make him hate me less. Noted.

I smiled at him. "Really?" I asked. I put down the scissors and approach him closely. "Can we go now?"

He then opened and closed his mouth. "Uhm…" he said, then he looked at the surroundings. "I… I need to finish planting these herbs… before I could go… my lord."

The smile on my lips becomes a grin. "Oh, is that all?" I asked while also looking at the seedling tray beside me. I crouched low to the ground, with my knees bent sharply. "Then teach me how to plant this, so we can finish this early."

He slouched and rapidly halted me to touch the seedling tray. "M-my l-lord! You shouldn't get yourself dirty from soil! I can manage to finish planting these all by myself as early as I could so please don't bother yourself helping me!" he speaks rapidly.

I looked at him. "You sure?"

He immediately nods. "Yes, my lord. So please, stand up."

"Okay," I said and stood up. "On the second thought, maybe I should let you finish what you're doing first before asking you to come with me."

He fixes his posture and looks at me. I continue speaking, "We can depart tomorrow morning. If that's okay with you?"

He smiles as he answers. "Yes, my lord."

That's it. My plan works very well. Finally, my job is done here, so I can now go home peacefully and rest until tomorrow comes. Now, where's my reward? Hopefully, something that doesn't involve dirt.

[NOTICE: Quest "The Forest Gathering" is now completed. Rewards have been issued to your inventory. Additional information or new quest details may now be available. Check your system interface for updates.]