I walked as if I were running, escaping quickly so the foolish Lennox couldn't refute me. I felt a surge of pride thinking of Lennox, devastated by my insults. I quickly headed toward the Imperial Palace's government office.
As I moved, Dominic in my hand vibrated momentarily.
'Why?'
Dominic and I had a contractual relationship. He wasn't human anymore; he had transformed into the "mother sword" of the contract, so it seemed we could read each other's thoughts better now. Dominic urgently sent me a message.
'Are you really okay, Mel? But he's a Duke.'
'Did you swear at Lennox?'
I scratched the bridge of my nose. That old mothball must be thinking of revenge.
'It's okay. We're from equal families. So far, at least.'
And if I didn't insult him that much, I didn't think he'd fall away from me.
'And he was always worse to me.'
Thinking about Lennox's verbal abuse towards Meldenik every single time, my fists clenched.
"He despised and tormented me constantly."
It was so ridiculous that I was speechless at the word 'turn off'.
Hmph.
I snorted loudly. Dominic paused for a moment before continuing.
'...Well, that's true. If he says anything, I can protect him.'
I nodded, whistled, and continued toward the palace office. My goal was to register for the opening of my business, one of the main reasons I came to the Imperial Palace.
I was fortunate enough to quickly complete the registration for my practice at the Imperial Palace. Of course, I didn't announce it openly when I reported the opening, and I received many disapproving looks. On the contrary, those stares helped. Even within the imperial office, Meldenik Babelloa's name was infamous for incompetence. So the government staff gave me permission without much inquiry, saying, "She's going to try another business this time too."
'It's not bad that people think I'm incompetent.'
If they gave permission without even checking the business plan, it showed they weren't properly scrutinizing it. Excited by the ambition to succeed, I walked out of the government office with a vigorous stride.
I stood by the side of the road for a while, organizing my papers into a long bag with Dominic, who was still in his sword form. At that moment, I heard a low, soft voice behind me.
"I dropped this paper."
I turned and looked at the white paper the man held out. It looked like I'd dropped it on the floor because I had so many documents.
"It's mine, thank you."
He handed me a document with my name at the top. By chance, our touches brushed softly. The man placed the papers in my hand and whispered gently, "Are you serious?"
"…What?"
I heard a low laugh overhead. "You'd rather marry me than Duke Hesman."
"Oh, anyone is better than him."
As soon as I finished speaking, a clear laugh resonated from above.
"That feels good."
It was a drowsy, sweet voice with a low bass tone. I stopped while finishing my paperwork. There was only one person who could ask such a question.
'Is it the man who wore the shirt earlier?'
I thought I'd roughly seen his back. I looked up to see the face of the man who spoke to me. But he had already walked past me. In the place where he passed, only a cool scent carried by the wind lingered.
I tilted my head and adjusted my bag. Now that I had registered my practice, I didn't have to come to the palace anymore. I wouldn't ever meet a black-haired man who seemed to be related to Lennox again. It was a bit strange. But that was all. I wouldn't see him again.
I returned to the dilapidated stationery store building.
'There's no dust, so I can rest comfortably.'
The inside of the building was much tidier and cleaner than yesterday. This morning, Dominic had cast a clumsy cleaning spell. I sat in a large one-room on the first floor and looked at Dominic. He had already shed his sword form and transformed into a human.
"We're going to remodel it tomorrow, so let's go to the shopping street."
"Yes."
"Hmm... Fortunately, I have some money, so I'm going to decorate it properly, okay?"
The Duke of Babelloa gave him about 200 million becquerels. It costs about 100 million to hire a wizard to remodel a building. I could use the remaining 100 million becquerels to buy items to put inside the stationery store. For the Duke of Babelloa, it was just a small amount of money, but for me, a small business owner, it was a huge sum.
"Yes," he replied quietly.
I suddenly wondered. Why does this sword suddenly have such a thoughtful face?
"What are you thinking?"
"Is the man you saw earlier your fiancé, Mel?"
Ah, maybe it was because of the incident with Lennox earlier. I replied calmly, "Yes, he was. Not anymore."
He seemed surprised that I wasn't hurt. Does the mutual contract between the sword and the human make it possible to roughly infer each other's feelings? I began to feel similar to his uncomfortable feelings. Dominic muttered, brushing his black hair roughly.
"...Yes, of course, but it's a shame for you."
"That's right."
"Though you are a fraudulent contractor, and like me, you use a great sword for too much futility."
It's a little strange.
'Why do you think you're insulting me?'
I glanced at him with suspicious eyes. "What? You, aren't you cursing me, not Duke Hesmann?"
"No, I'm not," Dominic swiped at me playfully.
I chuckled and tapped Dominic, then came back to my senses. There was no time for jokes. I had something else important to do tonight. I rummaged through the clutch I had left on the table earlier. I took out two sheets of high-quality paper and a fountain pen from the family. The precious paper was enchanted, so fortunately, it came out without folding. I waved my fountain pen with my right hand and said cheerfully, "I've told Lennox as well, so I'm going to write a breakup request now."
Dominic, who had been pacing around the old room while I was rummaging through the clutch, came up to me and nodded. "Very good idea."
"I have to ask for excommunication. I thought they would excommunicate me as soon as I left, so why is the reaction so slow?" To be precise, this is it: "Why didn't you excommunicate me and keep quiet, making Lennox infest the surroundings like flies?" Let's go our separate ways.
My sincere desire to cut ties with Babelloa made Dominic's expression tingle with embarrassment.
"...You are a nobleman; are you willing to give up your position?"
There are many who want to lick the soles of the Duke's feet in order to bear the name of the Duke of Babelloa. And Dominic must be well aware of that, so he didn't truly understand my decision. However, my father, the Duke, who hates me, my stepmother, the Duchess of Babelloa, who will try to kill me, and my sister and heroine, Sheria, who must feel superior to me—in order to completely isolate myself from them, I had to give up the name of Babelloa. And if I gave up the name of Babelloa and became a commoner, my marriage with the Hesman family would naturally be broken.
'I'm not very greedy.'
I smiled at him and said, "Hmph, I'm confident."
"...What kind of confidence?"
"Certainty that you can regain your status if you put your mind to it?"
'There is a way to gain aristocratic status again. I don't need it yet.'
I looked at him with a confident face and smiled. "Why, I have the best force, right?"
Dominic looked at me with a puzzled face and his cheeks turned red. He had lived for a very long time internally, but on the outside, he looked like a seventeen-year-old boy, so his confusion was cute. He brushed it down my face and muttered softly, "What... I'm definitely the best, trustworthy sword."
I nodded to Dominic.