The Young Master I Carefully Raised Became Obsessive

I was getting accustomed to being greeted by Derol, who used that kind of mannerism every time. No matter what I said, he stayed true to himself. 

“Derol, did you enjoy your lunch?” I placed my tray on the table with a sigh.

Derol climbed onto my shoulder and stared at the tray, tilting his head in bewilderment. “Master, you’re eating that?”

Honestly, today’s food looked more appetizing than usual, but the portion sizes never changed. However, because it had always been like that, Derol’s words sounded different to me.

“What’s wrong? It’s always been like this.”

“Hmm, Master, do you always have this kind of food?”

As I nodded in agreement, I suddenly thought about my busy life. Since I didn’t want to affect the jobs of other workers, I didn’t waste my time by stopping by my room. Rather, upon receiving my tray of food, I would finish it right away and then go back to work.

Today, for the first time ever, I brought my food back to my room because of Ardion. Furthermore, since all I had to do was clean, I was free of tasks.

Derol shook his head repeatedly as he looked at the food that even he wouldn’t eat. “Master, I had the best-aged cheese and tomatoes with well-dried almonds for lunch today. I was going to steal some meat, but it was too heavy to carry…”

“Do you always eat so richly, Derol?”

“Yes. If only I knew you were eating so meagerly like this, I would have stolen some for you. I am so sorry, Master.”

“You don’t need to apologize. I’m fine. The problem is Ardion.”

“Master, should I steal from the pantry? I think I can steal some food with a few friends.” Derol was generous despite his small size.

“By friends, do you mean those cockroaches?”

“Yes. Although I have a few mouse friends, they are a little dirty.”

My appetite instantly dropped.

But Ardion would never be aware of it. No, he was still young, so I needed to make sure he had nutritious food.

“Then I’ll help too. Can you also steal some ingredients?”

“If you help me, I don’t think I’ll need my friends.”

“Really?”

“Yes, Master. I can open the door to the pantry, and you can go in and take the ingredients away.”

The method he thought of was very satisfactory, making me agree right away and grab a few sacks.

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Personally, the food was fine for me, but I was worried about Ardion. Well, it seemed I had to steal food from the pantry.

What if he kept eating food that wasn’t nutritious and resented me later?

I shook my head. That won’t do.

Nevertheless, since I was in charge of Ardion’s care, he had to eat only the best. That way, I would have a chance to beg for mana in the future.

I carried the sacks to the pantry, which was also located in the basement, close to my room.

Fortunately, it was currently lunchtime, so no one would be coming by for a while.

I scanned the surroundings once more and then stopped in front of the pantry’s door. I took out Derol from my pocket and carefully placed him in the crack of the door.

Derol clasped his hands respectfully. “Master, I’ll open the door as fast as I can.”

“Since it’s dangerous, if you can’t do it, give up and go out as quickly.”

“It shouldn’t be an issue, but I’ll follow your instructions, Master.”

Suddenly, I heard footsteps coming.

Derol swiftly slipped through the crack. I immediately turned and pretended to clean nearby.

Working during lunchtime was normal at Duke Orchid’s mansion, so no one thought it unusual.

The servant, unconcerned, went upstairs. As soon as the servant disappeared, I pressed my ear to the door.

I heard the clanging of metal. Derol was surely moving his hands quickly. Then there was a cheerful clinking sound, and the door opened slightly.

Derol peeked his head through the gap. “Master, the door is open!”

“Thank you, Derol.” I smiled and walked into the pantry. I was immediately disgusted by the musty odor, but when I turned around, I saw a new world.

Ripe apples, fresh vegetables, and even expensive meat hung on the walls.

“They hide all of this and give the servants crap food?”

I was overwhelmed, but I grabbed the first vegetables, fruits, cheese, and dry jerky I could see.

I had to be quick with my hands since we snuck in. Derol wanted to help, so he grabbed a small piece of fruit.

“I think this should be enough.” I looked at the bulging sacks.

Derol quickly climbed onto my hand. I tucked him into my pocket, grabbed the sacks, and left the pantry. Luckily, no one was outside.

After taking this much, I was sure Deevher would get some reprimands from Duke Orchid. That’s why you shouldn’t have been stingy.

I wouldn't have done this if he had given me another tray of food.

Besides, Ardion was a member of the imperial family, and treating him like that was too much. Now, I no longer wondered why he burnt this mansion later in the story.

As I walked back to my room, I saw a maid standing in front of my room. I knew I had to be the quickest I had ever been, so I swiftly opened the door to Ardion's room.

He locked his gaze on me as soon as I stepped inside, his brow furrowed.

I actually managed to carry all this undetected…

“Why are you here?”

“Young Master, the mansion doesn’t provide food separately, so I brought this for you. Since you cannot eat my food, you may have this,” I said quickly, placing the fruits and cheese I took from the sacks on the table. Then I put another sack next to his bed.

The people in the mansion wouldn’t care about Ardion anyway, and they wouldn’t come here either.

The only problem left was my room.

Sometimes, Benji or a maid would come by. I had important documents hidden there, but I couldn’t possibly hide food under my bed too.

“Young Master, please eat. I…”

“Take it away. I won’t eat.”

I stopped in my tracks.

Ardion looked straight at me. “I won’t eat that.”

His tone sounded as though he were driving a wedge between us. My mood strangely sank, and I stared silently at what I had brought.

To be honest, everything I brought here was far more edible than what had been given to me on that tray.

“Young Master, what I brought wasn’t easy to get. I can’t give you my own food…”

Ardion stared at me blankly. At that moment, I heard a growling sound that didn’t come from my stomach. I looked at him, and his face turned as red as a ripe tomato. 

I smiled. “Young Master, you’re hungry.”

“No, I’m not hungry.” Ardion turned his head away, perhaps because his pride was hurt.

I had no choice but to grab a few slices of cheese and a piece of bread and hand them to him.

Ardion furrowed his eyebrows and refused to accept them.

“Young Master, don’t act prideful. You are hungry. That’s why I brought all this for you to eat.”

Only then did Ardion turn his head towards me and scrutinize me thoroughly. “Why are you doing this?”

“I am your caretaker, Young Master…”

“Lies. You’re pretending to be nice, but in fact, you are doing this for your own benefit.”

Ardion was skeptical of me, likely because he had been through a lot at a young age. He glanced at the table once more and then turned his gaze to the floor.

I walked over to the spot Ardion was looking at and sat down. He looked up, and our eyes met.

“Actually, it’s true I want something from you, Young Master. But you can give it to me when you want. I won’t ask you first.”

My original plan was to beg him, but now that he had seen through my motive, I couldn’t deny it.  I had no choice but to be honest. After all, the person giving the mana had to be willing.

Ardion looked at me silently and slowly spoke. “You’re honest.”

“That’s a lot better than trying to be innocent.”

With that, I got up. He avoided my gaze. 

“By the way, are you really not going to eat this, Young Master?”

“Eat it yourself.”

“Sure, I won’t force you, Young Master.”

I was quite hungry, so having this food was a real blessing. As soon as I put some in my mouth, my eyes grew in astonishment. This is super tasty!

Ardion, are you really not going to eat this?

I looked at the table, staring hard at the food I placed there. It would be stingy to take it back.

I said calmly, “Regardless, I got the food with great difficulty, so don’t decline it. At least for the sake of my sincerity, eat some. You are at the age of growing up. If you don’t eat anything, you won’t grow up in the future.”

“… So, what do you want?”

His intense gaze on me made me conclude that he was truly curious about what I wanted from him. It seemed he had this trait where he had to know what he was curious about.

“It’s a secret. That’s why if you listen to my lessons and eat well, I’ll tell you someday.”

It would be uncomfortable if I blurted out that I wanted mana out of the blue. It would be better to keep my mouth shut for now, as I didn’t know what would happen.

At that moment, Ardion pointed to the food on the table. “If I eat that, you’ll tell me?”

“If you eat and listen to my lessons well.” I smiled.

Ardion said in a disgruntled voice, “By the way, all I have is mana.”

“…”

“I’m telling you there is no possibility I will give you money.”

Ardion’s eyes were sharper than ever as he fell silent.