Guiding the Male Lead out of His Trauma

The Brondearn mansion was filled with wallpaper and furniture that gave off a dark, heavy atmosphere.

It was as if the entire mansion was a giant coffin.

After being shown to my room, I finally let out a long sigh I’d been holding back.

To think I’ll have to live in this gloomy place for half a year.

‘…This is the first time I’ve ever missed my dormitory bed.’

At times like this, it’s better to think positive thoughts.

For example, if Hyacine and I succeed in safely leaving this country… I should buy a small, bright white house with a pretty garden.

The interior would be decorated with soft ivory wallpaper to match the white, and filled with cheerful furniture.

Suddenly, I looked at my reflection in the nearby mirror.

Very light platinum-blonde hair, almost cream-colored, and rare jade-green eyes.

I didn’t match at all with this pitch-black place.

‘Well, I’ll just have to live here until I go back in half a year anyway. I’ll get by and then leave.’

With those kinds of future plans in mind, I was introduced to the maid who would be serving me.

“This is Hannah. She’ll be in charge of errands and cleaning your room, Miss Ortis, so if you need anything, please let her know.”

“Ah, thank you for your consideration.”

Though it didn’t really feel like consideration.

“And the Duke wishes to dine together. Please come down as soon as possible.”

Blair, who brought in a maid who obviously didn’t seem very friendly toward me, must have thought his job was done, because he simply left.

‘This is pretty awkward.’

But what can I do? I just have to endure it.

Anyway, since the Duke, our new sponsor, was calling, I should probably put on something appropriate.

I put down my trunk and called out to the maid, who was looking at the door Blair had left through.

“Um, could you help me change?”

But for some reason, her reaction was chilly.

“Yes?”

“My clothes. It’d be a bit much to greet the Duke in these.”

“Ah… but your clothes aren’t complicated enough to need help, are they?”

For a moment, I was at a loss for words and simply stared at the maid.

Even though she shrank under my gaze, she remained upright.

‘Ah, because we’re both commoners.’

Cadets are treated as soldiers from the moment they enroll, so they’re no longer considered commoners.

They’re first given the rank of knight, but this maid probably thinks I won’t get my title until after I graduate.

‘Arguing about it will only make things more troublesome for me.’

Since she wasn’t going to help, I asked her to leave, and she really just walked out.

“This is exhausting.”

I’ll just have to endure for half a year.

Muttering that to myself, I changed my clothes and came out, only to find Hyacine, now looking very presentable, waiting for me.

“…Who are you?”

“I should change again.”

“Sorry, it was a joke.”

And so, we were about to meet the head of House Brondearn for the first time.

* * *

“When His Highness suddenly sent a servant, I wondered what was going on, but I hear your younger brother shows quite a bit of promise for the future.”

“You flatter him. Hyacine hasn’t even manifested yet.”

“His Highness’s instincts and analyses almost never miss. The fact that he sent you both to me probably means a high-ranked Transcendent’s touch is needed.”

I continued the somewhat uncomfortable conversation, moistening my throat.

Glock Brondearn.

The Duke of Brondearn is a very famous figure, even at the Estra Military Academy.

He’s retired now, but he’s still one of the few Transcendents in the country who would be summoned to the front by royal command in an emergency.

One of only ten S-Class Transcendents on the entire continent, firmly holding his place among them.

He’s the guardian of Rydel, the capital of Balmoth.

‘And the main figure in the rumors about affairs caused by imprinting.’

I tried not to pay attention to the Duchess sitting next to him as I idly poked my knife at the steak.

The knife was so sharp that the steak cut smoothly and blood seeped out.

“But leaving that child aside, I don’t really see a reason for you to stay here as well.”

The master of the house got right to the point about me.

Basically, he was saying it’s bothersome to have a mere B-Class in Brondearn.

Well, it makes sense.

In a family where A-Classes are everywhere and S-Classes reign supreme, a mere B-Class Guide isn’t going to be impressive.

‘Unless I had a particularly high resonance with someone in the family.’

Resonance is the quantified measure of compatibility between a Transcendent and a Guide.

The higher the Guide’s rank, the easier it is to care for the Transcendent with just simple physical contact like holding hands.

But if their resonance is especially high, the effect is even greater.

Even if a B-Class Guide is guiding a B-Class Transcendent, if the resonance is high, a hug can be enough. But if they’re not compatible, even more intimate physical contact might be useless.

‘Physical contact… what a setting, perfectly optimized for romance.’

Because of this, Transcendents and Guides with high resonance almost never take other partners.

So, like arranged marriages among nobles, it’s common for them to agree to marry each other.

Since physical contact is essential for guiding anyway, unless something else gets in the way, they usually ‘imprint’ on each other and can’t receive or give guiding with anyone else.

‘It’s really no different from a marriage of convenience.’

But the problem is, if one side already has someone they love…

That’s when a truly disastrous outcome occurs.