The Rowle Family manor.
In the drawing room.
Rowle sat on the sofa, holding a cup of tea that had gone completely cold.
Travers sat opposite him, his legs spread apart, staring at the chandelier on the ceiling.
He seemed to be pondering some profound question.
Rowle set down his teacup.
"Do you know how late I stayed up calculating last night? A four-hour curse half-life."
"Using that exponential decay formula."
He took out a sheet of parchment densely covered in numbers and symbols.
"I had Lucius check it. I actually got it right!"
Rowle wore a complicated expression.
He looked more like someone who had walked in darkness for a long time and suddenly discovered he was heading in the right direction, only to be frightened by where that direction led.
Travers tore his gaze away from the ceiling.
His expression was even more complicated.
He looked at Rowle through gritted teeth.
He thought the man was showing off.
He had been like this at school, too, coming to him with complaints whenever he achieved the slightest thing.
Was this complaining?
This was showing off!!
Travers let out a long sigh.
"Who would have thought?"
"I joined the Death Eaters because I didn't want to keep doing homework at school."
"I've been with the Death Eaters all this time, and I still can't escape homework."
Rowle looked at his old schoolmate.
He did not mock him.
He did not want to do homework either.
Travers sank into the sofa.
"I'd rather take another Cruciatus Curse than work through that mathematical model again."
He tilted his head to look at Rowle.
"Do you know what's most terrifying?"
Rowle put the parchment away again, seemingly afraid Travers would borrow his homework.
"What?"
Travers rolled his eyes. The moment he saw Rowle's