Chapter 55

“Tower Lord, will you accept my gift?”

“….”

“I don’t think the Tower Lord who has many things will need it, but I still want to be able to thank you somehow.”

“…Okay.”

Diamide curtly accepted the flowers and gifts gifted to him. He then bought up something unexpected.

“A week later, come here exactly at 8 o’clock.”

“Yes…?”

“Do you have any other plans?”

“No, there isn’t anything like that.”

“Then there won’t be any issues.”

Diamide suddenly disappeared, leaving only those words.

After returning back to her room, Jayna called Micheal, Hilvenzia, and Izren to talk about what had just happened. Then, various reactions emerged from the three people.

“He told you to come a week later at 8 o’clock? Is that man crazy?”

“What do you think made him say that?”

“…Is that so?”

No one took Diamide’s words lightly.

“Pretend to be sick and lay down in bed the entire day! Don’t ever go there, all right?”

“But I don’t think it’ll be dangerous. If he had wanted to hurt you, he wouldn’t have taken such a troublesome approach.”

“I’m coming with you.”

Micheal strongly opposed the idea, saying that she should never go, but Hilvenzia and Izren agreed that everything would be fine.

The two were worried as well, so they decided to send Izreen along.

“Leave the others behind.”

However, on that day Diamide saw Izren following Jayna and ordered him to go back.

“However…”

“You’re the guard I ordered to escort her. Who should be protecting who from whom?”

Diamide then spoke to Jayna, while leaving Izren with a confused expression.

“Hold onto my arm.”

At that moment, what Micheal had previously said crossed her mind.

– The Tower Lord, like a mysophobic, disliked coming in contact with others.

“…”

However, she couldn’t ignore his orders. Jayna glanced into his eyes, and then somehow felt that he wasn’t going to harm her.

– Come on.

Jayna, then at Diamide’s words, unwittingly put her hand on the edge of his long hood, as she did before when he had saved her.

And at that very moment,

Whoosh!

With the sound of the ground shaking, they had moved spaces. In the distance, she could see Izren for a moment with his eyes wide open.

Jayna, who had lost her senses with the white light surrounding her eyes, was already sitting in a magnificent large hall.

Belatedly coming to her senses, Jayna looked around and found a pamphlet in the man’s hand.

[Basarit Regular Concert]

Only then did she realize Diamide had brought her to a concert.

‘Don’t tell me I’m watching a concert alone with the Tower Lord?’

“Sit down.”

“Oh, yes.”

Jayna quickly sat down at the prompt which came from a seat next to hers.

It was her first time in such a hall, she therefore felt very awkward, but Diamide was sitting in a comfortable position, as if he was used to such situations.

‘You don’t look like a wizard right now.’

In the quiet and elegant hall, he looked like an actor.

Diamide had a noble-like appearance and an elegant atmosphere surrounding him. His distinctive iciness couldn’t be hidden, but it also somehow felt like the unique dignity of an artist.

And not surprisingly, a quiet murmur surrounding him rose.

“Ah such a handsome man… who could he be?”

“I don’t think he’s a commoner, does anyone know of him?”

As Diamide rarely attends social gatherings, his face is not well known. Perhaps that is why everyone had their faces tilted towards them.

His outstanding facial features, beautiful jawline, and appearance that seemed to capture all the light to himself even in a dark place filled with people.

“Do you think he has a lover?”

“There’s no way he doesn’t with such an appearance…”

Even amongst the murmurs, Diamide unnervingly looked forward, like the silent moon, and felt untouchable.

People glanced at Diamide, but no one approached him as if they were daunted by the unique atmosphere.

Looking around, most of the people sitting in the seats seemed to have come with family, lovers, or friends.

‘I have nothing to do with the Tower Lord…’

While she sat alongside him, she couldn’t get rid of the feelings of contrast between her and him. They felt similar to black ink on a sheet of white paper.

Jayna pondered about why Diamide had brought her to such a place.

‘Because you wanted to spend time with me like others?’

Impossible. Jayna laughed on the inside, ridiculing herself for coming up with such an outrageous idea.

‘Perhaps he was lonely and wanted to bring someone along?’

Was Diamide someone who felt lonely, or someone who cared about what others thought of him? This idea was rejected as well.

‘So why the hell did he?’

Jayna, who had been thinking about the reason, soon found out why.

‘Ah, you brought me here to show me how to properly play the harpsichord the way my mother did.’

It was important to practice diligently, but listening to other people’s performances could also help improve one’s skills.

Jayna nodded and finally relaxed.

“Is there something wrong?”

As Jayna muttered to herself, Diamide, who was sitting next to her, spoke to her. His eyes were still glued forward.

“Ah, it’s my first time at a concert, so it’s an overwhelming experience.”

“First time? Dragons are so uncultured.”

She tried to mention that dragons were indeed interested in the arts, but stopped herself.

It would’ve felt as if she was whining about how others apart from herself attended various cultural events, such as concerts and exhibitions.

“There will be plenty of such opportunities in the future.”

Although his tone was cold, the words itself felt both comforting yet mocking. Jayna smiled awkwardly.

“I hope so.”

Not long after she had nodded, the performance began.

The first song which was played sounded familiar to Jayna, who had lived in the Tower for the majority of her life.

‘I can see the musician’s hands from here.’

Jayna’s seat, which was slightly off center, enabled her to clearly see the hands of the brilliant harpsichord player.

‘It’s such a good seat, but how were you able to get tickets for the concert?’

Seeing as the entire concert was filled to the brim, it didn’t look like he had reserved the seats just today.

‘Perhaps… Did you make a reservation in advance to go to the concert with me?’

Impossible.

Jayna laughed at that thought. It was impossible.

He wanted to talk to Jayna. Diamide looking for a chance. Does that make sense? It is absolutely outrageous.

‘Let’s just focus on this and not think about anything else.’

Jayna nodded her head to the beat when the song she liked came out, and watched the performance while playing the song in the air with her small fingers.

Then, a soft and sweet melody began to play.

“Ah…”

Unlike her reactions so far, Jayna held her breath. She then covered her mouth with her hand, and simply stared at the performance as if her eyes were glued to it.

“Do you like it?”

Diamide then met her gaze.

“Francino’s Night Song No.10.”

Jayna expressed her surprise hearing the voice close-up. Diamide did not wait for her response, but quietly spoke again.

“It was your mother’s favourite song.”

“…”

“You both have similar tastes.”

Jayna opened her eyes wide.

It seemed to be the first time Bezriche had been mentioned directly with his mouth.

It seems like you’re also helping me to interpret this song… but weirdly enough, she couldn’t take her eyes off him.

“Wow, I loved that song.”

“Since you liked it so much, it was worth bringing you here.”

The affectionate father and daughter sitting in the front row, looked like her and Diamide.

* * *

It was the afternoon of a bright and sunny day with clear skies.

Jayna and Hilvenzia had gone outside the Tower. Jayna however felt anxious and often glanced behind.

“Are you sure this is okay?”

“It’s okay, I’ve told you, I have talked about it with others, so you don’t need to worry.”

Jayna couldn’t refuse Hilvenzia’s offer to go out on a date alone with each other, therefore Izren had to secretly and guiltily follow the two.

“I think it’s the first time I’m going out with you alone.”

“Yeah, there’s no annoying cat following you around this time.”

“What are the ingredients we need to buy this time?”

“Ah, I’m a bit short on lizard’s tail, but we can get that quickly, so we’ll have a lot of time left over. There’s a festival nearby so we can pass by too, it’ll be perfect.”

A few days ago, Hilvenzia asked Jayna whether she would like to go out with her, with the excuse of buying materials. Jayna, who was frustrated with staying in the Tower for so long, readily agreed. However, it just so happened that the very day they went out would turn out to be the day of the festival she previously wanted to go too.

Jayna felt suspicious of Hilvenzia yet amazed by her for bringing her out in time for the freak festival day.

– Daddy, let’s go to the freak festival together!

– All right, shall we start picking out our outfits?

After the concert had concluded, the family in front of them began to talk about the freak festival, so Jayna had asked Diamide about it, and a few days later, Hilvenzia had asked her out on the same day. That’s also in time for the freak festival day.

Jayna asked her if she had talked to Diamide regarding the festival,

– Ah, I didn’t know today was the freak festival though?

She had made an excuse. It was her nature to do so, so Jayna let it slide.

It was because Hilvenzia, with an excited face, said, ‘My goodness, Jayna, we have no choice but to change into a costume suitable for the festival.’

And due to this, Jayna was bought various clothes and she excused Hilvenzia from lying.

‘I’m glad I didn’t tell you I went to a concert with Diamide.’

She hadn’t told Micheal, Hilvenzia, or Izren about her trip to the concert with Diamide.

The reason why she didn’t say what she usually did wasn’t because of the affectionate father and daughter pair she saw that day.

It was because she was worried they would begin to have false hope.

The dragon tribe had no concept of a father figure.

In addition to this, Diamide, her biological father, had told her she was the child of Bezrizhe and another man.

Their encounters had recently become more frequent, and conversations increasing as well, but that did not mean their severed relationship could ever be fully restored.

“I don’t think this is a good outfit for the freak festival?”

Jayna, who was lost in thought, had come to her senses and looked down at her body.

The small body of hers was covered with clothes made of expensive silks.

“Oh, is something wrong with my eyes? Is that so? Alas, am I getting presbyopia because of my old age…”

[T/N: Presbyopia : Physiological insufficiency of accommodation associated with the aging of the eye that results in progressively worsening ability to focus clearly on close objects.]

Hilvenzia was a woman of great proportions yet shamelessly began to complain.

Jayna couldn’t refuse her. There were no other reasons behind her actions, it wasn’t because she wanted to buy clothes for herself. In the end, Jayna was dragged around the dressing room and forced to try on dainty clothing.

It was different from the boutique Micheal had previously brought her too. It seemed that Hilvenzia wanted to dress Jayna in cute clothing.

“My god, your child looks like a snow fairy!”

She finally decided on wearing a white cape with a skirt which came down to her knees, and finally, a white cone hat with a fluffy ball of fur on top.

‘It looks like an outfit which shouts, ‘I’m cute!’, but I don’t think it suits me…’

Jayna awkwardly smoothed the hem of the fluffy dress. She couldn’t decide whether to actually wear such an outfit that openly advocates cuteness.

For the sake of selling clothes, a saleswoman would say anything.

Jayna glanced up to Hilvenzia. Her eyes bent affectionately.

“As expected, Jayna, you are adorable. My eyes were correct, guess I don’t need to wear glasses just yet.”

Hilvenzia’s face, while grinning, tilted. The eyes of the employee next to her sparkled the entire time.

“I have another dress which would look good while matching with the lady, would you like to see it?”

Therefore, Hilvenzia settled on wearing a purple dress. What was unusual was that the skirt from the waist till ankles were extremely narrow, however, it had an opening at the knees which made it less inconvenient to move around.

[The purple is where the opening is]

“You really do look beautiful, Hilvenzia.”

Jayna had to admit the dress looked great on Hilvenzia. Her silver hair matched perfectly with the dress.

Originally, Hilvenzia was known for being exceptionally beautiful, nevertheless, it was surprising to see a sparkly air around her.

“My goodness, you two really do look good together!”

The staff burst into heartfelt exclamations. Hilvenzia’s eyes sparkled and she began to look around for another dress to try on.

Quickly noticing it, Jayna quickly blocked her way.

“One dress is more than enough. It’ll become difficult to carry around.”

“Jayna, why do you care about carrying clothes while I’m there to help?”

Hilvenzia pouted as if her pride had been hurt. The staff simply grinned and began to bring in more clothes.

“How do you like these outfits? It’s especially popular among those celebrating the festival.”

The staff picked out one of them and handed it out to Jayna.

“I think this one would look especially good on the little lady, so how about it!”

As soon as she saw the clothes, the two had no choice but to look at each other’s faces.

* * *

How many clothes would someone need for one festival?

Jayna’s question was lightly dismissed by Hilvenzia.

“Why should you worry about having multiple dresses? I’ll just buy all of them.”

“But I can’t wear them all today.”

“You can wear them in the Tower, right?”

Jayna, who also lived as an ordinary citizen, and the world’s best alchemist had a different budget.

Thus, Jayna was gifted several sets of costumes by Hilvenzia.

The two came out of the store dressed like a snow fairy and a snow goddess, and then changed their clothes in the middle of the festival.

“You think I should wear this too, right?”

The clothes that the employee had recommended to Jayna were animal costumes.

Rabbits, bears, cats, dogs, squirrels… There were many animals, but there was only one which interested both of the two.

It was an outfit which made the both of their eyes sparkle…

“Rawwr.”

It was a dragon.

Jayna threateningly opened her mouth at Hilvenzia.

“Princess, I’ll kidnap you.”

The hood worn by Jayna was equipped with a ferocious dragon face and horns, and at the back, small cute dragon wings, which flapped everytime Jayna moved, hung.

“Uwaa.”

When Jayna, who looked cute and dainty, threatened her, she felt it was adorable rather than threatening.

However, Hilvenzia pretended to act frightened in light of the freak festival.

“Oh my god, what a scary dragon. Someone please save me.”

Hilvenzia’s role was a princess who was kidnapped by a dragon.

Hilvenzia would usually prefer wearing achromatic colours, but what she was wearing now was a light blue dress that beautifully fluttered in the sky.

‘It’s been 50 years since I last wore pastel colours.’

However, as the dress was chosen by no one else but Jayna, Hilvenzia accepted the offer to wear that dress.

However Jayna wasn’t satisfied with just that,

“Hilvenzia, I think there’s something missing. It’s a similar feeling to before.”

“Then what do you think I should do, Jayna?”

“I think…”

Jayna said as she strode behind Hilvenzia.

“….!”

At that moment, Hilvenzia’s expression cooled down.

It was deadly to turn your back on the enemy. In addition, Hilvenzia, who had been exposed to life threatening situations several times, reacted very sensitively whenever someone approached her behind.

But Jayna, who had done the same, didn’t know that. She simply blinked her eyes, dragging along her cottontail with her.

“Hilvenzia, why don’t you braid your hair?”

“….”

“Your silver coloured-hair is extremely pretty, so any style would look good with it. I’d like to give it a try if you wouldn’t mind.”

As she nodded, Jayna’s dainty hands soon moved between the fine hair.

Jayna managed to part her hair well even without a comb.

Soon, Hilvenzia heard a voice which sounded more excited than usual.

“It’s the first time I’ve ever touched someone else’s hair.”

Even though Hilvenzia couldn’t see Jayna, she could tell Jayna was concentrating.

Hillbenzia gently closed her eyes, slowly easing the sense of vigilance she had from turning her back to someone else.

“It’s been a long time since someone has touched my hair as well.”

“Really?”

“Perhaps not, this might be the first time anyone has ever touched my hair.”

Hilvenzia had uniquely sharp senses while compared to other alchemists, which helped her in both combat and research.

Even when she asked maids to cut her hair out of politeness, she still despised someone touching her.

“I somehow feel like I’ll go to sleep at any moment.”

“Don’t go to sleep, Hilvenzia.”

A warm touch seeped into Hilvenzia’s skin. Due to such a small, soft touch, she was suddenly reminded of cotton candy.

“Jayna, do you want to eat something sweet?”