CH 20

“Sante is different from the young sirens, and it won’t be easy to ask him to do favors. I needed something to motivate him to some extent. My purpose for talking to him about you isn’t so secretive.”

However, what Ophelia said didn’t affect Alei very much. He was still confused—if she didn’t trust Sante, why did she say all that?

However, it would take courage to ask all these things. Alei hesitated for a long time before he opened his lips.

“Then, was it necessary to say that you don’t trust me?”

“It was.”

“Then, why?”

“Alei. I don’t trust you.”

At Ophelia’s straightforward, natural answer, Alei’s heart dropped. When he thought that he wouldn’t feel this way if only Ophelia told him personally… That was wrong.

It hurt, even when he heard it straight out of her lips.

Alei was left speechless. He stared blankly at her, but Ophelia continued speaking.

“I’ve only told Sante what’s needed, but I’ll share more details with you.”

“…Why don’t you trust me?”

“Why should I tell you? Not everyone lives with their innermost thoughts laid bare for all to see.”

Ophelia shifted her gaze back to Alei, blue irises asking him if he thought the same. Unable to refute this, Alei just stared at her with his brows furrowed.

Maybe he expected that there was no answer.

As Ophelia turned around, her voice continued silently.

“I don’t trust the possibility of you regaining your memories at the right time that I want.”

But when Alei heard Ophelia’s innermost thoughts, it was much heavier than he thought.

Ophelia turned to the sea, but Alei continued to watch her. The perspectives of the two people, from then, would not match.

Now that Alei thought about it, he wondered why he didn’t realize it. Everything Ophelia brought up to him was related to the magic tower.

“The time I have to do this is shorter than you think. I can’t just rely on you regaining your memories, so I have to find a way to go to the tower without just hoping that your memories would be enough.”

“Can I ask what that method is?”

After staring into the sea the whole time, Ophelia shifted her gaze once more towards Alei. Somehow, it seemed like she was smiling. He wondered if she really was.

“You calmed the waves yesterday, remember?”

“Yes, that’s what happened.”

“You changed the flow of the sea. It was flowing more inward, but now the waves are pushing outward.”

Ophelia drew a circle in the air with her hands. That was exactly how Alei gestured when he calmed the sea yesterday.

“…How does that explain anything?”

“If you didn’t use psychokinesis, then there’s nothing else. You already know the fundamentals.”

Ophelia shrugged and continued speaking.

“The important thing is that the currents are part of the flow of water. If you touch the sea currents here, other places will be affected. The ocean’s currents could get twisted up elsewhere.”

“But that’s only temporary. It will affect the waters for only three days at most.”

And yet even as Alei protested, Ophelia smiled dryly.

“Three days is enough.”

Enough to cause a shipwreck.

* * *

Shipwrecks were more common than people expected, and it was more common for the people aboard to be in distress.

But it wasn’t so common for Ophelia to know that Ian would be in such distress.

If she had kept this a secret forever, perhaps Ophelia would be the only person to know why.

Only Ophelia and Alei knew that Alei manipulated the ocean’s currents to calm the sea, but Alei didn’t know that this would affect other currents.

It was in Ronen that Ophelia learned about this.

Because the territory of Ronen was involved with maritime trade, it was a land where shipbuilding technology and architecture was studied.

Ophelia knew for a fact that there was no other place where ships were built better than Ronen’s.

Because of this, Ronen’s high-ranking officials all knew, to some degree, maritime knowledge. That’s why Ophelia herself had to immerse herself in the study as well in order to join Ronen’s high society.

Even if people around her didn’t pressure her with difficult concepts regarding the topic, she had to adapt to the words that were mentioned often due to their proximity to the ocean.

Ophelia worked hard to build up her knowledge so that she could engage in conversation. She learned about the ocean’s currents, how to gauge the weather, what kind of ships there were.

The route that Ian took to return to Ronen from Milescet was a route that wasn’t accident prone because there weren’t many interferences there with the currents.

Of course, that didn’t mean there was none at all.

Even so, an accident in that area shouldn’t have been enough to bring down a large ship that the Grand Duke of a country was on.

At least, as long as there were no sudden collisions of the ocean currents in the middle of the route, it would be fine.

This wasn’t a difficult inference due to the knowledge she had.

However, in the current situation, she would need to bring out many concepts to explain it properly.

Ophelia drew Alei’s attention to the horizon.

“It’s hard to understand what I’m saying now, but that’s all I can tell you.”

“…Did you mention this to Sante?”

“No.”

After hearing Ophelia’s reply, Alei finally calmed down.

“Then it’s fine. I don’t exactly understand everything, but I won’t ask anymore.”

Since it wasn’t something she told Sante, he wouldn’t pry more. Above all, it comforted him that she was ready to explain as long as he asked.

But there was something else he wanted to ask.

“I won’t meddle any more with what you said, but will you answer another question?”

“What is it?”

“What is it that Sante helped you with?”

“Ah.”

Ophelia made a rather bitter expression. Alei wondered if this was how he looked a while ago, as though there was a bad aftertaste on the tongue.

If it was something different, he wouldn’t have asked either, but Alei wanted to make sure.

When he found out that Hydar was beaten like that by Sante, he wanted to deny it to himself—the true reason why Ophelia needed help.

“Hydar was threatening me.”

However, the truth was more often the worst outcome.

“He invited me to a banquet, but I refused. I can see through his intentions, that he only wants me there so that I could be ridiculed… So I refused, but it seemed that his pride was quite hurt.”

“…So that’s why.”

“I’m telling you in advance, but I’m fine. I’ve met worse people.”

“That seems like the case. If I hadn’t blocked that woman at the time, both of your cheeks might have been swollen now.”

“Ah, Cadelia.”

Ophelia recalled it belatedly. Come to think of it, she almost got slapped by Cadelia even before Ophelia left the palace.

Seeing her blink at the late realization, Alei moved to touch her chin again. With a light tug, he turned her head forward, making her meet his gaze.

Those golden irises were a little closer than before. Ophelia could even see herself being reflected in his eyes.

He leaned his head slightly sideways to look at her cheek, then he opened his lips to speak.

“If it’s not something worth showing off, then protect yourself more.”

“Are you scolding me?”

“If you see it that way.”

After saying that, Alei breathed lightly over her cheek. The soft touch of his breath passed by lightly over her skin.

Then, Ophelia felt that the throbbing that had stayed on her cheek all this time had disappeared.

Even if the swelling had subsided earlier, it still hurt quite a bit, so it was more comfortable for her now.

As Ophelia touched her cheek, the corners of her lips unknowingly curled up.

“So you can do this with your magic, too. Thank you.”

“It’s not a big deal.”

Despite the dry answer, Ophelia just smiled in return.

It was only a while ago that she thought that she shouldn’t expect things, but right now, Alei had given her kindness that he readily offered. And it passed through her mind that it would be unfortunate if this feeling disappeared.

In retrospect, Alei was actually quite amicable, even if he sometimes looked intimidating.

She recalled the past, when she leaned on his indifferent affection quite often.

‘I’m not sure if he truly considered me a friend.’

It couldn’t be denied that his kindness was like a welcome rain that let her feel protected like this.

Perhaps, if she had talked to him, she might have hoped that he wouldn’t go far away.

Ophelia pondered the idea for a while. Then, she spoke.

“Alei.”