CH 31

Sante was actively participating in whatever Ophelia asked him to do before, so this was a different attitude coming from him now.

Ophelia felt a little disappointed by this.

‘I intentionally set the bait to attract Sante’s interest.’

Ophelia had examined her surroundings enough, and she had already experienced today just how useful Sante was. So, she concluded that it would be better to draw his attention so she could take advantage of him a little more.

So she deliberately placed him next to her as she talked to Ariel about the past.

But for some reason, as she ended her story, Sante’s smile had disappeared.

He seemed to be grappling with many thoughts.

Even so, his already sharp eyes seemed to have turned even sharper.

‘I don’t know what he’s thinking.’

Sante was someone she couldn’t lose here. It was clear that she’d suffer under many setbacks in various parts of her plan if he changed his mind about helping her.

However, Sante wasn’t uncooperative for long.

He helped Ophelia move Ian back, and after that, he had even come in disguise to Ladeen Castle to discuss more about what she had asked of him.

“By the way, I decided to send someone from the tower to investigate Dian’s situation. I forgot that he was about to come soon, but after seeing this guy, I was reminded of it.”

Right after Sante said this, Alei’s eyebrows twitched as he looked at the other two, his disapproval clear on his face.

Of course, none of the others in the room minded this.

Rather, the corners of Sante’s lips curled up as if Alei’s reaction looked funny.

“Don’t glare at me like that, Dian. What did I do, hm?”

“Don’t call me that. Aren’t you even thinking about how uncomfortable it is that you’re calling me a nickname I don’t know?”

“I’m not even human. You’re asking a lot from a beast, you know.”

“If you want to be treated like a beast, then I’ll get you a leash right away.”

“I’m not a beast that could be owned, so no thanks. Even so, you’ve become such an unfriendly punk after you lost your memories, huh? You’re like a stone.”

Sante, who chuckled after saying this, somehow sounded bitter.

Of course, it happened only in an instant. He was a beast who was good at managing his facial expressions, practiced over the many years of his existence.

“Anyway, what I’m trying to tell you is the one who’ll come. Do you want to listen? Or should I just go back?”

“No, I want to hear it.”

As Ophelia hurriedly grabbed Sante’s arm because he looked like he was really about to go, Sante smiled casually.

It was a smile that may seem friendly, but it was clearly the smile of a beast’s benevolence.

“The punk who’s going to come is Cornelli Deurang, a human male who’s a bit young. I don’t know him well because I’m not familiar with the other members of the tower, but I know two things.”

“What are they?”

“One, his eyes shine like stars whenever he talks about Dian.”

Sante held up two fingers.

“Two, he’s unrivaled when it comes to devising magic formulas, but he’s clumsy and even forgets to set the basic calculation of the range.”

“How odd. Why did you choose someone who made such a mistake for this task?”

“Of course, if I left them alone to decide, another punk would come, but it’s all thanks to how great I am at convincing others. It’ll be easier to fool him. Isn’t this a good thing?”

So that’s what it was. He wanted someone clumsy to come here.

‘But I don’t think that Sante would have just made this happen to work in my favor just like that. He’s someone who always hopes to see something fun.’

All sirens were like that.

Fickle.

It was easy to gain their favor, and it was just as easy to lose it.

After chasing after the fun they wanted, it was still difficult to handle one even if they’re on your side.

‘I’ll only know for sure what you’re up to once the man named Cornelli comes.’

First, she had to deal with the most imminent things.

After Sante left, Ophelia took off her cloak and hung it on the coat stand. Then, she opened her lips to speak.

“Alei, how is that person’s condition?”

“There seems to be no major injuries. He only has dehydration, fatigue and some cuts and scratches. But I’m not a doctor, so it would be better if one could look at him properly, but… Well, you didn’t go to the ward, so why did you come to me?”

“Of course, because I can keep your lips shut.¹”

“…What are you trying to do?”

Alei’s face heated up, but Ophelia didn’t see this as she was arranging her clothes after taking off the cloak.

With a curious look as she regarded Alei’s question to counter hers, she replied.

“We have to get our story straight. I can’t exactly say that I moved this man alone. Sante was supposed to help me by pretending he was a servant here, but he looks so conspicuous that Lilith would definitely pry.”

“…Oh. That’s—what you were talking about?”

“What else could I possibly be talking about?”

“Never mind.”

Alei frowned.

Unlike her, who was calm all this time, Alei’s gaze was now full of distrust.

No, it would be right to say that rather than distrust, it was full of discontent.

With his forehead all scrunched up like that, it was clear that he didn’t like this current situation.

The problem was that he couldn’t exactly understand or pinpoint the cause of his discontent.

Perhaps, it had begun the moment he arrived at this room earlier, empty without its owner.

But he was sure that he didn’t feel as uncomfortable now as he did then.

Perhaps it was the moment he saw Ophelia with Sante.

—Thank you for your help today, Sante.

—You sound like you’re saying that out of formality.

—It’s better to say it anyway.

Alei’s ire was fanned right then.

‘And there’s also Grand Duke Ronen.’

Ophelia did not return alone. The man who was by Sante’s side then was someone familiar to him.

He wasn’t supposed to be here.

Alei took in a deep breath, though his forehead was still wrinkled. Then, he recalled the conversation he had with Ophelia on the beach last night.

“Is this what you meant when you said three days was ‘enough’?”

“But it’s something you did.”

“If I had known there would be a victim, I wouldn’t have done it.”

“But it already happened.”

Ophelia retorted dryly.

She couldn’t inform him, but in fact, no one died in this shipwreck.

The ship that Ian used to return to Ronen was clearly shipwrecked, but Ian was the only one thrown overboard.

Coincidentally, when the ship was swept away by the turbulent storm, it reached a small island that was nearby. And after a few days, another ship would pass by that area and would rescue them there.

But Alei didn’t know this, and so he was left confused.

“How the hell did you know that Grand Duke Ronen would be shipwrecked?”

“If you know the sea routes and ocean currents well, it’s not difficult to predict something like this. I was just lucky.”

“How incredible of you.”

“Don’t be so sarcastic. And don’t be so negative, Alei. You did a good job after all.”

“…Your way of thinking is always so hard to understand. You’re always so calm, and it’s like you know everything.”

“You don’t like it?”

“You’re just so… Everything about you confuses me.”

It wasn’t until he said this that he finally knew why he felt like this every time he faced Ophelia.

Why was he so frustrated, why did he feel so suffocated?

She confuses him so.

t/n:

¹ I didn’t know how to translate this part seamlessly, but it has a double meaning of ‘kissing’ when shutting someone else up, that’s why Alei blushed lol