CH 52

“I did almost all that’s written here, but I asked for some advice, too.”

Cornelli said this, then proceeded to recite several names of people he asked advice from.

However, among that list, there was no mention of Mercia.

“Everyone helped me out a lot.”

“Even so, since Lord Alejandro isn’t there, the research must have been slow.”

“It’s the normal speed, Yennit.”

“We decided to call it that way only because we did get slow.”

Yennit and Cornelli quarreled. Watching this scene unfold, Alei opened his lips.

“There’s one thing I want to ask you because I can’t remember it yet.”

“Yes, please go ahead! What is it?”

“Do all high mages do research studies?”

“Ah, no.”

Cornelli shook his head.

“The ones who conduct their research are mostly the elders or those who have free time on their hands. Of course, there’s really only a few.”

“More than anything, research is going slow because of the magic tower being roused, and… ah.”

Cornelli gradually slowed down as he spoke, until he trailed off without finishing what he was going to say.

And so the lively table was doused with silence.

It was Alei who broke that moment of silence.

Tak. After putting a hand on the table, Alei spoke.

“What you said just now, I want to hear it again.”

* * *

‘Is Alei doing well?’

Ophelia glanced upward.

Alei was staying in a guest room meant for ordinary guests, which was situated at the next floor above where the rooms for important guests were.

She looked up because she assumed that Alei probably went to his room because there weren’t many other places to take Yennit and Cornelli.

Of course, it was but a glance.

A man approached where Ophelia was sitting and set down two cups of tea on the table.

Tak.

Hearing the small sound, Ophelia’s eyes shifted back.

“I didn’t know you’d come to me first.”

Ian said this as he set down one teacup before her.

Ophelia almost frowned, but she quickly schooled her features.

When she held the teacup with her hands, the heat emanating from it calmed her down.

The anxiousness that her racing heart also became quite subdued.

“Since you left me like that yesterday, I thought I’d see you again only if I visited you.”

“…So you came to visit so early in the morning without sending a notice?”

“Was it your dog who said that?”

This time, she couldn’t resist frowning.

“He’s not a dog. You know who Alei is.”

“I know. He’s just a low-ranked wizard right now. And he was guarding the bedroom where you were sleeping. Was there something wrong with what I said?”

“Did it not occur to you that it’s wrong to compare a person to a dog?”

“If you’re such a righteous, understanding princess, you must understand why I have something bad to say about that scoundrel.”

Ian smiled, the corners of his lips raised. There was a cold air around him, as though he was a superior authoritatively looking down at someone at the bottom of the barrel.

Seeing this much, it was irksome.

Moonlight shone in his eyes, even though it was the middle of the day.

“Ophelia. Don’t be so close to him. He’s someone who’ll leave you someday.”

“And you’re someone who’s already abandoned me. You don’t seem to have any right to say this.”

“Yes. You’re right.”

“What happened that made you become so meek?”

“It’s just.”

Ian paused and rested his chin on one hand.

“There’s many things we have to talk about, but I don’t want to waste any time talking about him.”

As he said this, Ian’s black hair was lightly ruffled by a gentle gust of wind blowing in from the window.

Along with the wind, his fringe swept down over his forehead, and the scent of the sea mixed with the fragrance of soap, winding over the tip of her nose.

Unlike the long-sleeved shirt or uniform he usually wore, he was now wearing a short-sleeved shirt as though he was a sailor.

Thanks to this, his skin was bare from shoulders down, and his well-toned muscles could be seen, creating a sensuous atmosphere to him.

At a time like this, he seemed to be far-removed from his status as a grand duke, even the dignified formalities that came with the peerage.

In other words, he seemed free.

“Ophelia. It’s like a dream sitting here with you, face to face.”

She felt suffocated by the fact. She cut him short and spoke.

“Rather, it’s a nightmare.”

“I’ve missed you. Really.”

“And I didn’t want to see you again. Never!”

Ophelia’s hand trembled as the teacup was in her hand.

“I don’t know why you’re treating me this way. No—I don’t understand why you suddenly changed. You despise me.”

“Yes. I did.”

“Then why? Shouldn’t you be relieved that I died?”

Ian had been listening quietly, but at that point, his expression became distorted.

“Did you think I’d be happy if you died?”

“Naturally.”

“It seems like you’re misunderstanding, Ophelia. I never hoped for your death for even a single moment. In fact, it was the opposite. I just—”

Ian stopped there. He hesitated for a moment and swept a hand over his face, his expression troubled.

“…I thought you would live well.”

Ha. Ophelia smiled cynically.

“How optimistic.”

“Yes, I was. Now… I regret it. I want to make it up to you.”

As he said this, Ian bowed his head. At first glance, his eyebrows looked to be furrowed.

However, when he looked up, those wrinkles were gone.

Perhaps it was his pride, perhaps it was another reason.

“This is an opportunity. I can do better this time. Please give me a chance, Ophelia. I, no matter what… I can love only you.”

You’re the only one for me.

Ian whispered earnestly. However, his confession of love did nothing to move Ophelia.

What did he mean by this now. Love?

She didn’t know how much time passed by for him, but Ophelia couldn’t accept it.

Rather than a matter of emotion, it was a matter of rationality.

Ophelia did not trust his love.

She had already once witnessed those passionate embers being extinguished.

And so, Ophelia raised her doubts.

There was no firewood here. What on earth was urging Ian to burn so passionately?

The woman he loved had already been reduced to ashes.

‘I don’t understand.’

Ophelia dismissed his emotional outburst as a product of grief.

After losing something, regrets naturally followed.

Such feelings were bound to disappear the moment he moved on.

There was no such thing as an eternal emotion, no such thing as an eternal promise.

‘If I remind him only a little, he’ll soon remember this fact.’

What he was feeling was not love. At least, in Ophelia’s view, it was not.

She knew him better than anyone, that version of Ian who loved her.

Because she wanted to receive love from anywhere, she would be happy with any kind of affection, and so she wandered her whole life because she wanted to find a place where she could affix her heart.

And at long last, when she finally received what she had lacked, she knew from but a moment—when she met eyes with Ian.

So how could she possibly forget.

For the first time in her life, she received what she had wished for, and it was so passionate.

She loved that stranger.

His expression, his demeanor, his gestures, even his voice.

Thanks to this, Ophelia was confident that she knew better than anyone how Ian was when he was in love—even if that love wasn’t meant to be hers.

‘And now he’s… he looks unstable.’

In that state, he loved her? Absurd.

She would rather be trapped in a nightmare.

Holding the lukewarm cup of tea with both hands, Ophelia chose her words.

In the first place, she was here not to reunite with him, or even to talk to him about this.

“I believe you’re the one who’s mistaken, Ian. No matter what happens, I do not intend to be with you again.”

“……”

Ian did not answer. He just looked at Ophelia with the same expression as before, one without tension.

“So stop bringing that up. There’s another reason why I came to visit you today. I have something to ask.”

“Go ahead.”

Urging her with a pleasant tone, Ophelia removed her hands from the teacup and asked.

“You sent a letter in such a hurry this morning. Who’s the recipient?”

At once, Ian’s expression hardened.

“As long as you’re staying here, you probably don’t know that no matter what letter you send, it’ll have to go through me first.”

Ophelia’s sharp gaze stayed on his face, but soon turned back to the lukewarm teacup.

One index finger touched the cup’s rim.

“If you didn’t want me to catch you, you should have been careful.”

Like raindrops trickling down, the voice that said this was chilling.