CH 84

By the time you regret it, it’s too late.

Relationships are like sandcastles: no matter how carefully built, they are bound to collapse with a single high tide.

Even parent-child relationships were no exception.

If you don’t say and show that you’re always thinking of them, how are they going to know?

When Elodie mentioned that she had something to say earlier, Themis thought that the moment had finally come.

“……I’m trying to be independent.”

In the past, Elodie had confessed.

Elodie’s confession from the past. Themis couldn’t forget the expression Elodie had at that time.

It was an empty gaze devoid of any expectations or desires.

There must have been a time when this child longed for affection, but at some point, her eyes became devoid of any desires.

Themis didn’t know when.

When did it start?

The moment when even the surface that couldn’t be worn down roughened, and eventually faded away, leaving nothing. The moment when this child stopped desiring anything.

Themis didn’t want to imagine how many wounds this child had endured until she reached the point of calmly declaring her decision to become independent.

It was Themis herself who made her feel that way. Because she knew she couldn’t let her stay like this, but she turned a blind eye.

Even if Themis made a promise not to pay attention to the child’s existence, it shouldn’t have been like that.

The truth was, it was already too late, but Themis felt the need to do something.

But Sylvester…

“I wish you would stop talking about this.”

Once again, he simply disregarded Themis’s words as inconsequential.

She wondered how he would react if Elodie spoke of independence one day in the not-too-distant future.

Themis wished that he would deeply regret his past choices and feel the pain of self-blame.

She hoped that this man, who refrained from making efforts to progress their relationship due to his unfamiliarity with expressing emotions, would crumble miserably.

That’s why she had contradictory feelings of wanting Elodie to both remain dependent and become independent.

Themis recalled Elodie’s recent unusual behavior.

It all started when Elodie tried to make a deal with her, claiming that her powers had blossomed out of nowhere.

She agreed to the deal because Elodie could make an antidote for any poison, but when she found out that she had to drink it, Themis made her stop immediately.

‘I don’t think she’s been consuming poison lately.’

Themis had been keeping a close eye on Elodie in case she was using her powers behind her back.

But there was nothing unusual about her, except that she seemed tired every now and then.

Apart from that, Elodie Perdia had been the most interesting topic of social circles lately.

The First Prince’s broken engagement. Moreover, the Crown Prince himself claimed that she was the one who broke off the engagement.

Themis hadn’t been at the Tower banquet, so she only learned about the incident through the reports.

“I hear Elodie has been receiving a steady stream of invitations lately, you know?”

“The butler told me.”

“Then what are you going to do when some of the men approach her?”

“How dare they.”

A lot of meaning was packed into those few words.

Sylvester was making it clear that he’s working behind the scenes.

‘I wish he would show some signs of it.’

He was a man who couldn’t be honest. But no matter how many times she spoke, he wouldn’t change his attitude, so she kept her mouth shut.

After taking a sip of her tea, Themis brought up a different topic.

“When are you going to bring Carl back to the capital?”

“Not yet. He’s in his prime, so let him release some stress there.”

Themis had no objections to how Carlot was being treated. Since he possessed a wide-range attack ability, it would be better to use his powers against demons.

‘It would be good if he matured a bit while he’s at it.’

She needed to cultivate some patience.

However, Themis’s futile hope was in vain.

***

I arrived at the front of Jansi’s bedroom, holding one remaining gift box.

I knocked cautiously, intending to deliver it quickly and leave.

” Jansi, are you in there?”

After a few seconds, the door swung open.

“….Lili?”

Jansi looked at me, momentarily surprised. It seemed like he hadn’t expected me to be there.

Whether he hastily opened the door or not, Jansi appeared somewhat disheveled compared to his usual neat and tidy self.

His messy hair or the few unbuttoned buttons on his shirt.

“What’s the matter? No, would you like to come in for now?”

“Oh, can I come in?”

“Of course.”

Although I had planned to simply deliver the gift and leave, I accepted his invitation, not wanting to disturb Jansi ‘s mood by rejecting it.

‘Come to think of it, it’s my first time entering Jansi’s bedroom.‘

In fact, I hadn’t been in Carl’s bedroom either, not just Jansi’s.

There was no need for us to interact with each other, so there was no reason to visit.

As a result, I didn’t expect to be invited into Jansi ‘s bedroom so willingly.

Jansi ‘s bedroom, which I entered for the first time, was as desolate as if Jansi himself had been transplanted into it. The bedroom had only the necessary furniture, without any common decorations.

‘Why do I feel like putting a pink cushion here just for the fun of it?’

It would be funny to have a pink cushion placed alone in this plain room.

I stared at it for a moment, admiring the room’s lack of decoration, and then sat down on the sofa.

Jansi, who went towards his desk, seemed to be working on something as he crumpled a pile of paper in his hand without hesitation.

Immediately after, the paper vanished into thin air.

[Heuk!]

Unlike Greed, who freaked out, I found myself staring at the spectacle with interest.

Such incredible talent…!

It was not a talent that belonged in this world. If it were only Jansi, the environmental pollution on Earth would be significantly reduced.

It was regrettable that someone who could contribute to mitigating global warming was here.

‘Jansi Perdia should become Earth’s waste incinerator!’

I was just thinking about the absurdity of Jansi destroying plastic waste.

He leaned his face closer to mine and asked, “Lili, why are you looking at me like that?”

I awkwardly smiled and pulled my head back.

“Just because it’s fascinating.”

“That’s the first time I’ve ever heard you say my powers are fascinating.”

Fortunately, Jansi didn’t look offended. At his questioning gaze, I hesitated and parted my lips.

“Actually…… It might be uncomfortable.”

“What do you mean?”

“If I had that power… I would be scared. I might accidentally make something disappear that I didn’t want to.”

“…….”

As Jansi stared at me with an expressionless face, I quickly waved my hands.

It was my mistake. Even if Jansi had such thoughts, it would be different to hear them directly from him.

“I’m sorry if I offended you, Brother. I don’t mean to disrespect your powers, but–”

“No. I’m not offended, Lili.”

Poking me in the cheek with his index finger, Jansi smiled and sat down across from me.

“So, what brings you here?”

“It’s for this. I wanted to give it to you as a gift, Brother.”

I pushed the box that I had been holding on my lap toward Jansi.

Jansi, who was brushing the surface of the box with his fingertips, opened the lid after a moment.

He grinned and examined the magical artifact in various ways.

“Ah, so this is the magical artifact that the mysterious investor ‘Lili Arcel’ invested in?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“I heard it’s hard to come by. How did you get it?”

“Lately, I’ve been interested in magic, so I frequently visited the Magic Tower and luckily managed to get it.”

I smoothly presented the excuse I had prepared in advance. 

However,…

“Oh, luckily?”

What’s this? I can’t understand the meaning behind this reaction.

I blinked and looked at Jansi, somewhat meaningfully, and as if on cue, he turned to face me and smiled.

“Thanks, I’ve been eyeing those. I’ll put it to good use, Lili.”

“I’m glad you wanted it.”

“It means more that my Lili gave it to me.”

It was the usual family comment, and I just smiled wryly.

Jansi, who had been closely examining the magical artifact, asked in a low voice, “So, can I use this to contact you every day?”

“Huh?”

Every day?

“How many times a day?”

“That’s a bit…” 

“Twice?” 

“That’s also a bit…”

“Would it be possible to do it once……?”

“I guess so, right?”

It’s not like we’re close enough to be in contact every day.

I wanted to say that, but Jansi ‘s smiling expression scared me unnecessarily, so I couldn’t get it out of my mouth.

‘I want to take it back.’

I felt a strong urge to seize the communication tool back immediately. I didn’t expect him to ask to contact me.

Anyway, that aside, it seems like the gift operation for winning favor was a success today, if I exclude that issue.

I’m proud to say that I’ve taken one step closer to my own independence.

***

To spend the allowance assigned to me after a long time, I went shopping after first raiding a restaurant with my three escorts.

Urania patted her satisfied belly with a content smile.

“Wow, I’m full. That was really good, Lili!”

“Don’t you think you ate too little? You can eat more if you want.”

“If I ate more, my stomach would burst, and I would die.”

Upon hearing that, Greed, who was sealed in the stone, interrupted.

[Even if her stomach bursts, she won’t die… I wish I didn’t know that…]

‘Well, even if you say it, Urania won’t hear you anyway. ’

Urania, who was happily smiling, suddenly shifted her gaze and glared at the other two escorts, Stephen and Milo.

“Those two guys should be thanking me, I were supposed to be going on a date with Lili alone, but I dragged them along.”

“We can go again later, just the two of us,” I reassured her.

“Oh my, it seems like I’m falling for Lili again.”

When Urania shyly said that while covering her cheeks, Stephen, who was standing next to her, pretended to gag.

“Ugh, so sickening.”

Urania approached Stephen with her fist raised. Then, Stephen hid behind Milo.

“Save me, Milo!”

“Too much trouble…”

I smiled happily while watching the three of them.

‘They make quite a good trio.’

I couldn’t help but envy the existence of being able to interact with each other so casually.

It was while we were walking down the street, chatting.

“Hey, look over there. It’s Lady Perdia.”

“That’s right. Did you read that article too?”

“Of course. It said she broke off her engagement with the First Prince, right?”

A murmur. In an instant, there was a commotion around me.

I could feel the ladies of the aristocracy, who seemed to be out shopping, huddling together and glancing at me.

Urania, who was tall, positioned herself to shield me from their glances.

“Lili, you’re popular, as expected.”

“If gossip is popular, then maybe I’m popular…….”

“Actually, I saw the article, too. It said that Lili dumped the First Prince.”

Because of Adenmir’s sudden behavior, the rumor that I had dumped the First Prince had become completely true.

It seemed odd for me to deny what Adenmir had admitted, so I just shrugged.

“Now, where should we go next?”

The weather was too nice to go back home just yet.

Upon Stephen’s question, I hesitated for a moment and decided on our destination.

“Let’s go to the auction house.”

It had been quite some time since I last used the power of Greed, but I hadn’t used my ability since then.

Even though I could only use it for three seconds once a week, it felt like a waste of time, so I thought I’d give it a try while I had the chance.

[It’s been a while; time for me to step up!]

I heard Greed’s voice grumbling excitedly, and it was at that moment we headed towards the auction house.

“A chance encounter on the road, I suppose we were meant to be, weren’t we, my lady?”

Second Prince Beltran, an ugly, pathetic human being, appeared out of nowhere and blocked our path.

My good mood turned sour as soon as I saw his face.

“No sign of that jerk of a mercenary king today?”

Beltran smirked as if everything was going well for him.

“Excuse me, but Lady Lili and-“

“Urania.”

I interrupted Urania, who was about to say something and confront Beltran, regardless of whether he was a Second Prince or someone else.

If I let Urania berate a member of the royal family for being rude, it wouldn’t be easy to save her from the consequences.

As if my behavior had given him any confidence, Beltran laughed triumphantly.

“Where were you headed, Lady?”

“I was in the middle of shopping.”

“Oh, shopping is nice. How about it? I can accompany you. I want to give you jewelry that resembles the beautiful color of your eyes.”

‘Oh-ho……..’

Suddenly, a clever thought crossed my mind. I looked up at Beltran with a bright smile, and he flinched for a moment.

“A gift? You don’t have to go through the trouble, Your Highness.”

“It’s no trouble at all.”

“Really? Then, can you give me anything as a gift?”

I looked at him with the implication that he couldn’t possibly do that, and Beltran beat his chest and boasted, probably because his pride was hurt.

“What do you take me for, Lady? Just say it. I can give you anything as a gift!”

Is that so?

‘You fool, you fell for it.’

Today, I’ll empty your wallet, you scoundrel!