“It’s strange…. You were so persistent. It floated even during the day… your face… around that height.”
From my perspective, it wasn’t that strange. The me who tormented Keran was from a time when we were much closer; the Ariel Dalton from his memories, revived and mixed up due to a ‘bug’.
When the ‘bug’ disappeared, the memory also disappeared. When the memories disappear, the Ariel Dalton in them also disappears. It was natural, so I pretended to be as indifferent as possible.
“That’s great.”
These words were sincere. At least Keran could now get a good night’s sleep without being haunted by the fragments of memories from the past that don’t exist now. Certainly, Bolton has rarely expressed concern for his master’s health to me these days.
“Is it?”
“Yes.”
“But why am I so frustrated?”
I looked at Keran’s side profile as he roughly pulled at his collar. It was evident from his behavior that he was frustrated. The corners of his mouth rose sharply. It seemed like what I felt earlier wasn’t wrong.
“Are you mad?”
“Do I look like I am?”
His tone was snake-like, and his voice was low and threatening. I nodded dutifully.
“Very.”
“Well, it’s just…it’s annoying. Everything.”
“People usually feel like that when they’re angry. Since when has it been like that?”
It was clear that the crown prince of Illestia had hardly experienced a situation where his frustration reached a boiling point, considering the near-perfect life he led. After all, there were only a few bastards in the world who could have gone so far as to incur the wrath of the successor whom Kaitlyn the Great chose.
“When you start avoiding me so desperately?”
“I was one of them. The few bastards.”
“What?”
“Well, I just meant that there seems to be a misunderstanding. We never run into each other in the first place. We don’t have overlapping classes, and we’re not that close.”
The last part was added somewhat deprecatingly. Because, while it was true that I had been avoiding Keran, it hadn’t occurred to me that his irritation was entirely due to me. The sudden disappearance of his memories and the sudden appearance of his fate were enough to confuse him, even if it were not for the slight influence I probably had. Ariel Dalton is nothing more than a fuse. A single drop of anxiety fell onto an already full bathtub.
For a moment, a look of surprise crossed Keran’s face. But in the blink of an eye, it turned into a perfect smile. The smile was so great that it almost felt like a mask. I had a vague memory of when he smiled that way.
Suddenly, I was transported back in time. The moment I first became aware of Karen Illestia’s existence. The platinum-blond hair of the boy standing on the podium as a representative of the freshmen was brighter than the sunlight pouring in from the window behind him. What was going on in his mind as he adeptly folded his amber eyes toward me?
Even a rolling pebble on the roadside would be more interesting than that.
“Alright.”
After a moment of silence, Keran spoke. It was a refreshing answer that seemed dry.
After that, no one said anything. Until we arrive at the airfield where Marquise Bolton, who was arrested for accompanying a thief, and the angry broom owner are waiting.
***
Things weren’t so easy in the world.
My speculation that there was a dragon present at the scene of Anais’s secret meeting was not wrong. Within a few days of receiving my request, the talented Jaden Spencer came to see me with a dragon. Judging by the fact that it was slightly larger than Clay, who was said to be seven months old, it must be a child dragon.
The child dragon, who loves shiny things, said he saw me while flying after Anais on the second day of the Love Month Banquet. In addition, it also confirmed the existence of an uninvited guest hiding in the tall bushes, in addition to Anais and her ‘teacher’. But who it was was still a mystery. As Jaden had said, there were definite limits to communicating with dragons.
So I still had Christa Edwards at the forefront of my list of suspects. This was because I couldn’t think of anyone who would infiltrate the newspaper department and steal their newspapers just to disparage Anais. Also, the actions that Edwards has shown so far have been pretty flamboyant. When I said that, Bree shook her head firmly.
“It’s not her.”
“How do you know?”
“You said she said, ‘I don’t want to write an article about a young woman whose life is ruined by an old man.’”
“Do you trust Edwards?”
“It’s not about trusting her. It’s about trusting me. As you know, I’m no stranger to Illestia’s social circles.”
In her semi-aristocratic days, Brianna Mosley was a handmaiden to the Marquise of Bennet, who preferred gossip to three meals a day. Since she was fond of providing rewards for satisfaction, Bree had experience rummaging through trash cans in other people’s homes.
“Lady Edwards’ last name before divorce was ‘Burnham.’ That’s a fairly prestigious surname in Illestia. At least better than ‘Edwards’.”
“But Christa Edwards…”
“That’s right, not ‘Christa Burnham.’ There must be a reason why she decided to take her mother’s last name. I think the reason is the same as the reason for not writing Anais’ article.”
‘The Duke of Burnham is notorious for being a terrible bastard,’ Bree added nonchalantly.
I have never lost anything by following the confident words of Brianna Mosley. It was safe to say that the shadow of doubt that had been hanging over Christa Edwards had now been completely lifted.
So who on earth wrote that article? No matter how much I thought about it, I couldn’t put my finger on it. A person who wants to tarnish Anais O’Brien’s reputation in some way. At the same time, a person who is trained enough that I was not able to detect his presence. Someone skilled at infiltration to the extent that he changes the Fitzsimmons Times without being noticed by the newspaper staff.
“If this incident is not due to personal grudges…”
While I was racking my brain, Bree put her index finger to her chin and pondered. She muttered softly.
“If there is a political motive, maybe…”
“Political motive?”
“The Duke of O’Brien is known as an axis of the aristocratic faction represented in the Archdiocese of Heathrond. I think Anais’ ‘teacher’ is Baron Marvin Donnelly, who is also the Duke’s right-hand man. Even though he was a commoner, he was smart enough to educate the children of nobles himself.”
Donnelly, Donnelly… I rolled the name on the tip of my tongue as Brianna threw it out. I don’t know if it was because of the mood, but the pronunciation sounded very familiar. He must have been an amazing person, that old man. At first glance, he was just ordinary. His stomach was big, and his beard also looked strange.
“If the scandal spreads, the relationship between Duke O’Brien and Baron Donnelly is bound to grow apart. Maybe they were aiming for that…”
“And who would benefit from that?”
“Of course, the Illestia royal faction. Those who are loyal to Her Highness, Kaitlyn the Great, and her successor.”
“Are you saying Keran Illestia is behind this incident?”
“I’m not sure if the crown prince himself is involved. There is a possibility, though.”
“Ugh, that’s a possibility I don’t want to consider. It’s hard to believe he would resort to such dirty methods.”
“Ah, innocent Ariel. If our Crown Prince had been nothing more than a puppet of the Iron-blooded Emperor, as rumored, he would not have survived to the age of nineteen.”
Despite her sarcasm, Brianna diligently used the pestle in her hand to grind the contents of the bowl. She soon put the Chimera’s claws, which had been powdered, into a portable iron cauldron, and a strange mixture of green and purple smoke rose.
In the magic potion class, there was no exam at the end of the semester, but students had to submit the potion they had prepared themselves. Professor Humphreys was the epitome of strictness, so Bree’s magic potion that makes whatever you eat taste like potato potage’ had to be flawless.
“If you must date a royal, let it be Ramos. At least he’s not the twisted type. He’s a bit of a rogue, but isn’t that also attractive in its own way?”
“Hey, what are you—!”
“Just know that as your friend, it’s always Villard that I support. He’s too precious to be eliminated just because of his status.”
“What can I do to get you off that subject?”
A glass bottle with a square bottom was slipped into my hand. It was Brianna Mosley’s magic potion that had been boiling in the cast iron cauldron just a moment ago. I clicked my tongue and accepted it. I felt like I was drinking a very thick and dry potato potage.
***
“How many mana signature algorithms do you know?”
“Only the one I use… was it Vargas’ law?”
“You mean this guy, the one you mercilessly tore apart? He seems quite upset.”
Rough fingers touched the corner of my magic science textbook. As Edgar said, half of the head of Dr. Vargas’s portrait was missing, except for the nose and mouth. Perhaps the other half was included in a note that was sent to Keran at some point.
Perhaps because he knew that his appearance was not very attractive, the mouth of the portrait was shaped like an overturned bowl. How fortunate I am! If the remaining part were the eyes, and they stared at me every time I opened the textbook, I wouldn’t have the courage to study.
“Let’s give him a nice decoration so he won’t be sad.”
I used my quill to playfully attach a sparkling jewel to Dr. Vargas’ earlobe. Then, the sharp parabolic shape of the mouth softened somewhat. But everything went to waste when Edgar’s quill pen drew something like a cat’s whiskers on his cheek.
“Hey!”
“Maybe Dr. Vargas is the type that likes cute things.”
“I don’t think so.”
Jaden pointed to Dr. Vargas’ portrait again. He looked as if he were shouting something now. And while I couldn’t be too sure unless the magic ink could capture the sound, I could tell by the shape of his mouth that it was a curse word.
“Sorry. I was trying to help.”
Edgar smiled heartily and lifted his elbows above his shoulders. His attitude was quite shameless, and it was clear that he did it intending to provoke trouble from the start.
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