“Alessia, are you ready now?”
“Yes, I’ll come out.”
A few hours later, Alessia managed to meet Kaon again with a fresh face. Although she couldn’t completely hide the redness around her eyes, it wasn’t unsightly enough to be concerning.
“Um, did you… rest well?”
Kaon glanced at Alessia somewhat awkwardly, his eyes repeatedly drifting to the corners of her eyes, indicating that the earlier incident was still on his mind.
Suddenly, Alessia realized why she had always felt uncomfortable around Kaon. No one had ever paid as much attention to her cues as he did.
It had always been her role to be conscious of others and to try to accommodate their feelings. But Kaon was different. He was as attentive to her, if not more so, than she was to him.
That was why he had always been so irritating to her. There might have been many other reasons, including feelings of inferiority, but the main reason was undoubtedly that his unprecedented behavior made her feel uneasy.
“Yes. Thanks to you, I’m okay now.”
But now, she didn’t feel as uncomfortable. Whether it was because she had let go of her negative feelings toward Kaon or because his awkward comfort had broken down some barrier, she no longer felt the same way as before.
However, it was a bit frightening how this boy kept becoming an exception for her. Alessia quietly followed him, pretending not to notice his glances at her profile.
Kaon led her through the main estate to a smaller castle on the outskirts of the estate grounds, known as the Branch Castle.
She remembered hearing that this relatively small and clean-looking castle was built like an annex by a previous Duke of Ferdinand for his wife. After the Duke and Duchess had passed away, the castle had been left empty and unused.
‘Why are we here?’
She was curious about his intentions, but she knew she would find out if she waited. Silently, they entered, and Kaon led her up the stairs.
As Alessia ascended, she glanced around. The castle, with ceilings and stairwell windows all made of glass, was designed to be flooded with light during the day. It was a romantic castle that allowed one to enjoy beautiful views from inside as if outside, and she could feel the Duke’s love for his wife.
The sky turned a brilliant shade of blue as they climbed, seemingly coming closer with each step. For a moment, Alessia envied the Duchess she had only seen in portraits.
To have such a beautiful castle as a gift was unimaginable for her, whose only gift at birth was this cursed name.
“We’re here.”
Walking silently until then, Kaon finally spoke when they reached the third floor. He stopped in front of the third room on the right and extended his hand to Alessia.
“Here.”
In his large palm lay a key. Though he hadn’t explained much, Alessia understood that he was asking her to open the door.
As she did and entered, a familiar smell of paper greeted her. The room, serving both as a library and a bedroom, was instantly comfortable and tidy to the eye.
Alessia’s gaze fixed on the armchair placed in front of the open window. The room, offering a panoramic view of Ferdinand estate, closely resembled the vision she had once dreamed of.
“This was my mother’s room.”
“She must have loved books.”
“Yes. That’s why there are many rooms with libraries in this castle. My mother particularly liked this room though. She said it felt like she was floating.”
The expression was vague, but Alessia felt she understood. Being surrounded by ever-changing scenery and undisturbed reading would surely give such a feeling.
“It really sounds like it.”
Alessia smiled faintly in agreement. The story didn’t particularly interest her. It would be helpful if the Duchess were still alive and could be close to her, but she was no longer in this world.
Detaching her indifferent gaze, Alessia looked back at Kaon. Had he brought her here to share memories of his mother? It was hard to grasp what he was thinking.
Unaware of her thoughts or perhaps knowing them, Kaon fidgeted with his lips as if pondering something deeply. Finally, after a deep sigh, he began to speak.
“Sometimes you just want to be alone, right? I feel that way sometimes too.”
“Everyone does. I feel the same, Kaon.”
His hesitation made his words seem confusing, even though they were not inherently difficult to understand. Still, Alessia responded appropriately to keep the conversation going.
“When you feel like that, come here to rest. I haven’t cleaned the other rooms yet….”
As a brief silence followed, Alessia’s gaze, which had been aimlessly wandering, returned to Kaon. He was awkwardly fiddling with the back of his neck.
“…You’re saying I should use this room?”
“Well, Leo doesn’t really care about this place, so you could use other rooms too, but this one is cleaner. We do a major cleaning every quarter… Anyway, this is the cleanest right now.”
“But you said this was your mother’s room.”
“Well, she’s not here now. And it’s not like she only used this room. Besides, it’s better if someone uses these empty rooms.”
Even as he spoke without meeting her eyes, Kaon managed to say it quite convincingly.
“And I heard you like books.”
With that, the conversation ended as the setting sun began to spill through the large window. Alessia alternated her gaze between the key in her hand and Kaon’s face, now tinted with the hues of the sunset.
In summary, he had prepared this place for her to have a space to herself, cleaning up the currently unused castle just for her, all by himself until this evening….
‘I shouldn’t.’
Alessia did not want to think of Kaon as someone special. She disliked the idea of being so preoccupied with a boy when she couldn’t even see a clear path ahead.
Yet, even in her unsettled heart, where she had no room to relax, Kaon kept making his presence felt.
“Ah, right. Do you want to visit that shop again? It’s going to get colder soon, so I thought it might be good to buy a coat in advance. We could see some other things too. It gets boring staying inside all the time.”
As he awkwardly avoided eye contact, making an offer that seemed solely for her benefit, this tall, beautiful boy felt like a godsent gift, pitying her life.
‘I was meant to be the greatest mage. Everyone said so.’
The young girl who once believed that no longer held any such expectations.
‘Today, I will feel the mana.’
‘If I am honest with everyone, they won’t torment me anymore.’
‘My parents don’t know what’s happening to me. If they find out, they will surely help.’
Such desperate and minor hopes had never been fulfilled. Naturally, she stopped expecting them.
Yet whenever she looked at Kaon Ferdinand, a smoldering hope began to ignite within her once again.
Perhaps Kaon was the only piece of luck she was meant to have. Maybe she was meant to seize this miraculous fortune, this dreadful expectation.
***
Was it wrong to have hope? Was it wrong to keep hoping even when she knew it might never be fulfilled?
Perhaps. After all, Alessia’s life had never flowed as she willed it.
From the moment she was granted a glorious name unfit for her, nothing had ever gone her way. Even now was no exception.
“Alessia, are you really a mage?”
The tension in his face revealed how much he had struggled to ask that question.
‘So, it has come to this.’
That was the only thought in Alessia’s mind as she faced him.
When Maurice had annoyingly insisted on seeing magic, Alessia had instantly realized who had put him up to it. Even if she hadn’t seen Kaon standing there, anxious and watching her, she would have known.
Kaon’s behavior had been different these past few days, and Alessia, who had noticed this early on, had anticipated a day like today.
‘It’s a trap.’
Knowing full well that Maurice’s request was a trap, she had defiantly used magic through her ring.
If a trap is set, someone must come to collect it. She deliberately stepped into the trap to observe the hunter’s reaction.
As a result, Alessia learned that although Kaon Ferdinand might be a fine knight, he was no seasoned hunter.
‘Ah. So it ends like this.’
Alessia swallowed a hollow laugh. Fortune for her? Unlikely. Maybe this situation was just the price for hoping for something utterly unreasonable.
Looking back, Alessia Ingelos had always disliked Kaon Ferdinand. She truly detested a boy who seemed to have nothing to worry about other than appearing favorable to the girl he liked, a boy who seemed born under a lucky star.
It would have been better to keep disliking him to the end. Or better yet, to have continued disliking him.
‘If only…’
If only she had not felt this way.
But it was too late now. All she had to do from now on was discard such foolish thoughts and come to her senses.
Alessia had no intention of returning to Ingelos. She’d rather die at the hands of a monster than go back to that dreadful place.
“You, you see it, don’t you?”
Kaon flinched at her words. His honest reaction added certainty to her suspicion that he was hiding something.
Ah, this was her last chance. Alessia instinctively knew it. If she didn’t seize this opportunity now, no other would come her way again. She had finally escaped the confines of her family’s domain. There was no going back. It was impossible.
She planned to stay in Ferdinand by leveraging whatever weakness Kaon Ferdinand had. She had to.
Miracles were fleeting, reality was forever. And so, Alessia Ingelos returned to reality once more.
🍉🍉🍉
