Thank you so much Not a Coffee Lover for the Kofi. ❤️⭐
★★★★★★★★★★
From the moment Aslan first saw Sapphire, he felt an odd sense of unease emanating from her.
It was the gaze—the gaze in Sapphire’s eyes that made his skin crawl. It was an eerie, inhuman look paired with her striking beauty. It created an otherworldly aura.
Initially, Aslan thought it might be due to Sapphire’s blindness, but the feeling persisted. He couldn’t simply brush it off, so he asked Eila about Sapphire’s identity.
However, due to Eila’s vehement reaction, he had been forced to drop the inquiry. Yet, hearing Nita’s words brought back forgotten memories.
He was sure that Haylan Peridot, whom he had seen at the masquerade ball last time, had a similar look in his eyes.
Chilling and uncanny eyes.
Nita, Aslan, the Crown Prince, and the surrounding guards—everyone felt like they were being stared at by a swarm of insidious insects, ready to devour them at any moment.
If not for those eyes, there might not have been a need to investigate Peridot further, as Nita said.
The man was far too dangerous to let near Eila.
“Come to think of it, their names are similar too. Sapphire and Peridot…. You said you don’t know Sapphire’s real name right? Maybe she’s his sister?”
“Yes……..”
“Aslan, are you listening?”
“Yeah.”
Aslan’s expression had sharpened without him realizing it.
“What do you think? Is there a real connection between the two?”
“We can’t be sure yet. But there’s a possibility, we need to thoroughly investigate.”
Eila and Sapphire were moving away with their backs facing them. Aslan got up from behind the bushes.
“Keep following them, big brother. Watch from a distance without being noticed and see if anything unusual happens.”
“And you?”
“I told you, we’re going to thoroughly investigate.”
Aslan left Nita with those words.
He had promised Eila not to investigate Sapphire any further, but if she was connected to Haylan Peridot, he couldn’t just let it be.
Even if it led to Eila resenting her, her safety was the top priority.
* * * * * * * * *
That afternoon, I spent time wandering around Bellum’s bustling streets with Clyde. We explored various places, sat in a tea shop, and even enjoyed hot chocolate.
These were all things I had only admired from afar before; they were things I couldn’t really do until now.
I felt like I had a real girl friend, and I was happy about it.
Of course, it wasn’t as if I had no friends my age, contrary to what Aslan had said. Both Cecile and Sylphia were like friends to me.
However, even if I had the freedom to go out like this, I wouldn’t have been able to hang out with them like this. Sylphia was a princess, so it was naturally impossible, and Cecile was the type to lock herself up at home, buried in books and magical research, even on weekends.
Even if there came a time where he didn’t need to hide his true identity anymore, I still wished he would transform into Sapphire and have moments like this occasionally.
When I mentioned that, she looked quite complicated and disgruntled, though.
I dropped Clyde off and returned home around sunset. Aslan was nowhere to be found.
After changing clothes and coming downstairs to the living room, I found Nita there.
“Brother Nita, are you done with work now?”
“No, I have to go back soon.”
Nita hesitated for a moment and then spoke up again.
“Eila, can we talk for a moment?”
“Yes? What’s the matter?”
I asked as I sat on the opposite sofa from Nita.
“You met a friend today, right? How did you get to know each other?”
As expected, Nita seemed quite concerned about who the friend I left Raphir for was.
I repeated the explanation I had given Aslan before. I had come to know this friend through magical correspondence related to the Magic Department, and we decided to meet while I was in Andela.
“Aslan mentioned that you meet this friend every day off.”
“Oh, yes. We get along quite well, so… When I was in Trachen, I didn’t really have a chance to spend time with friends like this…”
I spoke, acting pitiful, knowing that Nita would likely buy into this story.
However, Nita’s expression remained serious, almost a little rigid.
“Could we invite this friend over to the house sometime?”
“Huh? Why?”
I was taken aback by the unexpected request and asked in return.
“Since you’re close enough to this friend like that, I thought it would be nice to at least exchange greetings.”
“That’s not possible. Sapphire is an incredibly beautiful woman. If you see her, Brother Nita, you’ll undoubtedly be captivated at first sight. I don’t want that.”
I tried to pout and express my reluctance, but it didn’t seem to work either.
“That’s never going to happen, so don’t worry.”
Normally, he would have said it with a smile, but his expression was closer to a serious one.
During the time when we were working on lifting the curse, Clyde hadn’t directly spoken to Aslan. However, if an invitation was extended, things would be completely different.
While I had prepared to align our stories to avoid any discrepancies, that was just in case of an unavoidable situation.
Clyde’s personality was not one that could be easily swayed by empty words, and he still had some reservations about pretending to be a woman.
Nita may not notice, but if it was Aslan, there was a high possibility that he would feel uncomfortable.
“Still, it might be a bit difficult to invite her over here. I’m not sure if you heard from Aslan, but due to the aftermath of a curse, Sapphire’s eyesight hasn’t fully returned, so her mobility is limited.”
“Then I can come visit her at her place.”
“Oh, well, that’s a bit… You know, it might not look good for an unrelated gentleman to visit a house where a woman lives alone.”
“Why would I be unrelated? It’s your friend, Sapphire. Besides, I’ll go with you anyway.”
“Uh, when did I say I was going to you?”
“…Eila.”
Nita called my name hesitantly with a voice that seemed to carry a hint of warning.
Seems like I can’t fool around with this anymore.
“Even though I didn’t want to talk about this… The truth is, Sapphire is a bit uncomfortable meeting people. Especially men. The bad man who cursed her had some ill intentions towards her. Since then, being with men seems quite scary to her. It was unavoidable back then when we were trying to lift her curse, but it’s better to avoid those situations now. I’m sorry, Brother Nita.”
Nita seemed quite taken aback by my words. It seemed that Aslan hadn’t told him about the circumstances that led to Sapphire being cursed.
“No, I’m the one who should apologize. I didn’t know that.”
“It’s okay. I appreciate your concern since she’s my friend. Sapphire has been through a lot, and she still can’t see. I’m worried about her, so I want to look after her until her eyesight returns. Once she’s feeling better, of course, I’ll introduce her to you, Brother Nita. So, for now, please try to understand.”
“…….”
Nita hesitated with a complicated expression, but under my persistent gaze, he eventually nodded.
‘I managed to somehow cover it up…’
I let out a silent sigh in my mind..
Still, I couldn’t fully relax yet. Nita’s unusual seriousness suggested that Aslan had undoubtedly passed on his suspicions about Sapphire to him.
Today, the transformation magic I had cast on Clyde would last until tomorrow when my two brothers and I would leave for the ruins.
However, just in case, I thought it would be safer if Clyde could maintain his female form even when I wasn’t by his side. At least while Raphir and Nita were staying in Bellum.
That night, I used the invisibility spell to leave my house for the first time in a while.
“…Ruby?”
Clyde sensed my presence like a ghost and sat up on his bed.
“Yeah, it’s me. You recognize me quickly.”
“At this time, who else would come here but you? What’s wrong?”
I explained the situation to Clyde.
“So, for the time being, I think it would be better if you could maintain your female form even when I’m not around. In case my brothers try to investigate you.”
“I understand that… but how?”
“Do you still have the peridot necklace I gave you?”
“Yes. Of course.”
Clyde reached for his bedside and retrieved the necklace, handing it over to me.
“The spell I cast on this necklace was a relatively simple one that changed the wearer’s eye color. That’s why it was possible to maintain the magic semi-permanently. But from now on, the transformation spell is much more complex and high-level magic. I’ll need to infuse mana into it regularly. With my current abilities, you might be able to maintain it for about ten days, at most.”
“Wouldn’t it work with the magic power I have?”
“Probably not. Generally, human and demon magic have different properties. But don’t worry. Since there’s a holiday every five days, you should be fine.”
“…….”
Holding the necklace in my hand, I closed my eyes and began to concentrate.
Enchanting an object was as demanding as undoing a curse and required specialized experience and skill. Yet the reason I could currently perform magic was that this necklace was initially crafted as a special magical vessel for enchantment.
As I finished casting the spell, a pale yellow glow enveloped the necklace and disappeared.
Unlike when I cast the transformation spell directly on Clyde, I used almost all of my available mana to make the spell last longer. Because of that, I felt as if all my strength had been drained from my body.
“Ruby!”
As I stumbled as though I might collapse at any moment, Clyde hurriedly caught me and held me close.
𝑺𝒖𝒑𝒑𝒐𝒓𝒕 𝒎𝒆 𝒐𝒏 𝑲𝒐-𝒇𝒊
