IWTRAE Chapter 85

 

 

#Episode 85

 

 

Feigning calmness, Vasha waved Todd off with a smile as he walked away.

 

But as soon as Todd disappeared down the hallway, she rushed back into her room, clutching her head in distress.

 

“Damn my sense of time!”

 

When she started crafting the enchanted item, she had thought there was plenty of time left. How had the Lantern Festival crept up so suddenly?

 

If Todd hadn’t told her earlier, she might have ended up finishing the item after the auction was already over. Vasha clutched her chest in relief.

 

There were two days left until the auction before the Lantern Festival. But since she had promised to tell Todd everything the next day, she effectively had only one day left.

 

She absolutely had to complete the enchanted item by then.

 

If she failed to finish it, all her efforts so far would go to waste. All she’d have left was a shaken trust from avoiding Todd under the pretext of working on the item.

 

‘I can’t let that happen!’

 

Determined, Vasha sat down again and began organizing the spell inscriptions. She had to strip away all the unnecessary elements she had added out of ambition and keep only what was essential and could be completed by tomorrow.

 

Her red eyes burned with determination, glowing like embers.

 

***

 

“It was so close….”

 

Vasha let out a sigh of relief and slumped over her desk.

 

Coal never burns forever. Like extinguished embers leaving behind only ashes, her eyes were dark and shadowed from exhaustion.

 

By pulling the curtains tightly and staying up all day, she had managed to finish just in time.

 

‘So this is what it feels like to cram….’

 

Vasha picked up the pendant that lay on the desk. A fancy necklace didn’t seem appropriate for a young boy, so she had simplified it into a pendant by removing some of the decorative elements.

 

A golden spell shimmered briefly over the red crystal before fading away.

 

To Vasha’s perfectionist eyes, it still felt far from complete, despite all the tests and tweaks she had run.

 

Still, an imperfect enchanted item was better than no item at all. If there was any use or meaning, it lay in the latter.

 

‘But it still feels so lacking….’

 

Vasha clicked her tongue. She wanted to create something grander for Todd, but with her current magic, this was the best she could do.

 

And the best result wasn’t always satisfying.

 

‘If it doesn’t even meet my standards, will it meet Todd’s?’

 

Todd, after all, had grown up surrounded by the extraordinary relics passed down through the Van Drake family. Compared to those, would this crude enchanted item of hers even impress him?

 

‘Still, it’ll be useful… I should give it to him.’

 

Even if Todd mocked her for it, she had to show him the item. That way, she could explain that she wasn’t avoiding him, and she could fulfill her promise.

 

Dragging her feet reluctantly, Vasha made her way to Todd’s room. When she arrived, she hesitated before knocking, only to hear Todd’s loud voice from inside.

 

“Damn it! No matter how long I wait, she’s not coming! I knew I shouldn’t have trusted her!”

 

‘Is he talking about me? If I had been just a little later, things could’ve gone badly….’

 

Vasha let out a sigh of relief, but just then, the door swung open suddenly.

 

Thud!

 

“Ugh!”

 

Todd, storming out in frustration, collided head-on with Vasha, who was standing right at the door.

 

Startled, Vasha steadied Todd, who had stumbled into her arms, and asked,

 

“Are you okay?”

 

“Of course, I’m fine! But what about you? Why are you only showing up now? Do you know how much I—”

 

Todd brushed her hands off and took a step back. His ears, peeking through his curly black hair, were bright red.

 

‘Looks like he’s embarrassed that I showed up just as he was ranting about me.’

 

Pretending not to notice Todd’s earlier complaints, Vasha awkwardly smiled and apologized.

 

“Sorry for making you wait. I tried to prepare as quickly as I could…”

 

“W-wait for you? Me? What nonsense are you talking about?!”

 

Todd jumped in denial, contradicting his earlier words. Vasha didn’t press him, though.

 

Realizing the contradiction himself, Todd’s face grew redder and redder with embarrassment.

 

At a loss for words, Todd decided to turn the situation around by putting Vasha on the defensive.

 

“So, now that you’re here, you’re going to tell me what you’ve been hiding all this time, right?”

 

Todd’s tone had completely shifted from flustered to arrogant as he crossed his arms and stared her down.

 

His expression seemed to warn her that if her explanation wasn’t satisfactory, she wouldn’t get away with it.

 

“Uh, uh…”

 

Vasha hesitated. Now that it was time to hand over the item, her heart sank with nerves.

 

Seeing Vasha stammering without answering, Todd’s eyes narrowed sharply, his impatience growing. Eventually, he couldn’t take it anymore and demanded,

 

“What, you don’t want to tell me?”

 

“No! Of course not!”

 

Vasha exclaimed, shaking her hands vehemently. Even if Todd mocked the enchanted item she had made, she still had to explain herself. Swallowing hard, Vasha slowly began to speak.

 

“Well… even if the holy knights aren’t attending, it’s still a crowded place, so it’d be bad if any of Van Drake’s distinctive traits stood out.”

 

“You really think I can’t control myself that well?”

 

Todd asked with an incredulous look.

 

“Of course, you can! Of course, you can, but…”

 

Under Todd’s disbelieving gaze, Vasha fidgeted nervously. She mumbled,

 

“I just wanted to be extra cautious, so I made something for you.”

 

She then pulled out the pendant she had been hiding and handed it to Todd.

 

Todd raised an eyebrow at the pendant suddenly thrust before him, his expression clearly asking, ‘What is this?’

 

As if trying to justify herself, Vasha hurriedly explained the enchanted item she had made.

 

“I know you’re good at controlling your emotions, but just in case, I crafted this. It’s enchanted with a simple illusion spell to make your eyes look like a light brown color.”

 

Once Todd’s magical resistance grew stronger as he aged, the illusion spell would likely become ineffective, but for now, while he was still young, it should work fine.

 

Still worried that Todd might not be satisfied, Vasha quickly added,

 

“And I also added a communication spell. If anything urgent happens, you can use it to contact me immediately. It’s one-way and has a limited number of uses, but it should be enough for the auction.”

 

As Vasha rattled off her explanations about the enchanted item, Todd remained silent, simply staring at the pendant.

 

Todd’s golden eyes, glowing like a sunset, revealed none of his true feelings.

 

As Todd showed no sign of accepting the pendant, an anxious Vasha forcibly placed it into his hand. She even clasped his hand tightly several times to ensure he wouldn’t drop it.

 

After Vasha let go, Todd slowly opened his hand. The red pendant sparkled brilliantly in his palm.

 

In a voice that sounded like he was choking, Todd asked,

 

“…Did you make this?”

 

“Uh? Yeah, I did. What do you think? Is it okay?”

 

“………”

 

Todd clammed up again. He fiddled with the pendant for a while before murmuring something under his breath.

 

“…Could’ve been nice…”

 

“Huh?”

 

Todd’s voice had been so quiet that even Vasha, with her keen hearing, couldn’t catch what he said.

 

Leaning in closer, Vasha asked,

 

“What did you just say?”

 

Her breath tickled Todd’s ears and cheek, making him flinch in surprise. He quickly lifted his head, nearly bumping noses with her.

 

Todd’s face turned so red that it spread down to his neck. He raised his voice to cover his embarrassment.

 

“If you could’ve made something like this, you should’ve done it sooner!”

 

“Really? You think it’s useful?”

 

Despite Todd’s grumbling, Vasha didn’t seem to mind. She brightened with joy, thrilled that Todd appeared to acknowledge her enchanted item.

 

All the anxiety and nervousness she had felt earlier melted away as if it had been a lie. Smiling broadly, she said in an excited voice,

 

“I didn’t have the ability to make things like this before… But I’m so glad you like it.”

 

“Like it? Are you kidding? How am I supposed to walk around with such a tacky pendant?”

 

Todd held the pendant out toward Vasha, grumbling. Vasha’s eyes widened as she stared at the pendant dangling in front of her.