Our encounter and parting were quick.
She didn’t wipe the smile off her face until the very end, and then she turned and walked away.
I walked carefully, clutching the bag she had found for me.
It took me a long time to get back to the clubroom, perhaps because I’d stayed away from Erhan and Rex Begonia in case I ran into them.
If I just go back to my dorm and spend the rest of the day there, I won’t run into them.
But…
— ‘So, in the afternoon, do you want to come with me to see the other clubs??’
— ‘I’ll see you later, then.’
Carson and I made plans for a date. It was a unilateral promise, but I couldn’t break it so easily.
I kept repeating it hypnotically in my head.
‘Don’t be scared. No need to be afraid…’
Erhan and Rex Begonia could find me, but they shouldn’t.
“I’ll have to get Carson to cast a face-altering spell.”
I arrive safely at the clubroom to find more people gathered outside.
Pushing my way through the crowd, I made my way to the entrance, but then I saw a familiar face.
“Kun?”
He slowly turns his head to look at me.
“Ah. It’s you, Leen.”
“Why are you here?”
Kun tilts his head, looking confused, “Am I not supposed to be doing something that Leen’s club does?”
Kun was an unexpected guest, but when I thought about it, why not?
There was a good line, and we had the money. There was no problem.
“But are you sure about that? I think you might want to pass on the experience.”
“Is there another reason?”
I looked around, leaned closer to Kun, and whispered in his ear as if to tell him a secret.
“You do realize that Caon is casting illusion spells on everyone, right?”
He nodded, moving a little stiffly, perhaps embarrassed by my sudden approach.
“Actually, he’s the one who controls the magic as well. But do you think Caon will keep still if he knows it’s you?”
With a wry smile, I took a step away from him. Kun shifts on his feet and slips out of the line.
“Thanks for the advice.”
“You’re welcome.”
“Since it’s run by Leen’s club, I thought I should try it, but it almost cost me my life.”
“Eh, life…”
Glancing at Kun, I pulled a sandwich out of my bag and handed it to him.
Having purchased several, it was enough for his share.
“Hey, Kun. If you’re hungry, do you want a sandwich?”
He stared at the sandwich I was holding for a moment, then reached for it.
“I’m not hungry, but Leen gave it to me, so I’ll take it.”
Kun immediately unwrapped the sandwich and lifted it to his mouth.
As he handed it over, he seemed hesitant to take it.
After taking a bite of the sandwich, he tilted his head in wonder.
“Does Leen like this kind of flavor?”
“Why do you ask? Is it spoiled?”
“No. It’s not spoiled, but…”
Kun’s brow furrowed slightly and continued, “It’s not my favorite, I think I prefer a plain sandwich.”
I looked at the cross-section of the sandwich he was holding.
No matter how you look at it, it’s an ordinary sandwich with basic ingredients.
It was different, of course, in that it was a nice sandwich, but that was just a marketing slogan.
“What are you talking about? What you just ate is just plain ordinary.”
“…I don’t understand. Isn’t it normal to have a sandwich like the one Leen made before?”
That was ridiculous.
“That was with a special sauce that my dad passed down to me.”
Kun stammered, looking as if he were trying to recall the embarrassing memory.
“I didn’t mean to imply that Leen’s sandwiches weren’t good. It’s just that they’re not mediocre, but they’re good, and that means…”
Again, I threw up my hands and stopped him.
“Okay, fine, you don’t have to bother wrapping it.”
“…I’m not lying!”
“Oh, I get it.”
Kun’s pupils were dilating like an earthquake.
Behind him, he heard a voice he recognized from somewhere.
“Lord Kun, there you are, I’ve been looking for you for a while.”
“…Godfather?”
The voice’s owner drew nearer, and Kun could make out his features, which had been obscured by his size.
To Kun’s surprise, the man he called Godfather was the grandpa whom I had met in the morning and helped him with many things.
“I didn’t expect you to walk me all the way here.”
“Hehe, actually, I can’t believe I’m here either.”
I became bunny-eyed at the unexpected connection. The kid he said he raised like a grandson was Kun?
“Grandpa?”
He seemed surprised to see me, too, and stopped in his tracks, staring at me blankly.
“Are you…?”
Kun asked in a questioning tone as he looked back and forth between his grandfather and me.
“Do you two know each other?”
“If we’re acquaintances, can you say we know each…. other?”
The vagueness of the answer, which lacked conviction, left a puzzled look on Kun’s face.
Grandpa then stepped in to help clear things up.
“I ran into this kid this morning. She helped me a lot.”
At the mention of help, Kun immediately nodded his head in understanding.
“I see, so Leen is…”
When Kun seemed to understand, it was Grandpa’s turn to speak.
“More than that, Lord Kun, how is it that you are with this child?”
“I guess I should give you a quick introduction.”
Kun stood between Grandpa and me and began introducing us one by the other.
“Godfather. And this is the person who created the cure for my hyperhidrosis and asthenia.”
“Heh, this is the one who…?”
“Yes. She’s my benefactor.”
With a small nod, Kun made the introduction, this time looking at me.
“Leen, this is my godfather. He’s the one who raised me in place of my busy father and my mother, who went back to the forest.”
The godfather of the prince, Kun. Not a lowly man. He seemed to have a lot of dignity.
“I didn’t realize that the child you raised like a grandson was Kun.”
“…I didn’t think you were the one who cured him of his illness either.”
The situation seemed odd.
I’m being disrespectful to Kun and respectful to Grandpa,
He’s talking back to me, and I’m talking back to Kun.
Fortunately, Grandpa didn’t seem offended that I was addressing Kun, the prince.
“In any case, you’ve come at the right time, Godfather.”
Grandpa raised one eyebrow at Kun’s hospitality.
“What do you mean, just in time? Did something happen while I was gone?”
Kun shook his head lightly and held out the sandwich. He had already taken a bite.
“Nothing of concern. However, if you don’t mind, would you mind tasting this sandwich?”
I shook my head nervously at Kun’s request.
‘What a way to prove it.’
“Sure.”
Grandpa accepts the sandwich, unperturbed by Kun’s traces of consumption.
As soon as he pops it in his mouth and chews.
Kun asks, “How do you like it?”
Grandpa didn’t answer right away. He finished chewing and opened his mouth lazily.
“It’s an ordinary sandwich.”
The moment his assessment was made, Kuhn and I exchanged a look.
“…What?”
“Look. Even your grandpa says it’s ordinary.”
Kun’s eyebrows knit together as if he’s genuinely frustrated.
“But those sandwiches my godfather always brought when he took me to the mountains…”
I listened to Kun’s excuse from one ear to the other, then realized I’d forgotten something.
…Oh, right. Shift time!
“Oh my gosh, Kun. I think I’m late for my shift, so I guess we’ll have to part ways.”
“What? Alas, it’s time for your shift with Fjord.”
“Yeah. I’m already running late this morning, so I’d better get going. Speaking of which, shouldn’t you be getting ready for Miss Arena?”
“I’m not quite ready to do that yet.”
“Well, I’m sure you’ll figure out how to organize your time.”
I thought, and then suddenly remembered Jane, whose eyes were burning to win this morning.
“…But wasn’t it Jane who agreed to dress you up this time?”
“That’s right.”
“Oh… just in case, if you’re late getting to where you’re supposed to be dressing up, Jane might have a fit.”
Kun brushed a chill down his arm, “…I’ll keep that in mind.”
I smirked at his reaction and waved.
“Well, I’ll be going then. Have a nice academic festival, Grandpa.”
🍃
Caris watched Leen sprint away. Her feet kept treading in his eyes.
He glanced at the empty vial of painkillers she’d given him after they’d parted in the morning.
“Godfather.”
He barely looked up at Kun’s call.
“Yes. Speak.”
“…Are you sure this sandwich tastes ordinary?”
“Are we still talking about that, I answered you earlier.”
“Then what is the sandwich that your godfather used to make for me every time?”
“Prince, it’s a sandwich with a sauce that I developed myself when I was younger, so, of course, it can’t be called ordinary.”
Growing up as an imperial prince, it was unlikely that Kun would have come across many sandwiches that he could eat with his hands.
The only sandwiches he had ever eaten were the ones Caris used to make by hand.
“But the sandwich Leen made for me the other day tasted just like my godfather’s.”
Caris’s face colored with a rare flush of bewilderment.
“What? That can’t be…”
“Come to think of it, Leen said it was a special sauce that she learned from his father, so it wasn’t actually invented by you, but just a widely known recipe?”
“Wait, what did you just say?”
Kun said in a somewhat lowered voice, surprised by Caris’s overreaction.
“…I asked if it wasn’t just a widely known recipe.”
“Before that.”
“You mean the one Leen said was a special sauce she learned from her father?”
“Special sauce…”
Caris felt as if a bolt of lightning had shot through his body.
The source of it was something he had never shared with anyone but his beloved son.
Uncommon black hair and black eyes.
The same herbalist as the woman he’d brought home. And she knew the secret to the sauce that he had never shared with anyone.
All pointing to a single fact, like a lie.
Come to think of it, Leen’s age coincides almost exactly with the time my son left my arms.
Maybe, just maybe…
This might be my last chance to make amends for the mistakes I’ve made in the past, full of regret.
I needed confirmation to be sure that Leen was my grandchild. If I met her and asked about her parents, it would be easy to find out.
His heart raced at the prospect of a clue to his son’s whereabouts after decades.
“Godfather?”
Kun called out to Caris, sensing something was amiss.
But he couldn’t resist for long, lost in the hope of finding what he had lost.
