He looked closely at the glass bottle with a suspicious gaze.
Since it bore no label, it was clear that it wasn’t a product distributed in the market.
There was another point of suspicion. It was the faint aura of mana being sensed.
However, it certainly wasn’t a strong aura.
“It’s getting more confusing.”
As Carat was feeling perplexed, Mel wrapped her arms around his shoulders soothingly and whispered softly.
“Go on, try it!”
Nothing to lose. He had no intention of falling for the enchanting magic Mel seemed to wield.
With determination, Carat nodded and, just like Mel had done, tried blowing bubbles.
But something was odd.
Just by blowing the bubbles, and watching petals scatter dreamily before his eyes…
It felt as though soft blankets were being laid down in his heart, one by one.
It was as if old memories were resurfacing. He was reminded of the games he played with his friends at the Mage Tower in his very young days.
Games like tag or catching petals falling from trees…
Without realizing, a smile crept over Carat’s lips as he began to blow bubbles again.
“Whoo, whoosh-.”
Petals burst like fireworks in front of him.
Mel and Prince Axion were gleefully spinning around, surrounded by bubbles.
“What, what’s this?”
When he came to his senses, the liquid that had been in the bottle was gone, and Mel and Axion were laughing merrily, firmly holding his hand.
“Damn it.”
Playing with this woman was too much fun. It felt like he had become a small, white, furry dog, mesmerized by a ball.
From the moment he held the bubble tool in his hand, there was no time left to be wary of Mel.
Carat rummaged through his hair. His fine hair tangled at his fingertips.
However, Mel hit him while laughing happily.
“How is it, Carat? Fun, right?”
The woman reached out her hand toward him.
Her delicate and neat fingertips captivated the boy’s gaze. On that hand were petals piled up.
“Flowers, a gift for you.”
Mel, smiling brightly, was so, so pretty.
Carat, as if enchanted, ended up accepting the flowers.
“No, this isn’t it! I need to find out more. It’s highly suspicious.”
He crushed the flowers in his hand and was about to open his mouth, obviously intending to argue.
That it wasn’t fun, that she was a very suspicious person, and why on earth did she defeat the Red Priest Pirate Gang.
“…Let’s, do it again later.”
He hadn’t intended to say that! Stuttering like an idiot. He really did something childish!
“I, I must report to my lord. This woman, she’s definitely suspicious! She must have cast a spell!”
He covered his mouth with both hands. Clearly, that woman must have cast some spell on him.
Dominic, who had assumed the role of a watcher with a sage-like expression beside him, murmured softly.
“Right. It’s easier to give up.”
What’s with that senior-like attitude?
But there was no time to ponder over Dominic’s words.
“Then let’s quickly go inside the stationery store and have a slushie!”
“Great! What’s a slushie, Mel?”
Innocent Axion’s happy voice made Mel smirk mischievously as she said towards him,
“Something delicious!”
Slushie? What is that?
‘Could it be the name of the potion she prepared? To perfectly control me?’
Whatever it was, he vowed never to let it pass his lips.
If he were to consume the potion, he might blindly follow that woman just like Prince Axion!
Such a tragic situation must be avoided at all costs. He entered the stationery store without hiding his cautious gaze.
“Sit at the table in front of the counter and wait for a moment!”
***
Prince Cassian, who had just arrived at a place called ‘Mel’s Stationery Shop,’ stiffened his body and looked beyond the clear window.
He came here with a combative mindset. He had to know why Axion had come to like that woman.
He had to stop her if she approached him knowing he was a prince.
But why? The ‘Commoner Mel’ that Axion mentioned turned out to be someone he knew.
‘Meldenik Babeloa?’
The woman known as the villainess of social circles and the fiancée of Duke Hesman. Her face was only vaguely visible, but it was definitely Meldenik.
‘Why is Meldenik Babeloa here?’
His mind was filled with confusion. And then, piece by piece, things began to fit together.
‘…Has she started a new business?’
He had not known that the Commoner Mel Axion spoke of was Lady Meldenik.
Soon, rumors about Meldenik floated through his mind.
Rumors he had ignored because he thought they were not important, as he had never directly mingled with her.
The disgrace of the Babeloa family.
The rampant rumor that she was a fool in her youth.
Even the words that she was an obstacle to the beautiful love between Duke Hesman and Lady Sheria.
A woman trailed by all kinds of misdeeds…
He shifted his gaze.
However, the woman smiling genuinely and happily in front of him was too different from the Meldenik in the rumors.
‘I need to find out more. Why this woman is here, and what her intentions are in getting close to Axion.’
Why is that Meldenik Babeloa, who always ended up failing miserably while trying to follow Lady Sheria’s business, in this small shop?
‘Has she come here for the happiness of the children in front of the academy?’
That remark was completely out of character for the Meldenik they knew so far.
Cassian became curious.
How exactly is her life changing?
Why is she staging such a noticeable eccentricity right in front of the academy?
To figure it out step by step, a conversation was necessary.
Cassian walked past the bench in the garden in front of the stationery store and stood in front of the stationery store’s opaque main entrance. If he opened this door, Meldenik and the children would be visible.
He reached out his hand to the doorknob. But just then,
From inside through the window, he heard Axion’s voice, packed with heartfelt earnestness, shouting loudly.
“I had so much fun today!”
“That’s good. How’s the drink?”
“It’s made with water and grapes, right? The slushie must be really tasty too, I’m looking forward to it.”
“Yes, it’s unusual, isn’t it?”
“A bit!”
“It’s placed in front of the table, so try it quickly. Yours is specially flavored with orange. I’ll make sure to make a lot more later!”
Cassian hesitated for a moment whether to open the door now and enter. He wondered if he would be interrupting what was just a cozy conversation.
Just then, Axion shouted loudly at the perfect timing, with a voice full of exuberant delight.
“Mel, you know, someone like you seems way too good for me.”
So, did he finally give up on those bizarre pranks? Well, he was too old for them anyway.
Hearing the bouncing voice of his younger sibling made him feel a year older.
But, in the end, he felt fortunate if his younger sibling had overcome his impulsiveness.
“I was going to marry you, originally.”
Cassian, who was about to interrupt and knock on the stationery store’s door, paused.
He had a bad feeling about this. And his hunches were never wrong.
“You should marry our great brother, you know!”
…What?
The ‘great brother’ standing in front of the door, Prince Cassian, naturally took his hand off the doorknob.
‘How am I supposed to open this door and go in, given the situation?’
Doesn’t it seem like he appeared as if he had been waiting?
Should looking into Meldenik be postponed to another time?
But at that moment, the door handle slid open as if someone had cast a spell on it.
And right in front of him stood a cold man, possibly around nineteen years old, with black hair and blue eyes, asking in a threatening and ominous face.
“Who are you?”
For some reason, his expression seemed quite upset.
It looked like the face of someone about to punish a villain targeting his sister…
