Chapter 59
Mehen made a sickening noise about the official letter that had been sent to him.
It was unusual to see Mehen in such distress, so Dylan looked on.
“Is there a problem?”
“… What’s going on?”
“?”
Are you in a bad mood?
Mehen’s gaze flicked to the comms for the Northern Castle, which was still ‘connecting’.
No contact for days now.
“Looks like the Northern Castle has been busy.”
Dylan didn’t mind, but Mehen frowned for some reason.
It was unlikely that Jaren had been attacked by monsters, and it was odd that he’d vacated the Northern Castle. This long?
“Have you heard back from the Sky Tower?”
“They’ll be visiting in time for the upcoming gun convention. From what I’ve heard from the Foreign Ministry, the coordination is quite complicated.”
“I suppose so.”
The visit to the Sky Tower itself was 154 years in the making. It was no wonder there were so many people rushing to see it.
Everyone would try to make a kite out of it somehow. There were demon towers everywhere, but the authority of the Sky Tower was unrivaled.
“You must be getting tired.”
Mehen sighed dryly as he pressed his eyes against his head.
It wasn’t the ‘benefits’ of the Sky Tower that interested Mehen in the first place.
It was whether Arellin could be healed.
‘The Magic Tower said no, but the Sky Tower doesn’t know.’
Mehen hasn’t given up hope yet.
“Speaking of which, Arellin has been acting strange lately.”
“Ah, yes. She’s been traveling around a lot, which is uncharacteristic of a young lady, and she even visited the family wizard the other day.”
“Does she want to learn magic…?”
“Perhaps she would rather study? I heard she went to the library.”
“You mean the library?”
“Yeah, that’s what got Lena so excited, she’s got thirteen years’ worth of study plans drawn up.”
Dylan slapped a wad of papers onto Mehen’s desk. It was Lena’s excitedly filled out study plan.
“Study…”
In truth, Arellin hadn’t received much education for someone her age.
She was too weak to go outside, so why would anyone want her to study? It was the bare minimum.
“What does her doctor think?”
“Uni and I spoke to her doctor, and he said it’s okay for her to take classes three or four times a week for an hour or two.”
Then he remembered how much she loved books.
Maybe she didn’t really want to read, but she wanted to study?
Mehen gave her a serious look, a misunderstanding that Arellin would have freaked out and called bullshit if she knew.
The door burst open and Arellin entered.
“Lady!”
Barging into Mehen’s office was routine now, but today, the mood was unusually somber.
“Arell.”
Looking at Arellin’s scowl, Mehen tried to sound as friendly as possible.
“Is something wrong?”
Fortunately, Mehen’s efforts seemed to work, and Arellin responded.
“Mehen.”
“Yes.”
“Do you know how to get rid of a nasty stalker?”
“…?”
***
“Are you working out again today?”
Oh, surprise.
“I thought you were working out?”
“No, I am…”
You almost sent me into the Jordan River.
She thought she was going to have a heart attack.
“Then why do you keep popping out of nowhere, scaring people?”
“Because your surprised face is cute?”
“Wow, stinky.”
“I’ve never been called personable before.”
“That’s not a boast.”
The man chuckled, poking her in the cheek. His gaze flicked to Pession.
“That boy, he’s always with you.”
“He is, sort of.”
“Hmm.”
“Why?”
The man’s jaw clenched and he smiled mischievously.
“I think he likes you.”
“I know that much.”
How could she not know, he tells her he likes her every day.
Now it was time for a break in the workout. Pession brings her water by hand.
“You’re working out hard.”
“Yeah, I guess.”
“Hmm.”
Why does he look at me like that?
“Exercise doesn’t cure anything.”
“I know that much.”
“Then why are you working so hard?”
“Because Pession wants me to?”
For the first time, the man’s smile twisted at the thoughtless answer.
“Aha.”
The wind whistles past her.
Why the sudden chill down her spine?
“The little lady really likes that little boy.”
“I don’t like him.”
“Really?”
“…”
She clamps her mouth shut, as if she is about to step on a landmine no matter what she says here.
The golden eyes watching her deepen.
“I don’t like it.”
“What?”
“I don’t like it.”
For a moment, the tension that had been suffocatingly tightens, and then he smiles, as if he’s just letting off steam.
She doesn’t know if she knows or not.
‘Even Mehen said he doesn’t know how to get rid of a bad stalker.’
She wasn’t expecting much, but the development of magic tools in this world had her wondering, “What if?” and she lost.
Humans are animals of adaptation.
She grown accustomed to being stalked by this vicious stalker.
“But why do you keep showing up?”
“For fun?”
“…?”
“Don’t you have anything better to do?”
“Plenty.”
“But why do you hang out here?”
“Hmm. It’s okay.”
“Why?”
“Nothing urgent.”
“I see.”
“I’m waiting.”
His golden eyes widened with boredom.
“You don’t ask what I’m waiting for?”
“I’m too presumptuous for that.”
“Young Lady, you are so good at keeping to the lines.”
“Haha.”
He chuckled softly, as if he found her creeping amusing.
She felt so patronized, and she didn’t appreciate it at all.
“So, did you do a good job on my background check?”
“What?”
“You went all the way to the library. I didn’t realize you had so many questions for me.”
“…”
No, how did he know that?
The man was amused at her stiffness and inability to say anything.
“Did you find out what you wanted to know?”
“…No.”
There was no point in trying to catch him. She meekly admitted it.
“You still don’t have any questions you want to ask me?”
“No.”
“Why?”
She looked up into those golden eyes, still glowing with ecstasy, and read an all-too-familiar emotion in them.
Indifference.
“Because I feel like if I ask, I’ll get mixed up in some shitty situation and be quietly purged and disappear into the morning dew.”
The man’s eyes widened at the unexpected answer, and he laughed maniacally again.
“Ah, well.”
His golden eyes twinkled savagely.
“My little lady, you’re so cute.”
She’s cute in every way.
“Ask me.”
“I don’t want to.”
“I won’t purge you, so ask.”
She narrowed her eyes at the man who was giving off a generous vibe as if she never get another chance like this. This sounds like a scam…
“Are you sure? You swear? You won’t hurt me? You won’t take advantage of my weakness?”
“Little lady has no faith in humans, do you?”
“I don’t even have faith in outsiders.”
Are you more human than that?
“What are you?”
“Secret.”
“And the name?”
“That’s also a secret.”
“… Are you kidding?”
“Because if you answer that, I’m going to purge the little lady.”
“Okay, secret.”
“You’re a quick study.”
“Because I don’t want to die for nothing.”
So, what does she ask now?
“What was that… in Sharit?”
The golden eyes darkened dangerously.
“Okay, pass.”
“You have a good instinct, Young Lady.”
He smiles awkwardly at her, his eyes curving. She wasn’t sure if it was a compliment or an insult.
“What do you want from me?”
“I don’t know.”
His golden eyes glinted in the sunlight, too cool.
“I don’t know, I’ve never encountered anything this interesting before.”
The pupils folded vertically. The air as if it had somehow been captured. An unidentifiable pressure that slowly squeezes the air out of your lungs.
It’s being eaten.
This is definitely being eaten.
That’s when she squeezed her eyes shut.
“Don’t be so scared. It’s not eating you yet.”
Does that mean it will eat me someday?
“Fear, not so much.”
“…?”
She flinched, and the golden eyes that were right in front of her folded in half in ecstasy.
“See you later.”
Just when she thought the low, whispery voice was too sweet.
“Arellin!”
Pession’s voice in the distance instantly lifted all the pressure.
“Ah.”
When I came to, I was alone.
“Look like I’m possessed.”
