“If that isn’t enough, just say the word. I’ll make more.”
At this rate, I probably won’t have to walk anywhere for a year.
For a while, Ceres stared at the pile in disbelief before smiling.
“You’re really...”
“Hm?”
“You really remind me of someone.”
“Me? Who?”
“My dear friend.”
“A friend...”
He murmured softly to himself, then smiled with a hint of disappointment in his eyes.
“Well, for now, that’s enough.”
“Huh?”
He’s been saying weird things all day. Did something happen while I wasn’t looking?
“Come sit over here. Would you like some tea?”
“No, I’m fine.”
As she looked at Cheion offering her a seat, Ceres sighed to herself.
Where should she even begin? Should she tell him that her parents died in a carriage accident? Or that she’d spent more than two weeks alone at the crash site?
Come to think of it, didn’t Ceres’s parents also die in a carriage accident?
That part didn’t have to be the same too.
After hesitating for a moment, Ceres finally opened her mouth.
“That day...”
“You don’t have to explain.”
“Huh?”
“You don’t have to tell me.”
Ceres looked up and met Cheion’s gaze. A warm, gentle smile rested on his face.
I can see why everyone at the Magic Tower puts up with him.
That face should be classified as a public service. Is it because he cut his hair? For some reason, his smile feels more dangerous than usual today.
“As long as you’re not hurting anymore, that’s enough.”
Cheion brushed back the loose strands of hair that had fallen across her face. He looked quietly into her violet eyes.
Of course I’m curious.
Why did she look so miserable in that carriage that day?
But...
The hesitation on her face made him lose any desire to ask further questions. Just as he’d said, as long as she wasn’t suffering anymore and was doing well now, that was enough.
At least for now.
“I’ll say it again. If you need more teleportation scrolls, just let me know.”
“...Alright.”
A faint smile touched Ceres’s lips.
She appreciated his thoughtfulness. She didn’t want to tell him the truth, but she didn’t want to lie to him either.
“For now, just take a few. I’ll bring the rest to your house or the shop later.”
As if to change the subject, Cheion pointed at the mountain of teleportation scrolls stacked off to one side. There were far too many for her to carry on her own.
“I think I can manage.”
“Huh?”
Ceres casually flicked her hand.
I think it’s fine to let him in on this much, isn’t it?
“—!”
The instant a dimensional storage space opened in front of her, Cheion’s jaw dropped.
“Y-You... you have a storage space?”
“Yeah.”
“H-How?”
She wasn’t even a mage. He’d never sensed so much as a trace of a mage’s mana from her.
But she possessed a dimensional storage space like that?
“A friend made it for me.”
“...Someone can make a storage space for another person?”
Creating a storage space wasn’t impossible. But normally, it required inscribing a magic circle onto a fixed location so it could only be opened there. The Imperial Palace alone had countless spaces like that.
However, this was an entirely different matter.
Ceres couldn’t even use magic, yet she could open a dimensional storage space wherever she pleased. Cheion had never heard of such a thing.
“The friend you mentioned before? The one who made that protection stone for you?”
“That’s right.”
“.....”
He vaguely remembered her mentioning that friend when she’d shown him the protection stone. A mage she once knew, someone who had died long ago...
Back then, the pain on her face was so obvious that he didn’t have the heart to ask any more questions.
Just who was this person?
He’d thought the same thing when he first saw the protection stone. Whoever it was, they certainly weren’t ordinary mages.
Someone capable of creating a dimensional storage space and giving it to another person was on an entirely different level.
“That’s a lot.”
Having finished stuffing the teleportation scrolls into her storage space, Ceres shook her head. Thank goodness the storage space Artia had made didn’t have any limits on size or capacity.
“I should get going.”
“Already?”
“Yeah.”
If I stay any longer, who knows what fuss Kai will make this time.
Leaving behind a visibly disappointed Cheion, she walked toward the door.
“Cheion.”
“Hm?”
After taking a few steps, Ceres suddenly stopped and glanced back at him.
“The answer to number twenty-three is ‘black egg.’”
“What?”
Black egg?
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
Cheion stared at her in bewilderment, but Ceres just smiled and offered no explanation.
***
“Hm?”
As Ceres left the greenhouse and headed for the palace entrance, she tilted her head.
What’s going on?
Something felt strange. The guards stationed at the entrance all seemed unusually tense.
Curious, she walked closer and quickly discovered the reason.
What’s he doing over there?
A man was leaning against the wall near the entrance. It was Kainel. With someone like him standing there, the guards looked as if they were being subjected to an inspection they weren’t warned about.
Didn’t he leave earlier?
She told him to go on ahead.
As if sensing her gaze, Kainel turned his head and strode over.
“Where’s your aide?”
“I sent him back first.”
“Then why are you still here? Why didn’t you leave with him?”
“I’m taking in the scenery.”
“...The scenery?”
You’ve spent hundreds of years around the Imperial Palace and you’re sightseeing from outside the gate?
Letting out a short sigh, Ceres grabbed his hand and immediately started walking. One glance at the guards was enough to tell her she needed to get him away from here as quickly as possible.
“How long were you planning to wait here? It’s not like you knew when I’d be done.”
“.....”
“.....?”
When no answer came, she glanced back at him. Kainel was staring at her. More specifically, at the hand she was holding.
“What?”
“It’s nothing.”
That doesn’t sound like nothing.
“What is it?”
“Just...”
“.....?”
Just... it reminded him of the past.
“Grace! Why do you always hold Kai’s hand?!”
“Because this idiot gets lost more often than you’d think. What if he wanders off in a crowd like this?”
“I get lost too...”
“You can just use magic and come find us.”
“Shut up! Says the idiot who gets lost every single time!”
“Right, right. I’m the idiot, so a genius like you should have no problem finding your own way.”
“Grace! Did you see that? That b*stard’s smiling! Don’t smile, you j*rk! It’s annoying!”
Whenever they found themselves in a crowded place, Grace would always take Kainel’s hand and lead the way.
“What were you talking about with him?”
“He gave me a gift.”
“A gift?”
“Teleportation scrolls. He gave me a ton of them.”
A small laugh slipped from Ceres as she recalled what had happened earlier.
Geez, every time I look at Cheion, he reminds me of Artia. My old friend who always tried to give me more, no matter how much he’d already given.
“....”
“What now?”
“What?”
“Why are you sulking again?”
“Me?”
“Yes, you.”
Ceres turned around when she realized Kainel was no longer following behind her. His mouth was twisted into a sulky frown.
“Are you that happy over a few teleportation scrolls?”
“What?”
“Throw them away.”
“Throw away what?”
“The teleportation scrolls. Throw them all away. I’ll buy you new ones.”
“.....”
“Wait, you’re seriously leaving? Hey, where are you going by yourself?”
Yeah, I’m leaving. I’ve suddenly realized spending time with a lunatic isn’t a good idea.
***
“Have you heard?”
“Heard what?”
It was the weekend, so Ceres had slept in later than usual.
Cradling the cup of tea Colin had brought her, she let out another yawn.
It’s weird. The more I sleep, the sleepier I get.
“I’m talking about Lord Feik Alias. The one who... harmed you, my lady.”
Unable to bring himself to say the word kidnapped, Colin smoothly changed his wording halfway through.
“What about him?”
Did he cause trouble again?
Once everything came to light, Feik had been hauled in for questioning by the city guard for several days before being fined and released.
Well, that’s how the world works.
She’d never expected the son of a Count to receive any serious punishment for locking up someone with neither power nor influence in a basement for a short time.
As expected, Feik had returned to the academy not long afterward as if nothing had happened.
Although...
“Now that I look at them again, your eyes are prettier than I thought.”
“—!”
At least he seemed to know he’d done something wrong. Every time she picked up a pen, he flinched.
Watching it happen was so entertaining that carrying a pen around the Academy had become her favorite pastime lately.
“I heard he’s leaving the capital.”
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