Because she needed to go inside the shop.
“...Excuse me.”
Just as she was about to open the door, a faint voice reached her. It carried no strength at all, weak enough to stir pity in most people.
“There’s no food.”
But to Ceres, it was nothing more than a nuisance.
There really wasn’t anything left anyway. When has there ever been leftovers?
Earlier, that man called the Black Guild Leader had rushed in right before closing and wiped everything clean. As if that wasn’t enough, he even left with a regretful look in his eyes.
“Excuse me.”
She tried to open the door again, but the man caught the hem of her clothes. Keeping his head lowered, he lifted his gaze to look at her.
“.....”
The moment their eyes met, Ceres clicked her tongue.
He had a youthful face in his early twenties. A perfectly healthy young man, yet he still resorted to begging.
“I’m looking for something.”
Ceres frowned, thinking he had some nerve to be picky in his situation. However, the words that followed made her blink.
“Have you seen my blue stone by any chance?”
“...Blue stone?”
What was that supposed to mean? The name sounded strange but oddly familiar.
Only then did Ceres take a closer look at him, and soon realized she had seen that face before.
He was the man illustrated on the first page of the three-gold book Julia had bought earlier that day.
...The Tower Master?
.
.
.
Chapter 8: Tower Master Cheion
“There’s still no news about Cheion?”
“Yes. He’s still missing.”
“Tsk.”
Crown Prince Aseraian clicked his tongue repeatedly. In contrast, Luca, Cheion’s secretary who sat across from him, looked as calm as ever.
“Let’s be honest. He’s not missing, he’s just been slacking off for days.”
Luca showed no sign of refuting that and quietly raised the teacup in front of him.
“Luca.”
“Yes?”
“Luca.”
“...Speak.”
Realizing what Aseraian wanted, Luca’s tone naturally grew more casual.
Luca Tshasl. He had been a close friend of Cheion and Aseraian since childhood.
“Where do you think he is right now?”
“He’s probably crawling around somewhere, scouring the ground for that mana stone.”
After learning that the mana stone he had yearned for was missing, Cheion shut himself in his office and cried for days from that moment on.
“M-my... my blue stone!”
“Lord Luca, this is last month’s Magic Tower repair report. Please calm the Tower Master and have him approve it by next week.”
“I’ll take care of it today, so don’t worry... Lord Cheion, please cry over there.”
A desperate wail echoed through the walls of the Magic Tower like a refrain, yet not a single person paid it any mind. They just cast soundproofing spells on themselves and continued their work.
With everyone like that, how could anyone have noticed when Cheion’s sobbing finally stopped?
By the time Luca looked up, the only thing left at Cheion’s seat was a small note fluttering in place.
[I can’t accept parting with my blue stone.]
Ah, just thinking about it made his temper rise again... Luca rubbed the back of his stiff neck.
“At least he wrapped up the Black Forest alarm device before disappearing.”
Perhaps Cheion had feared the consequences of leaving that unfinished. Thankfully, he left detailed instructions for crafting the alarm device, so the first distribution went smoothly without any major issues.
“What is it about that damned mana stone that makes him act like this?”
“You know how he is. Once he gets obsessed with something, he completely loses his mind. Among us, he ranks second in that regard.”
“There’s someone worse than him? Who’s first?”
“You.”
“......”
At the indifferent reply as if the answer was obvious, Aseraian couldn’t argue back.
“Why did you choose to work under someone like him? You turned down my offer to be my adjutant.”
“Because he was the one who needed looking after more than you. You know it too. Once he gets absorbed in his research, he’s an idiot who won’t even drink water for over half a month.”
Even so, he could hardly let a friend starve to death.
“Besides, if I hadn’t gone to Cheion and chose you instead, would you really have liked that? Honestly?”
Luca knew better than anyone that Aseraian was the one who cared for Cheion the most.
Did he really think no one noticed how he grumbled on the outside but felt relieved on the inside when Luca became Cheion’s secretary?
This was the same man who had mobilized all his subordinates in the capital the moment he heard Cheion was searching for the mana stone.
The worst kind of doting older brother.
With nothing to refute that either, Aseraian could only let out a long sigh.
“So? Are you actually looking for it? People are starting to talk since the Tower Master has been absent from council meetings. I can’t keep covering for him forever.”
“I am.”
For the first time, a long sigh slipped from Luca as well.
“I’ll let you know when a new beggar shows up around Delasi First Street.”
***
Slurp.
“Excuse me.”
“I told you, there’s no food.”
“That’s not it.”
“No blue stone either. And no mana stone.”
“That’s not it either...”
“Then what is it?”
“...Could you give me a bit more honey?”
“......”
There were people like this in the world. The type who irritated you just by existing.
He looked like he hadn’t eaten in days, so Ceres at least gave him a cup of tea. Now, he was saying he couldn’t handle anything bitter and asking for honey.
Thud.
When she set the entire jar of honey in front of him, Cheion’s face lit up. He eagerly began scooping generous amounts into his teacup.
He’s actually going to drink that?
She liked sweets too, but only the kind that tasted rich and balanced, not something as cloyingly sweet as that.
Slurp.
“Ahh, this is nice.”
...If he likes it, then fine.
“Once you’re done, get out.”
“There’s still a little left.”
“Then finish it quickly and leave. I’ve got things to do.”
“But...”
“What now?”
“Why are you speaking casually to me? We just met, you know?”
Ceres, who had been heading toward the kitchen, stopped abruptly.
“Hey, beggar.”
“I’m not a beggar...”
“Who let you in and gave you free tea when business was already over?”
“You did.”
“Who gave you honey worth three gold a bottle?”
“You did.”
“And who should be keeping their mouth shut right now?”
“...Me?”
Ceres shot him a look that told him to stop talking if he understood, then turned and walked away.
“But...”
“What now?”
“Blue... no, the mana stone. Do you really not remember where you lost it?”
“Yeah. You know if you ask me one more time, that makes it ten, right?”
That was the problem.
When he said he had spent an entire week scouring the area for the mana stone, she couldn’t just send him away and let him inside instead.
Then came the repeated questions. Did you really lose it? Do you remember where you lost it? He kept asking the same things, over and over again.
“How do you even lose something like that?”
“Exactly. I can’t believe I managed to lose it either.”
Seeing Cheion casually drop into informal speech, Ceres didn’t bother pointing it out. It wasn’t like they would be seeing each other often.
Deciding any further conversation was pointless, she slipped into the kitchen. Once he finished his tea, he would leave on his own.
Chop, chop, chop.
Bubble, bubble.
“...Hmm.”
As Cheion drank his tea, his gaze drifted toward the kitchen unconsciously.
The steady rhythm of something being chopped, the soft bubbling of a pot, and the savory aroma slowly spreading through the air.
Though it was already late at night and the sun had long since set, Cheion sipped the rest of his tea with a smile, like a cat dozing lazily in warm sunlight.
***
“He hasn’t eaten anything again today?”
“Yes.”
Del, the aide to Grand Duke Persia, sighed as he watched the untouched plate being carried back out of the room.
His master never had much of an appetite to begin with, but lately, he had been eating even less.
He barely slept and hardly ate. At this rate, one might think he would collapse.
I know he won’t fall so easily.
That was precisely why it was more concerning. He wasn’t someone who paid much attention to his own condition. Without someone at his side to look after him, he wouldn’t even notice his body breaking down until it was too late.
“Is there anything His Grace particularly enjoys eating?”
As the dishes continued to return untouched day after day, the head chef’s worries only deepened.
The Emperor of Devrica even sent the imperial head chef for Kainel, who had recently returned to the capital after a long absence, but it made little difference.
The dishes might have suited the tastes of the imperial family, yet they failed to stir Kainel’s appetite.
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