Episode 43
Having clearly suffered quite a bit today, he wheezed for a long time before lowering the hands that had covered his face.
He had shed a few tears, leaving his eyelids flushed red.
“O-rabeoni, are you feeling a bit calmer now?”
“I wasn’t crying.”
“I didn’t ask if you were crying.”
At that, Lucian’s lips curled inward as if he had nothing left to say.
“T-that, rather than O-rabeoni…… how about calling me Oppa?”
“Hm? I don’t really mind, but doesn’t O-rabeoni feel like you’re being more polite on purpose?”
“O-Oppa sounds more friendly. You were the one who started speaking informally on your own saying it felt more intimate, so call me Oppa.”
After saying that, he turned his head away, perhaps embarrassed. Both of his cheeks were flushed a rosy pink, like a ripe peach.
How cute.
It seems like becoming family with this adorable Papiope household wasn’t such a bad choice after all.
I already felt attached to them.
I placed my hands on both of his cheeks to turn his face toward me and beamed at him.
“Alright, Lucian Oppa. I look forward to your care from now on!”
✦ ✦ ✦
The next day.
With the Duke’s permission, I rode a carriage with my maid, Lena, to the Talent Training Center.
It weighed on my heart that I hadn’t been able to thank the twins and Elision properly after coming straight to the Papiope townhouse with the Duke following the adoption competition.
“Heroooo!”
Hearing the news that I had arrived in a carriage from the Duchy of Papiope, the twins came running out in a hurry.
Rosemary trapped me in her embrace at once and poured out a flurry of words.
“I missed you so, so much! Are you doing well at the Duchy? I heard that the eldest, Lucian, is a bit prickly—they didn’t treat you poorly, did they?”
“Mari, I know you’re happy to see me, but could you tell me one thing at a time?”
“Yes, Hero!”
As she answered spiritedly, Rosemary glanced at Lena, the maid beside me, and clapped a hand over her mouth with a gasp.
“Ah. Now that you’re a Young Lady, am I not allowed to call you Hero anymore?”
Was I finally able to move past being called “Hero”?
“I don’t mind, but others might say something if they hear it.”
……For example, Lena?
Sure enough, she was looking at Rosemary with an uncomfortable expression. She looked like she wanted to say something, but was holding back because I was indulging her.
“T-then, is ‘Miss’ okay? ‘Young Lady’ feels just too distant.”
Rosemary looked at Lena instead of me, clasping her hands tightly as if begging for permission.
Fortunately, Lena slowly nodded.
“‘Miss’ is fine.”
“Phew.”
While Rosemary was patting her chest in relief, Raspi, who had been standing quietly beside her, spoke up.
“Tania-nim, is the Duchy a comfortable place to stay?”
“Yes. Comfortable is an understatement; I’m living in total luxury.”
A small smile bloomed on Raspi’s face at that.
“I’m glad to hear that you’re doing well.”
“It was thanks to you all that I was able to win, so I felt terrible leaving without even saying thank you.”
“No. I promised to place the victory in your hands, but I failed to do so.”
It seemed he was recalling the moment he was unceremoniously eliminated by Elision, as Raspi’s expression darkened. Though I wasn’t entirely sure, he seemed a bit wounded in his pride.
“Tania-nim. May I ask what kind of conversation you had with Elision that day?”
“If you mean that day, you’re talking about the competition, right?”
“Yes. I know it’s rude to ask about private conversations, but I’m curious why that guy Elision took your side.”
“Actually…… I don’t know why Sion took my side either.”
“Sion? Have you already reached the point of using nicknames?”
At his reaction, which was more sensitive than I expected, I blinked in confusion.
“Oh? Y-yeah, he asked me to call him Sion, so I did it on the spur of the moment.”
Then, Rosemary jabbed Raspi in the side with her elbow, giving him a look.
“Oppa, that’s a bit pathetic.”
“Ahaha…….”
Not knowing how to respond, I laughed awkwardly and answered the question about why Elision took my side.
“Sion said I helped him before…… but I honestly have no memory of that.”
“Help…… you say? Just as Tania-nim saved us?”
“Yes. I don’t know what kind of help I provided either, but he said he had been on my side since the moment he first met me.”
“I see…….”
Raspi furrowed his brow as if contemplating something.
I shrugged my shoulders and asked while looking around.
“Oh. Come to think of it, how is Elision doing lately? I wanted to express my gratitude to him as well.”
“……You didn’t know yet?”
“Hm? What?”
“Elision left the Talent Training Center on the day of the adoption competition.”
“What?”
It was a shocking revelation.
Elision, who was supposed to be adopted by the Papiope family in the last timeline, had yielded his victory to me and left the Talent Training Center?
I asked urgently.
“Where did he go after leaving?”
As far as I knew, Elision, like me, was an orphan with not a single relative to rely on. Where on earth would he go?
Of course, Elision was an outstanding mage, so he wouldn’t starve to death wherever he went. But the fact that he had left for some unknown place brought a sense of unease.
When I asked, Raspi faltered, looking flustered.
“That, I don’t know…….”
Just then, Rosemary, who had been listening to the conversation, raised her hand high and shouted.
“The Magic Tower!”
“……The Magic Tower?”
“Yes. On the day the adoption competition ended, I secretly overheard a conversation between the Director of the Talent Training Center and Elision.”
I doubted my ears for a moment.
……Mari, are you sure you’ve washed your hands of such things?
Before I could feel skeptical about the source of her information, she spoke.
“Elision said he was planning to go to the Magic Tower.”
“Ah……!”
If he went to the Magic Tower, his decision made sense. Even without learning professional magic there, he was someone who had swept through the Talent Training Center with overwhelming talent.
In the previous timeline, the Master of the Magic Tower had coveted Elision so much. He had even insisted that the Duke give Elision to him, saying the Duke already had three adopted children. But knowing the Duke’s personality, would he have just listened?
He obviously blew his top, asking if his children were items to be bought and sold. But even after that, the Tower Master never gave up on Elision.
And now, Elision had walked into the Magic Tower on his own.
He might be salivating at the chance to adopt him right about now. The Tower Master was of a similar breed to Grandfather Declan, so he would surely treat Elision better than anyone else, even while grumbling.
Hearing that he had gone to the Magic Tower made me feel much more at ease.
If the Duke had adopted a third child and Elision had become my legal brother…… Ugh, I didn’t want to imagine that.
It wasn’t that I disliked Elision. No, in fact, I could assert that he was one of my only true friends and someone I liked a great deal. But…… for some reason, the thought of becoming siblings with him didn’t feel very pleasant.
A stifling feeling in the corner of my chest. Perhaps it was because we had drifted through that delicate space between friendship and love.
Regardless.
I grabbed Rosemary’s hand and shook it to thank her for the information.
“Now that I know where Elision is, once I wrap up my urgent matters, I should visit the Magic Tower to see how he’s doing.”
Come to think of it, the Tower Master had quite a cranky personality. Now that Elision has gone to the Magic Tower, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to build up some favor with the Tower Master as well.
It would be good to bring something that could serve as a gift.
If there was something the Tower Master was desperate for at this time…….
It would surely be ‘that.’