Lucius
Pay wondered if it was because the other party was her that she wanted to hand over this expensive and precious pocket watch, which hadn’t broken even in the cold borderlands.
What should she call this feeling?
She didn’t know, but it was tender. Cassel’s true intention was simply to give Pay anything and everything he could.
“……”
“Lady Pay?”
“It’s all right. I’ll just accept the sentiment. From now on, promise me you won’t wander around lost in thought when you’ve already made plans.”
Even the lips that spoke the refusal weren’t unpleasant to look at.
Cassel neatly folded away the first emotion that had swelled inside him like a balloon.
“Understood. I apologize for burdening you unnecessarily. Shall we go, then?”
“Yes!”
When Pay stepped outside the ice storage, she was startled.
She had known from the knight’s words that quite some time had passed, but she hadn’t expected so many people to be out and about.
“Wow…!”
“Be careful not to get swept up in the crowd. Here… hold on to this.”
Cassel took Pay’s small hand and guided it to his wrist. It was astonishing that such tiny hands had produced all the ice needed for the festival.
She seemed particularly skilled with ice magic. With just one letter of recommendation, she could probably make a fine showing as a palace mage, couldn’t she?
No. If Lady Pay, who has only been at the Magic Tower for a month, were summoned to the palace, she would only be worked to the bone. I must be careful not to draw too much attention to her when I report to His Highness later.
Without realizing it, he was prioritizing a private relationship over the imperial standpoint for the first time in his life.
“Ugh, yes. There really are a lot of people.”
“…My name is Leon.”
Cassel hesitated, then offered the end of his middle name.
“Yes! Sir Leon!”
“You can just call me Leon.”
If the ducal family, or even the crown prince who knew him well, saw the usually blunt Cassel flustered before a single girl, their jaws would drop in disbelief. “So even you can be like this?”
Even he found his own behavior somewhat unfamiliar.
With a touch of shamelessness, he moved his feet carefully. He worried that if he lost Pay amid the suddenly thickening crowd, he would regret it for the rest of his life.
How ridiculous.
He found his own thoughts absurd.
Wasn’t Pay a mage of the Magic Tower? Even if she got lost, she could simply return to the Blue Butterfly Inn or go straight back to the tower.
Logically, that was true, yet…
Still, he felt that if he lost her, he would never be able to forgive himself.
And he wanted to protect her with all his strength.
“Oh, let’s go over there!”
“As you wish.”
He followed where Pay pointed.
That day, Pay enjoyed the festival with the knight Leon for quite a long time.
The fruit festival was grand indeed.
The candied fruits—apples and strawberries on skewers—were so delicious that she ate three.
She and Leon had bought one each at first, but after watching her eat with such delight, he gave her his untouched skewer and bought another for himself.
She also tried the swings decorated with summer flowers and dipped her feet into the artificial stream playground made of floating blossoms.
So this is how the people of the capital play.
Of course, they wouldn’t celebrate so lavishly every day just because it was a festival, but Pay felt a quiet joy as she reclaimed pieces of happiness she had never known before.
The sweet green grapes she had shared with Priest Cheryl.
The memory of throwing herself into Abbess Beryl’s arms and crying her heart out.
And… the precious meeting with Sir Leon.
These small moments—she wanted to keep them all in her memory forever, even if the day came when Sir Leon forgot her completely.
Sir Leon seemed reluctant to part, but Pay smiled brightly and waved. Since they were both in the capital, she felt they would surely meet again by chance someday.
“Let us meet again, Lady Pay.”
“Yes.”
After becoming a mage, she finally understood the meaning of the word “freedom.”
Just as Leon had said, she had a strong feeling they would see each other again soon.
“Shall we head back now?”
She had completed the imperial request, and checkout at the Blue Butterfly Inn could wait until the last day of the festival.
Pay, deeply immersed in her daily magic training, felt no lingering attachment to the festivities.
One day of enjoyment had been enough.
“Mmm.”
She flopped onto the bed.
“Chirp!”
The Drakan, who had stolen someone else’s pillow to make a nest, chirped in protest, but Pay paid it no mind.
If Moittra Banus slept too much, it would turn nocturnal, so she needed to wake it gradually. That way it would sleep properly at night.
Meanwhile, in Pay’s hand was the mirror Leon had bought as a memento of their meeting.
“Please do not refuse this. If you insist on declining, I will send both the mirror and the pocket watch to the Magic Tower.”
He had pressed it on her so insistently that she had no choice but to accept.
“…It’s pretty.”
Perhaps because it was sold to commemorate the fruit festival, the back of the round mirror was lavishly decorated with grapevines. She liked the design.
Staring at her reflection, a sudden question arose.
But why don’t I resemble them at all? It’s unlikely that Dot got it wrong when she committed her crime.
The Duke of Klein had light blond hair and deep blue eyes, while the Duchess had light brown hair and green eyes, similar to Dot’s. Pay had never seen the eldest son Cassel, but the second son, Maurice, also had brown hair and blue eyes, though the shade was slightly different.
In contrast, Pay had pale pink hair and vivid light-green eyes. Even if she forced the connection and claimed her eyes resembled the Duchess’s green ones, her hair color didn’t match at all.
…I don’t know. Maybe someone in the previous generation had this color?
Priest Cheryl had said Pay’s hair color was quite rare, so she had expected her parents to come looking after hearing rumors.
Yet they never came.
Even when Pay stood right in front of them, they hadn’t recognized her as their daughter.
Honestly, their appearances were so dissimilar that Pay couldn’t even begin to guess. Unless she saw portraits of the earlier generations, she wouldn’t know.
Maybe my hair color was completely different when I was younger?
As thoughts chained together, a reasonable question formed.
If she looked into what had happened at the Klein ducal house and why they had lost their real daughter…
No. I already decided to cut ties and even broke the necklace. Digging into that might only create unnecessary attachment. I can’t trust myself on this matter.
There was nothing to gain from holding on to that family.
She would simply keep building her strength and stop Dot when she tried to cause trouble again.
Once she prevented Dot’s evil deeds, she had no intention of returning to them, no matter what happened later. Even if they never found their real daughter and cried for the rest of their lives, it was none of her concern.
That was how deeply Pay had grown sick of her memories as Morgana.
The smiles she wore so easily in front of Sir Leon, the adorable Drakan, or Holtdein vanished the moment she thought of them.
She deliberately spoke in a bright voice.
“Moittra Banus, shall we go to the night festival? They said they’ll light lanterns and sell roasted fruits and meat. I’ll have tomato skewers, and I’ll buy you beef.”
“Chirp!”
Yes, she would do just this and then return to the Magic Tower. With that resolve, Pay tucked the mirror away and left to buy a tasty snack for the Drakan that had followed her here.
The capital by day and the capital by night felt entirely different.
There were fewer people than during the day, but the night air was soft and her mood gradually relaxed. Even the evening primroses, placed in pots and brought outside because it was night, caught her eye.
Hmm… It’s quite romantic, the people of the capital.
Even Pay, who usually remained expressionless, felt her tension ease amid the relaxed scenery, and a natural smile appeared on her lips. Sir Leon would probably have been surprised to see her like this.
For some reason, she felt like taking a leisurely stroll.
“Chirp!”
Of course not—the Drakan, excited by the smell of smoked meat, was shrieking loudly.
“Ah, there it is. All right.”
Spotting the skewer stall, Pay gave up on tomatoes and joined the line for meat. The Drakan’s breathing was growing rougher; if she didn’t feed it soon, there would be trouble.
A moment later.
“Chirp! Chirp!”
The fluffy bird she raised fussed for its food.
“I know, I’ll give it to you over there.”
Pay bought four generous beef skewers and looked around for a quiet corner.
It wasn’t that she was embarrassed to feed expensive meat to a small bird. The real problem was that the Drakan’s appetite became ferocious when faced with delicious food.
If anyone saw this tiny bird(?) devour two or three beef skewers in one go, they would be shocked. They might even suspect it wasn’t a bird at all.
What if someone reported her as a black mage…? And this was the capital, no less.
“This should do.”
Finding a bush slightly off the path, Pay settled on a rock and took out the well-cooked skewers.
Just as she was about to offer one to Moittra Banus—
“Nom.”
“……?”
Chew, chew.
Pay doubted her eyes and ears. The sound of someone eating suggested it wasn’t an illusion, but what was going on?
She had clearly given it to the Drakan, so why was there another sound?
“Moittra Banus?”
“Mmm, chew. Why do you call me with such difficulty? Gulp. Just call me Momo.”
“Chirp… chirp…”
The one who had taken the skewer wasn’t the Drakan, but a silver-haired man—taller than Pay by a head.
He radiated a fresh, boyish energy more than the air of a grown man.
“Who are you?!”
Pay asked in shock.
More importantly, where had this man come from? She hadn’t sensed anyone approaching at all.
He spoke casually.
“Momo’s owner.”
His voice was clear and cheerful, like water droplets splashing.
“Momo…?”
“Chirp, chirp!”
An even more astonishing sight unfolded. The Drakan, which had always maintained a certain aloof dignity even while allowing Pay close, now couldn’t even fly in front of this silver-haired man. Instead, it waddled over and bowed its head obediently.
Its wings, which had been cute yet majestic, were completely folded. Really? Could it be?
Pay searched her memory.
“Don’t tell me your name is Lucius?”
“Yeah.”
When she first met the Drakan at the breeding facility, those words had remained in her mind. Its true owner wasn’t Lord Baroa, but someone named Lucius.
Pay’s eyebrows drooped slightly.
“I see… Hello, Moittra Banus…”
Now that its real owner had appeared, it was time to say goodbye to the Drakan, however reluctantly.
Ever since she had taken it from the facility, she had never once ridden it in its true form, but there was no helping it. She would just have to work hard learning flight magic later and console herself with flying through the sky.
She had grown somewhat attached, so parting so soon felt a little sad.
While she was trying to compose herself, Lucius, who had devoured an entire skewer, grumbled.