Chapter 79……………………
“I’ve come to see Everett.”
Yankeller said, extending a basket full of fruit.
“Uh…?”
“Is he asleep? I heard he had woken up, so I came.”
“Yes, he has woken up. Just a moment. Should I tell him who’s here?”
“Say… Penai… no, just say Yan came.”
Daisy repeated Yankeller’s name to herself as she went up to this floor.
“Please wait in the sitting room for a moment. He should be down shortly.”
“Can I go up? I don’t mind going upstairs.”
Yankeller wanted to care for Everett and talk with him, just as Kyle had done before.
“Well, it’s… the young lady’s bedroom…”
“Oh, yes. I see. Understood.”
Though his face was clear and pure, and he spoke politely even to a maid like her, Daisy somehow felt awkward around Yankeller.
“He’s here, Yankeller.”
As Everett entered the sitting room, Yankeller approached her quickly with a broad smile.
Everett stopped in her tracks for a moment, feeling as if he might suddenly embrace her.
“Everett, I’m glad to see you looking well. When I saw you before, you looked so pale, I was really worried.”
“I heard you came to visit me while I was lying down. Thank you.”
“Thanking me… it’s only natural. Isn’t it tiring to stand all the time? Sit over here.”
Yankeller gently guided Everett toward the sofa, supporting her back.
“What brings you here today?”
“I was so happy to hear you had woken up. I also wanted to see your face…”
Yankeller’s cheeks flushed.
“Kyle told you, then?”
“Kyle? No…”
He quickly changed the subject, unable to admit he had paid the therapist to inform him.
“Everett, what about the store burning down?”
“There’s nothing I can do about it. I’m just relieved that no one was seriously hurt.”
“And the card you used… you kept it safe at home, right?”
Everett exhaled lightly and shook her head.
“It was at the store. It all burned down, so it’s gone. Oh, right, Yankeller, could you… make a card again?”
Making a card was now a magical task he could do effortlessly.
But Yankeller pretended to think seriously.
“Is it difficult? I suppose so. Making seventy-eight magical papers isn’t exactly easy.”
“No, Everett. I’ll try. The temple work is done for now, so I’ll make it as quickly as possible.”
Everett smiled, deepening the dimples in her cheeks.
“Really? Thank you, Yankeller.”
“I told you to call me Yan.”
His voice was gentle, like a spring breeze blowing through a window.
If she didn’t know his feelings, it would have been fine. But now, she felt she should no longer call him Yan casually.
“You’ll be my magic teacher in the future. I shouldn’t call you that. I’ll call you Yankeller politely.”
Yankeller wanted to crush that boundary she was drawing so gently.
No, don’t rush. If I hurry, it could backfire like last time.
He nodded with a playful, serious expression.
“Does my student want a specific pattern for the card? My skill has improved, so I can adjust it to your preference. Tell me.”
Everett let out a short laugh as if amused. Yankeller gazed at her, spellbound by her fairy-like presence.
“Yan?”
An unwelcome voice interrupted their private moment.
Yankeller didn’t need to look to know who it was.
“Kyle?”
Everett’s face brightened with a smile she had never shown him before.
For a moment, Yankeller felt his heart plummet to the floor.
“Yan, what brings you here again?”
Hearing Kyle speak as if this were his own home made Yankeller insanely irritated.
“And you, Kyle? Haven’t returned to the palace yet?”
Yankeller countered with a sharp question instead of answering.
“I was planning to see Everett first. Everett, is it alright for you to be out like this? I told you to rest lying down.”
Kyle approached and boldly extended his arm toward Everett.
Everett looked between Kyle and Yankeller, wearing an awkward smile.
“I should go rest upstairs now. I don’t think I can properly see you both off, so I’ll say goodbye here.”
Everett rose, slightly bending her knees, and walked out of the sitting room.
Yankeller hurried to her side.
“We’ll talk about the pattern later, Everett.”
“Pattern? What pattern?”
Kyle, following behind, asked.
“It’s nothing for you to know, Kyle.”
Everett almost chuckled at Yankeller’s childish provocation, but Kyle didn’t seem amused.
He furrowed his brows, glaring disapprovingly at Yankeller.
“Everett, what pattern is he talking about?”
Everett sighed lightly.
“Later.”
“Everett…”
Kyle called again, but Everett, looking tired, went up to her floor.
Yankeller watched him go with a satisfied smile, feeling victorious.
Then, the sound of a horse’s neigh reached them from the yard.
Opening the door, Yankeller said,
“Seems your horse wants to return to the palace quickly. Farewell, then.”
After Yankeller left, Kyle went straight to Everett’s bedroom.
“Kyle, you should return to the palace.”
“Everett, do you know where I came from?”
Unlike before, when he had sparred teasingly with Yankeller, Kyle looked unusually serious.
“You met the ones who caused the explosion in the square.”
“Exactly! Everett, you must’ve known.”
Kyle gave a thumbs-up.
Alfred came and went every morning and evening; how could she not know?
Everett smiled slightly.
“Did you interrogate them?”
“They bought powder from someone living in the outskirts of the capital. We can’t find them now. I asked if they were kidnapped, but they weren’t.”
“I see.”
“They threw several bottles, but the powder mixture wasn’t correct, so they didn’t explode properly,” he muttered.
Everett thought Hilde’s choice had saved her life.
“If that person had made it properly and sold it, I might not be here now.”
At that moment, the last card she had drawn came to mind.
The tower card… it wasn’t Hilde. It was pointing to me.
Everett’s expression was subtle, neither smiling nor crying.
Kyle, thinking it was fear of death, gently took her hand.
“You wouldn’t have died.”
Everett blinked, looking at him.
“I’d have chased you to the underworld and brought you back.”
Everett let out a short, amused laugh.
“I told Alfred to investigate again. No matter how well someone hides, they must be somewhere.”
If she said nothing, Kyle would continue flailing.
“Kyle, I have very valuable information. If I sell it, will it expand the size of my territory?”
“Oh, negotiating now? I thought we already had a perfect deal.”
Kyle shrugged.
“No matter how small the information Naz gave, I already intended to give you the largest territory in the north.”
“Oh my, you think of me so generously. I don’t know what to say, Your Excellency.”
Kyle laughed heartily. Everett waited for him to calm down before speaking.
“Kyle, I know who made that powder.”
Kyle’s eyes widened.
“That’s huge. How did you find out?”
“I was lucky. The last customer at the tarot shop the night before the banquet was that person.”
Everett told Kyle everything that had happened that day.
“Although they were threatened, they sold it for money. They can’t avoid punishment.”
“Yes, but I hope you consider that they had no choice but to sell it.”
Everett emphasized what Hilde went through and that she had deliberately mixed the powder incorrectly.
“Incredible. That someone capable of making magic powder still exists in the capital… and you met them, Everett.”
“I think it’s incredible too.”
“You saved them, and that’s why we can be talking now. Where is that person?”
“Kyle, I want a promise before I tell you.”
“What promise?”
“I want only you and I to know this.”
“Why? If they can make powder, they’d be a huge asset to us.”
“And it would be dangerous.”
Kyle pressed his lips together.
“Even if we keep it secret, spies will eventually find out.”
“Exactly.”
“We don’t need the powder immediately, so I want only you to know. As for where they are…”
Kyle held out his hand.
“No, don’t tell me. Only Everett will know.”
“But…”
“Just knowing I saved you the trouble of finding them is enough.”
“You only need to know, Kyle.”
“No, if you know, you might accidentally tell Alph or someone else. Let me meet them later. I’ve been curious how it’s made.”
Kyle’s long, large eyes curved into a smile.
Even usually gentle with Everett, today his demeanor felt different.
Everything about Kyle—the look in his eyes, his voice—felt like it was enveloping Everett completely.
