Chapter 73
Killian was utterly speechless when he saw Tia standing demurely behind the crimson curtain.
He obviously could speak, but for some reason, no words would leave his mouth.
In contrast, Adele jumped up from her seat and practically shouted in delight.
“Tia! You’re gorgeous! How is this possible? Unbelievable! How can anyone be this beautiful? Madam, you’re amazing! Respect!”
Killian, who had instinctively lowered his gaze, forced himself to look at Tia again.
He couldn’t believe it. That such a version of Tia even existed…
If there was such a thing as an angel in this world, surely it would look like this. No—Tia was more beautiful than any angel could ever be.
The voluminous skirts highlighted her delicate upper body, and the radiant silver embroidery caught the light, reflecting it onto her face until she shone even brighter.
“She looks like a doll! I want to buy this doll.”
“I’m not a doll, Adele.”
“Oh, wow. The doll even talks.”
Tia’s lips curved into a smile at the teasing. Her mouth felt dry, and her heart had been pounding wildly for some time.
“Tia, go with this one. It’s perfect!”
“Really?”
“Yeah. It’s gorgeous! I think it even matches my dress.”
“You’re right. The bright part here looks good with yours. Very nice. You’re going to wear the dress I got you for the debutante ball, right?”
“Of course. I will. I just need to talk my dad into it.”
Even as Adele slyly tried to find common ground to link herself with Tia, Killian couldn’t think of anything at all.
“Killian? How do I look? Is it okay?”
He was afraid that if he said she was pretty, she might vanish into thin air. He didn’t dare open his mouth.
“You idiot! You absolute blockhead! You’re supposed to say she looks pretty.”
But in truth, Killian’s face said it all. He was barely breathing as he looked at Tia—that was more than enough of an answer.
Still, Adele’s philosophy was clear: if he kept acting like a fool, she would never let him have Tia.
She might not know much about love, but judging by her parents, the more expressions of affection, the better.
“Hey! What are you doing? Hurry up!” Adele hissed under her breath.
“Y-yes, um, you’re… p-pretty, Tia.”
“Hm? What was that, Killian?”
“The dress looks amazing on you! Pretty!”
Tia giggled at his clumsy outburst, while Adele clenched her fists and trembled with frustration.
“Your Highness, shall we settle on this dress for you as well?”
“Yes. Let’s do that.”
“The colors and designs vary slightly, but when the three of you stand together, they will harmonize beautifully. During fitting, I’ll adjust the details so that anyone can tell you’re close friends.”
“Really? That would be perfect, thank you!”
Tia beamed.
“Adele, Killian. Wait here a moment. I’ll change and come right back.”
Madam Casta closed the red curtain again, and Tia disappeared from sight. Adele immediately smacked Killian hard on the back.
“You boneheaded fool! You should’ve said Tia was pretty, not the dress. You’re killing me here.”
“Ugh…”
Knowing he was at fault, Killian didn’t even try to dodge and just stood there in a daze.
“What are we supposed to do with him?” Adele sighed, arms crossed as she glared at him. And just then—
“Hey! You!”
“What?”
“Your nose!”
“Huh?”
Killian fumbled for his handkerchief and quickly pressed it to his nose.
“You two are going to make me old before my time,” Adele muttered, shaking her head.
After getting fitted for our dresses and formalwear, we decided to spend a little more time outside.
A rare outing without escort knights—we couldn’t waste it!
“Tia, are you sure you’re okay? How are your legs? If it hurts, just say so, and this big sister will carry you.”
“Don’t carry me. Just heal me if needed, Adele.”
“Pfft. Of course. My holy power isn’t too precious to use on you!”
Even while joking with Adele, Killian still looked dazed, trailing along silently wherever we went.
“It’s so nice being out just us three, right?”
Adele nodded.
I could at least protect myself, and Adele and Killian were basically top-tier powerhouses in the world. We didn’t need extra guards.
Dad might have secretly assigned escorts, but if so, I chose to ignore it.
“Adele, you wanted skewers earlier, right? Let’s go get those first!”
“Yay! I’ll eat just a hundred, Tia. That’s okay, right?”
“Adele… you seriously need to get checked. I’m sure you’re contaminated.”
“They said it’s because I’m growing. I need to eat a lot.”
“Who said that?”
I froze in my tracks. If it was that teacher again, I wouldn’t let it slide.
Maybe that wretch was trying to turn Adele into a monster—to raise her and use her however he liked…
“My dad.”
“Oh. Really? Well, Adele… if you eat any more, you might stop being human, you know.”
I almost said she might turn into a monster, but no matter how close we were, some things were better left unsaid.
Still, Adele really looked ready to eat a hundred skewers as she marched to the stall. The smell of grilled meat and sauce was already clinging to our clothes when—
Suddenly, Adele stuck the empty skewers between her fingers like claws, spun around, and vanished.
“Adele? Where… Killian?”
“Stay here for a moment, Tia. Don’t move, no matter what.”
“Why? What’s happening?”
Killian didn’t answer either—he disappeared too.
What on earth…?
I stuffed the skewer in my mouth and rolled my eyes around, waiting.
A moment later, Adele returned, panting.
“Where’s Killian?”
“Hold on, Tia. Let’s pay first. Here, keep the change! We’ll come back for the rest later!”
She tossed a gold coin and grabbed my hand, pulling me along.
“Adele! Where are we going? And Killian? He’s not hurt, is he? And what about the skewers? You can’t just throw them away anywhere.”
“You’ll see, Tia. Just come with me. Hurry.”
She led me to a secluded alley.
“Okay, don’t be too shocked. We can handle this. Understand?”
What on earth was she talking about?
I nodded anyway. That’s when I noticed something shiny deeper in the alley.
As I stepped closer, I realized it was silver hair. My heart skipped a beat.
“Killian!”
“Tia, how did you get here? Adele, I told you to keep her out.”
“She wouldn’t have listened anyway. Right, Tia?”
I nodded. Trying to make sense of it, I scanned the alley—and heard groaning from the far wall.
“What? Who’s that?”
“Don’t look, Tia. It’s dirty.”
“Too late, I can already see.”
A man, beaten to a pulp, was literally pinned to the wall—like a mounted specimen. Holding him there were… skewers. The exact skewers Adele had eaten. Six of them, to be precise.
“Adele, don’t tell me…”
“Yeah. He kept slumping over. And interrogation—or conversation, really—should be eye-to-eye. I only had those skewers, so I used them to pin him up.”
Adele gave a sheepish laugh.
“Ah…”
What was she even turning into? Something was seriously wrong here. It was all my fault—for interfering with the original story!
As I wallowed in guilt, Adele said,
“That guy’s been tailing me all day. Even while I was eating skewers, he kept hovering. It was getting on my nerves.”
“What? Really? I had no idea.”
“Of course you didn’t. He was hiding it deliberately.”
“So how did you notice?”
“My teacher taught me…”
Again! Again with that teacher!
My eyes narrowed sharply, and Adele waved her hands in a panic.
“A-anyway! It might take some time to uncover his backers, so I brought you along. I can’t leave you alone.”
“Ah…”
“Maybe you should just go back to the palace, Tia. We’ll handle this.”
Killian, who had been silent until now, finally spoke. But I had no intention of leaving.
“No. I need to know who’s behind this too!”
For Adele’s sake.
Because by interfering in the original, I might have caused a new villain to appear—one targeting Adele. If so, I had to stop them no matter what.
“See? Our Tia is the bravest! So cool!”
Adele gave me a thumbs-up. Killian only looked at her with exasperation.
“So… have you found out anything yet?”
I stepped closer to the wall-pinned man and asked.
“Stay back, Tia. It’s dangerous.”
Killian blocked me, but Adele just shrugged.
“Nothing yet.”
“Really?”
Peeking past Killian, I studied the pinned man.
Wait… his clothes looked familiar.
That outfit—it was definitely the uniform of Achilles.
In an instant, my blood ran cold.
