Chapter 41
After that, we moved to a high-end tea house on the main avenue.
This place looks insanely expensive.
The doormen standing in front of the glossy, dark-brown wooden doors opened them simultaneously the moment they saw us.
Tap, tap.
The sound of Morokhanil’s staff echoed gently across the marble corridor, which sparkled under the sunlight streaming in through the windows.
Axion’s voice followed close behind.
“Hic… sniff….”
He had stopped crying compared to earlier, but he was still whimpering slightly.
“Has the little one calmed down a bit? It’s warmer further inside—let’s head that way.”
At his gentle voice, I nodded awkwardly.
He just called him “little one,” didn’t he?
What did Dazar call Axion again…?
Unlike someone else, this man had proper manners. Hm-hm.
“This is a place I visit from time to time. They also prepare milk for babies.”
“Really? Ah—this child’s name is Axion.”
“Oh.”
Morokhanil suddenly stopped walking and turned around softly.
He bent slightly to meet Axion’s eyes and smiled warmly.
“Hello, Axion. It’s nice to meet you. My name is Morokhanil.”
“Uh… uwa?”
“You were very frightened earlier, weren’t you? But you’re brave. You’ve already stopped crying.”
“Uung!”
Axion, who had widened his eyes at Morokhanil’s gentle voice, puffed out his chest slightly, as if he understood him.
His earlier fussiness vanished, as though he were in a better mood.
Axion can recognize angels too, huh.
Well, who wouldn’t feel better when looking into such kind eyes?
“This way, please.”
Following Morokhanil as he resumed walking, we soon arrived at a small room at the far end of the corridor.
Its atmosphere was noticeably different from the other rooms I’d glimpsed through open doorways along the way.
While the other rooms felt formal and rigid, this one was more private and warm.
“Welcome, Lord Morokhanil. I see you have company today.”
A man who looked like a waiter, dressed neatly in a suit, greeted us politely.
“Yes. Please prepare my usual tea. And… my lady, is there a tea you’d prefer?”
Morokhanil pulled out a chair for me as he asked.
This kind of treatment was far too unfamiliar.
I hesitated as I sat down, my eyes darting around.
“I don’t really have a preference. I’ll have the same as you. And just milk for Axion, please.”
“Understood.”
After taking our order, the waiter left, and we finally sat facing each other.
“Thanks to you, Axion stopped crying.”
“It’s nothing. He’s a very brave baby. The way his eyes are blinking, it looks like he’ll fall asleep soon.”
Just as Morokhanil said, Axion gradually drifted into sleep, and a slightly awkward silence settled between us.
What is this situation, anyway…?
I had been trying to find Morokhanil, but I never expected the two of us to end up sitting together in a luxury tea house like this.
It almost felt like… a blind date or something.
I scratched my cheek lightly, wondering if I’d watched too many dramas in my previous life.
“It feels a little strange, sitting face-to-face with you like this, my lady.”
Morokhanil smiled shyly, as though he felt the same.
Seeing that shy smile head-on made my heart ache slightly.
A handsome man’s bashful smile was dangerous.
The atmosphere was lethal to me, so I hurriedly changed the subject.
“There’s something I’m curious about.”
“Yes. Please ask anything.”
“Are you a Transcendent, Morokhanil?”
Morokhanil’s eyes widened slightly, then he smiled.
“Yes, I am.”
Ah, I knew it.
Then Morokhanil must also be a noble.
Like Aishna and Korra, whom I’d seen at the temple earlier, he was probably from a noble family too.
Families of Transcendents were granted noble titles by the imperial family in exchange for their duty of protecting the Empire across generations.
Among them, the Siastar family—Dazar and Vanilla’s—held the highest rank, though I didn’t know why.
I considered asking about that strange group that left the mark on my shoulder, but stopped myself.
It’s better not to be curious about things like that at all.
If I wanted to live a peaceful life and raise Axion properly, it was best not to get involved in dangerous matters.
Instead, I asked the question I was truly curious about.
“Then… do you remember your previous life as well? I heard that some Transcendents retain their past-life memories.”
“Ah…”
Morokhanil nodded slowly.
Unlike Dazar last time, his expression didn’t harden.
“Yes. I remember my previous life as well. You seem quite curious about Transcendents.”
“Well… sort of, by chance.”
After all, the person I lived with was a Transcendent, and the child who would someday become my daughter-in-law was also one.
I hadn’t finished reading the booklet Dazar gave me yet, but I was carrying it carefully inside my coat.
“Until recently, there were four Transcendents on this continent. But now there are five. A new one was born.”
He was probably talking about Vanilla.
“Among them, only two remember their previous lives—including me.”
So that meant only Dazar and Morokhanil.
Since I couldn’t ask Dazar about his past life, I took this opportunity and spoke carefully.
“This might be rude, but… may I ask more about your previous life?”
Someone like me—who remembered their past life.
A thought crossed my mind.
“What kind of world was it?”
“Hmm…”
Yes. Like this.
“Did it have magic or divine power too? Or was it a place where science was more developed?”
I waited for his answer with a slightly pounding heart.
Could he be from Korea like me?
Did he suspect this world was inside a book?
To be honest… I was hopeful.
“It was a world where magic and divine power were more developed than science. An environment almost no different from the world you’re living in now.”
“Ah…”
So he wasn’t from the same world as me.
Was Dazar the same?
A faint sense of disappointment crept in.
Just then, there was a knock, and our tea and milk arrived.
As the waiter set down the cups, there was a light clink as porcelain met the table.
“It smells wonderful.”
“Yes. It’s a tea made from a flower I like.”
Oh, flower tea.
“What’s it called?”
“Heaven.”
It suited Morokhanil perfectly.
Whether by coincidence or not—Heaven.
Angel and heaven. A fitting pair.
“It suits you. Morokhanil.”
“Does it? Thank you.”
He smiled gently in gratitude.
Still that devastatingly kind smile.
I rubbed the tip of my nose and continued.
“But how did you know my name?”
“I attended His Majesty the Emperor’s birthday banquet before. That was when I first saw Lady Evanroar’s face. Though we didn’t exchange greetings.”
Ah, that’s when he saw me.
Since he already knew my name, he must have known about my bad reputation too.
“You entered right behind Dazar.”
Ah. Dazar.
Taking the opportunity since his name came up, I asked carefully.
“Um… the other person who remembers their previous life—Duke Dazar Siastar—is that correct?”
At Dazar’s name, Morokhanil’s expression changed slightly.
His lips tightened, his eyes narrowed.
It was a colder expression than anything I’d seen from him so far.
“Yes. He remembers his previous life as well.”
Though the question may have been rude, he answered politely.
“If it’s uncomfortable to answer, you don’t have to. I’m being a bit impolite, aren’t I?”
I laughed lightly, but Morokhanil shook his head.
“It’s all right. For some reason, I feel like answering anything you ask.”
“Uh… excuse me?”
“Ah.”
Morokhanil’s cheeks flushed slightly.
Damn it. A handsome man blushing was fatal.
Taking emotional damage, I looked away awkwardly.
He waved his hand gently, as if to prevent misunderstanding.
“You’re a bit different from others, my lady. I felt it when we met at the shop as well. How should I put it… you feel comfortable. As though you lower the walls people keep.”
…That’s a compliment, right?
He doesn’t mean that I’m just so strange that people feel relaxed around me, does he?
Given my infamous and rough reputation, it was hard to take that as praise.
If it was praise, that was strange in its own way—me being comfortable.
The Morokhanil I’d thought of as a gentle angel now felt oddly fourth-dimensional.
I smiled awkwardly and moved my hand toward the inside of my coat.
Axion’s settled down now. I should take care of my business and head back.
The waiter had thoughtfully poured the milk into a glass bottle after confirming Axion was asleep, so I could leave right away.
I was about to take out the pouch containing Morokhanil’s stone from inside my coat—
When Morokhanil hesitated briefly, then spoke.
“And Dazar… is someone I could call a colleague—since our previous life.”
A colleague?
Then that meant they’d lived in the same world before?
Just as I widened my eyes to ask—
“Who the hell is a colleague of someone like you?”
A voice filled with anger suddenly cut in from beside us.
