Chapter 78
[ I have something to ask. Meet me at the place where we first met at two o’clock. ]
The reply came almost immediately, as if they had been waiting.
[ You mean the alley where we first met? Sure. Oh, there are fresh figs—if you’re interested, bring some pastries soaked in honey made at your home. Even better if you bring the person who made them. ]
“Io, get ready. We’re going out.”
I handed Io Titus’s letter. It was faster than explaining it verbally.
“Y-you’re not… going to meet that delinquent, are you?”
“Yes. I want to ask if something’s going on with the Tellus family. It’s a bit strange—last I knew, the Tellus heir wasn’t that busy.”
Even as Io locked my door, she kept repeating her warning:
“Be careful, Miss!”
“Of course. I can handle anything that comes up.”
I confidently clenched my fist.
Forum
I told Io to wait at the Ardentluna boundary and went alone to meet Titus.
I felt that if Io were there, he wouldn’t say anything.
“Ignisia!”
Titus looked the same as ever, as if nothing had changed.
“Here.”
I handed over the heavy bag of pastries first.
“Too bad. I wanted you to bring the human along. Well, can’t help it. But what’s wrong? Why that expression? And what’s this about asking questions?”
Titus fired off several questions at once.
‘Should I reveal that I’m the heir first? Or just tell him I know who he is?’
I hesitated but decided to test the waters about the letter first.
“You should’ve received a letter at your house.”
“Letters always come. Why do you ask?”
Titus chuckled.
Is he pretending not to know even though it was addressed to him?
“Our family sent invitations to the two heirs of your family. But they declined, saying they were busy. So I thought you might know something. You live in the same household, after all.”
“Invitation? I have no idea. It was sent to our family from Ignitus?”
Titus raised his hands in a gesture of innocence.
He really didn’t know?
I was sure the letter was sent with Titus and Tertia’s names.
“Well, even if you see it that way, I don’t know anything. I’ve never seen an invitation. Maybe someone else received it and replied without me knowing.”
Titus said seriously.
It was strange. Surely the letter went to him?
Could it be that he wasn’t the heir…? No, the ring on his finger bore the Tellus family seal so clearly.
‘If Titus really doesn’t know, does that mean Tertia sent the reply on her own?’
“Don’t worry about it. Whoever had the nerve to decline it, if they said they were busy, they must have really been busy.”
Titus said.
“Is that so? Some people don’t seem busy at all.”
“The Tellus family has a lot to do, even if it doesn’t look like it. Same for me.”
I tried probing, but Titus kept dodging my questions.
“If you’re so busy, why are you casually going out?”
“Because someone like me can finish everything and still have time to hang out with you. Others, even if they work day and night, can’t manage that.”
“Ah, really?”
From my perspective, it looked like laziness. I decided to just pretend to believe him.
“Exactly. Even with ‘that,’ traveling between the village and the estate every day causes such a fuss. There’s no need to check so often, but she insists on doing it.”
He must have been talking about Tertia.
If she travels daily between the village and the estate, it’s likely to check on the villagers and farmers.
So she really did decline my invitation on her own.
“I should spend my time on more productive things. Silly me.”
I also understood why she didn’t tell Titus.
Even I would have been embarrassed to bring him as family when visiting another house.
And yet she called her sibling ‘that.’
Does she not even consider them human?
“So that reply…”
“That story is boring! Stop it, or I’ll leave.”
Titus suddenly interrupted, snapping angrily.
Taking advantage of my surprise, he activated his power.
“Enough, let’s move. I’ll invite you to my forest again.”
Before I could stop him, tree roots wrapped around me.
“Wait…!”
Suddenly doing this—it was clear he wanted to divert my attention from the invitation.
I hadn’t said a word while he used the power of the earth to move me into the forest.
I was using the opportunity to plan another way to meet Tertia.
‘Now that it’s come to this, should I secretly visit the Tellus estate? Or pretend to be a resident?’
It seemed like a good idea.
If I helped Tertia check on the estate residents, I could get close to her easily.
But one worry struck me.
‘If Titus really didn’t know about the letter, that means I just revealed that Tertia hid it.’
What if he decides to punish his sibling for it…?
Feeling uneasy, I glanced at Titus as he sent the roots back into the ground.
“Why?”
Titus just smiled cheerfully.
‘Does he not care?’
Maybe his head was too full of trivial pranks to think about such things.
Even as I perched on a tree stump and thought quietly, Titus asked, clearly impatient:
“What’s wrong? Are you still upset about the invitation being declined?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
I answered absentmindedly.
“Why care about that? I told you to stop bringing up the invitation!”
Titus leaned in, a bewildered look on his face.
“I’m right here in front of you! Me, from Tellus, the one you like so much!”
…Is he telling me to focus only on him?
“I’m your friend. Isn’t that enough?”
“We haven’t even properly introduced ourselves. We know nothing about each other, how can we call ourselves friends?”
“Why not? A secret friend is still a friend.”
Titus said with a grin.
“Being here is way more fun than meeting inside the house. Look, things like this are possible too.”
He snapped his fingers.
A group of wild animals ran over, placing a bundle of figs in my skirt and left.
“Here, a gift! Only I can do this in our family. Now, get up and play. We’ve met after a long time, how long are you going to sit there?”
Titus shouted excitedly.
‘I don’t even get a chance to ask…!’
I desperately refused the tenth fruit being offered.
Whenever I tried to ask a question, he would immediately bring food to silence me.
But Titus was so cheerful and scatterbrained that I couldn’t tell if it was intentional.
“I-I’ll go for a walk…”
If I stayed any longer, I would burst.
I stood and started walking along the forest path.
“You want to see my forest? Good, I’ll show you.”
Titus followed, giggling.
“All these are oak trees. They’re the best at understanding speech among trees. Cool, right? Want me to move you through them?”
“No, I’m fine. I might get dizzy.”
‘He seems unusually kind today.’
Last time, he was calculating every word, but today I didn’t notice that at all.
He was taking care of me almost like a friend, in his own unique way.
“You should feel honored. You’re the first to come here.”
Titus said, laughing like a child.
“This is more fun than I expected. I should’ve invited a friend sooner.”
“You said you have a sibling. Didn’t you show them?”
“…I don’t play with that.”
At the mention of Tertia, Titus’s voice instantly sank.
“Don’t bring that up in front of me. Just thinking about it makes my skin crawl.”
He lowered his voice and quickened his pace, walking heavily ahead.
