Chapter 3
“Huh?”
At my declaration, the man twisted his face as if he had just heard something absurd.
Then he turned his head away and waved his hand dismissively.
“Oh, so you’re a real estate agent. I’m not selling this building. Goodbye.”
I couldn’t let him walk away like this.
Not when I had no backup plan.
I desperately needed this building.
“You can’t just say you’re not selling it and end the conversation! I absolutely—”
“I’m not interested in your circumstances at all, you know? I said I’m not selling it. Goodbye.”
Looking at his indifferent expression, he seemed completely unwilling to budge.
In the end, I pulled out my secret weapon.
The building deed I had brought back with me—along with the lottery numbers.
“I-I’m already the owner of this building! I even received the deed from the previous owner!”
“What nonsense are you—”
The man looked at the deed I thrust toward him with an expression that clearly said stop talking nonsense.
Then his eyes widened.
“Huh?”
His large hand reached toward the document.
Afraid he would snatch it away, I quickly pulled it back behind me.
His face twisted in irritation.
“What is that? Don’t tell me it’s forged.”
He narrowed his eyes.
“Are you not a real estate agent after all? Are you a scammer?”
“That’s a horrible thing to say! It’s real, okay? You can tell just by looking at it!”
“That’s exactly why this makes no sense. I’ve never handed this deed to you, so how do you have it?”
His sharp question rendered me speechless.
He stared at me suspiciously.
“Who exactly are you? Who sent you here?”
“Well…”
For a moment, I hesitated.
What if he really wasn’t the Master?
Could I casually reveal everything about magic?
While my thoughts drifted—
He suddenly tried to snatch the deed from me.
Thankfully, he failed.
“So it really was a lie— ah!”
A tiny spark of electricity crackled from his fingertips the moment they touched the paper.
Startled, I tightly clutched the deed.
For a second, I thought the paper had caught fire.
Before I could process what had happened, he blinked in confusion.
“…Maybe you weren’t lying after all.”
Tilting his head, he kicked the blanket he had been wrapped in into a corner.
Then he started walking upstairs.
“Come up for now.”
He glanced back at me.
“This conversation is going to take a while.”
✦ ✦ ✦
The top floor—
the third floor—
was somehow even worse than the floors below.
Wow… how does anyone live like this?
The room was such a disaster that there wasn’t even a proper place to sit.
Bottles, unidentified liquids, and random objects were scattered everywhere.
The only clean place was the kitchen.
Ugh, it’s filthy.
At least the kitchen is clean, I guess.
The Master had been obsessively neat.
This really was a different person.
Still—
regardless of who he was, the sight of him casually tinkering with something in the kitchen reminded me of the Master.
As I stared blankly, he looked at me and smiled brightly.
I pursed my lips.
Why is he smiling like that?
Well… his smile is pretty nice, I guess.
But what did that matter?
We were about to fight over ownership of this building.
He returned holding two thick mugs and handed one to me.
“My name is Yuri.”
I slightly lowered my head and gave a belated greeting.
“Hello. My name is Titiana Este.”
At my polite introduction, he smiled warmly and waved his hand.
“You can speak casually. I’m younger than you.”
His careless remark made me flinch.
Then I frowned.
“Are you saying I look old?”
“How old are you, then?”
Yuri chuckled mischievously and waved his hand again.
“Come on, you can’t ask someone their age the first time you meet them.”
“Then why are you arbitrarily deciding I’m older than you?”
“Call it intuition.”
He grinned.
“I have good instincts. You’re definitely older.”
What kind of nonsense fortune-teller logic was that?
I stared at him in disbelief.
Maybe he noticed my unconvinced expression because he added with a smile—
“Why not just relax and speak comfortably since I’m allowing it? It’s not a bad deal for you.”
What exactly was supposed to be good about that?
I pouted.
It still feels weird to suddenly speak casually just because he said so.
And we hadn’t even settled the issue of the building yet.
I lowered my gaze toward the mug.
The rich aroma of freshly brewed coffee tickled my nose.
“Coffee…”
So that was what he had been clattering around with.
I looked at him curiously, and Yuri shrugged.
“I can’t live without coffee.”
He rubbed his temple.
“My brain feels like it stops working without it.”
That part sounded exactly like me.
“Thank you. I’ll enjoy it.”
The moment the coffee touched my tongue—
my eyes widened.
It was rich, slightly bitter, and packed with strong caffeine that seemed to clear my mind instantly.
During my second life as the Marchioness of Sardena, I had tasted countless expensive coffees.
And yet—
this was easily one of the best.
I stared at the cup in amazement.
“Wow… it’s nutty. It isn’t very acidic, but the aroma is incredible.”
Yuri beamed.
“I’m so happy you noticed.”
He leaned back proudly.
“The aroma is nice because I use special beans.”
“Using expensive beans doesn’t automatically mean anyone can make coffee this good.”
“Hm?”
I took another sip and casually shared my honest thoughts.
Yuri raised an eyebrow.
“You only say flattering things.”
He smiled suspiciously.
“Are you really a scammer?”
“Absolutely not!”
Who smiles that sweetly while calling someone a scammer?
He looks friendly, but he’s not easy to deal with.
I glared at him.
Still, I didn’t get angry.
Honestly—
I understood why I looked suspicious.
“If you’re not a scammer, then how did you get that document?”
He spoke lightly.
“I don’t remember giving it to you.”
He smiled lazily.
“And I have an excellent memory, so don’t bother lying.”
“Hmm…”
Where was I even supposed to begin?
That the owner of the tavern I frequented had secretly been a wizard?
That he gave me this building deed so I could succeed in my next life?
Any normal person would laugh in my face.
But the man sitting in front of me didn’t seem normal.
A man with the same pink hair as the Master—
living aimlessly in the very building where the Master’s tavern had once existed.
If he wasn’t the same person as the Master…
Then he isn’t the one who cast the magic on me.
Still—
I wasn’t completely sure yet.
So I decided to take a gamble.
“I know.”
Yuri tilted his head.
“Know what?”
I stared at him for a moment before speaking slowly.
“Your secret.”
I narrowed my eyes.
“You’re a wizard, aren’t you?”
“…What?”
Yuri’s blue eyes shrank like a startled cat’s pupils.
He even spilled coffee onto the table.
Then he stared at his own palm and laughed in disbelief.
“Hold on.”
“I think I just heard something completely ridiculous.”
He looked at me blankly.
“I’m a wizard?”
“You can stop pretending.”
I crossed my arms.
“If you want me to act like I don’t know, I can do that.”
“But this deed was something you gave me through magic—”
“Wait. Wait.”
Yuri abruptly cut me off.
He scratched his cheek awkwardly.
“I’m telling you this because it’s actually true.”
He sighed.
“I did spend some time at the Magic Tower.”
“But I failed to become a wizard.”
“…What?”
That was not what I expected.
I blinked in confusion.
“Why did you fail?”
Yuri looked deeply reluctant to explain.
After a long sigh, he muttered quietly—
“Because my mana suddenly disappeared.”
He looked bitter.
“That kind of thing usually only happens after casting extremely powerful magic.”
“But somehow…”
He shrugged helplessly.
“That happened to me.”
Even after hearing that—
I still couldn’t believe it.
My gamble failed.
He wasn’t a wizard.
Worse—
he had been one and then lost his magic.
Suddenly, this messy room and dust-filled building looked different to me.
I stared at him sympathetically.
“So you got depressed and started living here like an unemployed slob?”
“An unemployed slob—”
He stared at me in disbelief.
“You have a much sharper tongue than I expected.”
Well, was I wrong?
If someone lived surrounded by trash they didn’t even bother throwing away, what else was I supposed to call them?
Either way… this man really isn’t the Master.
I let out a frustrated groan.
I had kept hoping maybe.
But now it was clear.
Still—
there was one final thing I needed to confirm.
I looked at him seriously.
“Do you happen to have any relatives…”
I narrowed my eyes.
“Any siblings or family members with pink hair?”
Yuri openly began looking at me like I was completely insane.
