CHAPTER 33………………………………

“Um… I’m sorry for making things awkward yesterday.”

“Oh… it’s fine.”

…Is it really fine?

Lyn glanced sideways. Unlike the boy she’d seen at the auction house yesterday, this one was wearing a faint, polite smile the whole time.

Feeling a strange emotional distance from him, Lyn fiddled her fingers, unsure how to continue speaking.

Sigh.

Behind the mask-like expression he maintained, Kaidan was actually throwing a rather prickly look at the girl standing before him.

He had been stunned at first—after all, the guest room provided for him here in Pegasus Castle was far more comfortable than even his own room in Tigris Castle.

But that vague impression he’d had after arriving was instantly blown away the moment a visitor rushed in first thing the next morning.

Kaidan gazed coolly at the girl and thought,

‘So she wants an apology, is that it?’

Sure, he hadn’t been all that friendly to her near the auction house.

But expecting a smile from a stranger who suddenly butted into his business was the strange part, wasn’t it?

Besides, she’d hidden that unique hair of hers—the hair that basically screamed “I’m Lyn Pegasus!”—so of course he hadn’t recognized her.

‘Now that she knows who I am, she expects me to act accordingly.’

With his thick defenses up, Kaidan didn’t even notice Lyn’s little hands trembling with nervousness.

Despite the earlier invitation she’d sent him, despite the warm hospitality he’d received upon arriving, nothing about his actual place in this world had changed.

With a hint of self-mockery, Kaidan lowered his head with a deeply apologetic look.

“It’s I who should apologize for making you bring this up first. I failed to recognize you, my lady, and even if we were strangers at the time, it was rude of me.”

“Oh…! No, that’s not it. I meant I’m sorry for asking you to be my partner out of nowhere without even introducing myself first.”

Having no idea that Lyn simply wasn’t used to talking so awkwardly to someone her age, Kaidan blinked at her. She really seemed to be here to apologize.

The girl blinked her large eyes and continued,

“And, hmm… thinking about it, you must’ve been startled then too. Sorry for that as well.”

“…No. I overreacted too.”

“Then you’ll accept my apology?”

Her sparkling eyes looked straight into his, as if his answer mattered terribly.

Kaidan suddenly felt his cheek prickle for some reason.

“Well… it wasn’t really something you had to apologize for.”

Why?

He could’ve taken advantage of the Pegasus lady’s guilty conscience to steer the conversation in his favor.

But before his brain could calculate anything, his mouth blurted out something embarrassingly gentle.

He flinched, startled at himself, and clapped a hand over his mouth.

Meanwhile, Lyn beamed at him, her eyes bright like sunlight.

“Oh? So we’re speaking casually now?”

“If you don’t like it—”

“No! I like it. It feels like we got closer!”

Being able to speak comfortably with the “hero” made Lyn smile, recalling memories only she knew.

Kaidan, who didn’t know any of that, felt his sharp gaze soften as he watched her smile.

Then, suddenly, she asked:

“Then you’ll be my partner too, right?”

“Uh… well…”

Kaidan hesitated—very unlike him.

Lyn fidgeted, her snowflake-like hands twisting together, and asked gloomily:

“Is it because I’m a mutated beastkin? My hair’s weird and all…”

“What? What are you talking about? It’s opal-colored.”

“Huh?”

“Opal. You don’t know the gemstone?”

Before he realized it, Kaidan was describing in detail how opals shimmered and scattered light in different colors.

Thinking he was simply explaining objective facts, he spoke so enthusiastically that Lyn’s cheeks turned rosy.

“Thanks… No one’s ever said anything like that to me before.”

“!”

He accidentally thought that her shy little smile was… kind of cute.

Why am I thinking something so pointless?

Startled at himself, Kaidan cleared his throat and spoke again.

“Anyway, what I mean is… if you become my partner, rumors might spread about you.”

“You can just call me Lyn! And what rumors?”

“…I’m the child of exiled parents. They say curses can spread, or something like that.”

“What? If we’re going by that, then there are rumors that I bring misfortune too!”

“That’s irrational nonsense.”

“Right?! I think so too!”

Lyn flashed another bright smile.

“So partnering with you has nothing to do with any rumors!”

Clack.

A small hand—like a leaf covered in snow—reached toward him.

“If you want to, Kaidan… will you be my partner?”

“……”

His throat felt strangely tight. Instead of answering, Kaidan took her offered hand.

The warmth that spread into his palm seeped strangely deep into him.

He, who was used to winter, didn’t quite know what to do with the unfamiliar warmth.

Then Lyn’s next words pulled him sharply back from that fog.

“And you know… if there’s someone at the party you want to meet, I’ll help you find them.”

“!”

Kaidan’s red eyes widened like a startled cat’s.

“Don’t worry. I’m on your side.”

Even though she said that until the end, the hero still seemed suspicious.

Not knowing she had just lowered and raised that “wall of distrust” of his more than once, Lyn hugged the stuffed companion in her arms and murmured,

“It’s okay! He grew up in an environment where he couldn’t trust anyone.”

[What’s so special about that brat that you’re fussing over him?]

“Mm… he’s someone who will help our family.”

Lyn chose her words carefully.

This much she could say without fainting from backlash.

Having tested her “foresight” ability many times alone, she now had a sense of how much she could safely reveal.

Caligo raised an eyebrow skeptically. Lyn crossed her arms proudly.

“So it’s like that. Even with my friend, I can’t say everything I know, Caligo.”

[Hah! As if I care about your silly secrets. Why would I bother?]

But he clearly was bothered. Lyn patted her doll’s back soothingly.

“I can’t explain everything, but I can tell you the important part.”

[Fine. If you insist, I’ll listen.]

“He’s someone I absolutely have to help.”

[No idea why that brat deserves that, but… that’s your decision, right?]

“Yep! I really want to help him!”

[Got it. I’ll remember that.]

Grumbling but giving in—as always—Caligo clicked his tongue.

Feeling grateful for a friend who always complained but always yielded in the end, Lyn hugged him tight.

[H-hey! You’re squashing my stuffing!]

“Oh—don’t talk now. I’m about to meet Julien.”

Before her words even finished, Caligo’s mouth snapped shut.

He returned instantly to his normal stuffed-doll expression, and Lyn adjusted him in her arms before hurrying along.

As she trotted down the hall, she remembered what she’d told her uncle before.

A beastkin child’s first ability-awakening celebration was supposed to be even more important than a first birthday—huge and extravagant.

Shocked, she’d gone running to Uncle Theo.

“Uncle! My party doesn’t have to be huge! Don’t spend too much money or overdo it!”

“…Hmm?”

“I mean it! It’s okay if my ability-awakening party is small!”

“What are you talking about, Lyn? It’s your first official celebration. Of course the family must use all our resources to make it grand.”