Chapter 58
“Tia!”
From afar, hair like sunlight streaming behind her, running as if in a movie scene, the person was the empire’s greatest beauty—
“Adele!”
“It’s been ages!”
Her mouth was set in that sad, charming smile—no, it was Adele.
And behind her, easily keeping pace by taking long strides, was my favorite, my sweet and zesty Vita—
“Tia! How have you been?”
Min? Is that what you say?
“Kil—huh? Killian? Right?”
A little startled, I leaned in and Adele whispered.
“He went through his voice change. While he was down at his estate his voice changed all gross. At first I thought it was just a hoarseness. Ugh. Makes me wanna puke.”
“Gross? What are you saying, Adele. It’s not gross — I’m just a little surprised! Keep that puke in. Swallow it, hurry!”
How Adele ended up like this can be a story for later!
Right now it was time to calm Killian, who was only watching awkwardly. I tapped his back lightly so it wouldn’t hurt.
“Wow! Killian!!! You grew so much? My neck is starting to hurt from looking up.”
I craned my neck staring at Killian. Adele giggled at how cute it was.
What on earth happened in just three months?
I remember he still had a bit of a boyish look before we went down to the estate.
Our Killian — he’s a man now, a real man.
That low voice, the sudden taller height and broader shoulders… maybe from the war, he’s somehow sharper and more dangerous, but also exuding sexiness.
He’s the perfect icon of a dramatic transformation.
If he grows a little more like this, he’ll be exactly the Killian from the original story.
The thought made my nose tingle with emotion. I haven’t felt this in a while.
A slow trickle.
“Tia! My nose is bleeding! It hasn’t bled in a while! Did you not sleep last night? Your skin is glowing. So weird. Why me?”
“Adele! Stop that and move aside. Tia, tilt your head. Here, use the handkerchief to stop it.”
Ugh, how embarrassing.
What a public humiliation.
Still, I was just happy to be with friends.
Back at Achilles, Jerron was busy preparing to receive a VIP.
At Achilles the term VIP referred to someone who came up most frequently in the intel they collected; Noten Märchen was one of the figures their master Achilles — that is, Celestia — most watched, so he had long been designated a VIP.
Celestia had been down at the estate for a while because of the war, so things had been lax; now such a sudden VIP arrival…
Jerron decided to use this chance to do his best to get information out of Noten.
“Start with the hair color.”
Jerron changed his hair color and used disguise clay to add dimension to his nose and cheekbones.
Celestia had told him never to get his face identified, so he paid extra attention.
When he used a brush pen to draw freckles and a beauty mark, the door of Achilles opened.
“Welcome!”
To any outsider it would look like just a lively pub, so he greeted cheerfully; but Jerron recognized Noten the instant he entered.
His face gave off an odd sense of déjà vu and strange familiarity.
‘Well, he’s a VIP.’
Jerron kept his eyes on Noten. Noten didn’t hesitate; he approached the counter and spoke to Jerron.
“They say the wind sets the sail.”
“Today the wind does not blow.”
“I’ve heard a storm is coming.”
“Then you’ll need a big sail.”
After exchanging that riddle-like code, Jerron led Noten into the guild’s inner, secret space.
“Pleased to meet you, Duke Märchen. I’m the master of Achilles, Gun.”
“Have we met before?”
At the fresh question, Jerron snorted and answered.
“I’m everywhere and nowhere.”
Noten sighed and nodded. He looked tired, but not desperate.
“What did you come to Achilles for?”
“Find someone for me.”
“Hmm…”
Jerron leaned back into the sofa. He wasn’t going to play along until the man spilled whatever he knew. He’d learned from Celestia that playing coy was important — and her judgment had always been right.
Seeing Jerron stay quiet, Noten spoke first.
“Whether they’re alive. If alive, where they are and what they’re doing now. Just find that out.”
“If it’s only that, it could be done by someone other than us.”
Even as he spoke calmly, Noten made Jerron want to squeeze his throat.
So Jerron backed off and asked why Noten wanted to entrust the job to them.
Noten, having washed his face briefly, swallowed thickly and said,
“This is the only place I can trust.”
“Hmm…”
Again Noten spat a slow breath, then, as if deciding something, raised and lowered his eyebrows and continued.
“Fourteen years ago, I’m looking for the child born to Olivia Alberto, who is now the Empress. It was a child born from me. I heard she became Empress without even having time to recover.”
Jerron felt a ripple of agitation while trying to keep his cool.
Such an enormous matter! Of all the info he’d handled, this was historic.
Especially anything inside the imperial family was top secret: what Jerron knew so far was that the Emperor was wildly doting on his daughter, the Empress had been bedridden for years, and that Crown Princess Tia was Achilles’ master.
He felt a thrilling chill imagining Celestia’s reaction to this.
“Are you sure the child is alive?”
“That’s what I want to know. Until now I had thought it was stillborn….”
“That would be extremely dangerous.”
“Money is no object.”
“Finding the trace of someone nobody knows about could take a long time.”
“I can wait as long as it takes.”
Is paternal love really this desperate?
Jerron pushed that thought aside, nodded, and wrote a staggering sum on paper.
“We’ll start once we get an advance payment.”
“Please take care of it.”
Without hesitation, Duke Märchen took out a check and paid an enormous amount, then rose without regret.
After finishing our meal of pies baked with plenty of orange marmalade, we stayed at the table planning a belated summer vacation.
“So when works for you? Two weeks? Or next month? But wouldn’t it be too cold then?”
“I’m good with anything. Cold, hot — as long as I’m with you, Tia. Killian, how about you?”
Killian, hesitant, spoke carefully. His uncertain voice made me nervous.
“I… um… I can’t confirm because of postwar duties. I might have to go back down to my estate soon.”
“Really? Not even a week? If a week is hard, five days. If that’s impossible then three days.”
Including the three days in the carriage, a total of a week — that’s generous. Honestly, in three days we could plant an orange tree one day, go swimming one day, and bury a time capsule the last day….
But Killian was more stubborn than expected.
“I’m really sorry, Tia. Why don’t you two pick the dates first and I’ll join on the days I can?”
“Boo.”
I felt a little hurt.
Every summer going together to Dearc was our trio’s tradition and like our identity.
And now there weren’t many chances left….
In the original story, the time when it was revealed I wasn’t my father’s daughter was drawing near.
Adele watched me closely.
“Hey, if you remove one dot from a triangle is it still a triangle? That’s why you can’t. This guy really doesn’t get it.”
Adele tapped Killian’s shoulder and propped her chin on her hands, fluttering her lashes at me.
“Tia, don’t be like that — let’s go just the two of us. No need to bring a guy like that. He’ll only smell like sweat. Let’s go light and free, the two of us, have a girly pink pajama party like before.”
How about it? How about it?
A memory I’d tucked away for a while surfaced at Adele’s words.
The night Adele was barred from entering the palace and came crying — two seven-year-old girls who found happiness in a single cup of hot chocolate. Back then we were so sad Killian wasn’t there….
Lost in thought, it was Killian who called my name.
“Tia? Pajama party?”
“You don’t need to know, idiot.”
“Shh! Adele! Your mouth!”
“Sorry. We saw so many monsters during training…maybe I caught something?”
Adele awkwardly scratched her head.
Oh, my Adele. We’re so lucky Killian’s here. Otherwise her scary mouth might have ruined her marriage prospects.
“That’s not it, Adele. Monsters don’t talk, right? Stop saying bad stuff or I’ll tell the marquis. Killian, remember when you two fought so badly you were banned from entering? Wasn’t it about four days later? The Marquis Luwendif brought Adele home bawling….”
As we talked, that memory bubbled up soft and warm like tofu.
The moments when my favorite and second-favorite became my friends. Seasons when secrets disappeared and trust grew.
The inevitable goodbye I would one day face began to feel vaguely heavy during these shared times. As if sadness had no place in my life.
