~Chapter 57~
“I’ll close the rift now! Please stay back!”
At my words, the two of them stepped back, leaving Carlisle behind.
It had become second nature for me to take out my stick and adjust the mana. As the mixed-up time separated, the distorted things slowly started to return to their original positions.
Carlisle’s figure gradually became more transparent and blurry.
He waved his hand and smiled one last time before completely disappearing. The two of them stared at the spot where Carlisle had vanished for a long time.
‘Hmm, I feel emotional too…’
But now wasn’t the time for that!
‘My diary! If someone finds it, it’s the end of my life!’
I snapped back to my senses and started searching around the clock tower for my diary.
As expected, I found scattered papers. I hurriedly picked them up and handed them to Shiz.
“Shiz, hide these in your skirt.”
“Ugh, okay…”
Shiz took the papers with a serious expression, as if on a secret mission. After I was sure she had hidden everything, I finally started to breathe more easily.
‘Alright, I got it all before anyone noticed.’
I returned to my spot, pretending nothing had happened. Felix seemed to have calmed down and greeted me with his usual neutral expression.
“The rift… is it solved?”
“Yes, it seems so.”
An awkward silence lingered between Felix and me.
While standing there feeling awkward, my mind wandered to my mansion.
‘Oh, right. I wonder if it’s been properly restored. Nothing should be missing, right?’
I glanced around cautiously. Lana, with her eyes still a little red, gave me a respectful nod. I quickly returned the gesture.
In the meantime, it seemed Felix had explained things to her, and she understood that I had delayed the goodbye for a bit.
“You gave us time, didn’t you? Thank you for bringing Felix along. I appreciate your thoughtfulness.”
“Oh, it wasn’t a difficult thing to do…”
“Still, I’m grateful.”
I scratched my head awkwardly.
The mages would soon arrive to handle things, and the area would get crowded.
Meanwhile, Shiz had wandered over to Felix and was starting a conversation with him.
“Hey, Uncle. It’s okay. I don’t have a dad, but I’m growing up just fine.”
“…Wait, are you trying to comfort me?”
“Yeah!”
This little one knows how to comfort grown-ups too.
“You’re a good kid.”
“Of course! I’m a good kid!”
Felix smiled awkwardly as he looked at Shiz, smiling at him just like his father used to.
“Thanks, little one. If there’s ever a time when you need a dad, just let me know. I’ll play with you anytime.”
Felix said something, but I couldn’t quite hear it. It was probably just a brief farewell.
Having wrapped up the conversation, I was about to check if the mansion had returned to normal when, suddenly, someone grabbed my hand.
It was Lana.
“Why? What’s going on?”
“I’m about to go for dinner. Would you like to join me, if you’re not busy?”
“Huh?”
I looked at Felix, surprised, but for some reason, he didn’t seem to mind.
“I owe you for letting me stay at your mansion, so I should treat you.”
Just then, there was a loud rumbling sound from Shiz’s stomach. Lana playfully tapped Shiz’s nose with her finger and smiled.
“Looks like this little lady is hungry too.”
“Ah, oops…”
Shiz’s cheeks turned red.
It only then occurred to me that neither Shiz nor I had eaten dinner yet. Right, Philippa had been cooking when the rift appeared…
“Um, is it okay…?”
Lana smiled and assured me it was, and Felix didn’t object either.
Both of them agreed, so I reluctantly nodded.
***
Later:
‘If I’d known this was going to happen, I wouldn’t have come.’
I thought we were going to a restaurant, but instead, Lana led me to none other than the Guifero Investigator’s house.
Lana gazed around the house with a look full of longing.
“I’m finally home… here.”
Lana looked at me with watery eyes.
“Thanks to you, Relshiz, I could gather the courage. I’m so grateful.”
“Oh, it’s nothing. I didn’t do anything…”
I stood awkwardly with Shiz, but Lana gently led me to a seat.
“I never thought I’d end up at a crazy investigator’s house in my life. Hahaha…”
“Ugh, I’m really sorry!”
And there was even more unexpected company.
Oscul Guifero, who had mistaken Shiz for Felix’s daughter and caused all this trouble, immediately bowed his head and apologized as soon as he saw me.
“Ah, oh, no need to apologize so much, it’s all cleared up now…”
“Still, from my perspective, the situation was easy to misunderstand! Let me explain.”
Before I could even speak, Oscul continued.
“He never had a girlfriend, and then he was in a cozy café with this cute little kid calling him ‘dad!’ I’m the kind of person who believes if a kid says ‘dad,’ they can only be the child of the person they’re calling.”
Oscul was incredibly talkative. He talked almost as much as Shiz, or maybe even more.
“This kid caused a huge problem! And, honestly, I don’t think my mother would ever come to the capital unless something big like this happened… To be honest, I kind of used the mage to help out. Yes. Sorry about that.”
“Ah…”
“In that case, I’ll treat you to something big! Just give me your address, and I’ll send you some fine alcohol!”
“That’s… okay…”
“Come on, don’t refuse.”
I finally nodded reluctantly.
Felix’s older brother, who was five years older than him, mentioned that he ran a large distillery.
I ended up hearing all about Oscul and his wife’s romance, his experiences raising his son, and the struggles of the alcohol business in just half an hour at the dinner table.
It was honestly embarrassing, but I couldn’t help thinking he talked about everything under the sun.
“Stop talking already. I can hear you all the way in the kitchen.”
At that moment, Felix, looking annoyed, set down his plate and glared at his brother. A steaming steak was placed in front of Shiz.
It was hard to believe, but Felix had ‘cooked’ the dinner himself.
From the looks of it, I didn’t think he could even make soup, but the dishes he brought out looked surprisingly good.
“Better than Mom’s cooking.”
“Shut up.”
“Eek.”
I couldn’t help but feel a little defeated by Shiz’s comment as I looked at the food.
But no matter how much I checked, I couldn’t find anything wrong with the food. After taking a bite, my humiliation grew.
‘I thought it would just look good, but it actually tastes great!’
I was used to eating takeout, but sitting down to a home-cooked meal made me not want to stop eating.
“Hmm, it’s really good.”
Felix didn’t show it, but he had a proud look on his face as he added more food to Shiz’s and my plates.
Shiz was right. Cooking was my defeat.
This wild animal of a man was more delicate than me, and I felt a little gloomy about it.
“Hahaha, this guy is good at cooking because he’s been living alone. It’s surprising, right?”
“Yeah, really…”
“Shut up and eat!”
Finally, Felix couldn’t hold back and stuffed a spoonful of mashed potatoes into Oscul’s mouth. He almost choked.
“Ugh, ugh!”
“What? It’s good, huh? Yeah, yeah, thank you.”
The two brothers kept playfully fighting with food, while Lana sighed and shook her head.
From the way she didn’t stop them, I guessed they had been doing this since they were kids.
Still, watching them made me feel strangely at ease. Despite all the sad events, it felt like a warm family.
‘I used to dream of having a family like this.’
A family where you fight a little, make up, and then sit down to dinner and talk together.
I felt a strange sense of envy, and while poking at my food, a young voice suddenly interrupted.
