CHAPTER 80……………………
Everett couldn’t stop recalling the day when Kyle had given her a brief, fleeting kiss.
His low, deep voice.
Though the moment was light and short, like a wisp of down, thinking about it made her face tingle.
Perhaps for that reason, she found herself repeatedly drawn to Kyle’s lips without realizing it.
“Everett, are you tired?”
“Huh? No, I slept enough during the day.”
“Then why do you look like this?”
Kyle looked at her with concern and gently cupped one of her cheeks.
Their gazes collided, burning in the space between them.
Even just making eye contact made Everett’s mouth dry.
In her mind, she kept shouting:
This isn’t right. Stop here.
Yet when Kyle lifted his other hand to hold her cheek, Everett couldn’t move.
His green eyes shimmered like waves, and she felt herself being drawn into them.
Her tense shoulders slowly relaxed downward.
It’s because I’m still sick. I still have a fever…
When she closed her eyes lightly, Kyle’s trembling breath washed over her face like heat.
The moment his lips, soft as cream, touched hers, she caught the faint, refreshing scent of grass at her nose.
Time seemed to stretch endlessly.
Her face, cradled in Kyle’s hands, tightened slightly.
Kyle, staring intently into her dark eyes, spoke:
“Everett, stay like this, right here in front of me. Don’t go anywhere.”
Everett smiled softly at Kyle, whose face was now redder than hers.
“I can’t go anywhere until I receive my territory.”
Kyle, smiling as if she were adorable, pressed a quick, playful kiss to her lips and said:
“I should go now. If I stay any longer, I might never want to leave.”
“Are you going to the palace?”
“Yeah. You came looking for me before the banquet, and I left without saying anything.”
“Would that make you angry?”
Everett asked with concern.
“Alf hasn’t said anything, so I don’t think so.”
Kyle extended his arm to escort her.
“No need to worry. My real purpose at the palace is to find the other blueprints in the secret passage.”
“Whatever… please be careful, Kyle.”
“Hey, Everett. I was curious… did something happen with Yan? No, never mind. Forget I asked.”
He had wanted to ask so many times—how she had become close to Yankeller, how close they were that he could visit her home freely.
But he worried it might seem petty, so he refrained.
Reading his unasked question in her mind, Everett looked at him.
“Are you curious about how I met Yankeller?”
Her playful smile was so endearing that his jealousy vanished instantly.
“We met in front of the temple once, and then by chance in the library afterward.”
“Did Yan know you could speak?”
“Not at first, but he came to the tarot shop at a friend’s request. I called him Yan then, so he found out. That’s also how he knows I’m Naz.”
Hearing the word “friend,” Kyle recalled the favor he had asked of her.
“So that’s how it happened. Does he visit often?”
“Not at all. Today he came just to visit. Oh, my tarot cards were burned in the fire. He said he’d remake them for me.”
“Cards?”
“Yes. I didn’t know, but the cards I had used before were originally made by Yankeller. Amazing, right?”
Listening to Everett’s excitement, Kyle pressed his lips together.
Yankeller’s unfamiliar gaze at her… it was a look he had never seen on the pure Yan who only wanted magic.
In a way, Kyle realized he had inadvertently given Yankeller an opportunity.
His thoughts grew complicated.
Somehow, he felt that things with Yankeller could never go back to the way they were before.
As Kyle moved away from the mansion, Yankeller appeared again.
“Everett.”
Startled, Everett turned around just as she was entering the mansion.
“Oh! Yankeller! You’re not gone? Have you… been here all along?”
“I came to give you a gift today. But Kyle came, and I lost my chance.”
“A gift?”
Yankeller looked toward the mansion.
“Shall we go inside to talk? It’s something you really need.”
Yankeller was always gentlemanly and gentle.
At first, she had felt more at ease with him than with Kyle, but over time, his inscrutable nature had become unsettling.
She didn’t feel comfortable being alone with him, but she couldn’t outright tell him to leave.
Yet Yankeller, whether aware of her feelings or not, didn’t bring up the gift right away.
“The tea is really good. Everett, could I have one more cup?”
Yankeller was thirsty.
Throughout the journey from the temple and while waiting for Kyle to leave, he had made countless resolutions.
Yet now, when the opportunity arrived, taking action was not so easy.
“Yankeller… what did you want to say?”
Everett asked, and Yankeller, resolute, set down his teacup.
He carefully placed the item he had brought into the table in front of her.
“What is this?”
“It’s my gift to you. Open it.”
Everett’s eyes widened as she untied the cloth.
It was something she could not possibly mistake.
“Yankeller, isn’t this an Arcana?”
Though there was no one else to hear, she whispered.
Yankeller chuckled softly.
“Yes, it’s an Arcana.”
“But the saint uses this. Did you steal it?”
Yankeller slowly shook his head.
“The one the saint has is fake.”
“Excuse me? Fake?”
“Yes, a fake Arcana I made and swapped long ago.”
He pushed the Arcana toward Everett.
“And this one is the real Arcana.”
Everett’s eyes widened in surprise.
“Yankeller, if this is the real Arcana… shouldn’t it be in the temple?”
Yankeller, who had looked serious, suddenly burst out laughing.
“Just kidding. There’s no way this is the real one.”
Everett exhaled in relief.
“Everett, were you that startled?”
“Very startled. Anyone would believe it if you said it with that face.”
“I guess I acted the part too well.”
He had expected her to be delighted, to hold his hand or hug him tightly and thank him.
But Everett’s reaction was not what he had imagined.
Her startled expression made him nervous. What if she refused it because it was too real?
“Did you make this, Yankeller?”
“Yes. The tarot cards you used before were my first attempt, and this one is my improved work.”
“So that’s why the last card didn’t have a picture. Have you ever seen the Arcana yourself?”
Because the Arcana officially disappeared long ago, he had to answer carefully.
“There are many ancient texts in the temple. They have descriptions of the Arcana. And…”
Yankeller leaned toward her.
“Only the High Priest can see the Arcana.”
“So it hasn’t disappeared…”
“Yes, it’s kept secret.”
Everett’s curiosity made a smile return to Yankeller’s lips.
“Magic can make perfect replicas easily enough.”
“Amazing, Yankeller.”
His life had been simple.
The temple he entered as a child had felt like a prison.
His joys were few: wandering the outskirts and meeting Kyle, secretly studying magic.
Though frustrating at times, he had accepted his fate obediently.
But after losing the thing most precious to the High Priest, he earned a new nickname:
The Angel with Two Faces, Yankeller.
A wall he built to protect himself from ever losing something precious again.
Where magic once filled that space, Everett now resided, and he did not want to let her go.
So Yankeller decided to give the Arcana, long hidden, to the precious Everett.
A clumsy expression of immature love.
On his masked face, a desperate, sincere smile bloomed.
“Everett, this gift is basically my heart.”
“Huh?”
Everett’s eyes widened as she looked at him.
“I don’t know how close you are to Kyle, but I don’t think it’s been long.”
Yankeller’s voice was lower and firmer than usual.
To Everett, it seemed as if he were mimicking Kyle.
“Everett, I’ve always been watching you.”
Yankeller’s second confession.
The previous cloth with the family crest had been ignored, but this… she didn’t know how to react.
His silent smile toward her seemed unbearably sad.
“I’m not asking you to look at me right now. I just… want you to be aware of me, even a little, from now on.”
Yankeller gently held one of her hands resting on the table.
“When I hold your hand like this, I hope your heart beats like mine does.”
“Yankeller…”
“Just… don’t forget that I’m here by your side.”
Everett felt her chest tighten.
How had it come to this?
Seeing her sigh lightly, Yankeller stood up suddenly.
“You’ll reopen the tarot shop, right? I’ll book the first consultation using the Arcana in advance.”
Everett gave a faint smile.
“Of course. You gave me the cards, so naturally you’re my first client.”
“You should rest, but I feel like I’ve taken too much of your time. Are you tired? I’ll go now.”
Yankeller paused at the entrance and turned to her.
“Everett, I’ve changed my mind.”
