The Butterfly That Swallowed the Fog
The mocking responses left no room for doubt.
I couldn’t do it.
Only then did Tilia’s mood sour as she finally understood her true abilities.
When she thought back, she had studied diligently every vacation, but she had rarely spoken aloud in that way. Today had been the very first time she had the chance to converse with someone of native-level skill.
There had been few opportunities for conversation, yet she had memorized every example from the textbook. Surely it would be fine, wouldn’t it?
She had been wrong in every way.
Tilia’s face grew steadily gloomier as her dream of landing a job slipped ten steps further away.
[No. You’re doing fine.]
Seeing the heavy expression on Tilia’s face, Elex barely managed to hold back his laughter before offering comfort.
[Your pronunciation is flawless, and your sentences are perfect. Your conversation… doesn’t look entirely unfamiliar.]
It wasn’t comfort at all. If it had been, he wouldn’t have brought a hand to his mouth to suppress the laughter he was barely holding back.
The drooping corners of Tilia’s eyes snapped upward again, sharp as ever.
Where was he mocking her now? Who was he laughing at?
Humiliated, Tilia turned her back on him at once. She had no time for this. She needed to find a proper textbook and fix her problems quickly.
Yet before she could whirl around and leave, Elex’s voice caught her footsteps.
[Shall I help you?]
His flawless accent stopped Tilia’s steps dead.
She turned her body halfway back, shooting him a glare that said Don’t mess with me.
[It’s not free. In return, just look at one thing for me.]
Responding to her stare, Elex quickly added his conditions.
[I made that promise before. I just want you to make one exception to the vow that I’d live celibate for life if I lied.]
Elex gave her a slightly awkward look, watching her reaction closely.
[When I think about it, I never mentioned it to anyone else.]
“What?”
Even though she was sensitive, the native word slipped out before she realized it.
“Why tell me that now? Who did you tell?”
Tilia demanded sharply, and Elex answered in a low tone.
“My manservant.”
He shrugged as if that explained everything.
“The manservant would have to know. Otherwise how would he even bring the medicine?”
“……”
In truth she had never once thought of the manservant.
After all, it was only natural. She had assumed he had fetched the contraceptive pill alone and taken care of everything afterward.
So why was he bringing up the servant now?
Looking at him suspiciously, Tilia felt the corner of his mouth lift in a request, almost as if he were asking for her favor.
[Just look at it.]
Then, as though it were truly the most important issue, he added quietly.
[How to live a lifetime as a eunuch.]
***
Tilia accepted the desperate plea of a man who did not want to become a eunuch.
Honestly, she could have refused.
But what could she do? He had already spoken, so the matter was settled.
After all, the servant was out of the question anyway.
“Fine. Now get out.”
Tilia turned her back on him and left the used-bookstore.
Yet the encounter she had thought was truly over was far from finished.
Tap-tap-tap. Tilia walked along the sidewalk warmed by sunlight and suddenly stopped.
Footsteps behind her followed suit.
“……”
She turned her head slightly to glance behind her, let out a small sigh, and kept walking.
This time no footsteps followed.
But a moment later the same presence was felt at her back again.
Ah, really.
Tilia’s rising irritation showed in her expression as she whirled around to look back.
Spotting that he had been caught, Elex could have at least pretended to avoid her eyes, but instead he looked her straight in the face with perfect composure.
The calm in his eyes only heightened Tilia’s nerves. She shot him a frigid glare.
“Why are you following me?”
Yet he gave no reply. He simply shrugged and glanced sideways at the massive building beside them.
The very first department store in Arcanis, the one the Davenport family had invested in.
At that gesture, the conversation he had had in front of the new library construction site flashed through her mind.
[This academy land isn’t yours, is it? Then why do you act as if only you can use it?]
Recalling those words from when she was only eleven, Tilia made a displeased face.
With the intention of asking if this road was hers too, she simply turned and walked away.
[Ignore him. Ignore him. Ignore him…]
But no matter how much she muttered, patience ran out before she had even passed an entire block.
Unable to hold back her irritation any longer, Tilia turned again at the sound of approaching footsteps.
“Elex Davenport.”
“I have nowhere to go.”
But before Tilia could even get angry, Elex cut her off.
“I was kicked out of the house.”
Toward the pitiful way he spoke, she lifted one corner of her mouth in sympathy.
“So?”
What was she supposed to do?
Even with her cold reaction, Elex did not falter. He kept his eyes on Tilia.
“So I just wanted to follow you around a little.”
“Why would I let you follow me?”
Tilia gave a short laugh and crossed her arms.
“Go chase after the women who are tied to you. There are plenty who’ll give you their beds the moment you show up.”
“Really?”
“Yes. I’ll bet on it.”
Mocking him, Tilia’s words drew a lazy smile from Elex’s distinctive face.
“Hmm. I don’t think I’d get a bed from you, though.”
His gaze swept lightly over her body before rising again.
[The women I’m tied to don’t all like me, you know.]
Hearing that direct shot at herself, Tilia finally understood.
When she was truly angry, the nape of her neck felt hot.
[I’ll hold it in, Tilia.]
She barely managed to restrain herself.
After countless reminders that killing would prevent crossing borders, she finally turned her back and took one step forward.
Elex, now without hesitation, strode up beside her and said.
“Where shall we go?”
……We?
For a moment her mind flashed to being in prison and vanished.
But she steeled her heart, gritted her teeth, and walked quickly ahead.
[I will never look back.]
If she ignored him, the shameless fool would leave soon enough.
Yet he shattered her resolve in an instant.
“By the old district bridge, at the new bookstore, right?”
……How did he know?
Spotting the bookstore was already an achievement, but pinpointing the exact one she had intended to visit made her eyes narrow for a split second.
She soon erased the expression and continued walking, only the goal in mind.
Walking beside her, Elex’s long legs swinging easily as he muttered in flawless Ontaroan.
[I went to the used-bookstore to find Ontaroan books, but I didn’t buy anything there, so the book I was looking for wasn’t there.]
His skill in a foreign language spoken by his mother was terrifyingly fluent and smooth.
[If I’m looking for a book not even in a mid-sized used bookstore, I’d go to the largest, most up-to-date one. Ah, no. My premise was wrong.]
Elex followed Tilia without effort, easily keeping up as she tried to shake him off, and continued.
[The book I was looking for had actually changed. I found my own problem.]
Insightful people were the bane of existence. And far more so when the person was a member of society’s upper class.
She gave up trying to shake him and slowed her pace. Elex matched her stride and glanced sideways at her.
[I’ll help you. I agreed to that earlier.]
At the moment he spoke those words, Tilia understood.
The reason he had brought up the manservant was not to show his help, but to establish the excuse from the very beginning.
“Hey.”
Tilia’s face hardened at the realization of his calculated move, far more than before.
“What are you doing?”
Tilia’s eyes, fixed on Elex, now held enmity beyond anger.
She let her body convey that she would no longer tolerate him.
“You go your way. I’ll go mine. We weren’t going to do that?”
Recalling the old promise, Elex’s ever-relaxed expression changed.
Staring at the woman openly showing displeasure, Elex gave a faint chuckle.
Chuckling?
“Tilia.”
Looking at the woman wrapped in hostility, Elex spoke in his lowest voice.
[Do you think I like you?]
“……”
[I have no interest in you. Just like you have none in me.]
Elex stuffed both hands into his wrinkle-free slacks pockets and went on.
[That’s why I want to follow you. Unlike those women who tie themselves to me, I have no interest in you.]
Was it because he had openly revealed his indifference? The oppressive feeling made Tilia’s toes curl.
[Unlike those women, you won’t bother me, right? So……]
His bored, weary gaze swept over her indifferently.
[So use me as you please. You want to learn Ontaroan properly, don’t you?]
Smiling with empty eyes, he added quietly.
[I just want to forget my boredom for a while, that’s all.]