The Butterfly That Swallowed the Fog
The man opposite him kept his face hidden by bowing his head low, and with forced effort he shoved a spoonful of ice cream into his mouth.
'What the hell is this? Why bother eating it?'
It was too sweet. For someone who had hated all sweets since childhood, the sugar content was overwhelming.
Yet Elex still covered his furrowed brows with his hand, and finally pushed it all into his mouth.
Taking the sour lump of sugar down with difficulty, Elex slid his gaze sideways.
After sitting there for a long while without a word, Tilia Ambrose had finally begun to eat her ice cream.
Elex pretended not to notice and carefully watched her.
He kept up the pretense of disinterest, but the amount of dessert heaped onto the spoon grew steadily larger.
The pace with which he scooped the ice cream and the rhythm with which he licked his lips grew faster and faster.
'She must be pleased.'
At last, the effort of that ridiculous performance had paid off.
Elex plunged his spoon into the ice cream again and again, and the corner of his mouth lifted in a silent smile.
It was the first time.
He was seeing Tilia receive her reward up close.
Usually he watched from behind her when she ate something sweet. Sometimes from above, or if he was very lucky, from the side.
But no matter how fortunate he was, he could never get close enough to her.
So it was only natural. No matter how hard he tried to restrain himself, his gaze kept drifting that way.
He was seeing her face soften for the very first time, right here, this close.
For a while he kept glancing at her, then he lowered his head with great effort.
He swallowed the half-melted ice cream from his mouth and let it slide down his throat.
Sweet as it was, the taste still numbed his tongue.
Perhaps it was the thick lump of sugar that had gone down his throat. The feeling of his chest growing thick and sticky lingered.
A moment later.
“I’ll have another one.”
Elex confirmed that Tilia’s plate was spotlessly clean as though it had been washed.
He summoned his courage.
“What about you?”
Of course his face remained as practiced, expressionless.
“……”
Tilia, spoon in her rabbit-shaped hands, showed a moment of hesitation.
Now.
“Just order it. You know we came together. It would be ridiculous if I ordered only one.”
When she hesitated, Tilia pulled back with a look of reluctance but was still drawn in.
“……Well. All right, then.”
Exactly as expected, she nodded casually.
Elex asked, expression carefully neutral.
“What would you like? Vanilla?”
“……No. Strawberry.”
“All right.”
Elex answered calmly and, still expressionless, pulled back the curtain and stepped out into the corridor.
His face, as he walked the distance to the order counter, looked not just indifferent but cruel.
Yet at exactly fifteen steps from where Tilia sat.
“……”
Elex’s firm steps halted abruptly. His upper body bent, as if he had collapsed.
The pretense of control had only lasted fifteen steps.
'Strawberry. Are you insane.'
Elex rested his hand on his knee and recalled the face of the girl who had just spoken so casually.
'She really… likes things like me.'
He took a deep breath, cheeks flushing, then straightened his rumpled clothes.
He cleared his throat once and walked straight back to the counter.
He couldn’t make her wait. He was secretly short-tempered.
At the counter the owner greeted him with a smile.
“Oh, you called? We would have come right away…!”
“One strawberry and one vanilla. Ah, add topping to the strawberry.”
“Yes! Of course I’ll prepare it that way!”
The owner rubbed his hands together, lips stretched in a practiced smile, hoping the stern-faced building owner would notice.
“I’ll serve extra topping on the vanilla too! Free of charge! We were closed for hours on your account, and you even covered our monthly rent for months… so of course that’s only fair….”
“Your Highness.”
But the owner’s flattery never finished.
Because the knights who had been searching for him for a long time stormed in, faces grim.
The owner stared at the giant men in silver armor with a startled face.
One of them, the one whose anger was clearest, stepped forward toward Elex.
“We will tolerate no more of this. Now you must leave.”
Elex glanced at the terrifying knight once, then said casually to the ice-cream shop owner.
“Vanilla doesn’t need any topping. Keep it minimal.”
“Your Highness!”
Elex’s eyes flashed coldly at the sudden roar.
“Quiet, Nick.”
“……”
“Just eat the one ice cream and let me drag you away. No more noise.”
Despite the bright glare that could have crushed the knights’ spirits, he added with a smirk, raising only one corner of his mouth as if it were just a joke.
“Stay back from the shop entrance too. What kind of customers will come in if they’re scared?”
He turned back to the owner, expressionless again. As if to say, hurry and bring it.
“Yes! I-I’ll bring it right away!”
The owner, now terrified, cried out in surprise and dashed to the kitchen.
Nick sighed, smoothing his eyebrows at the arrogant attitude of the one he served.
“Your Highness, how long will you keep running away like this, ignoring your duty?”
Since anger didn’t work, he began to act pitiful, and Elex pretended not to notice.
He flipped over the small, cute sign that read “Compliments of the opening!”
***
Elex, now satisfied with his dessert, left neatly.
“Want me to take you home?”
“No need.”
“Really? I only asked because I knew you’d say that.”
It had been nothing more than polite inquiry, and Elex turned and walked away.
Tilia watched the back of Elex as he retreated, then turned herself and headed toward the carriage.
Her arms were full of books, but her heart was light.
Seeing that he had left without asking again, she was sure he had only wanted that ice cream. If not, he would have held her back with the excuse of taking her home late.
She had eaten the ice cream and gotten the books.
She was glad she had accepted his proposal. After all, the price of those books today was nothing to him compared to hers.
'It was a windfall.'
Whoever said it, it had been a good day.
Even the unpleasant feeling of almost running into George faded the moment she remembered the taste of the ice cream.
'It was really delicious.'
Would such places exist in Ontaroa? Once she was earning money, she could treat herself to a little luxury every month or so.
Tilia walked the road as the sun set, imagining the future.
By the time her feet reached the carriage, a hum had already begun drifting from the corner of her mouth.
***
In the dim basement of the Myers count’s estate. A place that had never been revealed to those who were not blood relatives, a faint light still flickered.
“Father, I swear I didn’t do it!”
The dim light could not illuminate the entire dark basement.
But from the vague silhouette alone, one could easily guess how wronged Gregory Myers looked.
“I—I really didn’t do anything that could be called sacrilege. Father knows, I hate calligraphy and don’t even read the textbooks properly! Someone must have framed me….”
“Shut your mouth!”
The count’s face, staring at his son, was ice-cold. The count, shadow draped across his face, looked at the son who had been driven into the corner of despair as if at an insect.
“Yes. I never thought you read that forbidden book.”
“Then—then I’ll appeal to the temple…!”
“But what came out of your room wasn’t a forbidden book—it was a sacrilegious drawing on the Virgin Mary’s image in the Bible!”
The count shouted at Gregory in a fiery voice.
“While we both know our family has lived under the temple’s blessing, how did you even dare to draw such vulgar filth on the body of the Virgin! And get caught!”
“Father, I really didn’t do anything like that! Someone must have framed me…!”
“Shut your mouth!”
Finally, the count could not hold back and swung his fist at his eldest son.
The first time Gregory had ever been hit by his father, he stared at him with tears brimming in his eyes.
Even in that son’s gaze, the count’s eyes burned with fury.
“We barely stopped the title from being stripped by gathering every coin we had. But we lost far too much. The Myers name will never rise to the center again. The temple… will no longer watch our backs.”
“……”
“I regret sending you to the academy even while committing those scandals. You were never meant to receive my investment.”
The count drove the knife deeper into his son’s chest, then stepped over him where he sat slumped on the floor.
“I can hide you until tomorrow. Tomorrow the temple knights will search this place.”
“Ah, Father…!”
“Go in the direction of surrender. That is the only advice I can give you.”
“Father, Father!”
The count cast off his clinging son with contempt and, without hesitation, left the basement hiding place.
Clunk. The sound of the door closing.