When Ian turned to answer her, Thesaya had already turned and started walking. The bodyguards standing on either side of the chair naturally followed behind her.
It was right after that Thesaya stopped. Turning only her head slightly to look back at them, she said, "You don’t need to follow."
"But…" the guard who had reflexively replied hesitated. Thesaya’s eyes twitched slightly.
She didn’t display the cold killing intent or anger she had toward Diana. She rely held up Ian’s certificate, still clutched in her left hand, and gave it a slight flick.
"You should know who this man is. And if the rumors are true, where he might have just returned from. So step back quietly. Don’t act arrogant."
"Yes."
The bodyguards bowed their heads.
With a click of her tongue, Thesaya’s gaze returned to Ian, who had been watching. "Let’s go."
Once again, she didn’t wait for Ian’s reply and imdiately started walking. She rely tapped the long cigarette holder between her lips.
This doesn’t all seem to be an act.
Ian followed without protest, glancing once at Diana’s retreating figure as she walked away with Daniel. He recalled the look in Thesaya’s eyes as she glared at her. At least that, he was sure, had not been faked.
Her peaceful retirent might have just gone up in smoke.
Smacking his lips briefly, Ian looked forward again. Thesaya, walking ahead, was passing by the blond fairy who had been waiting at the edge of the garden.
"Escort him," said Thesaya.
At her single command, the blond fairy imdiately nodded and turned to look at the approaching Ian. She curtsied politely and then turned in the sa direction as if to guide the way.
I can clearly see her back anyway, so what’s the point?
Despite the thought, Ian stepped into the forest after her. Thesaya, leaving a trail of cigarette smoke like a tail, moved forward without once looking around or glancing back.
Rustle— Crunch—
She wasn’t even walking along the path. The well-manicured undergrowth and grass were trampled carelessly under her bare feet. She swatted away plants that caught on her skirt and flicked the ash from her cigarette without a care.
She’s a regular outlaw.
Keeping his eyes fixed on her commanding back, Ian let out a faint chuckle. Of course, he was likely the only one enjoying this situation.
The blond fairy, walking right in front of him, was staring at Thesaya with a slight frown. She didn't seem to consider the fact that she and Ian were also trampling through the forest, though, to be fair, they were following Thesaya.
Thump, crunch—
But in any case, they were exiting the forest at a speed incomparable to circling along the path. The mansion’s hallway was already visible beyond the branches.
"L-Lady!"
The fairies who spotted Thesaya striding out of the forest froze as if they had encountered a tiger and bowed their heads. Of course, Thesaya didn’t even glance at them.
"Move."
She simply passed them without stopping, heading straight for the staircase cut into the inner wall.
Even as she did so, she swung her right arm, flicking the nearly burned-out butt of her cigarette onto the hallway floor.
The blond fairy who had exited the forest with Ian let out a sigh and scurried ahead. She picked up the cigarette butt from the ground and turned naturally toward the stairs, as if she’d done it a hundred tis before.
So she’s the professional cleaner-upper.
Chuckling once more, Ian also set foot on the stairs. Thesaya, climbing ahead, of course, did not wait for him. By the ti Ian stepped onto the stairs leading to the third floor, she had already disappeared down the hallway. Not that it was a problem.
The attendant fairy, holding the cigarette butt, was still guiding him from the front. Only after entering the third-floor hallway did she stride ahead.
This place certainly isn’t small.
Ian followed behind her at a relatively leisurely pace, taking his ti to look at the waist-high railing, the Forest of Erenos stretching out beyond it, and the wooden doors that lined the opposite wall.
So she really is the new head of the house, huh?
Ian curled one corner of his mouth and looked forward again.
The attendant fairy was waiting for him at the end of the hallway, in front of a slightly open door, looking back at him. It was the very last room, set a little deeper in a corner that bent at a right angle.
Only when Ian drew near, she opened the door wide with one hand and said, "The Agent of the Saint has arrived."
So she can talk, thinking, Ian stood before the open door.
The interior ca into view.
It was a fairly spacious room with a long, comfortable-looking sofa against the left wall and a wide bed against the right. A round table sat in the center, upon which a plate piled with fruits, including figs and grapes, a pewter liquor bottle, and two goblets were arranged, likely prepared by the attendant fairy.
"Co in," said Thesaya, standing with her back to a small window that looked out over the courtyard wall.
She had placed the certificate and the cigarette holder on one side of the round table and was touching the back of her neck with both hands, as if to take off her necklace.
"Excuse ." At last, Ian stepped into the room.
As the attendant fairy naturally followed him in and closed the door, Thesaya, who had dropped the Elixir of Life onto the table with a clatter, said, "Leave us, Phoebe."
Then she pulled out a chair and placed her left foot on it, adding, "Don't let anyone co near for a while."
"No one at all?" The attendant fairy, Phoebe, frowned slightly.
Ian, who had stopped in the middle of the room, glanced back.
Just as he thought, this fairy didn’t seem to fear Thesaya the way other fairies did. Thesaya didn’t react angrily either.
"Yes," she answered curtly, rely bringing her hand to a buckle on the leather strap fastened to her inner thigh.
Phoebe looked at her exposed leg for a mont with a displeased expression before adding, "But, my lady. If you spend a long ti alone with the Agent of the Saint, it could lead to unnecessary misunderstandings—"
"Do I look like I care about that sort of thing?" Thesaya cut her off with a cold scoff, unbuckling the leather strap and holding it in her hand.
"Leave, Phoebe. And prepare a al for about two or three hours from now."
Inside the leather strap, a familiar dagger was fixed in its sheath. It was the dagger Ian had gifted her in the past.
Placing the dagger on the table next to the elixir bottle, she added, "And of course, it'll be just the two of us for dinner."
"Understood." Finally letting out a sigh, the attendant, Phoebe, turned around.
When her eyes t Ian’s, she didn’t forget to curtsy. While nodding slightly, Ian kept his eyes on her back as she exited the door. It seed that for them to talk comfortably, the attendant had to be far away.
Tap, tap.
It was right after that a light sound of footsteps and a rush of air brushed past his ears. Ian instinctively turned and scowled.
"Ian!" Thesaya was suddenly leaping at him.
Her skirt billowed as she leaped with her arms and legs spread wide like a flying squirrel.
Crash—
Before he had ti to react, she collided with him and threw her arms around his neck. Ian staggered for a mont, bracing his lower body to keep from falling.
"Why were you so late? Do you have any idea how worried I was?" Thesaya buried her face in his neck and gasped.
She wrapped her legs around his waist as well, so it was less of an embrace and more like she was clinging to him for dear life.
Ian, frowning as he righted his posture, looked down at her silver hair and said, "The attendant is still in the hallway."
"Who cares? If she wants to listen, let her listen."
Of course, Thesaya didn't get down. She spoke irresponsibly, tightening her arms around Ian’s neck even more.
"I barely stopped myself from jumping on you the mont I saw you. Besides, if I get down now, you won’t let hold you again, will you?"
Her tone and voice were completely different from before. It wasn't the voice of a cold and arrogant elder fairy, but the tone of the vampire fairy who used to roll around barefoot on the carriage floor.
A smile crept onto Ian's lips as he said, "You know well. Then you also know it’s ti to get down."
Of course, she didn’t answer.
Knew it.
A faint ripple stirred in Ian’s eyes as he quietly muttered to himself that he’d expected this. He reached out with the Willful Grasp to seize Thesaya, but paused when he felt soft, sniffled breaths against the nape of his neck. Her slender arms and her frail shoulders trembled ever so slightly.
"So much has happened…" A choked voice tickled his neck. Her limbs tightened around Ian. "It was hard… I was so tired and lonely… Ian…."
Ian clicked his tongue and let the Willful Grasp fade. Instead, he placed his real palm on the back of her head.
"Yeah. I can tell."
His neck was slowly getting damp.
***
Thesaya sobbed into his shoulder for a long ti before her breath finally cald.
"Everything sucks. This damn Erenos. No, these damn pointy-ears."
Her voice, which had been a mumbled incantation of slurred words, at last beca sowhat intelligible.
Rubbing her face against his neck, she added, "You get it, right, Ian?"
Ian, who had been standing stock-still just stroking the back of her head, replied, "Only that last part."
His expression was grim. His neck was soaked—surely not just with tears.
"All pointy-ears are selfish bastards. This place is a garbage dump full of them, and I’m the boss of the garbage."
Ian let out a sudden laugh. "It’s not just your acting that’s improved while I was gone. Your self-deprecation has definitely gotten better."
"It’s not self-deprecation. Do you know the best way to rule them, Ian?" Thesaya murmured, then finally whipped her head up to et Ian’s gaze. Her face was a complete ss of tears and snot. Of course, so was Ian’s neck.
"You instill fear deep in their souls. So deep they’d never dare rebel or try to sche. Nothing else works."
As she stared into his eyes, Ian’s smile deepened. "You’ve beco a magnificent tyrant, too."
"I’m already holding back a lot. If I did what I really wanted, half the fairies in this estate would be six feet under by now."
"Then I guess I should say you’re a good head of the house. Anyway," Ian added half-heartedly and tilted his head slightly. "Are you done crying now?"
"Yeah. For now," Thesaya answered, sniffling one more ti.
Almost simultaneously, a faint shimr appeared in Ian’s eyes. "Then get down now."
"Wh-Wha?"
Thesaya’s eyes widened. Sothing had pulled her. She was drawn along willingly, her limbs going limp as she floated in mid-air.
"Whoa! What is this? How did you do that, Ian?"
"Just well," Ian replied, rubbing his damp neck with his palm as he walked toward the table.
"Ian, you’re still amazing. I have no idea what kind of magic this is." Floating in the air and sliding along, Thesaya looked down at herself here and there. Her eyes were sparkling as if she had never cried.
"Why were you glaring at my friend like that earlier? From the looks of it, your mories still haven't returned," said Ian.
"How did you know?" Thesaya asked, whipping her head around to look at him.
Ian shrugged and pulled out a chair as he added, "Diana said she knew the old you. But you didn’t seem to recognize her at all until she stated her na."
In the anti, Thesaya slid smoothly through the air and landed naturally on the chair she had rested her foot on earlier.
Of course, Thesaya no longer paid it any mind.
"Aha, so that’s it. She knew the old , did she? I guess so, since she’s that old hag’s eldest granddaughter," Thesaya murmured as if to herself, a cold smile curling one corner of her lip.
anwhile, Ian, who had sat down next to her, picked up the liquor bottle on the table and said, "Just as I thought. It seems you didn’t inherit the position of head of the house peacefully."
"Of course not. That was impossible from the very beginning," Thesaya replied, then held up her goblet toward him and looked at him. "That old woman was my mortal enemy."
Her words were enough to make Ian pause.
He t Thesaya’s sunken eyes for a mont and murmured, "Don’t tell ..."
"That’s right. I wasn’t just kidnapped, Ian. Savina, that devil of a woman, sold out."
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