ITETD 31

Chapter 31

“You think it’s fun?”

Calix asked, clearly annoyed.

“Yeah!”

I answered, eyes sparkling without even meaning to.

Unlike him, I was honestly starting to feel excited.

This was the true joy of being in a romance fantasy!
Schemes and jealousy in the palace!
Rumors and gossip!

“Look at this—it says I’m ‘a stunningly beautiful mage.’”

“Well, they’re not wrong.”

I couldn’t help but laugh a little.

Of course, standing out too much isn’t a good thing.

“Yeah, I know that!”

But still—seeing what I had only read about in books come to life right before my eyes?
How could I not find it thrilling?

Somehow, I had a feeling this trip to the capital was going to be very interesting.

That feeling from a few hours ago?

Completely wrong.

The trip to the capital was not fun at all.

Sitting on the train and watching the same scenery pass by for hours? Boring.

I had already read all the newspapers we bought at the station.

With nothing else to do, I ended up sitting in every seat in the first-class cabin at least once.
I even tried a bite of every snack from the dining car.
Finished the crossword puzzle on the last page of the paper, too.

That was all an hour ago.

Now I was just zoning out, watching the scenery blur past.
Calix, of course, hadn’t moved a bit from his spot since we first boarded.

“Bored?”

His voice came from beside me.

He doesn’t get bored? I kept staring out the window and answered lazily.

“Yeah.”

“Feeling restless?”

“Yeah.”

“Having no fun?”

“Yeah.”

“Want to go home?”

“Yeah.”

“Want to get married?”

“Yeah.”

“……”

“……”

Wait—what just happened?

My head whipped around. Calix was smiling sweetly.

“So… you do want to get married?”

“Huh…?”

Uhh.

A meaningless noise came out of my mouth.
Calix tilted his head, acting innocent.

“You just said yes. You want to marry me.”

“I—I didn’t say that!”

I stuttered in panic, nearly biting my tongue.

His smile grew deeper.

And that’s when I realized…
The entire time I’d been spacing out, Calix hadn’t taken his eyes off me even once.

“How did I not notice?!”

I blinked rapidly, flustered.

I turned my head, looking around for anything to distract him with—but we were the only ones in this big, fancy train car.

Seeing my reaction, Calix calmly picked up the newspaper beside him and opened to the front page, like nothing had happened.

Then he spoke.

“You just seemed really indifferent to me. I was trying to get a reaction.”

“……”

“Don’t worry. I didn’t mean we’re getting married right now.”

“Who said I was worried about that?!”

I was frozen, head still turned from when I looked out the window.
And Calix just kept talking casually, eyes on the paper.

“If you stare like that, you’re going to burn a hole in the page.”

“…You’re one to talk.”

I finally muttered a comeback—but it felt like I had just dug my own grave.

Calix replied:

“Oops. You caught me.”

He didn’t even look sorry.

“Ugh.”

He’s the furthest thing from a gentleman, hiding behind a polite mask.

I wanted to crack that calm, smug face of his.
I wanted to see him flustered for once.

Frustrated, I shouted:

“You liar!”

Calix raised one eyebrow, looking at me like, “Go on.”

I didn’t back down.

“You told me when we first met that we were already married!”

Ah. I really shouldn’t have said that.
It was too late to stop my mouth now.

“You liar!”

“……”

Silence filled the huge train cabin.

It hit me what I had just blurted out—and my face turned pale.

But it was already too late.

“Oh, right.”

Calix folded the newspaper.
The moment he did, I felt a sense of doom and leaned back.

He stood up from his seat.

“We were married before, weren’t we?”

I braced myself for what was coming.

“You said you lost your memory, right?”

“……”

With each step he took toward me, I scooted back on my knees.

But it was useless—he reached me in seconds.

Standing over me, he suddenly grabbed my waist and pulled me close.
His face was now right in front of mine.

“Darling.”

He spoke so softly, our breaths almost touched.

“You might not remember, but we used to kiss at least once a day.”

“……”

“Can I have a kiss now?”

His eyes scanned my face, then finally landed on my lips.

It was like he was testing how far I’d go.

I tried to push him away, but my hands had no strength.

Luckily, he let go easily.

I collapsed onto the train seat like a puppet with its strings cut.

He crossed his arms and looked down at me, completely unbothered.

“That’s what you get for saying something you can’t back up.”

Supporting myself with one arm, I glared up at him.

“I hate you.”

“Good. I hate you sometimes, too.”

I was speechless.

What, did he secretly go to some kind of elite comeback school or something?

How is he this good at verbal sparring?

My expression must’ve given me away, because Calix laughed.

“Why? You want to kiss me now?”

“No!”

“Could’ve fooled me, with the way you’re staring at me. I thought maybe you couldn’t resist.”

“……”

He casually rubbed his eyebrow and glanced out the window.

“Looks like we’re almost there. Just hang in a little longer.”

Then he went back to his seat like nothing had happened and opened the newspaper again.

He cleverly hid behind it, so I couldn’t see his face.

I wanted to see what he looked like behind that paper.

Just once, I wanted to see him flustered.
I wanted to be the one to make him lose his cool.

My thoughts were boiling, but there was nothing I could do.

This round was a complete loss.

Capital trip: Calix 1 – Lena 0.

I started mentally keeping score… and quietly waited for my next chance.

By the time I started dozing off from boredom, the train finally arrived at the central station of the capital.

Screech! With a loud noise, the train came to a halt.

Calix got off first and helped escort me down.

Only then did I notice other passengers getting off from the other first-class carriages, separate from ours.

Most of them looked like nobles—and many of them seemed to recognize Calix.

Though they couldn’t greet him openly, I saw people sneaking glances.

Then someone finally called out loud:

“Duke Heretrio!”

Both Calix and I turned toward the voice.

A middle-aged man was pushing through the crowd toward us, his attendants trailing behind him with a mountain of luggage.

“Long time no see, Count Kuphin.”

Calix greeted him smoothly, clearly familiar.
He stepped slightly in front of me, blocking the Count’s line of sight.

“It hasn’t been that long—we saw each other at His Majesty’s birthday celebration, didn’t we?”

Count Kuphin smiled brightly.

“Everyone was shocked when they heard you were coming to the capital. We don’t get to see the Duke more than twice a year!”

“Haha…”

Calix laughed awkwardly, then quickly changed the subject.

“Did you come alone? What about your family?”

“My wife and children came ahead of me. I had things to finish back in the territory.”

Watching Calix have a completely normal conversation with someone felt oddly strange.
From behind him, I couldn’t hide my curious gaze.

And then—I made eye contact with Count Kuphin.

I quickly looked down, but it was too late.
He’d seen my face.

“And who might this be?”

I had a feeling he was only here because he was curious about me.

Calix smiled kindly and placed a hand on my shoulder.

“She’s a new mage in my knight order. Today, she’s attending the party as my escort.”

This was the first time Calix introduced me to someone so… calmly, as if we had nothing more between us.

I remembered how the other knights had greeted people and bowed my head politely.

“Nice to meet you, sir.”

“My character is quiet and reserved,” I reminded myself.

“Ah, so this is that mage.”

“Wait, even he knows about me?”

“I’ve heard a lot. They say you were too talented to waste, so the Duke recruited you personally.”

Count Kuphin stroked his chin thoughtfully.

“Indeed…”

I half-listened as he continued evaluating me, lost in thought.

Was I really well-known enough for even a count to care?

I glanced sideways at Calix’s reaction.

Judging from the gossip article we’d read earlier, it was probably less about me…

…and more about who I was standing next to.

The cold, woman-avoiding Duke Heretrio suddenly had a young woman by his side—and not just any woman, but a pretty commoner.

By now, the knights who rode in business class had also gathered behind us.

Calix gently guided me toward them and turned back to say goodbye to the count.