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~Chapter 43~
“Luckily, I never awakened as a dark mage after that. But I always had to prove I was innocent and had good morals.”
“So you just acted like a good adult?”
Keia smiled bitterly at Edell’s question, thinking about his past.
Edell looked at Keia’s face. People said he was good-looking, but Edell thought he wasn’t.
He looked about Edell’s age. Had there been a kid like him at Oren’s House? Brown hair and green eyes were everywhere.
Since Keia didn’t know Edell’s real face, he must have come from a different place. There were a lot of those facilities.
Edell frowned.
“If I’m really a failed one like you say, doesn’t that mean I could awaken later? You’d just leave me alone?”
“There’s a chance, but maybe not. In the past, I would have just killed you right away. But if there’s hope, I’d rather trust that.”
If he tried, Keia would’ve died first. Keia didn’t realize what Edell was. Edell just raised his chin.
“Don’t worry. I’ll handle myself.”
“You only act like a kid in front of Ciella, when you want something.”
“You want me to act like that in front of everyone? I don’t want to.”
“And do you know how to use polite speech?”
“I do.”
He just never used it. Why bother with it for people he didn’t care about?
“Use it with adults. You’re not a noble young master.”
“I’m never using it with you.”
Keia watched Edell be stubborn and thought it would take a long time.
“Normal people feel bad when someone is in danger or something bad happens.”
Edell thought about the fire. Honestly, even if someone died in front of him, he didn’t care.
Ciella showed him how to act good. He just did what she said, so she’d stay by his side.
The other kids forgetting him didn’t matter. He erased those memories himself.
“Okay.”
If it helped Ciella, that was fine.
“But… do I act strange because I look like a kid?”
Keia drank some water.
“Yeah. There are adults like that too, especially powerful ones. The Belmore family is like that. Dark mages are worse, and they don’t even hide it.”
Edell remembered selfish adults who weren’t even dark mages.
But the kids at Spirit Territory were dumb but kind. Even when he kicked the ball far away to make them hate him, they just cheered for him.
His adult way stood out because he was in a child’s body.
If he fixed that, maybe Ciella would stay, even if she found out what he really was.
Keia cleared his throat and held up a napkin.
“First, manners and table etiquette…”
“I’m better at that than you.”
Edell looked confident. He learned that a long time ago in the duke’s house.
Keia sighed.
“Let’s go to the market and learn how to deal with people.”
Edell stood up.
He needed to act normal. Otherwise, Ciella might send him away for good.
At the Belmore estate, a senior investigator checked the burned building. His assistant ran up.
“We found a record of Sarah’s Flower and other items in the ledger. Most buyers use fake names, but there’s a pattern.”
He pointed at the name “Lady Dahlia 12.”
“Lady Dahlia means an unmarried noblewoman.”
“Did you check the merchant?”
“Helledivers is closed off. You can’t just investigate unless it’s a royal murder. Even getting this ledger was hard.”
“How’d you get it?”
The assistant remembered what Countess Terea said.
“You don’t need to mention my help. Use it for your work.”
“I snuck into the black market as soon as I heard about the fire. Almost died.”
“Oh? I thought you took a day off. You were investigating? Good job. Reminds me of my rookie days.”
The assistant stood straighter at the praise.
“So the buyer is an unmarried noblewoman staying here.”
The investigator checked castle records.
“Check for tampering.”
The assistant used magic. Green light glowed.
“There are two changes. One erased, one new.”
Both were unmarried noblewomen.
“Search both rooms. Right now.”
Investigators split—one group to Lerazie’s room, one to Ciella’s.
“But Marciela’s old room burned down. Was that to destroy evidence?”
“We checked, nothing found. Search her current room anyway.”
The group heading to Ciella’s room stopped.
Her room was a small shed in the garden.
“Even as an exile… wasn’t she a noble?”
“She awakened as a spiritist, so why treat her like this?”
Inside was worse. Dust, spiderwebs, nothing much.
“Her mother’s family had no power. So unlucky.”
The investigator looked at an old desk.
There was a burned book and a short pencil, covered in small writing.
“Just like me, when I took my exam as a commoner…”
The assistant listened quietly.
Suddenly, the communicator crackled.
—“Lady Lerazie’s room, nothing strange.”
“Here too. Only dust, webs, and old potatoes.”
The assistant spoke:
“There’s a record that Forgetting Flowers and Sarah’s Flower were bought together. Forgetting Flowers turn into wilted rose petals after they’re used.”
The investigator nodded.
“Look for wilted rose petals or Forgetting Flowers.”
“We should check here too.”
“It’s just a farm shed, so there’s plants everywhere.”
The assistant picked up a clover flower ring. Then the communicator blared:
—“We found dried rose petals under Lady Lerazie’s bed. Senior investigator, please confirm.”
