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Chapter 28
“Wahahaha!”
Yus burst into loud laughter.
Of course, since she was wearing a robe, no one could tell who the laughter belonged to or what her identity was.
It had simply been a long time since she had experienced something so thrilling.
“Isn’t it fun?”
Floheta laughed along and tightened the knot of Yus’s robe, making sure the hood wouldn’t slip down.
“Are you crazy?”
Yus suddenly came back to her senses mid-laugh, her eyes widening as she lightly smacked Floheta.
“How are you planning to deal with the aftermath of this?”
“The aftermath?”
At that, Floheta scratched the back of his head and shrugged.
“At worst, I’ll just get kicked out of Killian’s annex.”
“What?”
At Floheta’s words, Yus instantly went pale.
She knew he could be naïve and careless about consequences, but she hadn’t expected him to be this reckless.
“It’s fine. I was just playing around. Killian could never kick me out.”
“How do you know that? You’re basically freeloading there right now.”
“Hey, don’t hit me with the facts like that. I know I don’t have anywhere else to go, and I know Killian gave me a place to stay. But it’s not like I’m just mooching off him for nothing.”
“What do you mean?”
Yus frowned at Floheta’s cryptic answer, and he burst into laughter.
“There’s something like that. But that’s not what matters right now, is it?”
“Isn’t it…?”
Yus found herself getting swept along by his words before snapping back.
“No—it is important! What if you really get kicked out?”
She enjoyed the time she spent with Killian, of course. But for someone who had forgotten what it meant to have a friend for so long, Floheta brought a kind of fun that Killian could never give her.
A friend who knew everything about her. A friend who accepted her even knowing everything.
She couldn’t imagine anyone else being that person except Floheta.
That was why she felt comfortable with him. That was why she liked him.
“Why? Are you worried I’ll get kicked out?”
Floheta smirked as he looked at her.
“Of course I am. If you’re not there, how am I supposed to survive in that mansion?”
“Why? You have Killian.”
Floheta stepped a little closer, as if expecting certain words to come from her.
“You and Killian aren’t the same. And he’s barely home anyway. When he’s not around, hanging out with you is the most fun.”
At her words, Floheta paused for a brief moment.
“Flo?”
Yus grew flustered at that slight hesitation, and Floheta quickly shook his head, worried she might see through him.
“Huh? Ah… it’s nothing. And you really don’t need to worry, you idiot.”
He flicked her forehead lightly and smiled again.
“Ah! Flo! What was that?!”
“Loosen up that expression!”
Floheta laughed.
After stopping by Madam Ridley’s shop to change clothes, Yus and Floheta began their shopping in earnest.
“Where should we start?” Yus asked.
“Well, we should probably buy something that doesn’t exist in the Duchy of Berchia—and something that’s most famous in the Chertin Empire.”
Floheta nodded in agreement.
“In that case…”
He was about to continue thinking it over when he noticed Yus glancing off to the side. Following her gaze, he saw that she was staring at someone performing magic on the street.
“Curious?” Floheta asked.
“Huh?”
Yus quickly turned her head, having been caught.
“Want to get a little closer?” he asked.
“Is that okay?”
“If you want to.”
“Okay!”
Yus nodded eagerly and hurried toward the crowd.
The man performing on the street specialized in fire. He blew flames from his mouth and made fire burst from his hands, showing off astonishing tricks.
He even appeared to sit in midair, drawing the attention of many onlookers—including Yus.
“That’s amazing. Could he possibly—”
“No.”
Before she could finish her hopeful guess, Floheta cut her off immediately.
“There’s no way.”
“Really?”
“It’s all fake.”
Standing beside her now, Floheta tilted his chin toward the performer.
“It’s not that fire comes out of his mouth. He’s spraying fuel he’s holding in his mouth toward a flame in his hand, creating the illusion that he’s breathing fire.”
“What? So that’s not magic?”
Yus’s eyes widened in genuine shock.
Floheta nodded.
“Of course not. That’s not ‘magic’—it’s ‘sleight of hand.’ An artificially created phenomenon.”
“How do you know?”
At her innocent question, Floheta briefly wet his lips.
“You can just tell at a glance. Especially with that trick—the angle is important, and—”
He was about to continue.
At that very moment, the performer—who had just breathed fire again—suddenly went up in flames.
At first, the crowd clapped and cheered, assuming it was part of the act.
“AAARGH!”
But when the magician let out a scream of agony, people began to realize it wasn’t part of the show—it was an accident.
“S-Someone help me! Aaaagh! It’s too hot!!!!!”
The magician writhed in pain, shouting desperately.
“F-Flo…”
“Yus, don’t step in.”
“But he’s going to die!”
Before Floheta could stop her, Yus thrust out her hand, then clenched it tightly and shut her eyes.
It had been a long time. And her father had told her to seal this power—she wasn’t even sure if she could use it properly…
But still!
“Yus Lil Krantz, don’t!”
Floheta shouted urgently.
At that moment, Yus felt a chilling presence behind her. Her concentration wavered, and she had no choice but to open her eyes.
“Yus.”
It was a familiar, low voice.
And it was lower than usual—cold and frigid.
“Why are you here?”
It was none other than Killian.
A few hours before Yus and Killian crossed paths—
Killian had gone to the imperial palace as usual.
After finishing the morning meeting with the Emperor, the Crown Prince, and other high-ranking nobles, he was reviewing documents in his office.
“Your Grace.”
Oscar called him cautiously.
“What?”
“If I may remind you—you’re on capital patrol duty today.”
“What?”
Killian rolled the thought around in his mind before recalling something.
Recently, saying that public safety in the capital had been worsening, the Crown Prince had increased the number of guards and ordered that he, Killian, and the commanders of each division take turns conducting patrol inspections.
And today was Killian’s turn.
“Ah.”
With a sigh laced with annoyance, Killian rose from his seat.
“If we’re going to get this over with, let’s go.”
“Yes, sir.”
For even Oscar—who had never once forgotten a schedule as his aide—to nearly forget it showed just how pointless this “inspection of the guards by more guards” felt.
‘The guard units should be perfectly capable on their own.’
Still, since it was the Crown Prince’s order, he had no choice.
As Killian wandered aimlessly through the streets, his gaze fell upon a large crowd gathered in one place.
“What’s going on over there?”
He gestured with his chin toward Oscar.
“Looks like some kind of magic performance.”
“Magic?”
Thinking something serious had happened, only to find it was just a performance crowd, Killian turned to leave—
“AAARGH!”
A loud scream rang out.
And then a familiar name echoed through the air.
“Yus Lil Krantz, don’t!”
That shout alone was more than enough reason for Killian to turn his head—and quicken his steps.
