ULDEM 19

chapter 19

I shouldn’t have said that.

I really shouldn’t have said that.

Tislin couldn’t bear the cold, stiff atmosphere and dropped her head heavily. Her hair fell in loose strands, blocking her vision.

“I think I’ll go a bit early. Yeah… tell Adel I’m sorry. I… have something urgent I need to take care of first…”

Of course, it was a ridiculous excuse. Damien didn’t even pretend to believe her.

“I know I said something unnecessary. So… wouldn’t it be better if we just pretend we didn’t hear it?”

“Tis.”

There was no need to grab her shoulder or arm to stop her from running away. Damien just leaned slightly to meet her eyes. His cool, blue gaze held Tislin captive.

“I think your way of thinking is wrong.”

There was a reproach in his calm, flat voice. Tislin froze, as if pressed against a wall, fidgeting with the hem of her skirt.

“It’s not about whether it was right or wrong! I just mean I understand it.”

“If something like that happens again…”

“There’s no way that would happen to me. I’m not Adel.”

“It did happen.”

It did. Tislin, having nothing more to say, fell silent. She had just brought up the past event and started rambling nonsense again.

At that time… though it might have been minor compared to the threats Adel frequently faced, the danger aimed at Adel was as if it had pierced Tislin’s shoulder. She remembered the agony of being poisoned and struggling to stay awake in detail.

For Damien, that incident must have been a strong memory too. Tislin had just accidentally taken the poison instead of Adel, but Adel could have been in the same situation.

“If something like that happens again… you’re not planning to just swallow it and die, are you?”

“My heart might feel like it, but I have enough sense not to! …As long as you don’t tell me to spit it out in your hand.”

Tislin stubbornly defended herself. She had already shown all sorts of embarrassing behavior in front of Damien, but even in her imagination, she didn’t want to go that far.

“Alright. I’ll try to keep that in mind.”

Surprisingly, a faint smile appeared at the corner of Damien’s mouth. For some reason, he seemed to have relaxed.

“Then apologize to Adel.”

“Mm… yeah. That too.”

Even if Damien didn’t seem to think he had done anything wrong, he genuinely apologized to Adel. After all, how could Damien ever outmatch Adel?

Adel, sitting in the shadowiest corner of the parlor with her head buried in her knees, nearly fell off her chair in surprise at Damien’s apology.

“Really?”

“Yeah. Next time, I won’t tell you to spit it in my hand.”

“Good! I’m embarrassed too. You can spit it on a napkin or a dish or something. Hmm, if it were real poison, it’d be dangerous even if it touched Damien.”

The last part was clearly a later-added excuse. Damien, clearly aware, let it slide.

As with fights in this kind of relationship, the tense atmosphere melted away like snow.

“Hehe.”

Time passed quickly as Tislin played a game of elephant chess, flipped through a magazine, and chatted about who was doing what. Adel, lying on the cushions as if in her own bedroom, suddenly laughed.

“What’s so funny?”

“Nothing. I just feel a bit like I’m back home. Tis is here, Damien is here. Only grandpa is missing, then it’d feel like home.”

Tislin, who had never considered Luxen home, just laughed it off. She glanced at Damien, thinking he might have noticed, but he was fully absorbed in his book, ignoring their conversation.

“By the way… did I tell you? Before leaving, I met Sella Fraune. That crazy woman shamelessly called me ‘Lady Adelind’ and acted like we were close. How can someone do that with a straight face? And grandpa just scolded me.”

“You met Count Fraune? The count goes to the court?”

Adel muttered as if that explained everything. She didn’t seem to know the full story.

“They must have known I’d be here?”

“They wouldn’t. I just said I was going out.”

Tislin clicked her tongue softly. She had seen exactly how the Selbort Marquises and the Fraune sisters harassed Adel back in Luxen.

Considering the grudge they held against Adel, they wouldn’t just leave her alone to go out.

Of course, even if they knew, they couldn’t harm Adel here in distant Viera.

“Be careful; who knows what they might do while you’re gone.”

“Hey, it’s not my first time coming here.”

True enough. Tislin felt uneasy, but Adel sniffed Tislin’s hair as if nothing was wrong.

“Tis smells nice.”

“You like it? I told you the shop last time.”

“Yeah, I bought it too! But why don’t I smell like this? Damien said it smelled weird too. I worked hard to get this!”

“Uh…? Weird?”

Tislin hurriedly brought her collar to her nose. She usually sprayed a light, subtle perfume, one that Sierra and Irina liked, but maybe Damien didn’t like it. Perhaps his senses were too sharp as a magic swordsman.

Even when they worked on an assignment together, she had worn it. Did he find it strange then too? Her ears burned as she panicked with all sorts of thoughts. Tislin couldn’t even look at Damien.

Their lively chatter drew Damien’s attention away from his book.

“What is it?”

“The perfume! You said it wasn’t good when I wore it. I bought it on special recommendation from Tis.”

“You can’t lie about that.”

Still, Damien didn’t overdo his honesty. By not describing exactly how the mixed scents of Adelind and the perfume smelled, he was being considerate in his own way. Whether Adel took it as considerate or not was another matter.

“Is it really that bad?”

Tislin sniffed her collar again, muttering.

On the day they met for the assignment, when the younger knights barged in, Damien had held Tislin with one arm. He probably thought the scent was off then too. When she returned to the dorm, she might just throw the perfume away.

Maybe Sierra and Irina had a cold that day? Damien couldn’t have caught a cold. So they might have been fooled into thinking it smelled good while all congested.

“I think it’s fine…”

Tislin’s gloomy voice made Damien sigh. He still remembered the scent from that day but knew it would be silly to mention it.

He didn’t want Tislin to be upset over a misunderstanding. Since Adel had come all the way to Viera, he wanted both girls to leave happy. That’s why he had even apologized earlier.

“Where did you spray it?”

“Just on my neck. Not much… but is it too strong for you?”

“Wait.”

And then…

Tislin felt like her breath stopped.

Just lightly holding both her shoulders, his hands felt like they were touching bare skin. Every nerve in her body became hyper-sensitive. His eyelashes brushed her cheek, and his cool face buried itself in her hair for a brief instant.

“I’m fine.”

He pulled away as if that was the end of it. He returned to his seat and opened his book in less than a second. But to Tislin, that moment felt endlessly long.

“So it’s just me it smells bad to? Damien!”

Adel’s playful scolding and Damien’s half-joking deflections sounded like distant background noise. Tislin inhaled deeply.

‘Get a grip.’

She couldn’t stay dazed forever. If she did, Adel might notice and fuss at Damien later or try to “help” in some misguided way after a possible engagement.

‘No, that can’t happen.’

Tislin blinked and took a gulp of cold tea to shake off the sweet thrill lingering on her shoulders, neck, and cheeks.

“Adel, Adel, shall we visit a perfume shop later?”

“A perfume shop? There’s such a thing? Isn’t perfume sold in clothing stores?”

In Luxen, usually yes. But in Viera, where commerce was more specialized, perfume shops existed, and a single store carried over a hundred scents.

“There are shops. You can try them on directly and pick what you like.”

“I want to go! Today!”

“Adel, not today.”

True. Adel visibly slumped her shoulders but quickly brightened up again, probably having had no great expectations in the first place.

“We’ll go together later. You pick, Tis.”

“That works. But if I pick, it might smell weird again.”

“Maybe that’s just Damien’s nose being off?”

Tislin chuckled without hesitation. Damien snickered quietly from behind.

“Yeah, we can do that.”