Chapter 168: A Patroclus Morning
Day 29, morning.
Acrea’s mind was in turmoil.
He had come to Patroclus to investigate the Perlman family.
Before Sue’s student trial, Acrea and Reeves had devised a plan. They would drastically reduce Sue Byron’s sentence, change it to “a few days of exile,” and send her to Patroclus.
And then, they would assign Woo Acrea, or a subordinate from the Acrea family, to keep an eye on her.
The plan had deviated slightly, but he had achieved his goal of investigating the Perlman couple in Patroclus. And luckily, he had even found out that Elizabeth Perlman was the one who had cast the spell on the pendant.
‘…So what?’
Acrea rested his chin on his hand, staring blankly at the table in the hospital lobby.
‘Are you really here to find the owner of the pendant? To find the owner of a pendant with a slightly indecipherable anti-magic formula? …No, you’re not.’
He had lost to Elizabeth the moment he had heard those words. She might have known everything from the beginning.
“Master Acrea!”
Acrea looked up at the familiar voice. He watched the red-haired girl approaching him with a bright smile.
“Um… Well…”
“What is it?”
What was she going to say now?
She was fidgeting, scratching her cheek awkwardly.
Her hair, which she had tied up since arriving in Patroclus, was down. It wasn’t braided, but it was the usual her.
“I don’t know why, but you seem to like me.”
It was the conclusion Sue had reached after much deliberation during her stay in Patroclus. Of course, she was convinced that he had an ulterior motive, but she had decided to stop thinking about it.
And if Acrea didn’t have an ulterior motive, it meant that he genuinely liked her as a person.
It was absurd.
“Master Acrea, thank you for everything this past month.”
She said, her voice low, touching her flushed neck.
“At least you… weren’t affected by me. So I think that’s why… I started to feel comfortable around you.”
“….”
“Master Acrea?”
Acrea blinked, as if he had just snapped out of a daze, when Sue looked up at him. He smiled.
“I’m glad you felt that way.”
“Ah… Yes…”
How much of it was genuine?
This was why she hadn’t liked Acrea in the novel. She thought she understood him, but then she didn’t.
“And this is… um… a thank-you gift…”
“A gift?”
Sue swallowed nervously and finally got to the point. Her hand, hidden behind her back, was itching.
“This is… a gift…”
She hesitantly held out her hand, and there was a single white cosmos in her palm. Her face was flushed, her hand trembling.
Acrea stared at the flower in his hand, dumbfounded, and Sue, seeing his reaction, panicked and started rambling,
“No, wait, I’m sorry! I spent all my money buying gifts for the servants, and… No, that’s not it. I kept looking for something to buy, but I couldn’t find anything that would satisfy you, so I thought I would get you a gift when we got back to the capital, but then I thought it wouldn’t be right if I didn’t give you anything, and I happened to run into the grandma I gave the freesia to, so…”
Sue trailed off, her excuses spilling out uncontrollably. Acrea’s expression, holding the white cosmos, didn’t seem angry.
Sue, catching her breath, slumped her shoulders, feeling deflated.
And then, she chuckled, her voice relaxed,
“Anyway, thank you… for saving me.”
…Yes, she had lost. Elizabeth Byron.
She had lost, Sue.
Acrea, hearing her simple, sincere words, couldn’t help but admit it.
“Byron.”
He just wanted to help Sue Byron.
‘She’ll be able to be happy without a mask someday… At least like now.’
He hoped that she would be able to be happy without a mask someday, just like she had said.
He hoped that Sue Byron wouldn’t suffer.
He wanted to know Sue Byron.
“Thank you too.”
That was the only truth that had been born within him.
***
Day 30, morning.
Sue and Acrea were gone from Patroclus.
***
“I’m back!”
“Wow! …No applause?”
“Jeez, seriously.”
Jean, waiting for her, gave her a standing ovation as she swung open the workshop door. The high priest, sitting sullenly, reluctantly clapped his hands at Jean’s threat.
Sue, hearing the halfhearted applause, finally felt like she had returned to the capital.
“I brought souvenirs!”
“Souvenirs? They sell souvenirs in Patroclus? Hahaha, that’s impossible.”
“What? You know Patroclus?”
“I lived in The Wasteland next to the city next to Patroclus. Why?”
“Ah… Sorry.”
“What’s there to be sorry about? You’re not even sorry. Just hand over the souvenirs.”
The high priest held out his hand impatiently. Sue placed the souvenir bag on the table next to him. It was too heavy for him to carry with one hand.
“It’s mango wine. I bought it because you both like alcohol.”
“Mango wine? I love that!”
Jean eagerly tore open the wrapping paper. But the high priest was still grumpy. He glared at her and asked,
“Marie, no, it’s Sue, right? Sue, aren’t you even angry after being humiliated like that?”
“Angry? Of course I am.”
The high priest’s legs trembled at her nonchalant answer. He had been furious when he had found out that Sue had been exiled from the capital for 30 days.
Because he was worried about her? No.
Because he liked her? Even more no.
“To think that the one who ruined my life was such a pathetic small fry.”
“Huh? You didn’t know?”
“I knew, but I didn’t know she was this pathetic. She seems so carefree.”
“Carefree? My mind is a mess.”
He scoffed.
“A mess, my ass.”
Sue, feeling wronged, sat down on a chair.
“It’s true. I’m agonizing every day, trying to figure out how to end this.”
“End?”
She nodded, tapping the table.
“I thought about it, and I think it’s better to end it quickly. Like you said, risk my life. …Just like that!”
She pretended to slap someone. The high priest, understanding what she meant, closed his mouth.
“I’ll buy you cake if I survive. Pray for me.”
Sue, after appeasing the high priest, went to Rem’s stable instead of leaving the barrier. Rem, who had just woken up, was grooming his wings.
Rem growled and glared at her as she approached. Sue, as expected, kept her distance and pushed the feed bucket towards him.
“Here, this is for you.”
Inside the bucket was the ribbon food she had bought in the capital. She had tried to give it to Jean, but he had forced her to feed Rem herself, saying, “Try giving it to him yourself.”
Rem, still wary, cautiously approached the bucket and sniffed it. And then, seemingly satisfied with the contents, he started to eat.
The sound of his munching filled the air between them.
“Are you really a ribbon?”
Sue asked a meaningless question, watching him eat.
Of course, there was no answer.
But Sue was sometimes curious about what kind of creature Rem was.
An ordinary ribbon couldn’t fly from Apricot Tea Forest to Patroclus. And it definitely couldn’t breathe fire, cast illusions, or conceal its presence.
Ribbons were a hybrid of horses and dragons.
*‘Even if he could breathe fire, the ability to cast illusions, create fog, and conceal his presence…’*
Only divine beasts could do all that.
“…Are you a hybrid of a divine beast and a dragon?”
Such a crazy creature couldn’t possibly exist.
Sue shook her head, amazed at her own words.