The food grew cold.
Euryx sat quietly, waiting for Countess Hexen, who did not return.
Sitting alone among affectionate couples, he naturally became lost in thought.
“Do you have an interest in her?”
That’s what his mentor, Roji, had asked.
At the time, Euryx had responded: “Yes. I think Countess Hexen is someone similar to me. We’ve met a few times… and if she needed magical information, it could be serious, so I’m concerned.”
“No, you fool. Not that kind of interest.”
“Ah.”
It was then that Euryx fully understood his mentor’s words.
He pondered for a moment before shaking his head with a smile.
“It’s not like that. If I had to express it, I have a human fondness for the Countess.”
“Really?”
“Yes. Besides, the Countess has no interest in me. I suggested dinner first, but that was because of a previous incident… I’m trying not to get carried away.”
“…Do you realize what you’re saying?”
“Yes? Of course.”
The mentor scrutinized his disciple’s face before sighing.
A soft murmur reached Euryx’s ears.
“I wonder if he’ll get rejected with that cluelessness.”
Back to the present, Euryx seriously reflected on the empty seat of Countess Hexen.
Is this what being rejected feels like?
Euryx quickly concluded that it wasn’t.
Countess Hexen wouldn’t ‘reject’ someone in this manner.
At least, she would have politely expressed discomfort with this place and apologized with a regretful face.
The image of her apologetically lowering her eyebrows was so cute and affectionate that anyone would accept her apology.
Holding back his wandering thoughts, Euryx stood up.
As he passed the counter, the employee looked at him with wide eyes.
“Are you leaving already?”
“No, I have something to attend to. I’ll pay when I return.”
Leaving the puzzled employee behind, he stepped outside the restaurant.
Checking behind the restaurant, Countess Hexen’s carriage was still there.
Since she came with an attendant, he considered looking for them when he felt a strange swirl of mana.
“What’s this?”
A chilling breeze wrapped around his leg.
It was a wind that only a magician could feel.
Somewhere, mana was causing a whirlwind.
He could sense it intuitively.
While those who couldn’t feel mana would pass by with calm faces, a magician would realize it immediately.
His body tingled as if pricked by needles, and his heart started pounding.
The peaceful street seemed terribly alien.
“Is it a coincidence?”
Countess Hexen, who had not returned after going to the restroom. The swirl of mana started as soon as he went out to look for her.
It might be a coincidence.
Since Countess Hexen is not a magician, the chances are high that her disappearance and the movement of mana are unrelated.
Yet, Euryx felt drawn to follow the mana.
A narrow alley appeared.
It was dark without a single street lamp, and the night had settled in every corner. Euryx didn’t look back and plunged into the darkness.
It felt like facing a great crisis.
“Countess?”
He called out unknowingly as he turned through the maze-like alleys.
It just felt like the Count was somewhere here. A magician trusts their intuition.
Euryx hastened his steps and began to run.
It was strange.
The inside wasn’t that big, but running and running, he was still in the same place.
Even trying to find a way back to the main road, the path stretched endlessly. Turning corners over and over, he couldn’t find the way. Before he knew it, the trace of mana had completely vanished.
Euryx stopped, feeling at a loss.
Looking up at the sky, stars had already begun to twinkle.
Suddenly, anxiety washed over him.
What if it was all a misunderstanding?
Perhaps Countess Hexen had just stayed in the restroom for a long time.
What if she returned to find an empty seat?
Naturally, she would be displeased, thinking he had left without a word.
The thought made him very anxious.
But that wasn’t it.
He had come out to look for Countess Hexen because he was worried about her.
What if he disappointed her? To such a kind and honest person…
At that moment, a loud cry ignited Euryx’s worries.
“Duke! Duke, help me!”
He snapped to attention.
Euryx turned towards the direction of the sound and shouted forcefully.
“Countess!”
“Duke! I answered! Count that as an answer!”
Unbeknownst to Euryx, it was because he heard that answer that Miria’s life was saved.
Euryx started running at full speed. He had only turned one corner, and absurdly, the Count’s figure appeared as if guided by fate.
For a moment in the darkness, the Countess’s body looked like stone.
Every strand of hair seemed to have hardened into stone.
Euryx blinked to dispel the illusion.
And in that moment, the Countess’s body crumbled softly.
Euryx hurriedly ran to catch her falling body.
It was warm and soft. Definitely a human body.
It seems he was startled. Even in the darkness, to mistake a human body for stone.
Euryx sighed with relief and checked the Countess’s condition.
Her heart was beating properly, but her body was cold.
Euryx took off his coat and covered Countess Hexen’s body with it.
Instead of pondering deeply, he quickly adjusted her in his arms.
Not knowing why she was here or why she had collapsed, it was a priority to show her to a physician.
Holding the Countess, who felt infinitely small and light, he stepped out of the alley.
Strangely, this time the path appeared immediately.
“Is this the work of a trickster?”
Only a trickster could play such a prank.
The suspicious flow of mana, the endlessly stretching alley, the feeling as if time had stopped, and the space-time returning to normal as soon as the event ended.
If it really was the trickster’s doing…
Euryx looked down at the Countess, who had collapsed and rested her head in his arms.
He thought quietly.
The Countess was involved in this because of him.
A sticky guilt poured into Euryx’s body.
The trickster had clearly used the Countess as bait to lure Euryx, who was trying to catch it. To involve such a pure and honest person in a cruel prank. Euryx’s eyes shone with anger and contempt.
He hadn’t known that a trickster would use a non-magician who couldn’t feel a speck of mana.
A much more vile monster than he thought. He returned to the restaurant and found the Countess’s carriage.
The butler, who had been dozing inside, jumped up and ran out as soon as he knocked on the door.
And then he screamed.
“Aaah! Miss! Master!”
“She’s safe.”
Despite speaking politely, the butler was half out of his mind, shaking Countess Hexen’s small body.
“Miss, what’s wrong! Did you not answer again? Miss, Miss!”
“Calm down.”
Feeling it would never end if left like this, Euryx grabbed the butler’s shoulder.
Then he composed his voice calmly.
“I’ll take her to my mansion for now. We need to check her condition quickly.”
“What?”
The butler asked with a dazed face.
Euryx repeated patiently.
“We need to check her condition. There are no injuries, but you never know.”
“Why… Why is our master going to your mansion, Duke?”
“Well…”
Because I’m worried.
Euryx was surprised to realize his own feelings.
It was natural to worry, but he had naturally tried to take her to his mansion.
Why did he do that?
The Countess surely had her own mansion.
There was something truly strange.
Despite hearing reasonable words from the butler, he still wanted to take the Countess to his mansion.
Euryx’s mouth opened on its own.
A perfectly rational reason sprang forth.
“It seems she lost consciousness due to something related to magic. Since I can handle magical diseases, it’s right to go to my mansion for now.”
“Is that so?”
The butler asked, gaping.
The butler, too, seemed to be a non-magician and didn’t quite understand the situation.
Euryx adjusted the Countess’s body again and headed towards his carriage, adding: “Let’s go together.”
“Of course!”
The butler followed, leaving behind the carriage of the Hexen family.
Thus, Euryx managed to hastily take the Countess to his carriage.
The carriage departed immediately.
Euryx laid the Countess down at length, with her head resting on his thigh.
Looking down at the Countess’s face, her complexion was poor. Pale cheeks and bloodless lips. The scattered black bobbed hair on her face made her look even more frail. She seemed to be having a nightmare, with wrinkles on her forehead.
Unknowingly, Euryx stroked her hair, as if soothing a sick child. After stroking for a while, the Countess’s face gradually relaxed. She seemed to seek warmth, wriggling into Euryx’s embrace and shaking her head, like a small bird leaning on a person’s hand after being chilled by the rain.
Euryx’s heart dropped as he looked down at her.
Suddenly, the carriage seemed to move slowly, the sounds of the world disappeared, and he felt alone with Countess Hexen.
It was the first time they were so close.
He realized that fact suddenly.
His heart raced without permission.
…What is this feeling?
He couldn’t find the answer until they arrived at the mansion.