Chapter 4

And today, suffering from a hangover, Leticia stole the auctioned item from her brother’s room as he left for work at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The jewelry box was oval, reminiscent of an egg. If you gripped what looked like the lid and opened it, it would split like an egg cut in half.

On both sides, decorative handles protruded, seemingly usable as grips. The smooth ornaments of the same shape were thick enough to hold easily.

Aside from the symmetrical ornaments on both sides, the jewelry box was densely adorned with lavish decorations. Four golden branches started from the legs, winding up to wrap around the box.

Leaves, as if capturing the season of fresh greenery, were made of vivid green beryl, and the flowers were rubies—an ornate box filled with jewels.

At a glance, it was just a pretty jewelry box. But what made her suspicious was that it wouldn’t open no matter what she tried.

Yesterday, she thought both of them were just drunk and fumbling, but today, she still couldn’t open it.

There was no lock, yet the box wouldn’t open. Of course, her brother said it didn’t matter if it wouldn’t open.

But Leticia couldn’t just leave a suspicious item that faintly radiated magic unattended in her brother’s room without checking it.

What if the jewelry box was cursed?

So she brought it to her laboratory and was examining it thoroughly…

She could sense magic, but couldn’t find its source. She still couldn’t open it.

She’d been struggling with the jewelry box since morning, and finally, unable to fight off fatigue, she decided to rest her head on her desk for just a moment.

She fell asleep instantly, and ended up dreaming about the first time she met Valerio.

She didn’t know why, out of all the dreams she could have had, she suddenly dreamed about Valerio…

Surely it wasn’t a prophetic dream warning of something ominous.

Leticia massaged her stiff shoulders and looked up at the sky beyond the window. Judging by the angle of sunlight streaming in, it seemed to be late afternoon by the time she woke.

Time really does fly. She swallowed a sigh and pulled the jewelry box closer.

The faint magic emanating from it didn’t seem to be of the ominous, curse-related sort, but one could never be sure.

There were rumors that the children of the Lakewood Viscountcy had fallen ill, one after another, because of a cursed lamp.

Elsewhere, there were rumors of a spell that made a cheating fiancé’s important parts bitten by a dog.

She couldn’t tell how much was true, but society gossip often had a grain of truth. So it was better to be safe than sorry.

This was a good chance to show off to her brother and maybe get something in return.

“I can’t do this. I need some fresh air.”

Having failed to find the hidden magic circle, Leticia abruptly stood up.

Times like this called for a walk, some sweet dessert and coffee to refresh her mind.

After graduating from the Faculty of Magic, Leticia set up her laboratory on Bayleaf Street, where workshops for mages were clustered.

It was on the second floor of a building with a sign that featured a wooden owl-shaped clock.

The best thing about her lab was that a coffee house selling delicious cakes was nearby.

Just thinking about those cakes made her mouth water. She threw on her robe.

She locked the jewelry box in her safe, then locked the lab door.

Most of her neighbors were mages holed up in their own studios, rarely coming out, but after a burglary on Bayleaf Street, even she’d gotten into the habit of locking up when she left.

Still, the burglary had been months ago, and locking up had long since become routine.

So when she habitually cast the locking spell and whipped around, she fully expected nobody to be behind her as usual.

Excited at the thought of buying cake, she spun around, only to bump straight into someone standing behind her. Her forehead collided with a broad chest, and she staggered back a step.

“Ah, sorry…”

Oddly enough, despite being the one who bumped into him, she staggered, while the person she hit didn’t budge.

She didn’t know who it was, but thought he must be quite sturdy, rubbing her forehead as she reflexively apologized and looked up. The person she’d bumped into reached out his arm.

“Are you…?”

The one who caught her shoulder as she stumbled backward was the man who had just appeared in her dream—a tall, upright angel stood before her.

He’d been just a little taller than Leticia as a child, but at some point, he’d shot up in the blink of an eye.

When they stood side by side, their shoulders had once been similar in width, but while she’d been hunched over, his had broadened and grown reassuringly strong.

His eyes, shimmering with two colors at once, were even more mysterious and deep than when he was young.

His ever-present smile and relaxed eyes only made his charm more irresistible.

“Hello, Shia.”

A familiar voice came from above her forehead. He greeted her first, waiting for her to come to her senses and grasp the situation.

The youthful voice from her dream overlapped like an echo. Realizing the man before her was someone she knew, Leticia froze, still clutching her forehead.

The sudden appearance of her old nemesis sent her mind spinning.

Valerio Lester, a fellow academy graduate, had become hard to see after graduation.

He’d entered the palace as the Crown Prince’s reliable right hand, while she, a freelance mage, moved in different circles.

She sometimes ran into Valerio when he hung out with her brother, but encounters like this were rare enough to be startling.

“Ah, hello.”

Despite her mind racing, her tongue luckily moved in time. At the same time, she tensed up at the appearance of someone who had no reason to be here.

Maybe it was the shock of their first meeting, but Leticia always felt nervous when facing her ten-year nemesis.

“What brings you here…?”

Valerio remained strangely silent. Though the silence might have been brief, to Leticia, it felt long.

He silently studied the woman glancing up at him.

“You work here.”

But soon after, as if he’d never scrutinized her, he smiled gently and tilted his head.

He squinted his eyes, as if he’d only run into her by chance, not knowing she worked here.

Leticia quietly watched as his hand brushed her messy bangs aside.

His careful touch continued as he tidied her half-off robe before stepping away.

“Sir Johan asked me to deliver this.”

“My brother?”

Even after hearing he had a reason for visiting, Leticia couldn’t shake her suspicious gaze.

Her brother Johan Blanc, with the bravado of a few extra years and meals, was bold enough to ask Valerio for a favor.

But that didn’t mean Valerio Lester, the Young Master, would necessarily comply.

Maintaining her guard, Leticia accepted the note.

“What’s your other business?”

“Hmm…”

Valerio’s eyes narrowed. The answer she expected didn’t come.

He sighed softly and hesitated, while Leticia unfolded the note and frowned, trying to decipher her brother’s messy handwriting.

A shadow fell over her as elegant fingers smoothly took the note away. After all that effort to deliver it, Valerio snatched the note and hid it.

“After coming all this way on an errand, am I not getting any reward?”

“Shouldn’t you get that from my brother…?”

Then, for some reason, he scolded Leticia.

Her retort—that the reward should come from her brother, who’d boldly used Valerio—didn’t work. Valerio just stood there, hiding the note and smiling as if drawn.

He smiled warmly and silently, but his point was clear. He wanted compensation for running the errand.

This was a fight she couldn’t win. No matter how fiercely she glared, she couldn’t snatch the note from the man standing firm.

She could knock him down with magic, but… a mage attacking a civilian was unthinkable, and Valerio wasn’t just any civilian.

Leticia, who’d been glaring up at the tall man, blinked first.

“Th-then should I buy you cake?”

She lost, but didn’t lose. This round, she was conceding. Her voice was small as she scratched her cheek and asked.

“Cake?”

“Th-there’s a delicious place just ahead. I was about to go there…”

It wasn’t much of a reward, so she sounded hesitant. Deep down, she imagined Valerio refusing, saying he didn’t need cake, just her thanks.

“Thank you.”

So Leticia never imagined her friend would suddenly widen his eyes, then smile brightly and reply.

“I’ll enjoy it.”

Valerio kindly drove the point home to the frozen Leticia, gently guiding her forward with a hand on her back.