I asked in a relaxed tone, “So, what is your name?”

“Well, I made that child a mage… What did you say?”

The old man, who had been boasting about himself, looked at me as if caught off guard. I shrugged.

“I was asking for your name. I can’t just call you ‘Master.'”

“Huh.”

The old man clicked his tongue in disbelief and tilted his head, muttering as if puzzled, “I think it’s been 30 years since someone last asked me my name.”

His social circle seemed even narrower than I had imagined.

Feeling like we might spend all our time just staring at each other, I decided to introduce myself first. “My name is Titiana Este.”

Upon hearing my name, the two of them introduced themselves as well.

“Ahem, my name is Colin. This here is my apprentice, Bradley.”

“Nice to meet you, Miss Este.”

The old man was Colin, and the apprentice was Bradley.

I looked around. Yuri loved cooking and always served snacks along with meals. Today, next to the design I had been struggling with, there was a snack Yuri had made.

“You can call me Titiana. These are brownies Yuri made; please enjoy them.”

“Who made what?”

Colin, perhaps due to his age, seemed hard of hearing. I repeated myself clearly, “Brownies made by Yuri. I like the scent of cinnamon, so there’s probably a bit of it in there. Please have some if you’d like.”

“Huh…”

“Uh…”

The two of them stared at the brownies as if they were enemies. Bradley was the first to take a bite. He exclaimed with wide eyes, “Oh, this is delicious! It goes perfectly with coffee!”

“Right? Please have as much as you like.”

Yuri’s culinary skills were indeed something to boast about.

The atmosphere softened with the addition of sweets. Taking advantage of the moment, I asked, “So, Master, how did you find your way here? Did Yuri mention me at the Magic Tower?”

“Well, I…”

Colin, looking a bit embarrassed, cleared his throat and spoke loudly again, “I came to see which young lady would reject Yuri!”

In the end, it was clear he was fond of Yuri. I smiled warmly.

“Mr. Colin, you seem like a grandfather to Yuri.”

“Mr. Colin? Grandfather?”

Colin looked astonished, as if he had never heard such words before, and froze. Bradley reached out to stop me.

“Miss Titiana, you shouldn’t call him that…”

But Colin interrupted Bradley again, “Ahem, let her call me Yuri’s grandfather.”

“Master?”

The corners of his mouth curled up, showing he was quite pleased with the title ‘Yuri’s grandfather.’ I smiled as well.

“Yes, Yuri’s grandfather.”

Colin nodded happily, stroking his beard. Bradley, with a resigned expression, started munching on the brownies.

I then asked something I had been curious about earlier, “So, did Yuri really say he wants to marry me?”

The Yuri I knew was always composed. That’s why his words about being anxious yesterday made my heart flutter. It was different from the Yuri I knew.

But today, the Yuri Colin described was yet another side of him.

“I’ve never seen him so anxious. Even in front of His Majesty, he remains unfazed…”

Grumbling, Colin suddenly widened his wrinkled eyes, leaned toward me, and shouted, “Hey, show me your arm! That thing on it!”

“Pardon? This bracelet?”

A bracelet made from intertwined leather straps dangled there. Colin sighed, holding his forehead as he looked at the pendant, which was about the size of a thumbnail.

“Oh dear! I thought he took it without saying anything, and now he’s given it to this young lady!”

I blinked, unable to understand why he seemed so disheartened, and Bradley explained.

“This is an artifact handcrafted by the Master.”

An artifact is a magical tool infused with mana, allowing even non-mages to use magic. Produced only at the Magic Tower, it naturally held immense value.

‘Is this really that?’

Colin grumbled loudly at me.

“Our Yuri is so sincere towards you!”

His words touched my heart once again.

I clutched the pendant tightly. Since when had he been so considerate without me noticing? My heart, which had been calm in Yuri’s absence, started to race again.

Colin, unaware of our situation, looked distressed.

“I heard you said you don’t want to get married. How it breaks my heart…”

I decided to correct their misunderstanding.

“Actually, it’s only been a short while since I received a confession. It’s the first time I’ve heard that Yuri wants to get married so badly.”

Bradley’s face turned pale upon realizing they had mentioned something Yuri hadn’t yet said. He screamed and clung to Colin.

“Master, what do we do? We’re doomed. I’ll just say it was all your idea.”

“You brat! Why are you causing such a ruckus?”

After scolding Bradley, Colin asked me in a flustered tone.

“So, are you still thinking about how to respond to the confession? Surely your answer will be yes, right? Our Yuri is quite the catch as a marriage partner.”

I replied with an awkward expression.

“It’s true that I’m not thinking about getting married.”

“What? Why not?”

“I don’t see a compelling reason to get married…”

“Why! That’s a fundamental instinct, even before being human, as animals. Haven’t you heard the ancient saying? Even the orioles pair up harmoniously.”

“Well, Master, aren’t you also an advocate of not marrying? You’ve always said that for a mage, marriage is the biggest waste of time…”

Bradley mocked Colin, who suddenly began praising marriage.

Ah, so he’s a non-marriage advocate elsewhere.

“That was then! The situation is different now!”

‘Then why is he so eager about Yuri’s marriage?’

As I squinted at the two of them, I noticed pink hair fluttering outside the window and widened my eyes.

“Oh, Yuri’s coming over. Maybe we can talk together…”

As soon as I said that, the two of them vanished like the wind. It was astonishing how quickly they moved.

“Thanks for the coffee! We’ll visit again!”

“You brat, leaving your Master behind!”

I tilted my head.

‘Why are they leaving like that? Even if they have something to do, shouldn’t they at least greet Yuri before going?’

Throughout the conversation, they kept saying things like Yuri would scold them, they’d die, or they didn’t know.

‘Is Yuri really that scary?’

I tried to imagine a strict Yuri at the Magic Tower, but I failed. As I pondered with a groan, Yuri entered, carrying a large paper bag.

He looked at the empty plate and cup in front of me and asked.

“Did someone come by?”

“Yeah? They stopped by for a bit and left.”

“That’s strange. I put up a big sign saying we’re closed for a while.”

“Indeed.”

As Yuri said, there was a big sign on the door saying it was closed. I glanced back at it and shrugged.

“Maybe they thought this was a café.”

***

Colin, the Tower Master from The Little Prince, grabbed Bradley by the collar and shook him.

“Bradley! You wretched apprentice!”

Bradley yelled in return.

“I’m scared of the Grand Mage too! Knowing how serious he is about that woman, do you think I want to risk my life? I’ll never go near her again.”

His trembling appearance made him look utterly terrified. But Colin wasn’t fooled. He squinted and caught onto his apprentice’s words.

“You said that, but when you ran out, you promised to come back, didn’t you?”

Even in his haste to run out, he had heard that.

Bradley, sweating nervously, tried to explain.

“That, that was because the coffee was so good… Honestly, apart from the Grand Mage, everyone else at the Magic Tower makes coffee that tastes like dirt.”

“Well! That’s because Yuri is the only one who can afford to spend time on things like making delicious coffee outside of research!”

Saying it out loud made him feel sad. Everyone else was so focused on research that they didn’t even have time to brew a decent cup of coffee, and there wasn’t a mage who surpassed Yuri’s skills.

Bradley sighed, recalling the face of his junior who had surpassed him to become the next Tower Master.