Chapter 34. The Fairy’s Blessing

Iella couldn’t come to her senses at all. When she finally noticed and checked her changed surroundings, she had already entered the bedroom with him.

“Don’t be so guarded.”

Nix spoke in a playful voice with a sly smile. As soon as they entered the room, he introduced himself as Nix, saying he didn’t know her name since she wasn’t Ailexia. He was now occupying a seat on the sofa as if he owned the place.

“Think about it. If I’ve come this far, it’s already over, isn’t it? That means you’re completely defenseless. But if you show wariness now, would that be scary, or just annoying?”

“……”

“Still, it’s not entirely hopeless. Even in your shocked state, you denied it twice? Well, not being able to refute my information is a flaw though.”

As he casually boasted, Iella, who had been quietly watching him, suddenly felt the urge to pinch him. How could someone be so annoying?

“In case you didn’t hear earlier due to your state of mind, let me repeat the naive parts. First, Ailexia never uses honorifics with anyone, anywhere. She’s a woman who’s selective even with the imperial family. Well, considering the nature of the illegal auction house, it was a good method. You could just deny it wasn’t you. But secondly.”

By now, Nix had started plucking and eating grapes one by one from the fruit bowl on the table. It was the dessert that had been served after dinner.

“This is probably the biggest variable. The fact that Ailexia has a fire trauma.”

“Fire trauma?”

“See, you didn’t listen to me earlier.”

He straightened up from his comfortable position on the sofa and nodded towards the seat opposite him. It was a gesture for her to come and sit.

Iella shook her head, but seeing his attitude that he wouldn’t speak unless she sat, she finally headed to the sofa after a moment’s hesitation.

As soon as Iella sat on the sofa with an uneasy expression, Nix opened his mouth again.

“It’s Ailexia’s top-secret information. Not many people know about it. Only two know. The Emperor and the Grand Duke. Ah, I’m an exception.”

“Why are you an exception?”

“Well, that’s a trade secret.”

‘…Is he mocking me now?’ Iella was genuinely starting to dislike him.

“Well, that’s not important anyway. Anyway, think about it. Could someone with fire trauma escape through those flames?”

“…No.”

“But what did you do? You even saved a child in those flames, and encountered the mother who set the fire who came looking for her child. You maintained your sanity even after escaping.”

He was explaining in detail that this was the reason her identity was exposed.

Iella felt a belated sense of dismay at her careless actions, but it was only for a moment. She didn’t particularly regret it. Even if she went back, she would make the same choice. Even if she knew about Ailexia’s fire trauma.

‘Wait, come to think of it, how does this man know that I saved the child and met the child’s mother and escaped?’

Nix had disappeared from her sight right after the flames broke out. Given the maze-like structure of the basement and the rapidly spreading flames, it was hard to think that he could have been hiding and spying on her.

Moreover, the escape was through a spell prepared in advance by the child’s mother. Even if he had been watching her until just before, there was no way he could have known what happened after she suddenly disappeared from the room.

“How did you know?”

“Hm?”

“That I found the child, met the child’s mother, and escaped. You disappeared from my sight as soon as the fire broke out, and I didn’t see even a strand of your hair after that. Moreover, the escape wasn’t done through normal means. So how do you know all this?”

“That’s a trade—”

“If you say ‘trade secret’ one more time, I’ll shove these grapes up your nose.”

Iella’s eyes blazed as she found a chance to counterattack. Faced with such a terrifying statement, Nix, realizing she was serious, quickly put the three grapes he was holding into his mouth and moved the fruit bowl to his side.

“C-calm down… first.”

As Nix, who had quickly swallowed the grapes, let out an awkward laugh trying to calm Iella, the bedroom door suddenly opened and the person she had been waiting for appeared.

“I’m back. Ah, that bastard wasn’t even at his own place…”

Vanessa, who had been grumbling as she entered, perhaps not having achieved what she wanted, finally noticed the two people sitting face to face on the sofa. Her golden-brown eyes, which had disappeared and reappeared a couple of times behind her eyelids, soon widened in disbelief.

“Hey, you, Nix, you crazy bastard!”

“Ugh!”

“Why are you here! You’re not answering my messages!”

“Wait, ow, ow!”

“Ow? Of course it hurts, it’s supposed to hurt when I hit you!”

“Oh, really!”

In an instant, Vanessa rushed at Nix with a pointing finger and hit his back several times. A crisp sound rang out from her fierce hands. Iella just stared blankly at the scene before her, as if watching a spectacle.

Then, when it seemed to have calmed down a bit, she interjected.

“Do you two know each other?”

Only then did the two stop their commotion and look at each other before turning their gazes to Iella simultaneously. But Vanessa roughly covered Nix’s lips, which were about to say something, with her hand and spoke herself.

“He’s the informant I mentioned. I wondered where he was since there was no trace of him all this time…”

“He seemed to belong to the harem.”

“The harem? Really? Why?”

As soon as Iella finished speaking, Vanessa grabbed Nix’s collar and shook him back and forth. Nix nodded helplessly like he was shaken. Then he gestured for her to remove the hand covering his mouth.

When Vanessa let go of his collar and removed her hand, he let out a big sigh.

“Damn, why are your hands so strong and rough now as always?”

“Stop talking nonsense and answer. Did Ailexia bring you into the harem? But why didn’t I know?”

“I entered the harem for a different request, and as you know, the details are confidential as per the contract. The reason you didn’t know is also included in that part. To avoid any misunderstanding, let me say in advance that I’ve never slept with Ailexia. Ailexia doesn’t even know I’m in the harem. Satisfied?”

“Hmm…”

Unlike Vanessa, who nodded and immediately understood Nix’s words, Iella’s mind was spinning rapidly.

‘So, to summarize.’

Nix was already acquainted with Vanessa, and he was in the harem without Ailexia’s knowledge due to some request. And Vanessa had contacted Nix to help her return to her original body. Then…

“You found out my identity because Vanessa told you, right?”

Nix’s shoulders twitched at her sharp deduction. Seeing his reaction, Iella narrowed her eyes.

“And you acted so annoyingly as if you had figured it out yourself?”

“……”

Nix, who had subtly averted his gaze, was sweating profusely from his forehead. It seemed he realized his attitude had been annoying even to himself.

Iella briefly considered pushing him further here, but stopped. She thought it would be meaningless.

“Well, the points you made weren’t wrong anyway. It was enough reason to be momentarily fooled.”

“…Indeed, blood doesn’t lie.”

Nix, who had turned his head back to Iella at her attitude, stared at her intently.

As she tilted her head at the persistent gaze that was almost burdensome, he suddenly uttered incomprehensible words and stood up to straighten his disheveled clothes.

Wondering what he was going to do, she just watched quietly as he approached her and knelt down on one knee in front of her with a polite attitude. Despite Iella’s surprised expression, he smiled slyly.

“I didn’t mean to surprise you, but I had to confirm even the smallest details. If even one thing was different from the information, I wouldn’t be able to carry out this request.”

“Request? Didn’t you come because of Vanessa’s contact?”

“Well, Vanessa’s contact did increase my certainty, but there was a request that came in before that. It’s closer to an order than a request… Anyway, if we’re talking about order, that takes precedence.”

He reached into his chest and pulled something out. It was an ordinary white envelope. Iella, who received the envelope from Nix, widened her eyes when she saw the signature scrawled in one corner.

“I’m glad His judgment was correct.”

“……”

“Miss Shua.”

It was her father’s signature.

After hesitating for a moment, Iella carefully opened the envelope. She took out the folded letter and unfolded it, revealing a short and concise content.

{ My little fairy, do you remember what your father used to say? No matter what happens, don’t be afraid, and if you solve things one by one step by step, this father will always find his way to your side, wherever and however you are. Don’t forget that the fairy’s blessing is with us. I love you.
P.S. Nix will help you. }

Suddenly, her eyes welled up with tears. Both the nickname ‘my little fairy’ and the kind words that always reassured her before sleep were things she had heard consistently from her childhood, which she couldn’t even remember, until now.

Encountering these two things, which usually made her heart swell, in this situation brought even more emotion.

Iella erased the doubt and denial she had held until opening the letter. This was certainly written by her father.

‘How did he know?’

It was such an unbelievable situation that she hadn’t made any contact with home. Fearing that the Emperor or others might find out, she had even set a different destination for her escape.

But as she thought about it repeatedly, the answer came easily.