Chapter 27

She was so stunned that she couldn’t speak.

‘Could he really be talking to us?’

Before she could grasp the situation, the man spat out his sharp words.

“Are you trying to take advantage of the staff’s absence to forcibly claim the seat? No, it’s outright theft. It wasn’t your seat in the first place.”

His reasoning was absurd.

She stepped forward, feeling completely baffled.

“What did you just say?”

“Dreams, huh. How ridiculous.”

He sat with his legs crossed and arms folded, clicking his tongue in a bold posture.

“These days, young people…”

Just in case, she unfolded the reservation confirmation again. The table number where the man sat matched the one she had reserved. The name of the passenger ship, restaurant, date, time, meal menu, and even the number of guests—all matched. She frowned and put the reservation back in her bag.

‘This man… how shameless.’

She grabbed Sierd’s arm and whispered quietly.

“It’s hopeless. He seems to have no sense of common decency. It’s dirty and petty, but on a good day like this, it’s better for us to just move seats than to argue.”

She wanted to demand an apology, but held back.

‘I don’t want to ruin precious time with Cesar.’

Cesar, oblivious to everything, looked longingly at the chocolate shaved ice and licked his lips.

“I want to eat that!”

“Could you wait just a little, Cesar?”

“Mm…”

Cesar looked up at her with teary eyes.

She held his hand tightly and comforted him.

Sierd looked down at Cesar and then spoke.

“I agree, but didn’t you say your dream was to enjoy an expensive dinner while watching the night view from the best seat in a luxury restaurant on a first-class passenger ship?”

“What?”

She had no idea when her dream had become an extravagant affair.

‘I just wanted to have dinner together in a cozy spot…’

Having a meal with family was more meaningful than enjoying an expensive dinner. It was even more precious because they were a contract family. Such an opportunity might never come again.

“Ha.”

At that moment, the man with refined looks but an unpleasant personality let out a hollow laugh. Unlike her, Sierd hadn’t lowered his voice, so the man clearly heard his words.

She glanced at him, then noticed the staff speaking with the manager in the distance. Hesitating, she continued.

“Well, that’s half right…”

Both Sierd and the man looked at her.

“What matters most to me is spending time with family.”

“Unbelievable.”

The man sneered and sipped his champagne.

“The sunset is perfect. Sometimes, indulging in luxury and vanity isn’t so bad.”

He spoke mockingly, then leisurely gazed at the sunset.

That seat should have been hers.

‘…Let’s just give up.’

It seemed better for her mental health not to get further involved, regardless of what he misunderstood.

“Let’s go. It’s a waste of time to deal with people like that.”

Just as she turned away, holding Cesar’s hand, Sierd grabbed her hand and pulled her close. The warmth spread from his interlaced fingers.

Startled, she suddenly saw a blond man with glasses slap the shoulder of the unpleasant man.

“Tower Master! I’m here!”

He looked around, then met Sierd’s gaze and stepped back half a pace.

“But… Why is the atmosphere like this? Who are these people…?”

The unique way of speaking caught everyone’s attention. To Elodia, it was a rather familiar manner of speech.

She tilted her head, studying his face, and spoke.

“…Sir Thierry?”

The Everdeen Merchant Guild sold toys embedded with artifacts, so it had strong ties to the Mage Tower. Thierry was the one who always represented the Mage Tower in negotiations whenever the guild traded with them.

Thierry, who had just noticed Elodia, widened his eyes and exclaimed,

“Huh? Huh? Everdeen Guild Leader?!”

His habit of ending every sentence with ‘gyu’ came from his favorite comic book character.

“It’s nice to see you here, gyu! What brings you here!”

‘He must have felt the sudden mana and grabbed my hand.’

Elodia smiled, conscious of Sierd’s hand holding hers.

“The pleasure is mine. But what is the relationship between you two…?”

“Ah, this is the Tower Master.”

“Oh, I see— the Tower Master. The Mage Tower… what?”

Her mouth dropped open. She turned stiffly to look at the Tower Master.

He shrugged his shoulders naturally.

‘I couldn’t sense any mana at all.’

Well, if Jack could hide his mana, then surely the Tower Master could as well.

The Tower Master, Isaac Lodiac, was a mage with unprecedented abilities. He could wield not just tracking and explosive mana, but was rumored to possess another unknown attribute as well.

Her lips tightened in anxiety.

‘Why am I on the same ship as the Tower Master…’

She was nervous that he might discover she was a mage, and worried that her relationship with an important business partner might be ruined.

She quietly clasped Sierd’s hand with both of hers, sticking close to him.

Sierd picked up Cesar with one arm, and wrapped his other arm around Elodia’s shoulder.

Thierry looked at the couple as if his eyes were burning, then turned away.

“Isaac, you should greet them, gyu. This is the Everdeen Guild Leader, the Mage Tower’s biggest client. When the Mage Tower was struggling, the Guild Leader commissioned artifact production, so we could keep going, gyu.”

“…Everdeen Guild Leader?”

“That’s right. The artifact design you were curious about before—that was made by a foreign mage she knows. The mysterious mage, remember?”

“Aha. Then, the one on the left is Duke Fernande?”

“….”

“…You’ve grown a lot.”

Sierd’s gaze toward Isaac was icy cold. Sierd already disliked mages, and Isaac was the head of the Mage Tower. He had been the Tower Master during the artifact explosion incident, so Sierd couldn’t help but feel anger.

Back then, Sierd was a young duke at the battlefield, and the Tower Master hadn’t appeared outside the Mage Tower for decades, so they seemed to be meeting for the first time.

Fortunately, Thierry sensed the sudden tension and quickly understood the situation.

“Oh, right. This is the Everdeen Guild Leader and this must be her husband, so… ah.”

He slapped his palm with his fist as he realized, looking at Elodia. Thierry and Elodia exchanged glances.

‘I’ll go.’

‘Hurry and go.’

They silently agreed to part ways here.

“So, you’re the Tower Master. It was nice meeting you. We’ll be on our way…”

Just as they turned to leave, the staff member who had helped them returned with the manager. Both bowed deeply.

“We apologize for making you wait so long, customers. The reason is, this seat was double-booked by our restaurant, and now only one party can dine here. We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience.”

“Double booking? Isn’t this just a scam?”

Isaac’s muttering could be heard from behind.

“Who are you calling a scammer, gyu? The Everdeen Guild Leader is a very trustworthy person, gyu. Solid reputation, gyu.”

Thierry’s whisper followed.

Thanks to the staff who appeared like a savior, it seemed they could escape smoothly and naturally. Elodia smiled broadly and said,

“So it was a mistake by the restaurant! That happens, of course. So…?”

She nodded with a bright expression, urging them to provide a solution.

‘Please change our seats right away! Anywhere is fine now!’

The staff, unable to withstand her desperate gaze, became flustered, and the manager raised one eyebrow and continued,

“We can move your party to another table or help process a refund, would that be alright?”

But then—

“There’s plenty of space, so the five of us could just sit together.”

Isaac looked up. He stared directly at Elodia and repeated,

“While we’re at it, I’d also like to hear about the foreign mage who wrote the artifact blueprint commissioned by the Mage Tower.”

For some reason, his gaze felt like he was testing her. Perhaps it was because she herself was the anonymous foreign mage who had written the artifact blueprint…

‘He never cared about Mage Tower business before, so why is he suddenly showing interest now?’

It was more than uncomfortable—it felt dangerous. Elodia quietly clung to Sierd’s side.

Just then, a man with gray hair who had followed Thierry suddenly interjected.

“Huh? Five people?”

He counted the heads and pointed at his own chest.

“So I can’t even have dinner with you? Huh? My room was taken by a brute, and I’m sharing with Sir Thierry, but now dinner too? Even though this seat is the one I reserved…”

He was a man whose presence had been invisible from beginning to end.

Elodia and Thierry unintentionally ignored his words and quickly exchanged glances. When Elodia firmly shook her head, Sierd spoke up just in time.

“We’ll decline.”

“……”

Sierd lowered his gaze and, with emotionless eyes, looked down at Isaac and continued,

“As you can see, we have a child with us.”

While Elodia blinked, Sierd twisted the corner of his mouth and said,

“As parents, the child’s safety is our top priority.”

It was both a jab at the artifact explosion incident and a mockery of the Tower Master who failed to protect others.

The atmosphere instantly became icy. Elodia swallowed dryly and rolled her eyes, then placed her hand over Sierd’s, which was wrapped around her shoulder. Ever since learning Isaac was the Tower Master, Sierd’s hand had been trembling slightly.