Chapter 44

After putting Gin to bed, Ethea came out into the living room.

Lily, who had been chattering away, had fallen asleep on the sofa, and Solei was covering her daughter with a blanket.

Seisil, whom she had thought had already returned to the Mage Tower, had cleared away the table and was wiping it down properly with a dishcloth. The sight was rather amusing. She had thought that if he was a magician, he would simply use a cleaning spell with ease. When his eyes met Ethea’s, Seisil abruptly apologized first.

“I’m sorry for drinking without permission, Lady Etty.”

He was apologizing for drinking? More than that, wasn’t kissing in someone else’s house the bigger issue? She wanted to ask him exactly that.

But the way he said it with a playful smile left her with nothing much she could say to that face. Ethea merely shrugged and gave a light smile.

At that, Seisil suddenly pretended to wipe away tears with the dishcloth in his hand. The reason was so absurd that she was dumbfounded.

“Waaah, you smiled at me for the first time!”

Excuse me, it’s not really like that, though? And is it really something to be so overjoyed about? That thing in your hand is a dishcloth, so what exactly are you doing rubbing it on your face, Sir Magician? 

As far as Ethea knew, when Lyle was young, Seisil had seemed to be the only friend he played with at the palace, and yet why was that one friend like this?

Ethea let out a small sigh and looked at Solei.

And this time, she smiled at her in a somewhat different way from the smile she had shown Seisil.

Hehe.

At that expression on her face, Solei flinched and tensed up. Watching Ethea’s mood, Solei asked,

“Etty, are you feeling a little better?”

Ethea nodded.

“Yes. I feel better after sleeping deeply. But Soli, are your lips all right?”

Those lips that kissed Seisil, she meant.

“I’m fi…… ah, well, that is, I mean……!”

Solei, who had been about to answer absentmindedly, realized what she meant and her face flushed all at once. It was so amusing that Ethea almost burst out laughing. Looking embarrassed, Solei stammered more.

“W-well, um. First of all, I’m really sorry for doing something like that when it’s not even our house.”

“No, I’m fine with it. Since when is there your house and my house between us?”

The problem was if the children saw. The children still did not seem to know much about the relationship between the two of them.

Thinking that, Ethea shrugged. Feeling the need to explain herself to her friend, Solei hastily continued.

“I mean, that is, it just sort of happened. We are absolutely not in the kind of relationship you’re thinking, so please don’t misunderstand.”

“Aha?”

With her arms folded, Ethea nodded leisurely.

Looking at Seisil, he somehow seemed to have been hurt by Solei’s words, wearing a disappointed expression. Meanwhile, Solei began fidgeting helplessly between his reaction and her friend’s teasing look.

Well now, this was quite entertaining to watch.

Ethea observed the two of them with interest.

As if questioning her, Seisil asked Solei,

“It just sort of happened? Then are you saying it was a mistake?”

“Pardon? Well, I……”

“I was sincere. You weren’t playing with me, were you?”

“As if I would. But as you know, Lijeil is……”

At the mention of her husband who had long since gone away, a shadow crossed Solei’s face.

Though she was a little worried about what would happen if Lily overheard this conversation, Ethea could not stop watching to see where it would go.

“It’s not that I failed to think of your husband. But think about it.”

Seisil firmly took both of Solei’s hands.

At once, Ethea inwardly shuddered and cried out. Ugh. Those hands touched the dishcloth!

“With a few exceptional cases aside, most people, because of Haea’s curse, can spend their whole lives falling in love with almost only one person.”

“Yes, that’s true.”

“But if you kissed me, Solei, doesn’t that mean the curse was broken?”

Solei looked into Seisil’s eyes, then lowered her gaze. But she did not brush away his hands or let go of them.

Feeling a strange hope in that, Seisil pulled her hand to his chest and confessed,

“So, I think all of this is fate.”

“Ah……”

“What about you, Soli? Tell me honestly.”

“I, actually, I also……”

Though it was in a small voice, Solei’s answer carried affirmation. Even Ethea could tell that Solei’s hand was gripping Seisil’s tightly.

“Soli……”

Moved beyond words, Seisil looked as though he might pull Solei into his arms at any moment.

At this point, it somehow felt as though a third party should leave them alone. Just as Ethea tactfully turned to go, Solei suddenly asked,

“You’re not like this with other women too, are you?”

It was a fair point.

Solei, who had once borne a child, found it hard to fall in love with another man. Feelings that had been born almost like a miracle had reached Seisil.

But Seisil’s case was different. He was a young man who had never even married, let alone had children. Therefore, he was free from Haea’s curse and could give his heart to anyone. On top of that, he held the status of master of the Mage Tower, and his looks were remarkable as well.

Though in Ethea’s eyes he only looked like a flighty man, to other ladies he might very well be the popular type.

‘No, at that level, he’s already a popular man. He might even already have a fiancée. Wait. Then wouldn’t that only hurt Solei?’

Without realizing it, Ethea found herself waiting for Seisil’s answer.

Seisil lowered his eyes slightly, as though he felt hurt by Solei’s question.

“That’s too much. I don’t make confessions like this to just any woman. Well, even if you say women, I only spend my life seeing a very small number of them in the Mage Tower, but still, I-I mean, my feelings-are very serious about you. I hope you understand that.”

“Aah, Seisil!”

After that, Ethea could not bear to watch with her eyes open. The two of them, forgetting entirely that someone was watching, clasped both hands together and gazed at one another with burning eyes.

“Excuse me, but if I step aside, could you save the kiss for after that?”

Ethea hurried over to the sofa, picked up Lily’s tiny sleeping body in her arms, and headed for her bedroom. By then, the two of them were already embracing each other tightly as though Ethea’s presence meant nothing at all.

Click.

Ethea closed the bedroom door and laid Lily down on the soft bed. But then Lily, whom she had thought was asleep, started opening one eye in a sly little wink. Had she really heard all the adults’ conversation?

Slightly startled, Ethea lowered her voice as much as possible and asked Lily,

“You weren’t sleeping?”

“Hehe.”

That reaction was answer enough. It really did seem she had heard all the adults’ words.

But this child, it seemed, was not as shocked as expected. Normally, would a child not feel uneasy at the thought that her mother might be taken away? Then again, perhaps because Seisil’s appearance and personality both made him approachable, Lily did not feel any aversion to him.

While Ethea carefully studied Lily’s expression, Lily herself gave a sweet smile and said something incomprehensible.

“I knew it would turn out like thisss. I know everything.”

“Hm?”

“There’s nothing I don’t know. Mom and Mr. Magician, hehe…… and Aunt Etty too.”

“Hm? Me, what?”

“A seeecret. It’s a secreeet. I’m going back to sleep.”

As if telling her not to ask any more questions, Lily pulled the blanket up over her head. The sight was so adorable that Ethea could not help smiling, but…….

‘Well then. What is it? That face like she knows everything. Lily, what exactly is it that you know?’

＊  ＊  ＊

The weather had suddenly turned chilly. Before long, the first snow would come as well.

Ethea had originally hated winter. It was because she had not been able to afford to use heating as much as she wanted. But these days, perhaps because she was receiving child support and could now use the heating freely, she had begun to think even the feeling of winter was something to enjoy. To think her mood could change this much over heating alone……. Happiness truly was not much at all.

After hanging the laundry in front of the fireplace from early morning, Ethea turned on the music box and drank tea. It was a peaceful moment alone, enjoyed for the first time in a very long while. The quiet felt unfamiliar, but not unpleasant.

Gin had gone out to play with Solei’s family. Perhaps because Ethea had lately been making the child play indoors too much, Gin had said he felt stifled, and Solei had suggested taking him outside to play. And it had not been Solei alone who suggested it, but Seisil together with her. Since a dependable magician would be there too, there was no reason to refuse, so Ethea readily gave permission.

They all seemed very excited at the thought that, using Seisil’s magic, they could go somewhere far away. Of course, that was likely because they liked children, but it also seemed their purpose was to enjoy a date while they were at it. Whenever it was a day Seisil came over, Solei dressed up particularly often, and Seisil too, when he came to see her, often wore finer things than his Mage Tower clothes. That alone was enough to tell that their real purpose was to enjoy a date.

Ethea had been a little worried about Lily, but fortunately Lily liked Seisil. Not only liked him-Solei said she looked for Seisil every single day. Whether it was his magic or his personality, he seemed to suit her perfectly.

But Gin liked Seisil as well. Since his mother would not let him study alchemy, Gin had turned his interest to magic and had recently been asking Seisil many things and trying to learn from him. And kind Seisil would gently answer anything for Gin, calling him his “little apprentice.”

At any rate, thanks to all this, Ethea felt her life had become more pleasantly lively than before. It was not bad. There was nothing better than a lonely life being filled with delightful people and happy things.

“Hm?”

Just as Ethea was savoring the fragrance of her tea while lost in pleasant thoughts, she suddenly felt a chill run down her spine. Reflexively, she turned and looked toward the window. But outside there was nothing but the bleak sight of early winter, and no one was there.

‘What is this? This unpleasant feeling, as though someone is watching me.’