Chapter 99. Newspaper

It was a restaurant with a good view of the sea.

I, who preferred terrace seats, was waiting for my food while feeling the gentle breeze.

Across from me, Cyril was sitting with his legs crossed, leaning one elbow on the terrace railing, and his profile as he gazed at the sea was quite picturesque.

This is what a capable man enjoying leisure looks like.

“Hehe.”

I wondered if Cyril, like me, had achieved the life he wanted, or if he was born with a silver spoon.

He exuded an independent aura, not seeming to have any attachment to family.

He probably built his success from scratch, right?

While I was indulging in trivial thoughts, Cyril turned his head towards me.

“Why are you smiling?”

“Just because I’m happy. Hehe.”

I’ve been smiling a lot these days.

Just a few months ago, I was cursing all the time. Indeed, when people live busy and harsh lives, their character tends to deteriorate.

Cyril chuckled as if my answer was too plain and asked a light question.

“Does the merchant guild provide everything you need?”

“Yes, it’s beyond my expectations! They have everything.”

Praise the merchant guild.

Praise them a lot.

However, strangely, even the merchant guild, which could bring all sorts of goods like a general store, had no knack for getting newspapers.

They said it wasn’t something they usually dealt with.

I wondered if getting a newspaper was really that difficult, but I didn’t want to make unreasonable demands on the merchant who provided all other necessary items. Since I had to continue trading with them, I needed to be careful not to become a troublesome customer.

Well.

I was also worried they might claim it was extremely difficult and troublesome to get a single newspaper and charge a huge fee.

Let me reiterate, I had no intention of being taken advantage of. I had to use my savings sparingly until I became a grandmother.

Not seeing a newspaper for a few months didn’t make me particularly anxious.

Thanks to the reply from the gentleman through the emergency contact network.

[I will grant your request.
Please enjoy your life as Chloette to the fullest.]

How they knew my fake name, I had no idea.

Anyway, the information guild was impressive.

Overall, I was satisfied with my dealings with the merchant guild.

“A competent merchant, as expected.”

As if reading my mind, Cyril joined in the praise at just the right time. I didn’t know why he was smiling so contentedly.

Well, good things are good.

I asked him,

“Is there anything you need to request from the merchant guild, Sir Cyril?”

“I don’t need anything.”

“Well, you do go outside the village from time to time.”

“True.”

“Could you get me a newspaper next time you go?”

“…What? A newspaper… you say?”

Why was he so surprised?

What’s the big deal about a newspaper?

Was it because I suddenly brought up something unexpected?

I brushed it off lightly and asked again.

“Strangely, the merchant guild says it’s hard to get newspapers. They say it’s not something they usually handle.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes.”

I hesitated a bit before adding,

“Even though I’ve retired and settled in Ponitan, I feel like I should know how the world is going. At least occasionally.”

At my lengthy response, Cyril seemed to be pondering something, lowering his eyes diagonally.

Then he met my gaze again and gave a small smile.

“I’ll bring one if I don’t forget.”

“Really?”

“Well.”

That’s when the food arrived.

Wow…

The smell was amazing.

My mouth watered, and I couldn’t take my eyes off the food.

Fresh oysters drizzled with lemon juice, a rich stew with plenty of potatoes and cheese, freshly baked ciabatta steaming hot, and salty pickled olives.

“Thank you for the meal.”

I reached out and grabbed an oyster with its shell.

Slurp!

Wow! So sweet!

Fresh oysters were said to be sweet and not fishy, and it was true. It was incredibly delicious.

As I was eating with gusto, I felt like I was eating everything by myself.

When I glanced up, Cyril was resting his chin on one hand, watching me with a gentle gaze.

“Is it good?”

“Why aren’t you eating… huh?”

Why the informal speech?

I blinked in surprise. Then he seemed to realize it too late and let out a short exclamation, “Ah…”

Cyril then straightened his head and let out an awkward cough.

“Ahem. Seeing you eat so heartily reminded me of when I was young.”

“When you were young?”

We didn’t share past stories.

It wasn’t an unspoken rule, but since I came here hiding my identity, I was reluctant to bring up past stories, so the conversation rarely flowed in that direction.

But well…

If it was about when he was very young, wouldn’t it be okay?

“How young?”

“Let’s just say when I was staying at the orphanage.”

“Orphanage?”

I blinked in surprise.

I didn’t think he was born with a silver spoon, but to think he was an orphan.

“I’m also from an orphanage.”

I inadvertently revealed a bit of my past as well.

I don’t know why.

Maybe it was a sense of camaraderie.

Instead of probing into my unfortunate past, Cyril wore a faint smile. It seemed both sad and lonely.

“It’s hard not having a family. It seems people do need someone to lean on.”

“Was it because of the undead…?”

At the time, it was.

There were countless people who lost loved ones due to undead attacks.

Cyril answered with a nod.

“It was a very small hand. The hand that first reached out to me while I was curled up.”

“You found a family.”

“Well…”

He trailed off.

I wondered if I had misspoken and quietly held my breath. I also gently put down the fork I had been holding. It didn’t seem like the right atmosphere to eat.

Cyril’s voice resonated quietly in my ears.

“We parted ways in the middle.”

“…How could that be? That’s too cruel. It’s too sad.”

“The orphanage couldn’t accommodate more children.”

Children who were a bit older had to leave the orphanage.

Even so, they were still way too young. They would send out ten-year-olds to make room for four or five-year-olds.

The smarter kids were made to become independent sooner.

The orphanage director used that word.

Independence.

Some might argue it was abandonment, but in reality, it was about becoming independent and learning survival skills, which was the reality back then.

I was made independent at nine years old.

It was that dire.

Even without a detailed explanation, I could imagine what Cyril had gone through. I felt a heavy heart due to a sense of shared hardship.

“Is there no way to find them?”

I asked, knowing it was impossible.

How could you find someone you parted ways with at an orphanage when you were young? Their appearance would have changed a lot, and it was like trying to find a single grain of sand on this vast continent—an impossible task.

Cyril’s dark eyes, which I met, seemed filled with sadness.

I turned my head toward the sea, feeling like I might cry if I continued to meet his gaze.

“I’m sorry.”

I might have inadvertently dug into his wounds with my careless words.

Even though I understood the pain of not being able to find a precious person.

To prevent my nose from tingling, I discreetly took a deep breath.

After calming my emotions a bit, I looked back at Cyril.

“Please eat.”

As if he had been waiting for me to compose myself, Cyril spoke up at just the right moment. In his hand was a glass filled with sangria, the alcohol evaporating.

“It makes me happy to see you eat well, Miss Chloette.”

Perhaps the child he parted with when young also loved to eat. With that thought, I nodded willingly.

Burying the sorrow in our hearts, we raised a glass to joy.

* * *

His stomach churned.

There was no better way to describe Cyril Xavier’s state at that moment.

Having finished a meaningful meal with Seraphina, he sat alone in his mansion in Ponitan.

It was a dark night, but he wanted to be engulfed in even deeper darkness, so he drew the curtains to block out even a sliver of moonlight.

“Family…”

He had never really defined what Seraphina was to him.

A friend, a lover, a family.

There was no law that human relationships had to be confined to just one of these categories.

Humans are such complex beings.

“Ha.”

He lay sprawled, staring into the darkness.

If he could, he wanted to be everything to her.

Because to him, Seraphina was everything.

After leaving the orphanage, he worked as a young mercenary, saving money. It was a harsh time when even begging wouldn’t earn you a penny because everyone was struggling to survive.

He had to do something.

Desperately.

Four years later, Cyril returned to the orphanage to take Seraphina away.

He hadn’t saved enough money to fully support her yet, but there was no time. Since he was made independent at ten, Seraphina would be too.

But upon arrival, he was struck by the news that she had already been sent out at nine.

The despair was brief.

Cyril immediately sought out the information guild. He was fortunate to have some information he had acquired while working as a mercenary.

However…

<“Get lost! How dare a brat like you make a request with such a paltry sum?”>

The fee to find just one person was astronomical.

It was an amount he couldn’t earn even if he worked as a mercenary for a lifetime.

So he decided to become a guild member.

He didn’t shy away from dirty work or any dangerous tasks. He worked his way up, proving his skills.

He took charge of a branch, oversaw a region, and earned the trust of the guild master.

Before passing away, the former guild master publicly named him as the next guild master, declaring that Cyril Xavier was the only one fit to lead the vast information guild.

He earned his position through skill.

And the driving force that brought him this far was Seraphina.

She was his entire life. Without her, there was no Cyril Xavier.

Cyril closed his eyes gently.

“Ah, Seraphina…”