“Oh!”

A carriage suddenly rushed past and splattered black mud onto Rowella’s dress and neck.

Rowella startled, squeezed her eyes shut, and stopped dead.

“Are you all right, Rowella?”

Rowella pulled a handkerchief from her bag and rubbed her clothes and cheek with irritation, then snapped.

“You should have moved me to the inside when you saw the carriage coming! Do you know how much I love this dress!”

“……”

“Do you only think about yourself? Am I invisible to you?”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t sleep well last night……”

“……”

“I’m sorry. I’ll be more careful from now on.”

Peter bowed his head and stole a glance at her expression.

Rowella’s face did not soften even at his apology.

Peter let out a heavy sigh, bit his lip, and thought of his former fiancée Shiloh.

‘She used to thank me for the smallest things, tell me I was the best……’

When he was with Shiloh, he had felt like the greatest man in the world and walked with his head high.

But Rowella assessed him with a cold precision that bled him dry and left him feeling small.

She was just out of reach, and the fear that she might turn into a butterfly and fly away at any moment made him anxious.

That kept his desire to pursue her alive, but lately he was slowly running out of energy.

Peter bit his lip and drew in a deep breath.

‘It makes sense that she’s wary. She abandoned her friend, so she must worry about being abandoned herself. If I keep giving her reassurance, she’ll eventually open her heart completely.’

Peter watched Rowella’s back as she stepped out of the carriage and entered the large mansion with a bitter expression.

Looking at the grand stone building surrounded by walls, Peter imagined himself one day as the son-in-law of the illustrious Erald family.

*

Shiloh hung a wooden sign on the shop door, which now had a new pane of glass.

「To the thief who came here and secretly ate our bread, if you turn yourself in, we’ll give you a big-size cake.」

The sign also had a notice that she was looking for staff.

Shiloh had lately been feeling the need to take on an apprentice.

The long queue in front of her small shop had become so noisy that the nearby merchants had started giving her jealous looks.

Shiloh was checking the notice posted on the shop in the warm yellow light of the setting sun when,

“Shiloh?”

“Hmm?”

She turned at the voice calling her from behind.

“It’s me. Owen.”

Shiloh narrowed her eyes at the man and flinched in recognition.

“Owen?”

It was the man she had seen at the tea party.

She had noticed their eyes meeting repeatedly and had wanted to talk to him at some point, but she hadn’t expected him to come find her like this.

He had one hand behind his back, and the corners of his eyes curved as he smiled a smile like spring sunlight.

“Late, but congratulations on opening.”

Owen held out a bouquet of flowers with purple and pure white petals mixed together.

Shiloh’s wide eyes moved back and forth between the bouquet and him.

Owen, with his blond hair and light blue eyes, had a gentle, warm impression.

She couldn’t even remember if there had been any description of him in the novel, which made her all the more curious about him.

‘What kind of relationship did we have?’

Shiloh looked at Owen with curious eyes.

She pushed down her curiosity and greeted Owen, her Academy classmate, warmly.

“Thank you. The flowers smell wonderful.”

She sat across from him at the table, picked up the bouquet, and held it to her nose.

“It’s a flower called Raisly. The meaning is ‘a precious feeling to carry even when life changes.'”

“Oh.”

Owen glanced at Shiloh as she studied the fresh petals intently, then hesitated before speaking.

“I was sorry we couldn’t talk that day.”

“You saw the address I handed out at the tea party and came to find me?”

“You left early so you might not know. I work at the magic tower.”

“……”

“I’ve come to install a warp gate on His Majesty’s orders.”

Only then did Shiloh remember that Kyle had said he would send someone to install a warp gate.

“Working at the magic tower. That’s impressive.”

“I’m just carrying on the family tradition.”

“Family?”

“Yes. My mother is the master of the magic tower.”

“Really?”

Shiloh was surprised and brought both hands to her lips.

He had said ‘carrying on the tradition,’ but getting into the magic tower as a mage was no easy thing. It was a place one could only enter by passing a rigorous examination.

“I’ve been wondering……”

Owen’s green eyes moved carefully toward her.

“Yes?”

“Why did His Majesty order a warp gate installed here? Making it a secret base only he can use……”

Shiloh understood what Owen was getting at and waved her hands emphatically.

“We’re nothing like that.”

“Really……?”

Owen worked up the courage to meet Shiloh’s eyes.

She shook her head and let out an exaggerated laugh.

“Of course not. And we absolutely won’t be in the future. How could I possibly be anything to His Majesty?”

“But why here of all places……”

Owen tilted his head slightly.

“I’m sorry, but the reason is an imperial command so I can’t reveal it.”

When Shiloh drew the line clearly, Owen’s stiff expression relaxed and brightened.

“All right. I won’t ask the reason. Is the business not too hard?”

“Actually, there was a robbery not long ago. Fortunately, His Maj, I mean, a customer subdued him.”

“What? A robbery?”

“I’m really fine. No injuries either……”

Owen let out a sigh that could have sunk the floor and stood up, coming over to her.

He reached into his pocket and pulled out a pure white crystal bracelet.

“Let me put this on you.”

Owen drew Shiloh’s slender wrist toward him and carefully fastened the bracelet.

“What’s this bracelet for?”

She held out her wrist and blinked her wide eyes at him, and he smiled as he explained.

“It’s a communication device. Call me whenever you need.”

Shiloh reached up toward the dandelion-shaped earring in her ear and stopped.

The earring she was currently wearing was also a communication device.

A few days earlier, Kyle had sent it by post with the same message. That she should contact him whenever she was in danger.

“Thank you. It’s pretty……”

Shiloh looked down at the bracelet on her wrist for a moment, then looked up at Owen and smiled.

His cheeks lifted right along with hers.

“It’s no bother at all, so contact me anytime.”

Shiloh couldn’t take her eyes off the bracelet.

Owen watched her quietly for a moment, then asked in a low voice.

“Magic? Have you given it up now?”

“Hmm?”

At Owen’s question from across the table, Shiloh’s lake-like eyes wavered faintly.

Shiloh had been diligently working through the magic primer whenever she had spare time, preparing for when the pabua powder ran out, but self-study had its limits.

“It’s less that I gave it up and more that…… I forgot?”

“What? All of it?”

“Yes.”

“The spell to make a light rain fall?”

“I don’t know……”

She quietly looked away.

“The ability to breathe underwater? Can you not talk to fish anymore either?”

When Owen pressed her with question after question, Shiloh’s eyes went wide.

“I…… used water magic?”

The look in her eyes that said she genuinely didn’t know left Owen speechless.

“You really don’t……”

Owen laughed hollowly, then dropped his gaze and murmured.

“Why of all things did you forget the magic…… you were so beautiful when you did magic……”

His expression darkened rapidly, and Shiloh stumbled over her words.

“Th, they say a strong shock can cause partial memory loss……”

“That guy……”

Owen thought of Peter, Shiloh’s former fiancé, and downed the black tea in front of him in one go.

Shiloh’s eyes went wide at the rough gesture that didn’t match his image.

“You don’t need to worry. The shop is doing well now. Anyway, it’s nice to have a friend. We were…… close, right?”

Shiloh watched Owen’s expression carefully.

For a moment Owen’s eyes wavered, but he quickly composed his expression and lifted the corners of his mouth.

“I kept thinking about talking to you but couldn’t bring myself to approach. Maybe it was because you had a fiancé back then.”

“I see…… we can just get close from now on.”

Shiloh looked at Owen and gave him a warm smile.

Owen paused for a moment, then pulled up the corners of his mouth.

“What are friends for? I’ll teach you magic again.”

“Really?”

“Once you can do magic again, you might say you’re quitting the business to become a mage.”

“Me?”

“I’d like that.”

Shiloh stared at Owen with wide eyes.

He gave a fake cough and quietly looked away, then stood up abruptly.

“I should get to work now.”

Owen reached into the pocket on his jacket and took out a magic stone, placing it in his palm.

It was a beautiful stone that emitted a luminous emerald glow.

“I’ll install it on the floor in front of that wall over there. It won’t be visible normally.”