Chapter 18: Ideal Type (2)  

“Am I too late…?”  

Chloe quickly exited the secret passage and flew to the meeting place. After wrapping up the conversation with Lucas, she realized the sun had already moved quite a bit.  

‘Still, it’s a relief that I achieved my goal.’  

She recalled what had happened there. Lucas’s expression when she said Tehis was her ideal type was not something she could easily forget.  

The way he blankly stared at her face before lowering his head in deep defeat stuck in her memory. She had expected him to argue or dig deeper, but he had surprisingly accepted it without protest.  

The conversation that followed wasn’t much. It ended with Lucas making a mana oath as she had requested.  

He swore not to use the magic stones on Tehis and promised not to cause any trouble with them today.  

However, that didn’t mean Lucas would stop targeting Tehis altogether. No matter how much she insisted on his innocence, Lucas shook his head and voiced his objections.  

<Chloe, you may not understand this… but there are things in this world that can’t be resolved with logic and reason. Revenge is one of them. Even if the Grand Duke is truly innocent, I will still kill him. Even if he was only following the Emperor’s orders, it doesn’t change the fact that Escalante killed my family.>  

And the request he added after that was cruel. He asked her not to interfere, no matter which one of them died.  

When she couldn’t answer his suffocating demand, Lucas gave her a faint smile.  

<Goodbye, Chloe. Let’s meet again next time.>  

The best she could do was exchange farewells with him and leave as he unilaterally sent her off.  

“You’re here, Chloe.”  

“Sorry I’m late, Tess. Did you wait long?”  

“I just arrived not too long ago myself.”  

Chloe landed in front of Tehis and quietly looked up at him.  

His face struck her again as handsome. Handsome enough to satisfy her ideal type.  

As she examined his ever-unchanging expression in detail, a hint of puzzlement appeared on his face. He waited for her to speak first, but when the silence persisted, he cautiously asked:  

“Did something happen?”  

“No.”  

Chloe denied it and took a step closer. Before he could do anything, she wrapped her arms around his broad body.  

Tehis, who had stopped awkwardly, soon embraced her back. Though he had never comforted anyone before, he clumsily patted her back, imitating what she had done for him.  

‘He doesn’t even know what’s going on.’  

A small laugh escaped Chloe’s lips like air leaking from a balloon. She rested her forehead against him, careful not to ruin her makeup, and spoke slowly.  

“Lucas has the magic stones. But I got him to promise not to use them today.”  

“I see.”  

“And he also promised not to use them on you, so you won’t be threatened by them.”  

“…Is that so?”  

“Yes. Still, be careful, Tess. Lucas will continue to target you.”  

Tehis looked down silently at Chloe, whose face he couldn’t see.  

There was no reason for Lucas not to use those magic stones on him. If he had made such a promise, then Chloe must have taken some sort of action.  

‘So that’s why she was late.’  

Though he wasn’t sure about the exact time, he knew the banquet was about to start. They would need to return to the carriage soon, but Tehis didn’t move. Instead, he tilted his head slightly and pressed his lips to her hair.  

Then, as if whispering into her ear, he spoke in a languid tone.  

“I’ll keep that in mind. Though I’m not weak enough to fall victim to him…”  

“I know. I was just saying it because I’m worried about you.”  

At Chloe’s words, Tehis paused his breathing for a moment before exhaling. Ironically, the arm wrapped around her waist tightened instead.  

“If you’re that worried, Chloe,”  

As Tehis lowered his head further, his lips brushed against the curve of her ear.  

The ticklish sensation of his breath made Chloe flinch, but she didn’t pull away from him. After all, she was still holding onto him, so it was fair to say she had no intention of letting go either.  

Finally, Tehis’s low voice resonated through the quiet alley.  

“You’ll have to stay by my side.”  

Chloe parted her lips, then laughed softly.  

Who would believe that the top-class Sword Expert had said such a thing? And that it was Tehis Escalante, of all people?  

<It’s pointless to aim for Tess anyway. I’ll be by his side.>  

‘He couldn’t have heard that, so how…?’  

She gently pulled back from Tehis to look at his face. Since he hadn’t released her waist, her upper body leaned backward.  

Their eyes met at a close distance.  

Without much thought, Chloe raised a hand and touched his face. Her fingers slid down from his cheek to his jaw, as if searching for scars that were no longer there.  

While admiring his clean face, she muttered a complaint that wasn’t really a complaint.  

“You… do you know you’re sly?”  

“This is the first time I’ve heard that.”  

“You are sly, Tess. Since when did you become such a fox?”  

“Do you dislike this side of me?”  

At Tehis’s question, Chloe let out a small laugh.  

‘You really are sly, Tehis Escalante.’  

She blamed him for the third time and loosely hugged his neck.

“No. You know you’re my ideal type.”  

“Come to think of it, you haven’t been calling me cute these days. Have your preferences changed?”  

“My preferences are the same, but if you’ve changed, why don’t you try doing something cute?”  

When Chloe retorted boldly, Tehis closed his mouth. He simply stared at her blankly, and the corners of her lips curled upward.  

Of course. Just as she was about to indulge in a strange sense of victory, an unexpected response came.  

“If that’s truly the case, I’ll try.”  

Chloe’s lips parted slightly. She replayed his words in her head several times to confirm if Tehis had really said he would intentionally try to act cute, then let out a laugh.  

This man was driving her crazy. Was this seriously something a knight, who was a whole head taller and sturdier than her, should be saying?  

Chloe pulled him closer by the neck and let out a chuckle.  

“I’d like to see what you consider acting cute, but I won’t lie. You’re already plenty cute and lovable as you are.”  

The word “lovable” was newly added to the adjectives she used to describe him. Naturally, Tehis, who had never heard such words before, didn’t know how to respond.  

But at this point, it wasn’t a new concern. There were already many firsts he had experienced because of her.  

Being called cute or kind. Being thanked for simply growing up well—he had never imagined hearing such things in his life.  

Playful flirting, actions showing concern and care for him—those were new as well.  

The new world he was experiencing was entirely made up of Chloe.  

“You’re the same, Chloe.”  

Tehis lightly placed a hand on the back of her head. He had no intention of messing up her hair, so he simply rested his hand there. It was more an action to keep her from pulling away.  

“Cute and lovable, I mean. You’re also beautiful and wise. And such a strong mage.”  

“…Um, Tess?”  

“You said I’m your ideal type. Please don’t ever change those words, Chloe.”  

He liked this warmth he could touch without hesitation. He found her eyes, which looked straight at him when everyone else turned away, to be so lovely as they curved into a soft smile. Every time the warmth of a mage, whom he had thought to be purely rational, was directed toward him, he crumbled helplessly.  

Even though he knew they were in a contractual relationship, he couldn’t help but grow greedy. Everything Chloe gave him was so good it felt unreal, like a dream, and he desperately clung to it, afraid it would scatter like one.  

When he saw lavender blooming by the roadside, his gaze lingered. He found himself looking at the setting sun a little longer. All these changes were inevitable because they reminded him of her. His drawers were filled with items he had secretly collected just because they resembled her.  

And so, Tehis had no choice but to admit it.  

“As you probably already know, my ideal type is you.”  

It wasn’t because of any particular trait of hers that he liked. It was simply because Chloe, as a person, was Tehis Escalante’s ideal type.  

That’s just how it turned out.  

***

The two returned to the carriage and continued their conversation. Although they were late for the banquet, they didn’t bother using magic to speed up their journey. There was still an important conversation they needed to have.  

“Instead of meeting with others, they went straight to the imperial palace. Since the carriage didn’t bear the family crest, I pretended to pass by and joined the path to identify them. But the time and place weren’t suitable to do more than that.”  

“Who was it?”  

“Viscount Muregi. He was accompanying the Young Marquis Fernand. Do you remember the man with light gray hair?”  

“Oh, that guy who looks like a rat?”  

Chloe squinted her eyes as she recalled the sly-looking man. He was one of Demian Fernand’s companions whom they had encountered several times while on dates in the capital.  

‘Muregi, huh. What a petty-sounding name.’  

Or maybe even trash.  

After tucking away her rude thoughts, she asked further.  

“So, does that mean the Fernand Ducal Family is involved with the group of dark mages?”  

“It seems highly likely. I’ve heard the family officially supports the Crown Prince… but this might mean they’ve had a change of heart.”  

Whether it was the missing Second Imperial Prince, the reclusive Third Imperial Prince, or the Crown Prince himself—whoever was behind it, one thing was certain: there were signs of rebellion.  

Without solid evidence, they couldn’t just kidnap Viscount Muregi and torture him for information, so they would need to approach cautiously for now.  

‘It’s probably not the Crown Prince.’  

Tehis pieced together the information he knew. Kaishan, who could inherit the throne simply by staying still, wouldn’t have caused trouble. And since it was said to involve an imperial prince, Princess Helena was excluded.  

That left either Chernin or Illein. One had been attacked during the founding celebration banquet, and the other had disappeared.  

If he had to guess, the Second Imperial Prince, who had yet to show himself, was the most likely suspect…  

‘It’s more plausible that he’s being held hostage.’  

Illein Harpeon had always seemed like a docile figure who trailed after the Crown Prince. He wasn’t competent enough to be considered a viable candidate for Emperor, so Tehis was skeptical.  

“That aside.”  

Chloe’s voice brought him out of his thoughts. She tapped on the window and smiled brightly.  

“We’re here. Let’s set aside the complicated matters for now and enjoy ourselves, shall we?”