The sunlight streaming outside the car window was still warm.
The sky was tinged with a pale yellow, appearing as though it would soon be completely covered in darkness, and as a result, the long shadows of the roadside trees partially fell across Dayton and Yerna’s faces.
Taking advantage of the brief stop at the signal, Yerna glanced at the children sitting in the back seat through the rearview mirror.
Luke and Diana were holding hands with peaceful expressions, their eyes gently closed.
Of course, the zoo was quite an exhausting place even for Diana, who was still a child, and for Luke, whose body was that of a chimera, it was no different.
Regulating dragon mana was still at a novice level, and the moment he lowered his presence, it seemed like all sorts of animals would rush at him.
Because of that, he consumed a great deal of emotional energy.
Even though Luke was a grand mage and familiar with restraining his emotions, consciously expressing them was an entirely different matter.
It was inevitable that he would feel mentally exhausted.
As a result, the moment Luke got into the car, he couldn’t help but fall asleep.
Not wanting to wake up Luke who was resting peacefully, Yerna quietly said to Dayton sitting in the passenger seat,
“He seems very tired.”
“Yeah.”
Dayton flinched a little, then slightly turned his gaze away from Yerna’s eyes, which met him in the rearview mirror.
“Looks like I should drop Luke off at his place first, and then I’ll stop by your apartment to pick up the luggage.”
The route back did pass by Yerna’s apartment, and he thought it might not be comfortable to leave Luke’s luggage in the car for too long while he detoured to her apartment.
“Alright, let’s do that.”
Though Dayton nodded in agreement, his face had an unusual red tinge.
As if unsure that the red glow of the sunset lighting could mask his own red face, he covered part of it with his hand while his elbow leaned against the window, his eyes shifting about.
Observing this, Yerna softly spoke.
“Still dwelling on what happened at the zoo, huh?”
“Huh?”
Dayton startled and straightened up.
At the zoo, so much happened that recalling it all would be impossible. However, there was only one thing that Dayton could think of when Yerna mentioned “that incident.”
It had to be about the love letter and the reason he had written it.
A deep inner truth that he wanted to reveal but was also afraid to express.
If only he could have manfully stated, “Actually, it was meant for you,” none of this would be a problem.
But he wasn’t bold enough to do so.
Though his mind was filled with visions of himself confessing to Yerna in a handsome manner, the courage to actually take that step seemed out of reach. After all, it was something he’d never tried before.
Everyone struggles with their first attempts, but Dayton feared messing things up due to his inexperience.
Yerna was an elf, and he was human. Their average lifespans differed by almost twice as much. Interracial marriages might be more accepted these days, but it wouldn’t be an easy decision for Yerna, an elf.
Even if he lived long enough to reach 100 years of age, entering the twilight of his life, Yerna would only be about 125, roughly equivalent to a human in their 50s, still with much life ahead.
It would feel terribly unfair to put Yerna through that moment.
Moreover, the most important question lingered: did Yerna even see him as a man?
Perhaps she just viewed him as a comfortable colleague?
He mulled over this problem every day:
How could Yerna come to see him as a romantic interest?
Was confessing the only solution?
But what if he suddenly confessed and got rejected? How could he possibly handle the resulting awkwardness?
Just imagining it made him feel suffocated and anxious.
In the end, Dayton resorted to procrastination.
“When you wrote the love letter, who was it for?”
“T-t-that… there is, um, someone I like.”
“Oh, is that so? I see.”
Fortuitously, Yerna nodded as if understanding and then after a moment of contemplation, smiled and said,
“Let me help you with it, shall I?”
“What?”
“It’s a love letter, right? It might help to hear a woman’s opinion, don’t you think? I’ll help. You might’ve misunderstood something, so I feel awkward about that.”
“U-u-um…”
“Are you embarrassed? It’s fine – I won’t ask who it’s for. I won’t tell anyone. I’m usually pretty discrete anyway.”
“…”
A love letter being reviewed by its intended recipient.
Well, the preferences might align, but it was certainly embarrassing.
Dayton gazed up at the towering artificial World Tree in the distance, through the window, as there was nowhere else for his eyes to rest.
“You don’t have to feel pressured, you know. If you ever need a woman’s opinion, feel free to ask me anytime, alright?”
“Huh? U-um…”
“Opinion from a woman…”
Yerna, you have as little experience as I do.
—
The items Luke brought along from Dayton’s place included roughly his school uniform, clothes, stationery and notebooks, as well as hygiene products like a toothbrush.
Dayton handed them over to Yerna, stating,
“This is all the luggage Luke brought. If there’s anything forgotten, tell him to come back and fetch it.”
“Ah, thank you for taking care of it.”
As Yerna nodded lightly and accepted the luggage, Dayton looked at her steadily and asked,
“So, you’re not doing ‘that’ anymore, are you?”
By “that,” he was referring to the investigation into Luke’s past and clearing up his history.
Breathing in deeply and then slowly exhaling, Yerna looked down at Luke’s luggage before answering,
“Yea, I intend to. For now, I need to be there for Luke.”
After all, Luke likely depended on her more than anyone right now.
But reflecting on the past, it was always her who sought comfort, wasn’t it?
“Phew… shame on me.”
“…”
The awkward silence that followed didn’t trouble Yerna, but Dayton struggled immensely with it.
“Y-Yerna?”
“Hm? What is it?”
“Ho, um… do you happen to have any free time this Sunday?”
“I do, but why?”
“Um, I’d like to get the letter reviewed by then.”
“Hm? Sure, I’ll keep that time open.”
“Alright, thanks!”
“Hold on, you’ll wake Diana.”
“No worries, Diana sleeps deeply.”
“Oh, is that so?”
With a somewhat cheerful Dayton left behind, Yerna moved toward her car. She had almost left when Dayton, looking around his house, suddenly exclaimed “Ah!” and quickly retrieved a notebook from his desk, adding it to the pile of items.
“What’s this?”
“It’s a notebook Luke often uses. Judging by how he’s always writing in it, it’s probably his diary.”
“Does it… have anything inside?”
With a mock glare, Yerna teased,
“Not your business?”
“No! I don’t have any interest in peeking into a girl’s diary!”
“Alright, then.”
—
“Huff, more baggage than expected.”
Despite Luke’s strength, it was truly impressive how he, in a child’s body, managed to carry so much luggage.
No doubt his strength was also a result of the experiments. After all, Luke is a chimera of a dragon and a demon beast, according to his claims.
Regardless of their veracity, there’s no denying the detection of non-human magical patterns, as well as the sight of him transforming into a dragon, lending his tale some credibility.
It’s uncertain how much of his memories have returned, but fortunately, he doesn’t seem to be burdened by too many unpleasant ones.
Carefully setting the luggage aside in the rear seat, something tumbled down amidst the items.
Picking it up, it turned out to be the notebook Dayton had hastily tucked in with the luggage.
“Hmm.”
A diary, it seems. Thinking about it, Yerna was curious about what usually went through Luke’s mind.
What could have he written in there?
Even though he was told not to, it shouldn’t hurt to look a little, right?
Slightly excited, Yerna opened the notebook.
The first page was filled with random scribblings of magical formulas and spells. Hmm, not a diary, but maybe a mistake notebook or memo pad?
Flipping through a few more pages, Yerna was equally disappointed to find the same contents. Did Luke think only of magic all the time?
Just as she was starting to feel a bit disheartened, her fingers stopped on a curious page.
Ice cream, cake, chocolate, and so on.
There were detailed descriptions of the foods Luke had eaten.
Yerna took the time to closely inspect the neat page.
Ice cream — sweet, refreshing.
Cake — salty, sweet, crispy.
Chocolate — sweet, sticky.
Barbecue — salty, chewy.
Every word was written in block letters, as if a child were practicing handwriting.
Considering Luke’s usual vocabulary, it was hard to imagine he’d ever write such things, yet they gave him a childlike charm.
Even so, it was surprising how neatly his handwriting resembled that of an adult’s. Did he even need to practice writing?
This must be what a gap is.
“Phew, how much does he love to eat?”
Further pages continued to talk about food. In great detail, but in a very concise manner.
It didn’t seem like a diary but rather a food log.
With a smile, as Yerna turned the pages, she paused at something else.
“Yesterday, day before yesterday, the day before that, the other day, the day before that.”
“Tomorrow, the day after tomorrow, three days later, four days later.”
Suddenly contrasting with the preceding pages, there were many hasty expressions related to time scattered all over the page.
Yerna unconsciously muttered aloud.
“What is all this?”
She raised her eyebrows.
Impossible.
Large, bold letters stood out.
“When will you come?”
Beneath the bold words, there were lines of smaller letters.
“Will you come tomorrow? The day after tomorrow? Three days later? Four days later?”
Yerna immediately closed the notebook, feeling a chill run down her spine.
—
Perhaps affected by what she’d read, Yerna felt an inexplicable tightness as if someone had placed a stopper on her heart.
Had she been too complacent, trusting Dayton to take care of things? Even though he’s a man, he couldn’t hope to fully understand the needs of a young girl. This wasn’t exactly Dayton’s mistake.
And Diana was far too young to provide Luke with the support she needed.
But who else could she have trusted? There wasn’t anyone else as reliable as Dayton when it came to caring for Luke.
Sorbi would have been a disaster, more likely to play pranks than provide protection if she were entrusted with Luke.
Daphne and Kirke? They weren’t adept at handling children.
Ultimately, there was no better person than Dayton who could be trusted, especially considering Luke’s unique circumstances.
It was her mistake to neglect the boy for so long.
Yerna sighed deeply, as the phrase “When will you come?” kept reappearing in her mind.
To feel lonely enough to not ask but repeatedly write this down – clearly, leaving him alone for too long became a problem.
Ding.
The elevator arrived.
Yerna finally shook herself out of her thoughts and stood in front of her apartment door.
“Huff…”
She took a deep breath.
“Is Luke sleeping soundly?”
Being careful not to wake the sleeping Luke, she opened the door as quietly as possible. Luke had sharp hearing, so waking him up would require the forest keeper’s stealth training skills to dampen all sound.
Making almost no noise as she gently closed the door, she tiptoed through the room to check on Luke, who was sleeping in the bed.
At that moment, a sound was heard.
“Rustle, rustle.”
It was coming from the bathroom.
“Did he wake up and decide to go to the bathroom?”
Yerna thought about calling out but decided not to, fearing that a sudden noise would startle him. He’d already thought everyone was asleep, so waking him by calling out would ruin his chances of doing what he needed.
“He’ll be out soon if I just wait.”
But waiting brought no sound.
“Did he fall asleep in the bathroom?”
Perhaps he was very tired. In that case, she would need to carry him back to bed.
Deciding to check, Yerna carefully approached the bathroom and opened the door.
What she saw far exceeded her expectations.
Luke, with his arm resting on the bathtub, was cutting into his own wrist with a knife.
“Luke!?”
“Y-Yerna? When, when did you come in?”
“Luke, what… what are you doing right now?”
“W-what? No, it’s, it’s… I thought you weren’t here… and, well! This is an experiment, an experiment! Don’t get the wrong idea!”
“Don’t lie to me.”
What kind of experiment involves cutting your own wrist?
