21.
Lilian had come to the café for an extremely simple reason.
Just because the café’s drinks suited her taste.
There was no other reason beyond having encountered someone she fought with long ago in a very rough and desperate battle.
Truly, there was no calculation or prediction involved—she just wanted to drink some delicious beverages.
However.
“Should outsiders of the Academy be wandering around so freely? Or do you enjoy making others feel uncomfortable?”
“Huh? Who’s one to talk…!”
Already, that irritatingly grating voice had reached Lilian’s ears, leaving no option but to confront it.
No choice existed to ignore it and walk away or step back.
The delicate teacup filled with sweet black tea shattered right in front of her eyes due to the presence of the ancient dragon.
Though technically it was entirely Lilian’s fault from being startled, such truths were not something Lilian cared about.
A slender hand soon extended toward the empty air.
And almost simultaneously, the Divine Beast staff gently glowing appeared in Lilian’s grasp.
“Hmm, are you threatening me now?”
Orpheon smirked at the staff pointed his way, fully aware that Lilian’s actions stemmed purely from youthful brashness.
“It could go beyond threats. What brings you here to Primus?”
“I have no obligation to tell you, Princess.”
“It’s the royal family’s duty to ensure the safety of the people. If I judge you as a threat, I can fight you anytime—”
Just as the atmosphere around them was about to turn hostile,
-Swoosh—
-Thud—
“…Master.”
Leter slowly grabbed Orpheon’s wrist and shook his head. Both Lilian’s and Orpheon’s gazes naturally turned toward Leter.
“Princess, please stop. There are many eyes watching.”
With a hint of sigh in his voice, Leter made Orpheon chuckle softly.
On the contrary, Lilian, whose eyes were full of question marks, asked:
“You were definitely at the café last time…”
Recognizing Leter’s face from their previous encounter, Lilian hesitated mid-sentence. Soon, the emblem of the ancient dragon embroidered on his pristine white robe caught her eye.
In Lilian’s wavering gaze, Leter briefly locked eyes with Orpheon before releasing his wrist.
-Step-
Approaching Lilian by one step,
“This is Leter Yurt, newly assigned to Primus. My apologies for the late introduction.”
While slightly lifting the hem of his robe with both hands, he bent his knee gracefully—a perfect aristocratic greeting taught by the tutors of the Yurt family.
This gesture transformed the image of the girl who once kicked Carian into a new role: the academy’s new professor.
Seeing this, Lilian fell silent. After all, she had already heard about Leter Yurt from her sister Irina.
‘The professor under the protection of the ancient dragon…’
A whirlpool of emotions crossed Lilian’s gaze as it flickered toward Orpheon and then returned to Leter, scanning him from head to toe.
White hair.
Weighty eyes.
For some inexplicable reason, a familiar vibe.
‘…Could it be?’
Except for his youthful appearance, he resembled someone Lilian had been searching for a long time.
Most notably, the scene where he called the ancient dragon “Master” while gently holding Orpheon’s wrist.
‘Daughter? No, that’s not it. She wasn’t even wearing a ring. Could it be she was already married? Or…an illegitimate child? No, that doesn’t fit. But if we’re not related by blood, how could they look this similar? …Distant relative? No, no. The teacher clearly mentioned growing up in an orphanage…’
All sorts of possibilities cascaded through Lilian’s mind.
After hesitating multiple times to speak and stopping herself each time, Leter tilted his head curiously.
But it seemed keeping Lilian and Orpheon in the same place would lead to nothing good.
“Well, I shall take my leave, Princess. As for the broken teacup… I’ll ask the staff to handle it.”
Handing over the latte macchiato ordered for Orpheon, he promptly walked away.
Almost simultaneously, a calm yet majestic voice resurfaced in Lilian’s memory.
「Seek the one who brings the first news. Surely, at the end of your journey, the long-awaited meeting will occur.」
The prophecy from the Divine Beast clearly referred to the one who brought the first news.
It instructed her to find Irina, who had received the ‘new’ news of the train attack.
In other words, go to Primus.
The Divine Beast, who sees past, present, and future, directly told Lilian that her long-awaited meeting awaited in Primus.
Nevertheless, this was only the meeting Lilian had anticipated until now.
Who the future Lilian needed to meet remained a mystery.
“So, wait a moment!”
“?”
Stopping a few steps away from Lilian, the young figure paused.
What if…
If this meeting with Leter was indeed the long-awaited encounter foretold by the Divine Beast?
“Spare me some time… even a little bit would suffice.”
She couldn’t let this chance slip. A girl resembling the person she missed, except for age and gender, might hold the key to reuniting with that person.
“Something came up. Sorry, Princess.”
Orpheon, colder than ever, said this while leading the girl away, disappearing into the distance.
Of course, Lilian’s hands trembled involuntarily, and her teeth clenched tightly.
“That damn lizard…!”
Fury bubbled up from deep within her chest, grinding her teeth.
Still, she had to calm down quickly when the royal knights arrived, alerted by the news of Lilian facing the ancient dragon.
“Your Highness! Are you alright!?”
“…Tch.”
Finally releasing her grip on the Divine Beast staff, Lilian gave orders:
Find out everything about the new professor of Primus, Leter Yurt.
Also, make Dean Ainel send all information about Leter Yurt in written form.
“I must know what he ate this morning.”
“…As you command.”
Even with the ancient dragon nearby, Lilian had no intention of giving up.
She decided to uncover why the dragon cared enough to allocate its time and effort to Leter.
“…Tell me who dared to anger whom.”
*
“You idiot. Not recognizing someone right in front of you.”
“…You didn’t recognize him either at first.”
“Is that comparable?”
“Let it go already….”
Sighs escaped me as I watched Orpheon thinking only of himself as always.
Despite living for over a thousand years, he still acted like a kid less than fifty, gloating after winning an argument.
“To the party involved, you wouldn’t understand how nerve-wracking it feels.”
“I’m sorry, but I’ve never experienced dried blood in my life. I don’t know how it feels.”
“…Hmph…”
At this point, I began to suspect he came here just to irritate me under the pretense of discussing strategies.
Still, since Orpheon is the only option right now,
“Did you find anything personally?”
I asked hopefully if he found a way to restore my original state.
Almost instantly, mostly negative responses came back.
“The wanderer doesn’t know his true identity either. The ‘jeweler’ says it’s the first time he’s heard of a case like yours. And the ‘saint’….”
“…Predictably, she probably wants me brought to her.”
“Exactly. She mentioned wanting to preserve you for about ten years.”
“Haa, treating me like a doll…”
The conclusion is simple.
Neither Orpheon nor I have found any clue to restoring my condition.
“Am I supposed to live like this forever?”
“It looks fine. What’s so bad about it?”
“Are you saying I look happy right now? …No, I’m not.”
Eventually, both Orpheon and I stopped trying to understand each other.
Perhaps because our roots differ, our values and basic concepts are entirely different.
Therefore, instead of the impossible, we aimed to discuss compromises regarding potential issues.
For example, precautions against the possibility of Carian causing a major accident.
“I don’t know what Carian’s planning.”
“Generally, it’s similar to the princess. Specifically, it’s different.”
He seems to be enjoying himself quite a lot.
Muttering something incomprehensible, Orpheon even recalled something.
There’s definitely something.
He’s definitely hiding something from me.
“Enjoying yourself? Carian?”
“…I misspoke. Forget it.”
“『Caligo』, 『Hielo』, 『…Lurie』”
-Shuffle-
“Can you stay for a bit?”
Though this “bit” could stretch quite long.
Facing the rather shocked Orpheon, I added a verbal threat to spill the beans.
“When did you meet Carian?”
