Chapter 84

“Ahem, Kaywhin.”

“Yes, Yelena?”

“Have you ever said anything you didn’t mean to me? That is, including this moment?”

Kaywhin suddenly had an expression that seemed to imply that he didn’t know why Yelena was asking such a question, but he answered calmly.

“No, I haven’t.”

“…From the past to the present? Not even once?”

“Yes.”

Yelena remained silent for a moment.

Soon after, she led Kaywhin and moved quickly.

“…Let’s hurry! Black Tower Owner is be waiting for us.”

Noticing how Yelena seemed anxious to rush ahead, Kaywhin could not ask Yelena about the title of Black Tower Owner.

“It’s a pleasure to see you again, Duchess. My name is Sidrion.”

Sidrion stood up in the parlor room and greeted Yelena.

Since he had already introduced himself last time, it was actually a silent plea for her to call him by his name.

Yelena neatly ignored Sidrion’s persistent wishes and asked, “Can we leave right now?”

“…Yes, it’s possible.”

“Then…”

It was then.

The door opened with a knock, and a man entered the parlor room to find Kaywhin.

“Excuse me, Duke. There’s something that I need to discuss with you urgently…”

It was Ali, the administrator in charge of business support under Kaywhin.

From the look on his face, it appeared genuinely pressing.

Kaywhin glanced back at Yelena.

“I’m sorry, Wife. I’ll be right back.”

“It’s all right. I’ll wait for you, so take your time, Kaywhin.”

Yelena leisurely sent Kaywhin away. There was no rush.

The festival would continue until late into the night, and Sidrion was a competent sorcerer, so he would be able to bring the two of them to the festival swiftly.

With such a relaxed attitude, Yelena noticed Sidrion make a subtle expression from out of the corner of her eye.

“What?”

“…You call Kaywhin by his first name.”

Yelena’s expression also subtlely changed at his words.

“Black Tower Owner, do you call him by his first name, too?”

“I told you before, didn’t I? We’re close friends.”

“Oh yes, I heard that from my husband.”

It seemed like they were close enough to call each other’s names.

Yelena looked at Sidrion with a somewhat wary look.

While Sidrion was puzzled by that glance, Yelena suddenly inquired.

“Now that I think about it, I heard you were a priest before you became a sorcerer?”

“Ah, yes.”

“Is that why you dress like that?”

Sidrion’s robe was entirely white.

Last time he wore a robe of that color, and nothing had changed this time.

As if it was an unexpected question, Sidrion paused for a while before answering.

“…That’s not it. But did you hear from Kaywhin that I was a priest?”

“Yes.”

“Did you happen to hear about another story?”

“Another story? What story?”

Yelena heard that Sidrion was initially a priest, and after meeting with Kaywhin, he quit as a priest and became the current owner of the Black Tower.

In the process, they got to know each other and became close friends.

Soon after, Sidrion shook his head.

“It’s nothing. And the reason I insist on wearing white robes is just that they suit me.”

“Hmm?”

“Don’t you think so?” Sidrion asked confidently.

In fact, the white outfit looked rather good on Sidrion, who had blond hair, golden eyes, and pale skin.

“Well… you look more like a White Tower Owner rather than a Black Tower Owner.”

“…It’s a relief that the tower isn’t white.”

Sidrion answered with sincerity.

A black tower was already embarrassing, but a white one would be relatively hard to accept.

Just as Sidrion considered that if a sorcerer ever painted the outer walls of the black tower white, he would kill them, the door to the parlor room opened.

“Kaywhin.”

He said he’d come back soon, and he really did.

As Yelena welcomed him warmly, Sidrion asked, “Then shall we depart?”

* * *

Yelena wore a mask alongside Kaywhin.

She glanced around the street where the festival was in full swing.

As it was a mask festival, everyone walking around the streets was wearing different masks.

As a result, Yelena and Kaywhin were not very noticeable.

Yelena walked down the street for a bit and then suddenly coughed.

“Ahem, hmm.”

“…?”

“The streets are very crowded.”

In fact, there were a lot of people on the street.

However, she didn’t know if it was enough to describe it as very crowded.

Yelena continued to speak firmly.

“If we continue to walk around like this, we might get separated from each other.”