IBRIP l CH 86

Chapter 86

“Huff, huff… I’m so tired!”

After running out of the maze, I was so dizzy that I didn’t even notice Winter standing there. I crashed straight into him.

I hit my forehead against his chest and almost collapsed, but Winter caught me firmly.

I couldn’t even lift my head and just leaned on him, catching my breath.

“P-please… Can I rest like this for a bit?”

I really couldn’t take another step, but inside, I felt so refreshed.

It was the first time I stood up for myself properly.

It felt great—but also left me wondering why I couldn’t do it sooner.

“If you stay in wet clothes, you’ll catch a cold,” Winter said.

And right after he spoke, my clothes dried up quickly, as if by magic.

My cold body began warming up again, but I still couldn’t move.

Ugh, this terrible stamina of mine.

“You should’ve seen what happened inside! My sweet potato was so brave!” I exclaimed.

“That sounds interesting. You can tell me all about it in the carriage. But for now, could you lift your head?”

“Boris!”

Just then, Yudis spotted Boris coming out of the rose garden and ran straight to him. Thanks to that, she was out of my sight.

As I slowly looked up, I found Winter kneeling in front of me, looking into my eyes.

Right at that moment, I smacked my own cheeks with both hands.

It hurt a bit—tears welled up in my eyes.

“Your little potato seems to want some attention,” Winter said.

“Mm. Mmmuah,” my little sweet potato (the baby) whimpered.

“…Can you calm him down for me?”

“You know he doesn’t like my touch,” he replied calmly.

I could feel the baby wiggling against Winter’s chest. So, I had no choice but to reach out slowly and pat him.

Then Winter’s gloved hand gently touched the corner of my eye.

“Ahem, maybe I hit myself too hard just now… ha ha,” I said awkwardly.

But before I could fully laugh it off, he started poking my cheek softly.

“?”

Winter pointed at the baby and spoke seriously.

“He gets a chubby cheek just like this when he cries. You two really look alike.”

“You said he was hideous before!”

I couldn’t help but burst out laughing.

Winter then took out a cookie, broke it in half, and gave one piece to me—placing it directly into my mouth. The other piece, he crumbled and gave to the baby.

The baby munched on the cookie and glared at Winter.

“Hyu, hyuuuung muu.”

Wait, did you… did you just copy the word ‘hideous’?

The baby was laughing along with me but then repeated the word. I suddenly felt a little bad.

I quickly covered the baby’s ears and said, “From now on, only compliments when you talk about sweet potatoes in front of the baby. Got it?”

“Of course. He takes after you, so he’s all praise-worthy,” Winter replied.

“You called him hideous just earlier!”

Winter naturally took the baby from me.

I looked over at Yudis and Boris.

“Boris, tell me everything that happened there!”

“…Nothing happened,” he said quietly.

“What do you mean ‘nothing’? You’re soaking wet!”

While Yudis focused entirely on Boris, Boris looked at me with burning eyes, but there wasn’t much he could do.

I smiled sweetly and mouthed to him:

‘I’ll be back for you, Ma. Ma. Boy.’

Boris’s face twisted like a monster.

He pushed away Yudis’s caring hand coldly—something he never usually did—and shouted, “I said nothing happened!”

Then he turned around and walked out of the greenhouse with Winter, looking calm again.

***

“Boris seems to be confusing a dream with reality. But someone must’ve manipulated him to think that way.”

“Dream magic is very dangerous,” Winter explained. “Unless a wizard is truly skilled, tampering with dreams or memories could backfire on them.”

Winter and I were walking through a high-end shopping district filled with expensive items.

Raglia, my talking bracelet, looked like it was about to lose control, wishing it had a tongue to lick every shiny thing.

[Heck! That’s a ruby! But hmph! The color isn’t even that pure! Your standards have really dropped!]

[That—that’s a red diamond! You stupid humans! That’s only born from our flames! I can’t believe it still exists!]

I suddenly stopped walking.

Raglia was tugging me toward a fancy store, but I firmly pulled it to look in the opposite direction.

“I only got this month’s allowance, so I can’t afford anything expensive,” I said.

“We’ll go over there instead.” I pointed to the other side of the street lined with vintage shops.

Raglia whined, not wanting to leave the luxury area, but it had no choice against me.

Finally giving up, it stopped talking and just started window-shopping quietly.

I turned to Winter and asked, “If this magic is that difficult, then the Bluebell Count must’ve done it himself, right?”

Winter nodded. “If the magic used on Boris made him see a pre-planned dream, it’s impossible to prove it’s fake.”

Judging from how Yudis acted earlier, she didn’t seem to know the full story.

That meant the Bluebell family acted on their own. Yudis and Vern, who weren’t at the scene, probably believe Boris really did something wrong.

So the only way to get the full truth is from people directly involved.

“But Oscar Tradi is different. Whether his memory was twisted or new memories were implanted, one of those two things happened. We can find clues from his memories.”

In other words, we needed to find that shoe hanging on the tree—a clue.

“But like I said, uncovering it won’t be easy. The more skilled the wizard, the better they can hide the distortion. Some can hide it so naturally that it looks real.”

There were only four days left before the duel.

If I could help Oscar realize the memory was fake, I might be able to stop the fight, save the Tradi family, and show everyone who Joseph really is.

[Master.]

“Hmm?”

Raglia called me, and I turned my head.

It had stopped in front of a very old, creepy-looking store.

The shop didn’t look well-maintained, and I wasn’t sure if it was even open for business.

Raglia tapped on the dusty window and said,

[This one!]

Through the dirty glass, I saw what it was pointing at—it didn’t even look like a jewel.

“Is that a fossil?”

“It’s a dragon egg fossil,” Winter replied.

“It’s very old, and probably wasn’t properly laid. Dragons have a hard time reproducing, so these fossils are about as common as petrified poop.”

I shook my bracelet and asked, “This isn’t a jewel. I thought you wanted gems?”

[You said you’d buy me two! One is a gem!]

Ugh. Your memory is so sharp at times like this.

Grumbling, I opened the door to the creepy shop.

It was definitely cheaper than the fancy store, so I didn’t really have a reason not to buy it.

***

“Wow… How is the price of a jewel and a fossil the same?”

After shopping, my wallet was empty and my soul had escaped my body.

Raglia, however, was smiling with joy while holding the fossil and a ruby the size of my fingernail.

Even though it’s just a bracelet, I could tell it was beaming.

Then Winter frowned and asked, “To me, money is like fallen leaves—I don’t care for it. So why do you keep refusing my help?”

Winter had seen me arguing with Raglia and had offered several times to pay with a check in his name.

But I couldn’t accept that.

Maybe to him, money had no meaning—but to me, it did. It wasn’t just about the money.