CHAPTER 65………….
“W–wait! August!”
Oliver tried to grab August as he turned away from me.
If Cass, who had been quiet until then, hadn’t grabbed Oliver’s hand and twisted it, he might have managed to cling on.
Crack.
“Argh!”
Oliver screamed, clutching his right hand as he collapsed to the ground.
Startled, August looked toward Linaria.
Because Cass never acted without Linaria’s command.
“It already felt like my ears were rotting just listening to him. If he touched me, I thought my whole body might be sullied.”
“……”
“Let’s go.”
Linaria worried—what if August felt pity for Oliver even now?
But August didn’t spare him a single glance.
“You said you were going to the tailor’s, right? I’ve got some time left, so I think I can come along. Would that be alright?”
Instead, he spoke with the same cheerful smile as always.
“Uh, oh? Y–yeah.”
Noah, caught off guard, agreed.
But unlike Noah, Linaria asked firmly,
“That man was dismissed, not you, brother. Are you sure this is okay?”
“Well, everyone strays off the tracks once in a while in life.”
A shameless reply.
“Out of many friends, I’ve just cut ties with one.”
August once said with his own mouth that he had many friends. But to Linaria, it didn’t seem that way.
“What are you talking about?”
As if reading her thoughts, August denied it.
“I only have one friend.”
Realizing he meant himself, Noah lowered his head.
“Anyway, Noah—don’t mind what that guy said earlier.”
“A–a social misfit, you mean?”
He was bothered.
Noah was clearly still holding onto those words.
“I don’t think that at all. And I’m sure Linaria doesn’t either.”
“That’s right. Everyone walks at their own pace. And if you ask me, the real misfit is the one who’d say something like that to someone’s face.”
No sooner had Linaria finished speaking—
Pfft, hahahaha.
August burst into loud laughter.
“Refreshing.”
He laughed so long that he even wiped tears from his eyes before muttering,
“Linaria, you really are so straightforward.”
“…You’ve got it wrong. I do know how to mind my manners.”
“Yeah, I know.”
He clearly didn’t.
“I never imagined the three of us would be together like this. Being with people I like makes me happy. How about we do this more often?”
“It’s not three, it’s four.”
Linaria pointed at Cass, quietly following behind.
“You forgot my knight.”
“Ah, you’re right. My apologies.”
Naturally, Linaria made sure to acknowledge Cass’s presence.
“I noticed earlier—his movements aren’t ordinary. How about sparring with me sometime?”
“Brother.”
“Alright, alright. Since he’s yours, I’ll ask your permission next time first.”
“…That’s not what I meant.”
August’s laughter didn’t cease.
“Being tall means everything fits you well. Don’t you agree?”
“Yes, absolutely!”
“As expected, Lord Brimstone has such an impeccable eye.”
A tailor’s shop in the capital.
When Brimstone, the dashing young lord admired throughout society, personally chose Duke Ignas’s clothes, the staff’s praise was endless.
Which, in turn, meant Linaria had nothing to do.
With August handling everything, she simply sat on the sofa, watching Noah surrounded by August and the attendants.
Cheerful August, and Noah, uncomfortable under his brightness.
Watching them, a sudden question came to her.
Normally, Noah was supposed to fall in love with Rusalka.
That meant Rusalka must have already known Noah would never grow older.
So how did the two of them meet?
Rusalka was not free to move about.
And Noah—who could barely endure standing under sunlight—was unlikely to go out.
Given their natures, there’s almost no chance they’d cross paths.
The more she thought about it, the stranger it seemed.
Noah, who had lived as an eternal boy, was wary by nature.
What were the odds that someone like him would fall for a mermaid at first sight?
Linaria recalled Rusalka.
Hair the shade between coral orange and pink.
Mysterious, deep green eyes.
When she still lacked human legs, scales of the same green shimmered along her body.
Beauty is subjective, of course.
But no one would deny there were women fairer than her.
She was pleasant to look at, but not strikingly exceptional.
What captured Maximilian’s heart must have been her voice, not her face.
Her voice was enchantingly beautiful—that much was beyond dispute.
So maybe Duke Ignas did fall for her at their first meeting… but…
The truth was unknowable.
It had already been undone.
Just as Cass, once Maximilian’s hound, had become hers, and just as August had returned from death.
What matters now is that Obel has the favor of not just one, but two noble houses.
Brimstone and Ignas, right before her eyes.
And the true Brimstone and Ignas—their divine beasts—were also there with her.
“I didn’t bring any toys today.”
August was sticking close to Noah.
The tailors were so busy attending to Noah that no one paid Linaria any attention.
Thanks to that, she could quietly speak to the divine beast.
“Hm? Toys?”
When she scratched under Silverfur’s chin, the small furball purred.
“The one I gave you last time.”
“Oh, that! I did miss it a little… but that’s fine! I can play with Ignas instead!”
Brimstone waved his pink, jelly-like paw pads.
“Ignas! Ignas!”
The day Noah revealed himself alive as Duke Ignas, he wasn’t the only one to hatch.
Timidly—
A red bird that had been hovering around Noah flew closer.
In the paintings, it had appeared larger than most grown men, majestic and imposing.
But in reality, it was just a small, newly hatched bird.
Summoned by Brimstone’s call, Ignas landed at a cautious distance.
But that didn’t last long.
“Ignas, Ignas! See, just like I told you—she can see us!”
Pounce!
Because Brimstone leapt onto him.
Nearly smothered under Brimstone’s hug, Ignas flapped his wings furiously.
“Amazing, isn’t it? Isn’t it?”
Finally freeing himself, Ignas glanced past Linaria’s shoulder—
Then fixed his gaze on her and said a single word.
“Ti…me.”
“Huh?”
Time? What time?
“He knows you’ve contracted with Time!”
Brimstone translated.
Apparently, calling her “Clock” was his way of saying “the one contracted with the Divine Beast of Time.”
“He’s got a lot to say, but I guess he’s not good with human speech yet!”
“I assumed all divine beasts spoke fluently, since you speak like a person, Lord Brimstone.”
“Really? That’s because I practiced a lot! I kept mimicking your speech.”
“……”
“Because someday, I thought I might get to talk to you like this.”
Hehe.
Brimstone giggled, looking every bit like a child.
“Oh, right! Ignas just recently broke free from being sealed in a human body, didn’t he? That makes talking even harder. I know how it is!”
And with that, Brimstone lunged for another hug.
Ignas fled toward Linaria.
She tried to shield him—and stroke him—but—
“Ah.”
It burned.
She snatched her hand back in haste.
Ignas, startled too, flinched.
“It’s okay.”
Linaria quickly reassured him.
It had felt like touching fire, but since she withdrew at once, it hadn’t blistered.
Yet Ignas, clearly uneasy, approached her more carefully this time.
She braced herself, but this time no scorching heat came.
Warm.
As if to spare the fragile human, Ignas had lowered his temperature. He rubbed his beak against her injured finger.
A gentle warmth spread through her hand.
Smiling faintly, Linaria enjoyed the moment with the divine beasts.
Then she felt a gaze.
Looking up, she met Cass’s eyes.
He was always the only one watching her whenever everyone else was distracted.
Since normal people can’t see divine beasts, it must have looked like I was talking to myself again.
Just as she was thinking it a little embarrassing—
“Don’t mind me. Keep talking.”
Talking?
Talking only happens when there’s someone to answer.
“Don’t tell me…”
Startled, Linaria lowered her voice, pointing at the beasts.
“…You can see them?”
