Chapter 57
“Did you really want this that badly?”
There was a sighing laugh at the end of my words. Well, I had shouted about wanting chocolate in such a serious situation, so it was understandable to seem ridiculous. Still, I had achieved my goal, so whether he misunderstood or mocked me didn’t matter.
“You can stay seated, Lord of the Tower.”
I stopped Eon from getting up with me.
“I want to take my time and look around. I’d like to see what suits my taste best and get some recommendations from the staff.”
I wanted him to think that my sudden excitement was because I was about to eat sweet chocolate. Fortunately, Eon didn’t seem particularly suspicious.
“Buying everything you like is also a valid approach.”
Eon added, opening a newspaper from one side of the store as if to tell me to browse freely.
“I’ll have hot chocolate.”
“You’d like a hot chocolate?”
“Yes.”
Hot chocolate and Eon—what a combination. I slid the menu over to his side so he could see it better.
“They also have black tea and herbal tea.”
“I came all the way to Charles’s shop. I have to get hot chocolate.”
Well, if he was sure, I wasn’t going to argue. I walked over to the counter to place the order.
In the glass display case were chocolates that looked sweet just from sight. Their rich aroma warmed me to the core. But, of course, I wasn’t here for chocolate.
I glanced back at the table where Eon was seated. I had picked the farthest seat from the counter under the excuse of wanting to sit by the window. It wasn’t the quietest spot, as it was close to the outside noise and foot traffic, but that also meant Eon wouldn’t hear anything said at the counter.
“Are you the owner by any chance?”
The person stirring cream behind the counter poked their head out at my question.
“I am.”
“Hello, sir. Thank you for making such delicious desserts. I love the vintage style of the store too—it’s totally my taste.”
My greeting came out of nowhere, but it wasn’t unpleasant. The owner laughed heartily.
“Hoho, thank you. The store’s a bit old, though. The building’s been around a long time.”
“Oh my, so it’s a place with history and tradition?”
“It’s been passed down through the generations. So yes, you could call it historical. Hoho.”
A proud expression came over the owner’s face.
An old building, a family-run store. I thought of the real Sally from little Eon’s memory, tasting chocolate for the first time. It had been the reaction of someone who’d never tried such food before.
“Did your ancestor first introduce chocolate to Vynan?”
“Oh? You know that? Yes, that’s right. Charles—that’s his name.”
“Wow, so my grandmother was right! That must’ve been about a hundred years ago?”
I invoked a grandmother who didn’t exist. It was a casual question, but my mouth had gone dry with nerves. The more I talked with people to gather information, the more I realized Sally came from far earlier than I had guessed.
“Ah, a hundred years is nothing. It’s been over three hundred.”
“Three hundred years?”
“Hohoho. Our store might be the oldest in the Vynan city center. My grandfather rebuilt the building, but we’ve been on this same spot all along. The family recipes have also been passed down unchanged.”
The longevity of the shop itself was impressive, but that wasn’t what shocked me the most. I clutched my pounding heart and asked again.
“So when your ancestor first made chocolate, it was…”
“About three hundred years ago.”
Three hundred years. That was before the Empire had even been established. I didn’t know much about Vynan’s history, but I did know that was when it was still a duchy.
‘The timeline doesn’t match…’
I shook my head. A child who looked under ten having memories from three centuries ago? It made no sense.
I turned to look at Eon. He happened to be looking at me, too, and our eyes met. His expression asked if something was wrong. I raised my hand lightly to indicate everything was fine. I couldn’t waste more time here—Eon would get suspicious.
I took the hot chocolate and a bar of the shop’s original chocolate—the very kind little Sally had eaten—and returned to the table.
“Here you go. Your order, my lord.”
“That is…”
Eon looked at the chocolate bar in front of me with curiosity.
“This is their most historic item, apparently. It came recommended.”
I glanced at him as I spoke. If he had existed in the same world as the child in the memory, then he, too, had lived for three hundred years.
But he looked no older than his mid to late twenties.
‘Even if it’s not immortality… if magic can delay death…’
I suddenly thought of preservation magic. The kind that maintains things—people, flowers—exactly as they were in their last living moment. But that was basically the same as being dead. It was not the same as living and not aging.
“Isn’t it bitter?”
Eon’s sudden question broke my train of thought.
“Hmm? Oh, this?”
I hadn’t realized the chocolate was already melting in my mouth while I was lost in thought.
“Well, compared to pralines or truffles, yes. But that’s what makes chocolate bars with high cacao content charming, isn’t it?”
“Charming… is it?”
Eon frowned, clearly disagreeing. That expression reminded me of little Eon, who had gagged after putting a bitter chocolate in his mouth. Maybe that’s why—I broke off the bottom half of the bar and held it out to him.
“Try it.”
He looked back and forth between me and the chocolate, then finally popped it in his mouth like someone making a big decision.
“How is it?”
“…Bitter.”
Well, he had been sipping sweet hot chocolate. Everything would taste bitter after that.
“But it’s not bad enough to make me gag. I guess I’ve improved a lot.”
That line—again—I couldn’t help but picture little Eon.
I tried hard not to tremble as I asked him,
“You say that like it didn’t taste good the first time you had it.”
“Anyone would think it tastes fine now.”
He leaned in and whispered.
“But at first, it was pretty awful.”
“The owner would be quite offended if he heard that. So when was that first time?”
“When Mr. Charles first made chocolate?”
As soon as he said that, I couldn’t maintain a straight face anymore. The memory I had seen—was it truly from 300 years ago? Had Eon really been alive that long?
“S-So you’re saying you were alive when the first chocolate was made?”
I was so flustered I even started stuttering. Eon looked at me quietly, then suddenly burst into laughter.
“Ahahaha. Do you know what a hilarious face you’re making right now?”
It was rare for him to laugh that hard.
“You look like someone who just uncovered a secret too big to handle. You might want to stop chewing that thumb. You’ll ruin your pretty nails.”
I quickly put my thumb down. I hadn’t realized I was chewing it. Eon was laughing so much, people around us started to stare.
“Stop it.”
“Haha, just a joke. I just meant that it probably wasn’t good at first.”
“So it was a lie?”
My face flushed with embarrassment.
“I didn’t think you’d take it so seriously, Miss Selinia.”
“Really?”
Even so, I couldn’t fully believe him. Even if he claimed it was a joke, he had acted just like little Eon. That couldn’t be faked.
I placed my hand on his resting on the table. The laughter faded from his face at last. I looked him straight in the eye and asked again.
“Tell me. Was it a lie that you tasted the original chocolate made by Mr. Charles?”
I was so desperate that I didn’t even realize how forceful my tone had become.
“Are you giving me an order?”
At this point, there was no turning back. And we weren’t in the Tower. There were dozens of people around. In a place like this, Eon wouldn’t be able to do anything to me right away.
“Yes. It’s an order. So answer me. Lord of the Tower.”
Eon’s eyes wavered. I expected the red of rage to flare—but instead, a deep blue, like the sea, shimmered in his gaze.
“You’re right.”
My hand still rested over his as I froze in place. I couldn’t speak—I could only push him to continue with my eyes.
“But if you don’t want to see our names on tomorrow’s headlines, perhaps we should continue this discussion at the Tower? Or at least in a moving carriage.”
Only then did I realize everyone was still watching us. I quietly withdrew my hand.
“Fine. But you must keep your promise.”
I picked up the chocolate bar, broke it cleanly in two, and stuffed one half into Eon’s mouth as I rose from my seat.
