Chapter 91
The moment she finally admitted her feelings to herself, Kirine felt a strange sense of peace, but even that didn’t last long.
“What’s going on with you lately?”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, it seems unusually quiet. By now, you two should be fighting and heading to the training grounds for another round.”
Kirine let out a shallow sigh as her colleague gave her a suspicious look for quietly focusing on her experiments.
“Last time you told us to stop fighting, and now you’re encouraging it?”
“I’m not encouraging it, I’m just curious.”
“If you have time to worry about me, focus on your experiments.”
“Yes, yes, I’m working on it.”
After briefly pouting in displeasure, her colleague suddenly spoke as if remembering something.
“Oh right, I heard someone from the Magic Tower is coming.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. They asked us to greet them and show them around.”
“What a hassle…”
Kirine frowned in displeasure at being asked to give a tour, especially on a day when she had so much work to do.
“Who’s supposed to go greet them?”
“Hehe.”
“…?”
When Kirine asked, hoping it wouldn’t be her, her colleague just giggled instead of answering. That expression alone was answer enough, and Kirine’s lips curved up on one side.
“I’m busy, so you go.”
“Oh, come on, you should go. I’m really behind on my experiments.”
“Didn’t I tell you to focus on your experiments before?”
“Okay, I will, but please go for me, please?”
“No.”
“Oh, pleeeease!”
When Kirine ignored her, her colleague grabbed her arm and started shaking it.
Seeing that they wouldn’t let go until she agreed, Kirine finally stood up irritably.
“Fine, but this is the only time.”
“Thank you!”
Kirine walked away, thinking she’d like to smack that annoyingly bright smiling face.
***
‘I’m busy too.’
Kirine let out a deep sigh and glanced at the castle gates. They showed no signs of opening yet, suggesting it wasn’t time for the arrival.
Soon after, the guards hurriedly began opening the gates. As soon as Kirine saw the woman entering through the gap, she immediately recognized her as a mage from the Magic Tower. The woman seemed to recognize her too, approaching slowly with an expressionless face.
Despite Kirine’s own considerable height, the woman was so tall that Kirine had to tilt her head slightly up to meet her eyes.
Silver hair flowing down to her waist, eyes as clear blue as an autumn lake, and skin as white as snow.
Though anyone would consider her a striking beauty, her cold demeanor made her seem unapproachable.
‘She looks familiar somehow.’
Even though Kirine was sure she’d never met her before, there was something oddly familiar about her. As she was tilting her head in confusion—
“Hello.”
“Yes, hello.”
“…”
“…?”
When the woman offered her hand first, Kirine hesitantly shook it.
Though it should have been time to let go, strangely, the woman didn’t release her hand and just stared intently at her face.
“Could you let go?”
“Oh, I’m sorry. I was just so happy to see you.”
“…?”
She spoke as if she knew Kirine. As Kirine blinked in confusion, wondering if she’d heard wrong, the woman gave her a warm smile.
“I’m Reilly.”
“I’m Kirine Rozentian.”
“Yes, I know.”
“You know me?”
When Kirine asked in surprise as Reilly nodded as if it were obvious, Reilly shrugged lightly.
“Of course I know you. Our Magic Tower has been wanting to recruit you for so long.”
“Ah…”
Finally understanding, Kirine nodded slowly.
Actually, she had received an offer to conduct research at the Magic Tower while still in magic school. Though such opportunities were rare and everyone had envied her, Kirine had immediately declined.
The Magic Tower, dedicated purely to experiments and research, just wasn’t a good fit for her.
“Thank you for saying so.”
“How about joining us now?”
“What? Oh, I…”
Just as Kirine was about to decline apologetically at the sudden offer—
“That won’t be happening.”
Her words were naturally cut off by a gentle but firm pull on her arm from behind.
Kirine was startled by Ares’s unexpected appearance, and after recovering from her surprise, she looked between Ares and Reilly with wide eyes.
“You two look really alike?”
Not just their hair and eye color, but their overall appearance and aura were so similar they had to be related.
Anyone would think they were siblings.
However, as soon as she said that, Reilly’s lips curved into a bitter smile.
“My, that’s quite offensive, even coming from you, Miss Rozentian.”
“That’s what I was going to say.”
They glared at each other as if they wanted to tear each other apart right then and there. Suddenly, Reilly’s gaze returned to Kirine.
“Miss Rozentian, may I ask for one favor?”
“What kind of favor?”
“Just a tiny one.”
“Well, if it’s small…”
Just as Kirine was looking at her expectantly, wondering what kind of favor required such buildup—
“…?”
As Reilly slowly reached toward her, Kirine wondered what she was doing, when suddenly Reilly’s hands cupped both her cheeks.
Unable to believe what was happening, Kirine’s eyes widened, and she opened and closed her mouth like a goldfish in shock.
“What are you—”
“Oh my, look at this skin. Just like a baby’s. So soft.”
“Um…”
“So cute. Want to be my little sister?”
“Listen…”
As if she couldn’t hear Kirine at all, Reilly’s eyes sparkled as she rubbed Kirine’s cheeks.
“Miss Rozentian is so cute. I want to take her home and raise her.”
“Um… that’s…”
Kirine had never in her life expected to meet someone who would call her cute.
Even she knew she didn’t have a cute appearance. Black hair, sharp eyes, and with red eyes and lips—people usually avoided her rather than looking at her adoringly.
Yet Reilly was treating her like the smallest and cutest creature in the world, which was bewildering.
“Could you please let go now?”
“Just a little longer.”
“This is uncomfortable…”
“Just bear with it a bit more.”
“…”
Like sister, like brother indeed.
They were equally shameless.
Unable to watch anymore, Ares let out an irritated sigh and grabbed Reilly’s arm to stop her.
“Stop it.”
“Who are you to tell me what to do?”
“She doesn’t like it.”
Ares, who had been glaring at Reilly fiercely, jerked his chin toward Kirine. Reilly’s gaze naturally followed to Kirine.
“Did you dislike it?”
“It wasn’t so much dislike as… surprise?”
“See? She didn’t dislike it.”
“Are you stupid, sister? She’s just being polite.”
“How dare you speak to your sister like that?”
Reilly glared at Ares, looking him up and down, then suddenly switched to a friendly smile as she turned to Kirine.
“Miss Rozentian, do you know you look just like our Berry?”
“Berry?”
“Yes, that’s my cat’s name.”
“…”
Is she comparing me to a cat right now?
Though it seemed meant as a compliment about her cuteness, Kirine wasn’t sure if it really was one.
“Since you’re here, go greet His Majesty.”
“I was going to anyway.”
When Ares pushed her shoulder telling her to hurry up, Reilly shrugged him off irritably, glanced at Kirine once more, and walked away.
‘That was exhausting.’
Just as Kirine was finally letting out a relieved sigh after Reilly left, she noticed Ares staring intently at her.
“W-what is it?”
She stammered without meaning to in her surprise.
Ares, who had been staring at Kirine, pulled something out from his chest. It was a white handkerchief.
“Come here.”
“Why?”
“Just come here.”
When Kirine took a step back with an uneasy expression at his beckoning gesture, Ares slightly furrowed his brows, then suddenly grabbed her chin and started wiping her cheeks where Reilly’s hands had touched with the handkerchief.
“Ow, that hurts!”
Kirine yelped at his rough handling.
She couldn’t tell if he was trying to wipe her cheeks or do laundry.
“Ah, sorry.”
“You’re all strength and no finesse.”
At his completely insincere apology, Kirine glared at him and clicked her tongue.
“That really hurt.”
She pushed away Ares’s hand and touched her cheek. Though she couldn’t see without a mirror, it must have turned red.
“Why are you suddenly wiping my face anyway?”
“Because my sister’s hands are dirty.”
“What?”
Even as she looked at him in disbelief, Ares’s expression didn’t change.
She wondered how urgent it must have felt for him to wipe her cheeks with his bare hands, without the gloves he usually treasured like his life.
‘He’s definitely not uncomfortable with me anymore.’
As Kirine looked down at his large, white hand, she found herself impulsively grabbing it.
