Chapter 63
Brought to you by Valir Scans! To support our team and enjoy the latest releases, please read directly on our official site: valirscans.org
Chapter 63
"There's something I'm quite curious about right now, and I'd like to ask you."
Aunt Corinne raised her hand and spoke with intrigue, her gaze alternating between Dale and me.
"So the two of you are in a romantic relationship?"
With a face so similar to Father's, her interrogation felt exactly like being questioned by him.
"We are...."
What should I say? Aunt Corinne was a member of the Lockhart Family, but now she was essentially an outsider. Grandfather had never forgiven her for abandoning the family for love, and he had erased her name from the family records. Since then, it seemed they had maintained no contact whatsoever. Now I understood what the Scholar had said. His comment about rarely receiving guests—it was because Aunt Corinne was in a similar position to mine.
"Enya and I are simply neighbors."
"We're married."
At our simultaneous but contradictory statements, Dale's eyes widened as he looked at me. I grasped his hand on the table and gently patted it. And I conveyed my meaning with a glance. 'Just go along with it.' Aunt Corinne, equally startled, covered her mouth.
"Weren't you supposed to marry The Emperor?"
"How did you know about that?"
"It's not news—from what I remember...."
Aunt Corinne trailed off and studied Dale quietly. Her narrowed eyes twitched slightly, as if she were trying to discern something about him. Her expression suddenly widened with realization.
"...! Could it be...?"
Both Aunt Corinne's expression and Dale's face stiffened simultaneously. When she looked at him, he gave a brief shake of his head. Did Aunt Corinne dislike Dale? When Dale first met her, had he left a bad impression? He was taciturn by nature, and his expressionless demeanor could easily be misunderstood.
"Dale is a good person. Like you, I left home and met him."
"...Really? Truly?"
I had omitted many facts, but it wasn't a lie. I nodded with confidence.
"You've grown old enough for such things.... The last time I saw you, you were just a small child."
Aunt Corinne seemed to know well the period I couldn't remember.
"Does your brother know? Have you received your parents' permission?"
"They don't know."
"...I see."
Aunt Corinne gazed at me with curiosity. Her smile suggested she found it amusing that the same pattern had unfolded across two generations in parallel.
"Your name is Dale, correct? Unfortunately, there is no sequel to the book Enya favors, as I never wrote one. However...."
Aunt Corinne returned from the storage shed and placed a book on the table.
"There is a side story to 'Lover of the Night,' which Enya loves most dearly."
"...!"
I wanted to see it. The moment I reached out my hand, Aunt Corinne lifted the book away.
"No. This is the book this person wanted, so I cannot show it to you."
With a gentle smile, Aunt Corinne handed the book to Dale.
"I hope it becomes a good gift."
But when Aunt Corinne's eyes met Dale's, she laughed meaningfully.
"I learned something while writing books. Misunderstandings and conflicts are best resolved quickly. The same goes for things you hide."
"...."
Dale, who had received the book, quietly produced a blank check. However, Aunt Corinne shook her head reluctantly.
"I'm not giving it to you to make money. I want to give it as a gift because my niece wants it."
"If I do not receive payment, then it will not be a gift from you."
"My goodness...."
"It is only natural to pay a fair price for a work. Please accept it."
"You're stubborn just like my husband. Enya, I think we have similar tastes."
Aunt Corinne picked up a pen and laughed brightly. Despite saying she wouldn't accept it, she seemed to write the amount rather deliberately. Keeping it hidden from my view, she showed only Dale, and her lips curved up with satisfaction. Yet seeing Dale accept it without any change in expression suggested the amount was not unreasonable. 'But is it really alright for us to exchange gifts like this?' Dale was doing this work only because I wanted him to, and since he was someone I had hired, it felt uncomfortable to have him spend money. But refusing repeatedly could also become embarrassing for Dale.
"Thank you, Dale."
Dale answered by narrowing his eyes into crescents. He truly was a thoughtful person. I embraced the book Dale had handed me. 'There was a side story!' I felt delighted, as though I had stumbled upon unexpected fortune. But since Aunt Corinne was Madame Cozette the author, there was something I wanted to ask.
"Do you remember a book with a female protagonist who fell into this world one day?"
"Hmm...."
Aunt Corinne tilted her head.
"Was there something like that?"
"It's a book called 'The Confined Empress' that was written only very briefly."
"Is that so? It's been so long, I can barely recall...."
My face showed no recollection whatsoever. That book is at home. If only I had brought it, I could have asked about it...! Aunt Corinne tapped the copy of "Night's Lover" I was holding.
"Does anything come to mind about this book, or do you have any questions about it?"
"That it's entertaining?"
"Ha, I appreciate that you enjoyed it, but I meant something else. A memory, rather."
Since I only remembered reading it with enjoyment, I shook my head.
"Actually, you were a great help when I wrote this book. I based it on you, after all."
This book?
"Night's Lover" had nothing in common with me. 'It's a story about a princess trapped in a tower and the man who rescues her. Both the male and female leads go through incredibly harrowing experiences. The male lead gets kidnapped by a villain and suffers severe injuries.' When Aunt Corinne saw me, I must have been far younger than ten years old. If I had even approached ten, there's no way I wouldn't remember her. Based on what I could recall, it seemed I had left home when I was seven.
"Why would that be my story?"
"Because..."
Aunt Corinne's eyes, which had been looking at me with a smile, slowly turned toward Dale. She patted my head and fell silent.
"I made a lot of money from this and wanted to give Enya something nice as a wedding gift. But you've all grown up now."
Her expression seemed to carry deeper meaning, and I wondered if there was something else she meant.
"So, Enya won't be returning to House Lockhart?"
I looked at Dale. Dale and I had a contract with a little over six months remaining. When that time came, Dale and I would be finished too.
"What about you, Aunt?"
"Is Grandfather still in good health?"
I nodded. Grandfather was more than healthy—he was vigorous. He still disapproved of Aunt Corinne for abandoning the family to marry a commoner. Could I answer honestly?
"I can tell just by looking at your expression, Enya."
Aunt Corinne laughed as she stroked my back gently.
"Father disapproved of me writing novels and falling in love with a tutor. He might come around if I become more toothless, but... I need to lose more teeth! Ha ha!"
I learned for the first time that her partner had been a tutor.
"Now that I think about it, it was you and Enya who helped my husband that day?"
"We happened to run into each other."
I answered on Dale's behalf.
"I'm truly grateful. I wanted to give you something anyway... but Enya, how did you find me?"
"The tea leaves Uncle gave as a gift were identical to the tea our family used to produce long ago."
"You figured it out from that?"
"We don't produce it anymore now. The tea plants withered away."
"Managing those tea plants was my specialty."
Aunt Corinne smiled and distributed the tea leaves to me.
"Take them and brew a cup whenever you need it. And Enya."
Aunt Corinne, who had been gazing intently at Dale, whispered to me.
"I abandoned the family and left, but I hope you won't do the same."
Aunt Corinne squeezed my hand firmly and looked me in the eyes as she spoke.
"Now that I think about it, that story about another world you asked me about—I wrote it based on tales I heard from you when you were young. You knew so many mysterious and fascinating stories back then. Don't you remember?"
I tried to recall, but it didn't seem as though I had ever told anyone those stories in detail. As I attempted to remember more clearly, my mind felt clouded, as if shrouded in mist. ...Did I always have such a poor memory?
Brought to you by Valir Scans! To support our team and enjoy the latest releases, please read directly on our official site: valirscans.org