Chapter 30: Never forget

Who could it be?

Moria squinted her eyes, quickly pondering who might be coming to Flora’s room at this hour.

First to be ruled out were the maids in the villa—there was no way any of them would disturb her while she was savoring Flora’s scent.

Next to be excluded was Tatashimi; that guy had gone to handle the special medicine and wouldn’t be back in Dolun City anytime soon.

If Flora and Linko had turned back, Moria could sense it through her surveillance magic, and the people she assigned wouldn’t fail to notify her if they returned to the villa.

So the only possibility was…

Elka?

Moria slipped out from under the covers and sat on the bed, rapidly analyzing.

【Why would she come looking for Flora at this time? She never told me. Wait, she locked herself in her room all day yesterday—I almost forgot.】

She slapped her palms together in frustration.

She had been so focused on enjoying herself that she completely ignored Elka’s strange behavior.

【It’s all your fault for dressing so scantily…】

Moria naturally blamed this oversight on Elka’s inappropriate outfit from early yesterday morning, which had unsettled her.

She got up and walked toward the door.

In her understanding, Elka was an arrogant old woman with a wicked sense of humor, adept at disguise, possessed of wisdom and methods far beyond ordinary people, and skillful at using sweet words to command those coveting her beauty.

Not to mention that among the elves—innately gifted magic users—Elka was recognized by her kin as possessing exceptionally high magical prowess and also had certain connections with the Deran family.

Considering all these points, Moria regarded her as the best partner for her plans and held the elf in the highest respect.

【After pondering all day, if she’s coming to Flora’s room now, is it to find a new way to build trust? No, not possible. At least for these two days, no moves should be made. Tatashimi has done enough; she needs to relax a bit. Constant contact would backfire.】

So at this moment, Moria naturally assumed that Elka’s proactive visit to Flora was the elf’s way of refusing to accept the coldness of that young girl, intending to try once more.

After all, she knew Elka appeared easygoing but was fiercely competitive, whether in magic or romance.

Few could challenge her in magic, so that was easy to dismiss, but in matters of affection… Flora’s actions had clearly crossed the line and provoked Elka.

It made perfect sense that Elka spent the entire day indoors, gathering strength to strike again.

She had Linko take Flora out, partly with the thought of preparing for a possible encounter with Elka.

But before she opened the door, she faintly heard a low murmur.

“That… Flora, I…”

From that faint voice, Moria sensed the elf on the other side of the door was troubled, hesitant to open it outright, as if wavering in front of the door.

She immediately discarded her previous assumption.

【Deep in thought—this is more complicated than I imagined.】

Moria’s previously lax attitude vanished with that realization.

For someone as seasoned in love as Elka to behave like this, there had to be something fishy going on.

The possibility that the elf had betrayed her and planned to let Flora go was low, so that was off the table.

Then the other way around—it had to be Flora causing Elka’s strange behavior.

If that was true, one thing she couldn’t ignore arose.

Yesterday, when Flora called her “sister,” she panicked and fled, abandoning her efforts to force the girl to punish Linko.

That was unusual. In matters of great importance, she wouldn’t let petty emotions cloud her judgment.

That behavior was unlike her.

It could be explained as an emotional lapse at the time, but now Elka was showing the same odd behavior, so she couldn’t dismiss it lightly.

【My dear Flora, could it be that you obtained some new ability and used it on us back then?】

If that were true, wouldn’t things be even more interesting?

Moria squinted her eyes as she placed her hand on the doorknob, no longer intending to let Elka inside, and held her breath, keenly listening for every sound outside the door.

Elka herself didn’t understand why she was standing in front of Flora’s door, having spent all of yesterday in her room without eating or sleeping, sitting there in a daze—that was extremely abnormal.

Her intuition told her she should find Flora to resolve this strange state, but just as she was about to open the door, a restless unease stopped her.

“What can I even say if I see her? Moria has probably made arrangements already, forget it.”

After much hesitation, she turned and decided to return to her room.

If even she didn’t understand what was going on, approaching Flora now would only be full of flaws.

The noise died down, and Moria cracked the door open slightly, looking into the empty corridor, staring toward Elka’s room with a dark expression.

【Old woman, you’ve fallen for her, haven’t you?】

This isn’t what was agreed upon.

Are you planning to snatch Flora away and keep her all to yourself?

Moria’s hand gripped the doorframe a little tighter, her nails digging slightly into the wood, but her frown soon vanished, replaced by a look of delight.

Isn’t this wonderful?

Just as she thought.

As long as Flora listened to her, she would be accepted by everyone and shine brightly.

The elf lady’s fake compliance was the best proof of this.

Cheerful, Moria smiled and pushed the door open.

Since that was the case, she’d slightly alter her plan—she wouldn’t let Elka’s ambiguous feelings go to waste.

After all, monopolizing Flora was a wonderful thing, but it wasn’t her pursuit; from the beginning, she had seen it as a lighthearted game easily won.

Now, with Flora’s possible new ability, new ideas were opening up.

“You will become the center of attention.”

She murmured this as she entered her study.

…

Flora, of course, was unaware of the villa’s small, twisted, and troublesome drama.

Even though she had been disgusted before leaving, she still looked forward to the free time Moria had granted her, hoping it might bring some kind of breakthrough.

That woman would never let her run wild; it was nothing more than the noble’s arrogance combined with a cat-and-mouse game—seeing what Flora could do, giving her some hope, then destroying that hope to derive more pleasure.

Flora knew this well, so she could calmly use Moria’s arrogance to create chances.

【Nice words, but from now on, the right to go out and relax can be revoked anytime—better to treat this as the last outing.】

She thought this as she instinctively adjusted the sun hat on her head.

But doing so reminded her of Moria’s words.

She said she was apologizing on behalf of Tatashimi—that this was her gift.

“…”

Flora shook her head repeatedly.

Following this line of thought, she even entertained the subtle suspicion that Moria had personally made the hat for her.

That was bad—what could it matter even if she did?

【Why on earth did I ever think of giving them gifts before? Damn it.】

She bit her lip in frustration, her mood reflected in her face and the force with which she clenched her hands, causing Linko—who had accompanied her outside—to look at her with concern.

The maid simply hoped Flora wasn’t sulking because of the trading company’s matters, and that her eagerness to find Mefi wouldn’t make things even more complicated.

But her worry quickly turned into vigilance.

Pulled by Flora as they hurried toward the city’s snack street, she suddenly noticed a blonde girl about 1.5 meters tall standing in the middle of the street not far from them.

The girl was yawning and watching them, seemingly waiting for their approach.

And that person was absolutely a noble presence who shouldn’t be appearing in this city at this time.