"You know, what should I do if I want to find someone?"
Dalia asked Adrisha a question during tea time.
"Who is it?"
"Hmm...someone who pretends to be dead and lives in hiding?"
Adrisha tilted her head at the ambiguous answer. She took a sip of her tea, put down the tea cup, and casually replied.
"Do you want me to find him for you?"
"Can you find him?"
"Yes. But I can't find people who live on the mountain."
Adrisha smiled faintly.
Ever since Adrisha honestly revealed her past, she has never lied to Dalia anymore. So sometimes she was too straightforward. Dalia couldn't figure out what to say.
Adrisha easily told her story.
In the meantime, she has done several things that a spy would do under the Emperor's order.
However, she said that her specialty was not in the field of forgery or crime, and that she had very little to do with 'them'.
"But still, I can use some rough methods if necessary."
Adrisha said while smiling brightly. Dalia gave up the thought of entrusting the work to her.
"No, it's okay. I think it will be fine."
"Why are you suddenly looking for someone?"
"Well, for no reason. Everyone is working hard, but I also think I can't just stay still like this...."
"Dalia doesn't have to do anything..."
Adrisha drooped down.
However, she seemed to be thinking hard about the solution to Dalia's question in her own way.
At times like this, she realizes that a lot has happened between them both.
"If he went into hiding, he probably has a fake identity right? There are some famous informants and counterfeiters in the back alley. It would be best to ask them there. Counterfeiters probably would keep quiet because security is important."
"I see."
"It's not a place where Dalia should go, so I can commission it for you."
It was a tempting offer, but Dalia refused for now.
"It's okay, I'll think about it first. Thank you."
She pondered for a moment, and showed the pattern that Meldon had left on her wrist.
"What if I use this?"
"...Meldon must have given it to you."
Adrisha's voice drops immediately.
Her eyes were terrifying too. She was a little scared, but Dalia stood firm and showed her wrist.
"I hate to admit it, but what he gave you is a favor that he doesn't usually show. He seems to like Dalia quite a bit. Cunningly."
Adrisha softly smiled. It was a smile that was not sincere to anyone who saw it.
"But I don't think this will really help you to find anyone."
"Really?"
"It's hard to go into details, but Meldon has quite a name in the underworld. This is a sign that Dalia is under his protection. But just because you're protected doesn't mean they're going to take the initiative to find someone."
It was understandable.
In any case, it wasn't really necessary in the current situation. She was looking forward to it, but it was disappointing.
Dalia tapped to erase the pattern again. Adrisha looked closely at her wrist and said anxiously.
"But be careful when you use it. There is also a function that connects it with Meldon, so whenever you show it, Meldon will know. He can probably track your location even during sleep."
"R, really?"
Meldon has never told her that. Just like Adrisha said, he was a cunning human being.
'The patterns are useless, so how will she find the fortune teller?'
Dalia sighed. Adrisha said after thinking for a while.
"Or you can try to ask Sir Cedric."
"Sir Cedric?"
"I don't like him being close to Dalia... But now is not the time to be fussy about that. What would have happened if he hadn't been there last time?"
Adrisha said depressingly. Dalia patted the back of her hand.
"In the past, he used to run away from the Imperial Palace every day and lived there, so he's probably closer to the people over there than I am."
That was right. He was the only chance that she has now.
She had to schedule the next class with Cedric.
In the meantime, she had several more classes with Cedric to read books and exchange opinions. There wasn't much progress.
'I'll send him another letter again.'
After Adrisha left, Dalia wrote him a letter.
Then she remembered the book report he gave her, and read it again. The book reports were better than before, but for the most part it was like this.
[Honestly, I don't understand]
[But I'll try to understand it as much as possible because Dalia says so]
[But still, this is a bit..….]
'Haa...'
Even when she read it again, this was serious.
Still, it was a positive change in that he started trying to understand.
At this point, Dalia was genuinely curious.
'Will Sir Cedric really understand humans?'
It's already been more than half a year since she started the strange class with Cedric.
Dalia imagined a human-like Cedric. Cedric who laughs, cries, smiles and talks kindly even to strangers. She couldn't imagine it at all.
Perhaps Cedric was the most like himself now. Maybe she's asking too much from him.
Even in the original, Cedric doesn't even understand the letter 'hu' of humanity until the end.
Thinking of the original, Dalia felt uncomfortable. She shook her head to drive the thought away. There was still a lot of time left until his ending.
'I don't know. Let's do what we have to do first.'
The classes with Cedric weren't all bad. Thanks to this, Dalia was also gradually accumulating humanities knowledge as she read the books together.
She took out a paper and wrote a letter to Cedric.
She simply told him some of the dates that she was available to do the class and end the letter. And she sent the letter to the Imperial Palace by passing it to the maid.
Two weeks later, when autumn arrived, the two met again.
Cedric opened the library door and looked at Dalia as she entered. She wore a light green dress today and had her gray hair curled and tied up. She had several large books in her arms.
Dalia turned 17 after spending one season, so she was at an age when she dressed up like an adult.
No matter how much people said it, he did not want to admit it, but Dalia was a beauty.
When she has no expression, she looks cold, but when she smiles, she gives off a bright and refreshing feeling because of her mouth shape and natural eye smile.
When Dalia showed up at the ball in a blue dress during last summer, everyone in the ballroom looked at her.
It was then that Cedric understood a little bit why Hikan was overprotecting Dalia.
He looked at Dalia and quietly thought.
'If Dalia was older than me.'
It would have been nice if she was about five or ten years older than Cedric. And if they had met 5 years later.
So that, if Cedric was about 20 years old and Dalia was about 25 or 30 years old. Then he could have used his young appearance to entice her more aggressively.
Cedric seriously regretted it.
"Sir Cedric!"
Dalia found him and walked towards him with a smile. He hid his dark thoughts inside and smiled softly.
"Hi, Dalia."
Dalia smiled without knowing what Cedric was thinking.
She placed the book she was carrying across from Cedric. She then dragged her chair and sat down right next to the desk he was sitting at.
It was narrow as their elbow almost touched.
'This is kind of close?'
She didn't realize it until she sat down.
Cedric has grown a lot during the last half a year, and now he's as tall as most adults and has broad shoulders. So, as time went by, she became more conscious of their distance.
But she couldn't change her seat now. She took out the pen she brought and Cedric's book report and put it side by side.
"Well, I've read the book report. Thank you for being honest."
As soon as she said that, she was speechless.
What kind of feedback should she give after reading that?
While contemplating, she struggled to find the merits.
"But Sir Cedric is amazing. I couldn't understand this part no matter how much I thought about it. After reading the report, I understood it."
Dalia said while pointing to somewhere in the folded part of the book. Cedric pretended to listen and pay attention, but he seemed distracted.
"...You're not listening, are you?"
Dalia complained. Cedric immediately apologized.
"Sorry. I was thinking about something else."
"Sir Cedric."
She crossed her arms over the table as she lowered her eyebrows.
She was contemplating whether taking this class would be meaningful or not, and Cedric was distracted.
Dalia seriously pondered what the significance of this class was.
Cedric lowered his eyes as if he were reflecting on himself. Dalia waited for a moment and said.
"If Sir Cedric doesn't want to change, it's okay as it is now."
As if he thought that she would scold him, there was a slight surprise in Cedric's expression.
However, Dalia was serious. She came here to say this in the first place.
Dalia deeply sighed.
"I'm the one who asked for something weird in the first place, right? I'm also reflecting on myself right now."
"...."
"Even now, Sir Cedric is good to me in many ways, so you don't have to take these classes too hard because of me."
"That's not true."
"Even now, you're saying this in consideration of me too. Sir Cedric is a good person."
'Yeah, what if you hate people?'
After much deliberation, this was the conclusion Dalia came to.
If Cedric wants to understand people, Dalia will do her best to help. But if he didn't want to, it would be right to quit here.
At least for her, the current Cedric wasn't bad either. No matter what others said, he continued being nice to her.
She didn't want to force him more.
Cedric looked at Dalia, a bit perplexed.
Is it because she said something shameful? Dalia suddenly felt embarrassed for no reason.
"What's the matter?"
"No, I have never heard that I'm a good person in my life even from my mother."
"...."
"So that's why I was a little surprised."
What kind of life has he lived so far?
Dalia couldn't even imagine.
"... So what do you think, Sir Cedric?"
"What?"
"Whether I should continue this class or not."
"Hmm, I don't think I'll make any progress just by reading books like this."
He held his chin and spoke in a low voice.
Still, she didn't know that he would give such a straightforward answer, so Dalia looked a little hurt.
"Then for the next class... I think it would be better to stop."
Since Cedric being honest like this, it would be right to stop this class here in any way.
She struggled to suppress the feeling of regret that she felt.
"No, that's not it."
But Cedric suddenly denied it.
"What? But just now...."
"The class must go on. Otherwise, I'll spend less time with you."
Translator Note: So umm Cedric..I'm older than you…I'm willing to be *cough* seduced *cough* (ง ื▿ ื)ว