/
Damia’s eyes widened at his unexpected remark. She looked at Lessid with a look of not knowing how to answer, then burst into laughter.
“Yes, that’s right. Lessid-nim is very pretty.”
She was sincere. If Lessid had been born as a woman, the title of ‘The Northern Beauty’ would have belonged to someone else.
At that, Lessid shrugged his shoulders. He wanted Damia to blush rather than laugh.
‘It seems that you don’t regard me as a man yet.’
Yet there was still time. He was patient and knew how to practice the aesthetics of waiting.
Having captured his true intentions, Lessid escorted her politely, heading to the capital’s most popular teahouse. And on the way, he inferred Damia’s inner thoughts.
“I was worried because I thought I was a bit presumptuous with my meddling last time.”
“Yes? What meddling?”
“At that time, when I was ‘showing off’ to Sir Akkard.”
“Ah.”
It was then that Damia remembered the short play she had with Lessid. When she acted very affectionately with Lessid, Akkard looked terribly shocked.
‘And did you ask about Kael last time?’
As she recalled the events of that day, the sensation of the hot liquid that had fallen on her eyelids came to mind. Although she hadn’t seen Akkard crying in person, she couldn’t be ignorant of it.
‘I don’t know what the hell that guy is thinking.’
Involuntarily, Damia let out a deep sigh. And Lessid was a man who could roughly identify her thoughts with just that sigh.
‘Their relationship seems sort of complicated, but it looks like it’s not in very good shape.’
On the way to the tea house, she didn’t say a word about Akkard, and Lessid was satisfied with that.
“Here is the place.”
Lessid stopped in front of the tea house and looked back at her. A pleasant surprise spread across Damia’s face as she raised her head.
“Oh my gosh! So pretty!”
The most perfect and lovely doll house that any young noblewoman could have dreamed of. A dream that became a reality in front of her eyes.
The building, made of light mint and cream colors, exuded an antique sensibility. Small pink flower beds and dried bouquet decorations surrounding them were also very delicate.
As she drew closer to the tea house, the mint-colored door adorned with white lace and ribbon slid open. And a clerk, in her ruffled maid outfit, greeted her with a friendly smile.
“Welcome.”
She expected it from the outside, but the interior was even prettier.
Pale pink walls with white florets, large windows with fluttering chiffon curtains, elegant arched chairs and lovely embroidered tablecloths.
“How is it? Do you like it?”
Lessid asked with a smile. Unlike the usually calm Damia, it was fun to see her diligently looking around her.
It was then that Damia became a little ashamed of herself because she was so excited. Then, as she quickly coughed and cleared her expression, she frankly spoke of her feelings.
“Yes, everything is so pretty. Thank you so much for bringing me here.”
Her compliments and thanks were the best awards. Lessid called the clerk in a happy mood, ordered tea and dessert, then looked at Damia.
“So, shall we talk about work now?”
“Yes, I am ready.”
Damia looked at him with her hands neatly placed on her lap. There was only one piece of information she asked from Lessid.
‘About Saint Callistea’s family.’
Last time Lessid mentioned that Callistea was an orphan without parents, she was entrusted to the temple with a brother.
Although she looked young on the outside, she was in her fifties. Therefore, asking for information from few decades ago would not have been an easy task even for Lessid.
‘Especially, it would have been even more difficult to find information about the Saint.’
But Lessid skillfully managed to get Damia the information she wanted.
“Have I already told you? She had… … She had a brother her age.”
Lessid wisely spoke vaguely, not mentioning ‘saint.’ Since this is the capital, he did not know when and where an eavesdropper might be.
Noticing this, Damia quietly nodded her head. Then, convinced that she understood, he continued.
“It’s not that what I said the other day was wrong, but there was something I missed.”
“What is it?”
“Actually, they weren’t just siblings, they were twins.”
“… … Twins, you say?”
She almost added, ‘Was he a saint too?’ Damia was startled by her unexpected news and bit her mouth for a moment.
“Twins, especially of different genders, are rare. Surprising isn’t it?”
Lessid grabbed his chin and asked, blinking his green eyes. Damia nodded her head at this and then asked with renewed curiosity,
“I don’t know much about twins. Even though the genders are different, do they look the same?”
“I’m not sure either.”
Lessid chose his words with a thoughtful expression for a moment.
“According to my investigation, the male twin… … Oh, I think his name is Calix.”
“Calix.”
Damia silently repeated the name she had heard for the first time. So much attention and light were focused on the Saint, but she had never heard anything about her brother.