The changes in human emotions are truly fascinating, they progress through stages.
Especially when facing an unfortunate situation, these changes become more dramatic.
First, denial of reality.
‘No, let’s look again. I need to search the inner pocket, outer pocket, everything…’
Next, acceptance.
‘…It’s gone… really gone…!’
Then, anger follows.
‘Damn it!’
Particularly anger at oneself.
‘Damn fool! How could you just wander around without properly checking?’
If the process stopped here, the will to resolve the situation would vanish.
Fortunately, Arthur was able to move on to the next stage.
‘I definitely had it when I left the dormitory. I could feel the case on the sky bike… Could I have dropped it?’
Analyzing the cause,
‘What should I do? Should I go back and look for it?’
He started to consider a solution.
However,
Arthur’s gaze moved to the crowd visible between the buildings.
‘Could the thing I dropped still be intact among those people..? What if someone took it? Or worse, what if it was stepped on and broken at the start?’
An impossible situation he couldn’t resolve alone.
At this point, most people would give up, but Arthur had someone by his side to guide him.
“Is something wrong, Arthur?”
Lily looked at Arthur, whose complexion had turned white, with a worried expression.
Looking at Lily, Arthur felt like his world was collapsing.
He had vowed to give her the best proposal, but now he had lost the most important ring…
Arthur almost returned to self-reproach but managed to regain his senses, knowing he didn’t want to disappoint the person right in front of him.
‘Maybe if I tell Lily, she could help me find it, but…’
Arthur had hidden the ring with all his might in preparation for this surprise.
To destroy the plan at this point…
‘…Still, doing something is better than doing nothing, right?’
Eventually, Arthur made his decision and hesitantly began to speak.
“Um… Lily.”
“Yeah?”
“…I brought something really important, but…”
At that, Lily’s heart started to beat heavily.
‘Is it the ring? The ring, right? Finally!’
The timing was perfect.
To propose with an engagement ring under the beautiful sunset—how romantic.
Lily had been eagerly pursuing Arthur for a whole week to get to this moment.
She was more than ready to gladly accept the ring—
“…G-gah… I, I… lost it…”
“Huh?”
At that moment, Lily’s thoughts wavered.
‘Lost it? What? Something important… could it be the ring?’
Lily immediately focused her senses on Arthur’s chest.
Her heart sank.
‘It’s really gone?!’
As mentioned earlier, Lily had been expecting the ring for a whole week, looking forward to it.
But now, it was gone.
It felt like her mind was slowly slipping away.
“Can you help me out, Lily?”
Arthur looked at Lily with an unclear ending, hoping for her assistance.
Arthur felt overwhelming guilt towards her.
Even though Lily probably didn’t know about the ring, losing it after teasing her with the promise felt terribly unfair.
After Arthur’s plea, Lily managed to regain her composure without going through the earlier stages of emotional change.
“Alright, I’ll help you.”
Lily expanded her senses, covering the entire festival street.
An overload of information would have made an ordinary person faint, but Lily sifted through the waves of data to find the information she needed.
However, her strength was drained, and the gathered information was inconsistent and unorganized.
To conduct a smooth search, she needed a clue.
Her gaze immediately turned to Arthur.
“Arthur.”
“…Ye-yes?”
“Hug me please.”
“…Excuse me?”
“To help with the searching process. I’ll track it using your scent.”
Arthur had kept the ring close all day—actually, ever since it was made.
It was bound to be heavily infused with his scent, making it an excellent clue.
Arthur hesitated but eventually opened his arms.
Lily dove into his arms and sniffed deeply.
And then,
“…”
“…”
“…?”
After waiting for a long time without a reaction, Arthur gently poked Lily’s back.
“Uh, Lily?”
“…Hm?”
“…Are you still searching?”
Lily snapped out of her trance from Arthur’s scent.
Still dizzy from it, she quickly regained her focus and memorized his scent.
Lily expanded her senses again, using Arthur’s scent as a clue to start her tracking.
The couple’s dating trail stretched out clearly.
But there was a spot where the trail branched off, as if something had detached.
‘There!’
Focusing on that spot, Lily deduced the situation from the surrounding hints.
It wasn’t long after they’d gotten off the sky bike.
Arthur and Lily had been walking to their next location, arms linked.
That’s when the scent of another human passing by Arthur caught Lily’s attention.
“I found it.”
“Really? Where… Are you okay, Lily?”
Lily’s eyes, now glowing brighter than the sunset in deep red, emerged from Arthur’s embrace.
‘Which bastard dared…!’
Lily’s anger soared, making her hands and feet tremble violently.
—
At that moment,
A girl was briskly weaving through the crowd, looking agitated.
Just minutes before, she had been all smiles.
‘Damn it, I thought I hit the jackpot…’
She had been lying in wait near the sky bike area, where wealthy nobles would ride.
It was the perfect spot to snag something valuable.
When she caught sight of the two individuals approaching, she decided on her targets.
The woman was breathtakingly beautiful, enviable even for another woman, while the man, though cute, left much to be desired.
Their happy demeanor was grating to her.
Not only personally, but they looked like excellent prey.
The couple’s evident chemistry suggested they were newly dating, and thus, vulnerable to being split.
Their eyes wouldn’t leave each other’s faces.
They were definitely a good target for a successful attempt.
The moment she locked her sights on them, the girl approached them through the crowd.
Despite her best efforts, it was strangely difficult to keep up with the couple, who were unusually hazy and elusive.
Like being wrapped in mist.
The girl, driven by her determination to get a decent haul, managed to sneak close behind the man.
At the perfect moment, when the man was giving the woman an adoring look,
Shhssk.
With an impeccable move she thought was flawless, the girl swiped what was in the man’s inner pocket and disappeared back into the crowd.
Once she reached a secluded alley, she glanced down at her prize.
It was a black case.
Curious, she opened it only to find herself gasping in awe.
Inside the case was a stunning pair of rings with a soft, crimson jewel embedded in them.
The girl jumped around in excitement for a while.
With these, she wouldn’t have to worry about hunger for several months.
In the midst of her joy, she took the rings to a gem shop to sell them.
“This is a moonstone, right? But… it’s red? Phew, it brings bad luck. I won’t buy it, get out.”
The refusal shocked her. Other gem shops she visited echoed the same response.
One person agreed to buy it, but the price was outrageously low.
Thinking it was better to do a trade, the girl started pondering whom to approach.
Suddenly,
“Freeze!”
“…”
“Hey, you! Brown-haired brat!”
“Who’s the brat?!”
The girl turned her head sharply and felt a chill run down her spine.
“Wh-what..?”
The person who had called her out was none other than the woman whose ring the girl had stolen.
Lily’s eyes—now glowing with fury, blood-red—sent shivers down the girl’s spine.
Through a faint haze, the girl saw an eerie shadow.
She glimpsed the shadowy tentacles writhing behind Lily.
“Ghh! M-Monster!”
Her legs collapsing, the girl fell to her knees.
“Arrrrgh! Anybody! Somebody, please save…me…?”
The girl noticed the oddity.
Despite shouting at the top of her lungs, no one around her seemed to take notice.
It was as if she didn’t exist in this world.
When she turned her head back to Lily, her whole existence felt strange, unsettling her nerves.
Just as the girl’s neck bubbled with foam,
“Lily!”
Arthur rushed forward, standing on tiptoes to cover Lily’s eyes.
As Lily’s red gaze was blocked, the girl slumped on the ground, retching.
In the meantime, Arthur whispered to Lily softly.
“I’ll take care of it.”
“But…”
“Please.”
“…”
As always, Lily couldn’t refuse Arthur’s sincere plea.
“Alright. Can you undo this for me?”
“Y-yes, sir.”
Once her anger subsided, Lily’s eyes returned to their normal black.
“Thank you.”
Arthur gave Lily a quick peck on her cheek before approaching the girl.
The girl looked at Arthur with hatred in her eyes.
Arthur carefully examined the girl.
‘She isn’t as thin as I thought, her body is in decent condition, her age isn’t too young, so why thievery…’
“You’re from an orphanage, right?”
The girl flinched.
“How… how did you know?”
“Obvious, really. Which orphanage are you from?”
The girl clamped her mouth shut.
Arthur sighed deeply.
“The thing you… took is very important to me. Can you give it back?”
At this, the girl smirked mischievously.
“Hah, I already sold it away. It’s gone.”
“Liar.”
Then Lily raised her hand pointing to the girl’s right pocket.
“It’s here.”
The girl felt defeated.
‘Damn, she’s a mage!’
Not only had the girl been found so accurately, but the information about the pocket was spot-on.
It must have been due to a tracking spell on the case.
The girl bit her lip.
With the mage against her, escape was impossible.
Worse still, there was no one around to notice the present situation.
That meant…
‘If she wanted, she could dispose of me quietly without anyone knowing!’
This left the girl with only one viable option.
Thud.
The girl fell on her knees before Arthur and exclaimed.
“I’m sorry! I think I lost my mind due to hunger! The orphanage I was from shut down and I was thrown out with nothing, so I haven’t eaten for days. I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I’m sorry!”
The girl desperately pleaded with her hands and knees to Arthur.
If Arthur decided to turn nasty, she was as good as dead.
However, when Arthur heard her words, it felt like he had been hit hard on the head.
“You said orphanage? Which one?”
The girl sniffled as she replied.
“Blue Peace Orphanage.”
As soon as the girl mentioned the orphanage Arthur had grown up in, Arthur’s features scrunched up in distress.
