Chapter 20

Damn it.

How did that ridiculous thing even become my nickname?

He didn’t have to think long to know the answer. One of Melissa’s parents, who always kept a hawk’s eye on them whenever they were together, must have overheard their conversation that day.

Damn. Just damn it all.

The curse hovered in his throat, but he couldn’t let it out. The moment he did, it would spread across the entire village by evening, and the last thing he wanted was for Melissa to hear that kind of language from him.

And so, that unwanted nickname was born, “Canary.”

The first time Melissa heard it, she looked puzzled, then laughed, saying it suited him so well.

He couldn’t bring himself to tell her it wasn’t a compliment. He had simply clenched his jaw and endured the humiliation.

A whole year of that mockery.

As Demius recalled the painful memories of that time before he finally left the village with Melissa, a gentle voice like sunlight reached his ears.

“Your singing is so beautiful, Mimi. I could listen to it every day.”

“Truly?”

His lips curled upward before he realized it. The question came out automatically.

Melissa nodded firmly, her green eyes bright with sincerity.

“Yes, really. You’re just like a canary.”

Of course.

If Melissa said so, then he was a canary. Chirp.

Demius let go of his pride. A soft smile curved his eyes.

“If you wish, I’ll sing for you anytime. After all, I’m your canary.”

“Oh, really?”

Melissa clasped her hands together with delight.

“Then that means you already have two lovely nicknames, don’t you, Mimi?”

Demius’s eyes widened, then slowly softened.

‘Already,’ she said.

That made it sound as if there could be more.

Maybe three. If he dared to dream, four.

Or if fortune truly smiled upon him, ten.

If only they could keep calling each other with those little nicknames, he could die happy after that one year.

While he was quietly planning the rest of his life with a blissful heart, Demius suddenly remembered the reason he’d come here in the first place.

“By the way, what were you looking for in the garden earlier?”

His gaze dropped slightly, his voice awkwardly calm.

“It might just be my imagination, but… isn’t that outfit different from the one Mother gave you last time?”

“Good eye!”

Melissa puffed up proudly and spread out her dress.

“You’re right. It’s new!”

“New… clothes.”

Demius frowned.

What she was wearing didn’t fit any definition of “new” he knew.

If something that worn and frayed counted as new, then the broken farming tools in the storage shed should all be considered new too.

As he struggled to smooth the crease between his brows, Melissa’s bright green eyes sparkled.

“When I stopped by the general store we went to with Mother, they happened to have several similar ones. So I bought a few extras, just in case the one she gave me gets worn out.”

She glanced around, then whispered playfully,

“But it’s a secret, alright? Mother might feel hurt if she finds out.”

Melissa winked.

Demius squeezed his eyes shut.

Adorable.

When he opened them again, he noticed how the fabric’s soft fuzz reminded him of a baby animal’s fur, and the frayed hem looked almost like delicate frills.

‘…No. Absolutely not.’

He shook his head, trying to clear away the haze of infatuation clouding his vision, and spoke firmly.

“Still, that’s—”

“Isn’t it lovely how thoughtful Mother is, finding something so comfortable for me?”

That thoughtfulness…

Demius bit the inside of his cheek.

He couldn’t bear to see her bright smile fade, not even for a moment.

After a brief inner battle, he finally managed to speak.

“Then… would you accept something from me too? I’ll have a work outfit made for you from stronger and softer fabric.”

“I’ll have to decline.”

The unexpected answer made his eyes widen.

Melissa smiled gently and shook her head.

“I already have too much from you, Mimi. My wardrobe is full because of you.”

She smiled, adding lightly,

“I doubt I can wear them all within a year.”

A year.

His breath caught again.

Only one year.

Such precious time couldn’t be wasted on something like this.

Demius exhaled slowly, resigning himself.

“I see. In that case, what were you looking for again?”

“A treasure!”

“…A treasure?”

He raised an eyebrow.

Melissa nodded enthusiastically.

“Yes. I found a box buried in the garden patch I turned into a vegetable field, but there was no key. I was searching the area for it.”

A vegetable garden.

Demius blinked as an old memory surfaced.

When he was young, he had once wanted to play in that sunny patch of land, but the oldest gardener had stopped him, saying it was off-limits.

That gardener had retired years ago, and Demius had long forgotten about the place until now.

‘A box was found there?’

When he looked down again, Melissa was watching him with shining eyes.

“Would you like to join me, Mimi?”

“Yes.”

He answered instantly.

Wait… did she just say join me too?

“Is there… someone else participating?”

Melissa grinned.

“Shilen! And…”

Demius stopped listening.

That little brat who once endangered Melissa was doing a treasure hunt with her before him?

‘Damn it.’

He realized how petty that sounded, but it didn’t matter.

Awareness aside, a battle was a battle.

And this was his home turf.

Unlike that boy who’d been here barely two years, Demius had spent his whole life inside this estate.

Aside from his siblings, no one knew the secret corners and hidden passageways of the castle better than he did.

“So, whoever finds it first will get a special gift I made!”

“…What?”

Melissa raised her fingers and started counting.

“There are actually quite a few participants. Shilen, Mona, Hannah, Liza, Rosi, Hans…”

Her fingers folded and unfolded endlessly.

Demius felt his scalp go cold.

He’d thought he had only one rival. Turns out there were dozens.

…No matter.

He nodded with fierce determination.

“I’ll be the one to win.”

A gift from Melissa. A handmade gift from those delicate hands.

There was no way he’d let anyone else take it.

Melissa clapped her hands together.

“Then the prize should be everyone’s favorite, fried snacks!”

While she chattered cheerfully, Demius was already strategizing.

Should he start from the castle interior?

No, the garden would be better.

He’d begin closest to the vegetable patch and search outward carefully.

His hand clenched into a firm fist.

* * *

“Suspicious.”

Linburton narrowed his eyes.

Lately, that stray cat had been prowling around the estate more boldly than ever.

He’d even seen her near the library and the record room, where she’d never shown up before. It put him on high alert.

She’d been mumbling to herself with an unusually serious face, then turned away, shaking her head, right in front of the records room?

‘Just as I thought.’

A spy.

She must be gathering information now that everyone’s guard was down.

Linburton rubbed his chin, fingers interlaced, eyes narrowing.

It made sense.

So he’d doubled the number of people keeping watch on Melissa.

But strangely, everyone he sent came back saying the same bizarre thing.

“Would you like to join the treasure hunt?”

A treasure hunt?

Linburton had raised an eyebrow when he first heard it.

Was this spy trying to steal a hidden artifact under the guise of a game?

But the strange part was that she’d made the same offer publicly to everyone.

And she promised a reward for whoever found it first.

‘A bribe, then?’