Selaphiel let out a wide smile.
"Do I?"
She asked, her voice light but her eyes gleaming with sothing unreadable.
Aveline stared at her cautiously, lips pressing into a line as she pondered her answer. After a pause, she finally spoke—though her voice held hesitation.
"...Yes, you do."
But Lugh knew better.
If the woman herself was saying it, then the truth was far worse. There were problems. Deeper ones. Ones hidden behind the quirks he had already noticed. What could be more terrifying than an insane person?
A self-aware lunatic.
He mumbled the words to himself, his voice barely audible.
Then his thoughts drifted—unbidden—to Isolde. Her strange behavior. The way she sotis referred to him as Lucas, the na of his long-dead father.
She hadn’t exhibited any anomalies lately, but did that an the issue had disappeared?
Most likely not.
And if one followed Selaphiel’s way of thinking, then Isolde’s actions could only be considered barely acceptable—if not a warning sign in themselves.
Lugh humd to himself, quietly, before turning toward the two won.
"Is there any special relationship between the Caldreth family and... slipping minds?"
Both ladies turned to him.
Aveline’s eyes narrowed. He was most likely—no, definitely—talking about her mother.
Selaphiel, however, remained unreadable. Lugh couldn’t get a read on her, which was unusual. She tilted her head, studying him.
"House Caldreth?"
She echoed.
"Why are you asking that?"
There was no graceful way out now.
Lugh adjusted his tone, speaking with feigned ease.
"Oh, nothing much. I just noticed so odd things about her, that’s all."
He let the words hang in the air, then added,
"I also noticed so odd things about her daughters as well."
He didn’t clarify further, letting the silence stretch.
"Hey!"
Aveline snapped, eyes wide with offense.
"What do you an by that? We don’t have any issues!"
’Sorry, Aveline,’
Lugh thought,
’but you have the biggest problems of them all.’
He hadn’t forgotten how she snuck out at night—not to head into the city like her sisters—but to hunt animals in the woods beyond their estate gardens.
Like a rabid beast.
Aveline hadn’t stopped speaking, her tone rising with indignation.
"Rather, you’re the one with issues."
Lugh turned to look at her, his face suddenly unreadable. His expression sharpened into sothing cold and strange, eyes filled with sothing difficult to na.
His voice deepened.
"Issues,"
He repeated slowly, as if tasting the word on his tongue.
"What... issues do I have?"
"See?"
Aveline exclaid, frustrated.
"You’re doing it again!"
Lugh blinked. He genuinely looked confused.
"What are you talking about?"
She crossed her arms.
"It’s your personality,"
She said firmly.
"Every single ti I speak to you, it’s like eting a different person. Only the face is the sa. Nothing else. Not your gestures. Not your body language. Not even the words you like to use. And sotis..."
She hesitated, her voice faltering before she finished.
"...It’s like there’s nobody there at all."
Lugh looked at her in silence. Selaphiel, too, seed unusually quiet. She was paying close attention now, content to watch—sothing that didn’t suit the image he had of her in his mind.
And that fact, in itself, was suspicious.
Which just further went to completely debunk Aveline’s theory.
"Ridiculous,"
Lugh finally muttered, turning his gaze out the window. The scenery blurred past. They had already traveled quite a distance. It wouldn’t take long before they arrived at Cross Manor.
"What is ridiculous about it?"
Aveline pressed.
He answered without turning.
"Humans are inherently complex creatures. A single person leaves different, diverse impressions on others. To so, you’re gloomy. To others, you’re funny. A person may see you as open-minded, while another might think of you as arrogant. Thus, different faces are created."
He glanced briefly at her.
"A simple example would be you—and your group of... ’friends.’ Those kids admire you. You might as well be a saint to them. But their parents? They see you as a scheming devil. A threat that shouldn’t be left to fester."
He paused.
"Thus, two personalities, depending on the observer, are created for you with no further input on your side. Therefore, I think it’s wrong to say there are any problems with in particular when it’s sothing unique to human nature as a whole."
Aveline was quiet for a mont, then smiled.
"You completely missed the point though."
Lugh glanced at her again, this ti with a question in his eyes.
She explained,
"I never said anything about other people’s perspectives of you. I only spoke about my own. You launched into an explanation of sothing entirely different—hence proving my point."
"Proving your point? How?"
She tapped her chin thoughtfully.
"Let’s see..."
She searched for an example. Then her eyes lit up.
"Ah! For one—the Lugh from two hours ago. The one who, through provocation, clever play, and intimidation, managed to draw and dominate the attention of everyone in the room—that Lugh would’ve understood what I ant imdiately. He wouldn’t have wasted ti explaining a completely different concept."
Lugh blinked.
"I don’t understand you."
"Are you sure?"
She asked softly.
His frown deepened. Did he understand what she was saying?
He thought he did... or didn’t he?
Then suddenly, his face twisted in discomfort. A sharp, piercing headache struck. He clutched the side of his face and lowered his head, eyes clenched shut.
A low groan escaped him.
After a while, he spoke again, voice hoarse and unsteady.
"I’m... not sure."
An uncomfortable silence filled the carriage.
’And so the anomalies surface,’
Selaphiel thought, her smile gone.
Aveline stared at him, concern flickering in her eyes. Her grandmother’s words echoed back to her—words spoken just minutes ago.
"The deeper one delves into it—the more their mind unravels. Magic is, by its nature, a deviation from the natural."
And Lugh... was nothing if not a powerful mage. She was right, Aveline realized with a sinking feeling.
She didn’t need any prompting. She didn’t even look at Selaphiel. She simply kept her mouth shut, afraid to intensify whatever strange condition had just gripped Lugh.
After a while, his voice broke the silence again, low and distant—like soone speaking from inside a dream.
"...Continue."
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