A guard unlocked the door and Jircniv heard Argyll’s footsteps entering.
Once the door was closed again, Jircniv turned his face in Argyll’s direction and opened his eyes.
"Good evening, Doctor. Thank you for coming. It’s unusual to see you at this ti, isn’t it?"
Argyll smiled at him, but his face looked stiff. He seed tense. That change in his usual calm manner made Jircniv uneasy and he stood up from his seat
"Doctor?"
"Ah, don’t worry," Argyll said softly. "But I’ll put up a soundproof barrier, just in case."
Argyll was also Jircniv’s teacher in magic. After quietly chanting a spell, Argyll ford a magic circle at his fingertips and then spread it across the entire room. Once the soundproof barrier was in place, he gently took both of Jircniv’s hands, as if to calm him down.
"Soone is about to appear," Argyll said. "I’m not exactly sure how he’ll arrive, but he’s waiting nearby. He said he’ll co when I call. He’s disguised as a maid, but he’s a man. He’s not an enemy. He’s on our side. Do you understand?"
"Uh, y-yes..." Jircniv could only stare at Argyll, confused.
He didn’t quite understand what Argyll ant. Soone was coming to visit? And sohow, that person had been allowed past the guards? Was that why he was in disguise as a maid?
"Then, I’ll call him now. Shiao Yi, would you please co?"
Argyll raised his voice and looked up toward the ceiling.
Jircniv blinked his eyes in surprise—wasn’t the room sealed with a soundproof barrier? Yet Argyll still called out.
And just like that, soone appeared from thin air. There was no movent from the ceiling, no creaking door, no breeze from a window—just one blink, and a person was suddenly standing there. No sign of magical energy, no ripples through a spell circle, nothing.
A girl in a pink maid uniform with brown hair was suddenly in the room.
Even Argyll looked stunned. His mouth hung open and he froze completely.
Jircniv found it almost funny to see such a blank expression on Argyll’s face—sothing rare—but then realized he probably looked the sa way.
That thought helped him finally break free from the shock.
"W-Welco...? I am Jircniv Dunrossil."
"I’m Shiao Yi," the maid-dressed figure replied. "By the way, I’m a man. Eighteen—no, actually, nineteen years old."
The maid-like girl gave a small, polite bow and introduced herself. A boy? Really?Jircniv couldn’t believe it. There was no way. She—no, he—didn’t look like a boy at all. And nineteen years old? That had to be a lie. He looked more like thirteen at most. He’s so small, slender, with a delicate and adorable face. Oh, and his eyes—they were black. That was rare. Jircniv had never seen soone with black eyes before.
Shiao Yi looked like he was about to say sothing when he suddenly turned his head sharply toward the door.
"Soone’s coming," he said.
"Ah, it’s probably the al. It’s about that ti," Jircniv answered.
"I see. Then I’ll step away for now. But I’ll co back later, so don’t be too surprised, okay?"
With that, Shiao Yi vanished again. No sound, no smoke, no warning—he simply disappeared, just like that. It was as if he’d never been there to begin with.
Jircniv was stunned once more. Even Argyll blinked his eyes repeatedly, finally snapping out of his own daze.
"That boy will be the one to take you outside. It’s almost ti. I’ll be waiting at Lord Chelmsford’s mansion."
That was all Argyll said before dissolving the soundproof barrier.
Almost at the sa mont, the servant assigned to bring Jircniv’s als barged in through the door without knocking.
Jircniv quickly shut his eyes and remained seated in the chair.
As Argyll left the room, the man slamd the tray of food onto the table with his usual roughness. But Jircniv didn’t care. Not tonight. Even with his eyes closed, the image of Shiao Yi who is dressed in that pink maid outfit and looking like a girl in every way, remained vividly in his mind.
After finishing his dinner and washing his body with the water that had been brought to him, Jircniv should have simply changed into his nightwear and gone to bed. But instead, he walked over to the cabinet, took out clothes and dressed himself.
The fireplace still glowed with warm red embers, heating the stone room enough to hold back the freezing northern chill. Carefully, Jircniv cast a soundproof barrier across the room. Nights were so quiet here that even the faintest whisper could seem loud and he didn’t want anything to leak out—not tonight.
Jircniv pulled a chair close to the fireplace and sat down, thinking about that boy in the maid outfit. With his own magical ability, Jircniv hadn’t been able to read anything from the boy—not even the faintest trace of magic. It was as if he had no magical energy at all. And yet, Jircniv didn’t feel threatened by him in the slightest.
In fact, he found himself wanting to see the boy again soon. It was the first ti night had ever felt exciting to him.
He wasn’t sure how much ti had passed while he sat there lost in thought, but suddenly, the boy was standing in the room again.
Jircniv jumped to his feet so fast that the chair fell over with a loud crash. He felt his face flush with heat—thankfully, he had rembered to set up a soundproof barrier in advance.
"I’m sorry if I startled you," the boy in the maid outfit said politely.
"No, not at all. It’s my fault. You don’t have to speak so formally," Jircniv replied. "Call Jircniv, okay? And... you’re Shiao Yi, right?"
"Jircniv...?" Shiao Yi repeated with a puzzled look. "Argyll told you, right? I’m a guy. I know I look like this, but..."
He puffed out his cheeks in protest. It was adorable. Truly adorable. Jircniv thought to himself, Angels really do exist, don’t they?
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