Tia’s Smooth Life After Regression - Chapter 49
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Tiya’s Smooth Regression Life
Chapter 49
Whether they knew of that eerie atmosphere or not, Tiya and Valentina crossed the corridor while chatting away.
It was when Tiya was pouring a handful of star cluster flowers into a long decorative ceramic vase she had placed there.
Valentina asked carefully.
“About the vacation, is there a specific day that’s been decided?”
“Hmm, well….”
Lev had said he wasn’t sure either.
Tiya’s curious eyes suddenly turned toward the window.
A moon with edges distorted like a cookie that had been bitten hung in the night sky.
‘Ah, come to think of it….’
Winter had definitely mentioned it in passing while calculating the vacation dates so far.
“I’m not certain, but it seems like the employees are given vacation on the day of the lunar eclipse.”
【Why are you telling her that!】
Winter scolded belatedly, but it was already too late.
“The day of the lunar eclipse, you say….”
Winter didn’t miss how Valentina’s eyes instantly darkened like the sky at sunset.
【That fox-like bastard.】
He would definitely go back and report every detail to his family.
Unaware of Winter’s thoughts, Tiya glanced sideways at Winter for saying something mean to her friend, then threw punches toward her side.
Since seeing Tiya punch at thin air wasn’t a new occurrence, Valentina just went about her business with an accepting attitude.
After punching enough to cool her anger, Tiya asked Valentina.
“You know, Valen. I have something I’m curious about too.”
After sending the Palantio flower crown to Grandmother.
Tiya had discovered a flower crown placed in front of her room door. With various fresh flowers intertwined together, it truly had the dignity of spring’s crown.
Following the empire’s tradition, while the flower crown hung on the wall to dry completely, the scent of spring lingered endlessly in Tiya’s room.
It was obvious who had prepared the fresh flowers that were hard to obtain in the middle of winter.
Tiya asked with confidence.
“The one who prepared my new flower crown was you, Valen, right?”
But somehow Valentina’s expression was strange. He pondered for a moment, then gave a somewhat bewildered answer.
“I did make the flowers for the crown bloom… but I was asked to do it.”
“Asked? By whom?”
Was it Mia? Or Lev?
“Lord Rodion.”
At the unexpected answer, Tiya’s shoulders jumped with a start.
“…My brother?”
“Yes. But Lord Rodion asked me to keep it a secret.”
“Uh… but you’re telling me the secret right now?”
“It didn’t seem like a secret that would be particularly helpful between you two.”
“…?”
Though Tiya tilted her head in confusion, Valentina responded with a faint smile instead of an answer. As if getting involved further wasn’t his place.
Just then, Tiya reached the end of the corridor and stopped to look up at the door in front of her.
Rodion’s room, located farthest from her own room.
‘So it was… from my brother.’
She wanted to fling that door wide open right now and go in to say thank you.
But the door with five or six locking mechanisms seemed just like her brother’s heart, making it impossible for her to even knock.
Instead, Tiya stuck the last remaining star cluster flower into the locking mechanism, wedging it in to leave a sign that she had been there.
In doing so, she accidentally touched the locking mechanism wrong, causing the latch to loosen, but she didn’t notice.
Only after pouring plenty of mana into the star cluster flower so that traces of her visit would remain for a long time did she turn around with satisfaction.
“Alright, now let’s go get Lev.”
Behind Tiya, who was leading the way energetically, Valentina hesitated for a moment.
Tiya, who was a few steps ahead, glanced back.
Not only Valentina but Winter was also lagging behind with arms crossed. Tiya asked both of them.
“What are you doing there?”
“Nothing, it’s nothing.”
Valentina belatedly followed behind Tiya.
Winter also slowly chased after Tiya while looking back at Rodion’s door once more.
Unlike Tiya, that cunning fox seemed to have already noticed.
The meaning of the lock being firmly secured from the outside, not the inside.
* * *
“Why are you so late? I almost fell asleep waiting.”
Lev, who had been waiting for Tiya and Valentina while shaking his legs restlessly, came down from the bed like a shot.
Contrary to his words, there wasn’t a trace of sleepiness in Lev’s eyes.
“You should have gone to Tiya’s room first.”
“You want me to go alone, across that dark corridor, to the Corn room?”
【Geez, that one’s a real princess.】
“Then I’ll have to be the prince.”
“What?”
“I’ll carry you like a princess.”
“I have two legs too, you know?”
Though Lev grumbled, he walked out into the corridor with Tiya and Valentina flanking him like a princess receiving an escort.
His legs trembling wasn’t entirely due to physical weakness.
“Ugh, why am I putting myself through this suffering?”
“The suffering that doesn’t kill me only makes me stronger! That’s the spirit of the North, brother.”
【That’s right. Tell him that hardships in youth are worth seeking out.】
“She says hardships in youth are worth seeking out!”
“What? Who says that?”
Tiya rolled her eyes around, then whispered with a mischievous smile.
“The woman wearing a black veil, following behind us.”
“What?”
Lev whipped around to look back, but naturally no one was there.
Realizing he’d been tricked, Lev scrunched up his face and stomped his feet.
Then, belatedly realizing they had been too noisy, Lev lowered his voice.
“Anyway, let’s not be so loud.”
“Because it’s nighttime?”
“That too, but during this time, my brother gets a bit… sharp.”
“Lord Rodion does?”
“My brother does?”
Tiya and Valentina asked back simultaneously in disbelief.
A sharp Rodion. It was an impossible word combination, like hot ice cream.
Lev pondered for a moment how to explain this.
On the day he first gave the employees a group vacation, Rodion had sat Lev down and given him a stern warning.
“Lev. On the day when everyone goes on vacation, never come looking for me that night. Can you promise me that?”
“Do you still think I’m a little kid? Coming to you crying at night.”
“…Lev, you’re still a child.”
Though he grumbled, inwardly the expression on Rodion’s face when he said those words had been bothering him all along.
Because it seemed like his brother was afraid of something.
However, instead of bringing up that day’s events, Lev gave a vague explanation and pulled on Tiya’s room door handle.
“Just don’t wake up brother. So quietly— eeeeeek!”
“Shh, shh! You said we can’t make noise.”
“Do, do, do I look like I’m not about to scream right now?”
Lev pointed into Tiya’s room with a face that looked like he was about to faint.
“What is that pentagram! Crazy North! Are you planning to summon demons or something!”
In the middle of Tiya’s room. A pentagram drawn in red ink was ominously flickering under sinister blue magical flames.
This time even Winter had no choice but to agree with Lev’s words.
【Originally this wasn’t such an ominous-looking ritual…】
Originally this ritual was an old tradition of the North where children would gather together and share stories of spirits they had seen while honoring the spirits.
But the people of Frost Castle, worried that the youngest lady who had never seen a spirit might feel sad, transformed the tradition into a test of courage.
Thus the Night of Spirits became the Night of Trials.
“A pentagram? This is a hexagram… Oh, mistake! I forgot one.”
Tiya quickly added a triangle to complete a misshapen hexagram.
“Originally we should use candles, but we can’t play with fire without adults, right? So I substituted with my magic.”
Thanks to that, the atmosphere became incredibly eerie.
Lev sat across from Tiya while suppressing his desire to run away immediately.
“Then let’s start the Night of Trials. I’ll tell a story first.”
To properly set the mood, Tiya made her expression gravely serious. Just as she brought the magical flame close to her face while recalling the most terrifying story she knew.
“Kyaaah!”
Suddenly Lev let out a piercing scream.
“What? What is it?”
I haven’t even started yet?
A bewildered Tiya looked around. Lev pointed at Tiya and shouted.
“Just now I saw something terrifying above the light!”
“…That was my face.”
“…”
Valentina stepped forward for the dejected Tiya.
“Anyone would look scary if they brought their face close to this light. Look, see.”
He demonstratively brought the blue flame close to his own face.
His delicate face touched by the blue light was as beautiful and mysterious as a mermaid swimming in the deep sea.
“Somehow my heart just hurts more now… the comfort is fine, Valen.”
“Yeah…”
After a brief silence.
Lev, ignoring the silence, quickly blew out Tiya’s flame with a puff.
“Anyway, your face was the trial so now it’s done. Your turn is over.”
“Eh, how is that fair.”
“It’s right here, why! Valentina. Hurry up and start. It’s your turn.”
At Lev’s urging, Valentina reluctantly opened his mouth.
“This is something I also heard from someone who works in this manor’s kitchen…”
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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