The next day.
Humming an off-key little tune, Su An drifted back to the Saluzzo estate. His transparent body passed through the corridor as he made his way, with long familiarity, toward Lappland's room.
He slipped through the door and floated toward the bedside by habit, ready to begin today's wake-up service.
The moment he passed through the door and opened his mouth, he froze.
Lappland was already sitting in the chair by the window, fully dressed, silver hair spilling over her shoulders. She idly toyed with that short sword in her hand, staring straight at him.
More precisely, she was staring at the spot where he had just come through the door.
Su An hung there in midair, still holding his mouth open.
"...You're up pretty early today?"
Lappland said nothing.
Su An drifted closer and got a better look at her face.
There were faint shadows beneath her eyes. Not obvious, but he had stayed with her for six years—he noticed it at a glance. His heart skipped a beat, and a bad feeling suddenly crept over him.
"Lappland?"
"Where did you go last night?"
Su An opened his mouth, mind racing, while his lips had already begun fumbling for a casual answer.
"Huh? Last night? I was just wandering around a bit. Brunello City gets pretty lively at night, you know. Those taverns—"
"What time did you leave last night?"
Su An was cut off.
"Uh... after you fell asleep?"
"What time did you come back?"
"Just... just now?"
"So I stayed up the whole night waiting for you here."
"You... you didn't sleep all night?"
Lappland didn't answer.
Su An floated in front of her, crouching down to meet her at eye level.
"Why?"
Lappland looked at him in silence for a few seconds before finally speaking.
"You go out every night. Sometimes for one or two hours, sometimes until dawn."
"During the day too. The moment I turn my head, you're gone."
"When I ask where you went, you say you were just wandering around. When I ask what you saw, you make up some ridiculous story to change the subject."
"Su An."
"Yeah?"
"Do you think I've become boring?"
Su An froze. "Huh?"
"Did you find someone more interesting?"
Holy shit?! How does she know that?
"No, wait, listen to me..." Su An blurted out. "I really did go out to meet someone last night."
Lappland's questioning stopped. She seemed ready to hear how he would explain himself.
"A penguin," Su An continued. "An old thing who's lived for who knows how long. Knows a lot of people, knows a lot of things. I went to ask him about something."
"About what?"
"About your father. The Moretti family's been moving around Brunello City a lot lately. A few other smaller families have been making contact in secret too. They've all got their eyes on that Originium trade route. They want a share of it."
Lappland frowned.
"Most of the times I've been going out lately, I've been gathering information like that. You asked why I've been disappearing for longer and longer, didn't you? That's why."
Lappland stared at Su An for a long time in silence.
"Why didn't you just tell me directly?"
"Uh..."
"Did you think I'd worry? That I'd think you were meddling? That you were overstepping?"
Lappland stood up and walked over to him, lowering her gaze to look down at him. Su An was floating, sure, but he was crouched and she was standing, so from this angle she really was looking down at him.
"Su An."
"Yeah?"
"You're mine."
Su An: "...?"
"No, that's not right. You're my... my ghost."
"What you do, where you go, when you come back—I want to know."
"Alright, fine. From now on, wherever I go, I'll let you know first. And I'll tell you when I'm coming back too. Happy?"
Lappland said nothing, but her ears twitched.
Su An caught the movement. Looks like he'd managed to muddle through this one.
"Though you should prepare yourself mentally. Sometimes the places I have to go might be a little far away. And sometimes I might be gone for a while..."
"How far?"
"Uh... maybe another country or something?"
"How long?"
"One or two months?" Su An asked cautiously.
Lappland fell silent.
In truth, it would never take that long. In spirit form, he could reach almost anywhere on Terra in an instant.
But the real problem was that he simply didn't have enough time to go around.
Seeing the look on Lappland's face, Su An hurried to patch things up.
"Of course, that'd only be in rare cases! I might not even be gone that long. Most of the time I just wander around near Brunello City. Same-day trips, same-day return!"
Su An looked at Lappland's expressionless face and, for once, felt a little guilty. Just as he was about to offer another explanation, the butler's voice came from outside the door.
"Miss, the master requests that you and Miss Texas come to the main hall for breakfast."
Lappland stared at Su An for several seconds before finally looking away. She stood up, straightened her clothes, and walked toward the door.
Then she replied, "Understood."
Floating beside her, Su An let out a breath of relief.
That counted as getting through this, right?
"Uh..."
"Shut up."
"I haven't even said anything yet!"
"I don't want to hear you right now."
Su An wisely shut his mouth.
But the way he floated beside her made him look exactly like some large dog that knew it had done something wrong—head hanging, listlessly trailing along at her side.
This is tactical camouflage!
Lappland's ears twitched. She glanced at him out of the corner of her eye, and the corner of her mouth lifted slightly.
In the corridor, Texas happened to be stepping out of the room next door.
She glanced at Lappland, then at the empty space by her side, and said,
"Morning."
"Morning."
"...You two are so boring when you talk," Su An complained from the side.
In the hall, breakfast had already been laid out on the long table.
Lappland took a seat opposite Texas. Su An floated up to the chandelier—his usual place—and looked down over everything from above.
Alberto wasn't there. He had probably already eaten and gone off to handle family business.
That was for the best. Saved Su An from having to perform another one-man comedy show.
"You didn't sleep well last night?" Texas asked suddenly.
Lappland's knife paused over the fried egg. "You can tell?"
"There are dark circles under your eyes."
"Oh."
"Why didn't you sleep well?"
Lappland didn't answer. She just kept cutting her egg.
Texas waited a few seconds. When it became clear Lappland had no intention of responding, she didn't press further and lowered her head to drink her coffee.
Watching this from the chandelier, Su An suddenly found the whole thing kind of interesting.
"After breakfast, I'll take you into the city," Lappland said out of nowhere.
"Alright."
"..."
"And while we're at it, we'll go see what the Moretti family is up to."
Texas's brow twitched. "Moretti?"
"Your father's business partner." Lappland cut off a piece of egg and put it into her mouth. "And the Saluzzo family's mortal enemy."
Texas was silent for two seconds. "Do you need me to stay out of it?"
"No. You're not a Moretti. You're a Texas."
"And besides... your father and your grandfather aren't the same person."
Texas looked at her without speaking.
Judging by that reaction, it seemed the fact that her father and grandfather were at odds was already common knowledge.
-------
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