A Butterfly Through the Mist - Chapter 95

“…A transfer to Arkansis?”

“That’s right.”

The section chief, facing a visibly irritable clerk, continued with a disinterested expression.

“Clerk Ambrose, you have your whole family in Arkansis, and you even graduated from the academy there. Seems like the best fit.”

“…May I ask why the transfer notice came out so suddenly?”

“How should I know? The order came down from the higher-ups.”

Alma Martin yawned broadly, as if uninterested in anything, then glanced at Tilia standing in front of her desk with a displeased look.

“Why? Don’t want to go? Then should I, who actually has a family here, go to Arkansis instead?”

“No, it’s not that…”

“If it’s not that! Clerk Ambrose, this is a great opportunity for you, isn’t it? You get to go back to your hometown. It’s not a promotion, but it’s certainly not a demotion either. You’ll probably even get a bit of a raise. What are you hesitating for?”

Alma, as if too annoyed to continue speaking, tossed the transfer paperwork at her.

“Fill it out and bring it to me by the end of the week. You might as well take this chance to tidy up your place.”

Tilia awkwardly accepted the transfer form her supervisor had thrown, hesitated for a moment, then bowed slightly.

“Yes. I’ll let you know my decision within the week.”

“Stubborn as always…”

Even without looking, she could tell. Alma Martin was glaring at her back with sharp eyes.

But just as always, Tilia ignored her completely and walked back to her desk.

Phew. The moment she sat down, a sigh welled up from deep in her gut.

A transfer? To Arkansis?

For a moment, memories of all she had gone through in that place came rushing back, and Tilia felt a sudden wave of dizziness.

But it wasn’t only despair or anxiety that had caused that feeling. There was a strange weight of anticipation and an unfamiliar flutter pressing down on her chest.

With a face twisted in mixed emotions, Tilia fiddled with the transfer form, then glanced slightly to the side.

The desk next to hers, Norbert Karel’s, had been empty for a week now.

Which meant it had been a week since the day Ilex Davenport had suddenly appeared, only to vanish again.

Norbert Karel had disappeared from the moment she returned from the palace that afternoon.

Whether it was unauthorized leave or a business trip—since their supervisor had said nothing, no one knew the reason for his absence. But Tilia didn’t care enough to be curious. All she felt was a vague sense of how much time had passed.

It felt like just an hour ago. But it’s already been a week.

Thinking back to that night, Tilia instinctively crumpled the corner of the paper—only to realize belatedly that she was holding an official document, and quickly set it down.

I should get to work. Getting through the day without incident comes first.

Because she had walked out without permission, Tilia had spent the entire past week doing overtime as punishment. She moistened her dry lips with cold water and calmly picked up her ruler.

***

But no matter how hard she tried, Tilia couldn’t avoid working late again.

Her boss, who had already decided she’d be transferring to Arkansis, demanded she finish everything on her plate before leaving.

‘Well, if I do transfer, at least I won’t have to see the section chief anymore.’

Rotating her stiff shoulders, Tilia hurried along the night streets.

That’s when the stained toe of her shoe caught the glow of a fully lit gas lamp.

She stared quietly at the mark dirtying her new shoes, then spoke her thoughts aloud.

“Going back to Arkansis…”

The biggest reason she had been forced to leave her hometown had long since been resolved.

She had learned the truth back when she had been buying up every Arkansis bulletin she could find in Ontaroa.

That her father and brother had suffered a complete downfall.

The article had appeared in a tiny corner of one of the issues.

Baron Ambrose, who had recklessly scammed noble investors in a mining scheme, had tried desperately to avoid imprisonment by selling even the family mansion. But since he had been caught up in smuggling charges as well, there had been no escape.

Lacking even the bribe money to sway the guards, he had ended up in one of the kingdom’s most notorious northern prisons. There, he had fallen seriously ill and was now said to be bedridden in a shabby care facility.

The article added that the heir of House Ambrose, who had fled with what little wealth remained before the family collapsed, hadn’t fared much better.

George Ambrose was found in a gambling den, looking like a wreck no different from his father.

The police who found him initially thought he was just another drug addict or vagrant. But miraculously, they found the name he kept mumbling on the list of missing persons and rescued him. Thus, the heir of House Ambrose, who had nearly frozen to death on the street, was now living day to day in a poorhouse.

The journalist who explained the tragic downfall of House Ambrose in a calm tone gave the article a simple headline:

The Complete Ruin of a Speculator.

Not the downfall of House Ambrose, nor the downfall of a noble house—just the “complete ruin of a speculator.”

‘Well, what better name could suit Father than that.’

Tilia twisted her lips, feeling an odd urge to sponsor the journalist who had written such a satisfying article.

So the strongest reason she had for not returning home had long since been removed.

She was now entirely free to go anywhere. Tilia wasn’t foolish enough to end up like her father or brother, who had supposedly lost their minds.

Then… would it really not matter if she went back?

It was at that moment, while she was still walking slowly toward home, that her steps suddenly turned.

The stained toe of her shoe lifted not toward the quiet residential area, but in the direction of the bustling plaza.

In a moment of distraction, the article she had seen in front of the fountain last week flashed through her mind again.

「Cecilia Clayton Breaks Off Engagement with Duke Davenport!

Cecilia Clayton, eldest daughter of the Marquis of Clayton, has announced her broken engagement with Duke Ilex Davenport.

The Clayton family’s aide, who had dismissed last month’s rumors of the engagement being called off as unfounded, suddenly announced just a month later that “Miss Cecilia is soon to marry the Marquis of Doyer.” Doyer, an allied kingdom of Ontaroa, has no means of transport to Arkansis except by sea. Why such a noble young lady would settle in such a remote land remains unclear…」

Unlike the vague memories she had of the Ambrose article, the piece about Duke Davenport’s broken engagement was etched in her mind so clearly she could reproduce every punctuation mark.

Broken engagement. Between Ilex Davenport and Cecilia Clayton.

Tilia quickened her steps, once again recalling the article that had kept disturbing her thoughts all week, slipping into her mind the moment she let her guard down.

It was obvious where she was headed. That fountain. The plaza fountain where she had eaten ice cream with Ilex Davenport a week ago.

She thought she was just walking quickly—but before she knew it, she was running.

Only when she was short of breath did Tilia realize and came to a halt just before reaching her destination.

The bench where she and Ilex had sat was already taken by another couple.

She hastily turned her head this way and that, but she didn’t see anyone who even resembled Ilex Davenport, not even someone with a similar height.

Even so, Tilia lingered in the same spot for a long while. Only after the couple who had been chatting on the bench left did she awkwardly approach it.

The spot where they had flung their ice cream together was now perfectly clean. The only remaining stain was on her own shoe.

Sitting down cautiously on the bench, Tilia stared at the discolored toe she had waited too long to clean, then looked toward the fountain, which had long since ceased to run.

Unlike the still scene before her, the stream of water in her memory was vividly strong.

The intense hues that seemed to hold the sunset, the droplets bouncing with refreshing coolness—both revived within her. Along with them, a voice she could never forget echoed again.

“You always ruin things. Right at the moment when I’m expecting the most from you.”

What did I ever… What did I even do to make you expect anything?

Hearing his invisible voice again, Tilia unconsciously tucked her foot inward, as if to hide the stain on her shoe.

He was the one who made people hope so pathetically, not her.

After silently watching the still fountain for a long time, Tilia realized no matter how long she waited, the ripple in her heart would never settle like water.

So she left.

But her steps, returning late to her tall apartment building, were oddly light—almost laughably so.