Chapter 125 – "The Lost Composure"

That golden butterfly hair ornament was Teresa’s—Litt recognized it immediately. After all, Teresa always wore it. She practically never took it off.

“Miss Teresa sure is careless,” Dylin said, feigning surprise. “To leave something so important behind in my room—I didn’t even notice it myself.”

Faced with danger, Dylin’s survival instinct kicked in hard. He wore the perfect mask of innocence, each expression meticulously crafted—his acting top-notch.

But Litt, usually so airheaded, wasn’t buying any of it. Pinching the butterfly hairpin between her fingers, she simply stared at Dylin with a smile that said, ‘Go on, keep performing. I’m watching.’

“Oh! Now that I think about it, Miss Teresa came by my room yesterday to talk about something. She must’ve accidentally left it behind then!” Dylin forged ahead, forcing a random explanation through sheer will.

“Really?” Litt tilted her head.

“Of course! If you don’t believe me, wait for Teresa to come back. Ask her yourself!”

“..........Really?”

That actually made Litt pause for a second. “Alright. Then let’s just wait right here for Miss Teresa to return.”

“............”

Dylin froze. “I… that’s not what I meant. I just…”

“Dylin, weren’t you the one who said I should ask Teresa? What, getting nervous now?” Litt, like a snapping turtle, locked on and refused to let go.

“N-no, I mean, why don’t we wait in the living room? Standing here like this… If Teresa came back and saw us, she might misunderstand…” Dylin emphasized the term “classmate Teresa” every time, hoping to create some psychological distance between them in Litt’s mind.

“Alright.”

Litt gave it some thought—she had no desire to seem entangled with this gloomy, humorless human male, especially not in a way that would cause a misunderstanding with Her Highness Teresa.

The two of them went downstairs to the living room.

“What kind of tea would you like, Miss Litt?”

“White tea, thanks.”

“Got it.”

Dylin appeared calm on the outside as he opened the tea canister and picked out leaves with tongs—but internally, he was starting to panic.

No matter how long they waited, Teresa wouldn’t show up…

Because she was here—he was her. So how could Teresa possibly walk through that door?

“Dylin.”

“...Huh?” Lost in thought, Dylin blinked.

“You don’t really know how to brew tea, do you?” Litt sat on the couch, sniffed once, and said flatly.

“You usually steep it for about thirty seconds. Any longer and the flavor becomes bitter. What you’re doing will make it taste awful.”

“Ah… is that so?”

“Honestly...”

Litt sighed and rubbed her forehead. “You’ve been teamed up with Miss Teresa for so long—how have you not learned anything? You’re clumsy and careless. Teresa is so detail-oriented; I bet she lectures you a lot, huh?”

“Ah? Uh… yeah...” Dylin scratched his head awkwardly, playing along.

But her comment got him thinking—if he and Teresa really were two people, living together, what would that be like?

...He couldn’t even imagine. With Teresa’s personality, his haphazard ways would probably drive her insane.

Litt took over the tea-making, expertly adding the leaves to a small teapot, pouring water in with precision, not spilling a single drop. After letting it steep for half a minute, she gracefully poured the tea into cups.

The light, elegant aroma suited Litt herself—neither overwhelming nor weak, just right. It was a scent that reached deep into the soul.

“Here.” She pushed a cup in front of the dazed Dylin, sipping her own calmly. Noticing his odd expression, she raised a brow.

“Dylin, what’s wrong with you?”

“...Nothing. Thanks.”

He accepted the cup. His usual image of Litt was the “goofy elf loli” or “cheerful airhead,” yet here she was, showing a refined and ladylike side.

As expected—everyone had different sides to them. But some only appeared in front of certain people.

Time ticked by.

“Dylin, it’s been almost an hour since Teresa left.”

“Yeah.”

He stared into the now-empty cup. After racking his brain for solutions all this time, he finally realized—he was out of options.

“Why hasn’t she returned yet?” Litt asked, puzzled. “Something happen on the way?”

“Well, who knows? Teresa tends to be out for a long time. No clue what she’s always doing.”

Dylin feigned nonchalance, hoping to reinforce the setting that Teresa frequently went out on her own.

“How about this—you can come back this afternoon. I’m sure she’ll be around then.”

“...Alright.”

It was getting late. Teresa still hadn’t shown up, and Litt didn’t have time to just sit here and stare at Dylin all day.

Dylin sighed in relief.

But just as he began to relax, he saw Litt carefully place the butterfly hairpin into a small ornate box and prepare to leave.

“W-wait! Miss Litt, why are you taking… I mean, Teresa’s hairpin?”

“Hmm? Is that a problem?” Litt turned back, amused.

Her Highness’s accessory—why wouldn’t she hold onto it? And what business did some human boy have meddling?

It wasn’t about right or wrong—if Litt walked away with the hairpin, Teresa would never appear again. Ever.

But he couldn’t exactly say that. So he tried to be subtle.

“Cough, Teresa might come back soon. If she can’t find her hairpin, she might get anxious. Better to leave it at home, right?”

“.........”

Litt narrowed her eyes, silently staring Dylin down. The pressure made his scalp tingle.

“Dylin, are you hiding something?”

“W-what would I be hiding?”

“That hairpin—Miss Teresa didn’t just forget it in your room, did she?”

“You stole it, didn’t you?”

“...Why would I steal my roommate’s accessory? She’d be panicking if she lost it—someone would definitely find out.” Dylin was getting worn out by Litt’s wild conclusions.

“Who knows? You humans have some real creeps who love collecting personal items from young women.”

Litt clearly didn’t believe a word he said. She was convinced it was Dylin’s fault.

Her Highness was so meticulous—how could she possibly lose her things in a man’s room? Something had to be off.

“That’s prejudice! Is that really how you see me?” With Litt holding the golden butterfly hairpin, Dylin felt an unsettling vulnerability—as if his true self were being squeezed in someone’s fist.

“Sorry, Dylin. I don’t doubt you personally—I just have serious doubts about your self-control and integrity. No prejudice here.”

“Oh sure, since you treat your assumptions as fact, it’s totally unbiased!”

“In any case, I can’t let you keep this. Who knows what sort of indecent, morally depraved, thoroughly vile acts you’d commit with it when no one’s watching?”

“Do you hear yourself?! That’s not just perversion—you’re talking full-blown psychiatric disorder!”

“Who knows? Maybe you’re the type who collects girls’ underwear and does… gross things while thinking about them.”

“Maybe you even imagine the girl while doing it. Ugh. Disgusting.”

“…You know, Litt, for an elf, you sure know a lot about this stuff.” Dylin narrowed his eyes.

“You’re even more detailed than I am. No way you didn’t look this stuff up.”

“...Ugh! Don’t dig so deep!” Litt’s cheeks flushed red, clearly embarrassed.

“Do your elf biology textbooks seriously go that in-depth? You sure you didn’t get that knowledge from other kinds of reading materials?”

Dylin’s questions got more and more direct—and more and more tactless.

“Swoosh swoosh!”

A long elf blade zipped past Dylin’s ear and embedded itself in the wall.

“GYAH!?”

Dylin jumped. “Hey! That’s dangerous!!”

“You—you filthy human! How dare you say such indecent things to harass me?!”

“You’re the one who started with the pervy talk!”

“Y-you-you... You’re awful! This is a personal attack on my honor!”

“I’m just making logical inferences!”

As the argument threatened to spiral, the doorbell rang.

“I’ll get it!!” Dylin bolted, flinging off his slippers and sprinting out the front gate.

“P-Princess Teresa?!”

Hearing the commotion, Litt quickly straightened her clothes and rushed outside.

But it wasn’t Teresa.

“Sorry for the wait. Something came up. You are…?” At the door, Dylin froze stiff upon seeing who it was.

The visitor, seeing Dylin, also paused—then clasped her hands, lowered her head slightly, clearly unsure of what to say.

This was their first encounter since the Freshman Crown Tournament.

The atmosphere was… awkward.

“Princess Teresa, you’re back!”

Revived, Litt stepped into the courtyard with a bounce—causing certain assets on her chest to jiggle dangerously.

“Princess Teresa, you’re—eh? Princess Astrid?”

Realizing it wasn’t Teresa, but Astrid, Litt blinked in surprise. “Why are you here, Your Highness?”

“I…” Caught off guard by Litt’s presence, Astrid fidgeted, clearly finding it hard to speak.

“Princess Astrid, are you here to see someone?”

Dylin averted his gaze. When he was Teresa, he had no problem chatting with Astrid—sometimes even teasing her. But now, as Dylin, he didn’t have the same ease.

“Mm...” Astrid nodded slightly.

“Well then, if you’re here for Teresa, she’s out. You’ll have to come back another day.”

Dylin didn’t even want to imagine the chaos of having two elf girls in the house at once.

He reached to shut the door— “Dylin, what are you doing?”

Before he could, Litt snatched his ID card. “You’re going to shut the door in Her Highness’s face?”

“You saw it too—Teresa’s not home.”

“.........”

Litt looked at Dylin with a weird expression.

“Dylin, have you always been this dense?”

At first, Litt thought Dylin and Teresa had a special relationship—unspoken feelings or at least some mutual flirtation.

Now she wasn’t so sure.

How did someone this emotionally tone-deaf win Teresa’s favor? Elves were passive in love.

Even if Teresa liked him, every attempt to flirt would probably end in awkward silence.

She hated to be judgmental but…

No wait—she absolutely had a prejudice against straight guys.

“I… I’m not here to see Teresa.” At that moment, Astrid spoke up after visibly struggling.

“Oh? Then who are you here for?”

The moment Dylin said it, both Astrid and Litt fell silent. The mood turned awkward.

“..........So, just what kind of person did Her Highness pick for her Divine Child?” Litt muttered to herself, hand on forehead.

Dylin realized just how dumb his question was.

Only two people lived here. If Astrid wasn’t looking for Teresa…

Who else could she be here for?

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