He was grown up, just as she had seen him in her eighth round.
"No, different. This side is more..."
Much deeper and more enchanting. Especially those blue eyes that looked at her.
Navia unconsciously averted her gaze and clenched the hem of her skirt.
Creed hopped down from the windowsill and looked around the room.
"You've grown a lot taller."
He was so tall now, his large stature and black uniform with black gloves made him look completely different from what she knew before.
She remembered the man who carelessly took off his jacket and handed it to her, and for some reason, although Creed was clearly the same person, it felt strange.
Creed took a few steps, stopped, and awkwardly said,
"The room has changed a lot too."
It was because the appearance of the objects filling the room had changed as much as the world had.
People no longer used dip pens that needed to be dipped in ink. Instead, they used fountain pens. In very wealthy places like Eseled, magic and other devices were installed.
The world had changed so much.
But these astonishing changes were nothing compared to a girl becoming a woman.
Creed stopped looking around the room and quietly gazed at Navia.
He had many thoughts about what to say to her as he came here.
"Hello. Have you been well? It seems there's still no news from the Duke."
No, that wasn't good.
He already felt with his senses that Lark had not woken from sleep.
Silence ensued.
Time had enveloped them in unfamiliar emotions.
It was awkward and ticklish.
Creed opened his mouth, feeling like he was making a mistake.
"...You're still beautiful, noona."
Navia was much more beautiful than the one he saw in his dreams. Incomparably so.
Navia tried to laugh at his words, but she couldn't.
She just met his gaze with an unreadable, tense expression.
Creed felt a little out of breath.
He felt like he had returned to his clumsy and inexperienced ten-year-old self.
In fact, he wanted to go up to Navia right away and confess that he had almost gone mad missing her, that he came to his dreams every day making him happy and sad, and he wanted to kiss her silver hair and tell her this.
He wanted to gently kiss her after saying he would never leave her side again, holding her white cheek.
Most of all, he wanted to hug her. He wanted to embrace Navia, breathe in her scent deeply, and get drunk on it.
But there was something he had to say before that.
It was nervous, unfamiliar, and embarrassing, but he had to say it.
"I missed you."
He missed her terribly.
So much that the nights filled with Navia were harder to sleep than nights torn by magic, that much.
So when he said those words, Creed couldn't smile and furrowed his brow.
The longing was so great it was painful, and his expression contorted as he put those feelings into words.
Navia felt all the past days filled with worry for him suddenly rushing back at Creed's outpouring of deep emotion.
She had been quite exhausted lately.
Her heart was empty and precarious.
Was that why? Creed's words brought me a deep sense of relief.
Me too, Creed. I missed you too. I'm glad you felt the same way.
Navia opened her mouth to say this.
"I also…… sob……."
She couldn't continue her words.
Suddenly, tears poured out, choking her with sobs.
There were many things she wanted to say to Creed.
Among them were words of resentment. But now, nothing came to mind. Just having him in front of her made everything seem grateful.
"Noona!"
Creed, startled by Navia's tears, forgot why he had kept his distance and rushed to her.
He urgently bit off his glove with his teeth and pulled it off, then caressed her cheek with his bare hand.
"I'm sorry. Did I come too late?"
"No, it's not that……"
Navia couldn't stop her tears and cast her gaze down.
Creed hesitated.
"When I'm sad, just come and hug me like this."
'Is it still okay?'
His desire to worry and comfort Navia was greater than anyone's.
Only the thought that it might also fulfill his selfish desires brought a sense of guilt.
'But as long as I don't show it.'
Maybe then it would be okay?
Creed cautiously embraced Navia.
His heart pounded so hard it felt like it would burst. Apart from his nervousness, seeing Navia cry was deeply upsetting. Her tears still made him feel choked up.
"Don't cry, Noona."
Creed clenched his teeth as he saw Navia slowly embrace him and bury her face completely in his chest.
'I'm going crazier than I thought.'
Navia, unaware of his turmoil, only wished her tears would stop.
As Navia tried to rub her eyes, Creed gently held her hand to stop her.
"It will hurt if you do that."
He took out a handkerchief and lifted Navia's head.
Her eyelashes were wet with tears and shimmering, her eyes reddened.
Creed hesitated, swallowing his breath.
'…Don't think. Yes, stop thinking.'
Creed tried to focus only on the objective fact of wiping her tears, carefully holding her cheek.
Regardless, Navia overlapped her hands with Creed's, leaning her cheek into his palm.
"I missed you too."
Navia, soaked in longing, spoke honestly about her feelings to Creed.
Because of this, Creed sighed, feeling unexpectedly attacked.
'…I'm really going to go crazy because I like her.'
He wiped her tears with a slightly heavy heart. The closeness, the mingling of their breaths, felt too vivid.
The silence was heated.
Navia also slowly realized that the current atmosphere was quite unusual, feeling awkward.
'Um, when should we part…?'
Creed was no longer a boy. She was no longer a girl. Navia was more certain in this moment that they were both adults.
Then Creed broke the silence with a soft voice.
"Do you remember what you said to me when you were little?"
"Yes?"
"That you were all I needed when I needed comfort."
"Ah… yes… that's right."
"Do you still feel the same?"
Do I still need you?
Creed, despite having already wiped away his tears, gently stroked Navia's cheek with his thumb as if something was still left there.
Navia felt slightly dizzy.
"Yeah, well, yes…?"
She hadn't fully considered how her words could be interpreted.
Before she could think any further, Creed laughed too close to her. It was so pretty that she could only stare.
Creed sensed that Navia was awkwardly nervous.
'Just like me.'
He didn't know exactly why, but it made him feel incredibly happy.
He hugged her again, rubbing his cheek against hers in a playful manner.
It was a way to express his joy, and he hoped it would remind Navia of their childhood memories and help her relax.
As he had hoped, Navia chuckled and eased her tension.
"You came just in time, Creed."
She patted his back comfortably.
"Hey, is Cesare still the same?"
Creed smiled warmly as he looked at Cesare sitting obediently on the bed.
He approached Cesare, lifting him up and tilting his head in wonder.
"When I was little, he seemed like a big doll, but why does he look so small now?"
"You've just grown too much."
"Is that so."
They indulged in nostalgia, holding hands and looking at photos and drawings together.
"I really was small back then. There wasn't much difference in our heights."
"I've grown a lot too…"
Navia had grown to a remarkable 168 cm, her personal record.
But next to the nearly 190 cm tall Lark or Creed, she would still appear quite small.
"You've grown a lot too. You look like a giant!"
"…Are you teasing me?"
They laughed and chatted endlessly, as if their initial awkward tension was just a misunderstanding.
They were too curious about the time they had spent apart. Even stories they already knew through letters felt new and exciting.
"Charlotte's pregnant, so she's on leave. I never thought she'd marry Riccardo, but fate is unpredictable."
"Right. I was surprised too when I heard they were getting married."
"Professor Edward returned to the capital after your graduation. He's now in charge of the magic stone business."
Navia talked about various updates and then became curious about Creed's story.
"What about you? Did you make any friends at the academy?"
"Friends? Well…"
Creed chuckled.
Friends.
There were quite a few who approached him with ulterior motives. One of them was Wood.
Creed completely ignored Wood's advances and ruthlessly dominated his peers with his overwhelming skills.
That was necessary for him to graduate quickly and return here as soon as possible.
"I was too busy with my studies."
Creed gave an answer befitting a top student, which he actually was.
However, he was a somewhat aggressive top student, cleaning up anyone who got in the way of his studies.
As they continued their lengthy conversation across the table, night fell and the evening deepened.
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