51

The next morning, Cilly prepared breakfast using simple utensils over the campfire.

Whether it was due to Cilly's meticulous nature or her family's thorough preparations, she was able to whip up a fairly decent breakfast using the ingredients stored in the carriage.

Her skillful handling of the cooking process, even in the rough setting of camping, seemed surprisingly adept.

With breakfast taken care of and the repairs to the carriage completed the night before, there was no longer any reason to linger.

Although there was some concern that the carriage might break down again, we managed to reach Cilly's estate without any further issues.

As the carriage came to a stop and an attendant opened the door to guide us out, a grand mansion loomed before my eyes.

Cilly's mansion was as dazzling as one would expect from the prestigious Deretia Marquis. The gardens were adorned with fountains, and in another corner stood a statue presumed to be of the legendary hero.

It seemed the household had already started their day; apart from a few servants visible here and there, most of the staff appeared to be occupied indoors. Considering the unexpected delay in our arrival due to the accident, it was likely that the household had only received word when they passed through the city gates.

"Let me show you around,"

I entrusted my personal belongings to one of the butlers standing nearby and followed Cilly as she guided me through various parts of the mansion.

Despite the mansion's vast size, it bore some similarities to Yuri's home, whether by coincidence or because both estates were built by the same architect. This made it easier to get accustomed to the layout, sparing me much inconvenience.

After completing the tour, Cilly led me to the room where I would be staying.

"This will be your room during your stay at the mansion."

Upon entering the room, I was struck by the elaborate interior decor, which was surprisingly refined for a guest room.

While I didn't consider myself someone with a discerning eye for such things, even I could tell that considerable effort had gone into the room's design.

Every single detail in the room seemed to align perfectly with my personal tastes.

Even the simple table placed in one corner of the room bore a striking resemblance to a design I had once splurged on during a shopping trip, though this table's polished finish and high-quality craftsmanship indicated it was leagues beyond what I could afford at the time.

Standing in this room felt like stepping into the vision I used to dream about during my years as an assassin—imagining the day I would quit my dangerous life and live in peaceful isolation, in a home furnished entirely to my liking.

I envisioned a bookshelf filled with novels over there, workout equipment in that corner, and a cozy tea table where I could enjoy moments of leisure.

The room in front of me matched every aspect of those dreams, as if it had been conjured directly from my imagination.

The only strange thing was that the room's decor was a bit too niche to be a typical guest room.

Not to sound self-deprecating, but my tastes are far from ordinary—a natural consequence of my assassin upbringing. My dorm room, for example, was notoriously spartan compared to others'.

For a guest room to so perfectly match my eccentric preferences, it was hard to believe this was a coincidence.

For a fleeting moment, I wondered if someone had gone out of their way to design this room specifically for me. But I quickly dismissed the thought as an absurd fantasy.

There was no reason for the Deretia family to go to such lengths to redesign an entire guest room just for me.

After all, I had never shared these dreams with anyone—not even Cilly. While she and I had grown closer during the academy semester, it wasn't to the extent that she would know every nuance of my preferences.

This must simply be an extraordinary coincidence.

"How is it? Do you like it?"

"Yeah. It's almost uncanny how much it matches my tastes."

"That's because I made sure not to forget everything you've mentioned before, Elys."

Cilly's words revealed her attentiveness to the small details I had casually shared in past conversations which surprised me.

"Oh, are those books over there novels?"

I pointed toward the bookshelf I had noticed earlier.

"Yes. I filled it with genres similar to the ones I've recommended to you before. You might enjoy reading them when you have free time."

Over the semester, I had read quite a few books based on Cilly's recommendations—mostly romance novels that she thought would suit my taste.

Perhaps due to spending so much time acting as a woman, I found myself relating to female protagonists more easily. While the memories of my past life as a man lingered, my new circumstances made me naturally gravitate toward stories of women falling in love.

It wasn't something I could easily admit to others, but thankfully, Cilly treated these stories purely as fiction and never judged me for my preferences.

I decided to read the books for later, perhaps to read in bed before going to sleep, since I would likely be busy accompanying Cilly during the day.

"By the way, should I go greet the Marquis or anyone else in the household?"

"You'll see the Marquis and the others at dinner later, so there's no need to introduce yourself twice. It'd just waste time."

"Good point. It'd be rude to take up their time unnecessarily."

"Exactly. For now, why don't we focus on unpacking your things?"

Cilly picked up one of my luggage bags that had already been brought in by a servant. It wasn't the bag I had packed when leaving the academy, but the one Yuri had given me along with some clothes.

"This bag wasn't with you when you left the academy, was it?"

Cilly pointed out as she opened the bag's clasp.

It crossed my mind that the clothes in this bag could simply be taken to the dressing room instead of unpacking them here, but by the time I thought of that, the bag was already open.

Cilly seemed to have the same thought as I did, hesitating for a moment when she saw the contents before pulling out one of the outfits.

"These clothes… I don't recognize them."

"Oh, Yuri gave them to me. She said they were practically new but going unused, so it would be a waste not to take them."

"...I see."

Cilly put the clothes back into the bag and took out another item—this time, it was my academy uniform.

"...Elys?"

"What is it?"

"This is… your academy uniform, right? But I remember your uniform being…"

"Oh, right. My uniform got torn while I was at Yuri's place, so she gave me a replacement. I guess I forgot to mention it."

Having received several new outfits, and with no immediate need for the academy uniform, it had slipped my mind.

Leaving Cilly to deal with the clothing bag, I started unpacking the contents of the bag I had initially brought with me.

As I carefully sorted through the items—now including women's undergarments that I had grown used to handling—I heard Cilly's voice again.

"Elys?"

When I turned, I saw her glancing at me, her eyes darting toward the drawer where I was putting away the undergarments.

Not that I was the type to slack off when someone was helping me unpack.

"Did you call me?"