Felyn watched as the man in front of him quickly finished replying to a message, then turned back with a friendly smile.
“Hey, kid. I can see you’re popular with the ladies—seems like you’ve got quite a few love interests.”
“Don’t say something that scary,” Felyn replied with a shiver, shaking his hand dismissively.
If he really had that many love interests, wouldn’t that mean his job was in danger?
He hadn’t even passed the entrance exam for the capital’s academy yet. If he lost his job now, he might actually starve.
“I can actually see people’s futures. Want me to take a look at yours?”
“Does it cost anything?”
“No charge. We’re just fated to meet. It’s destiny—or maybe divine intervention—that brought us together tonight.”
Felyn thought for a moment. He didn’t really have anything else to do right now, and who knew? Maybe this guy could actually see something.
Once he agreed, the man immediately sat down beside him.
“But aren’t you in a rush to get back to the concert?”
“Nah, there’s still time before it ends.”
Compared to Zervanie’s performance, this bit of gossip was slightly more interesting—at least for the moment.
He studied Felyn’s face intently before speaking again.
“You had contact with two girls just now, right? And from the looks of it, it was something… pretty intimate?”
Felyn didn’t answer. Even when dealing with a stranger, he couldn’t risk revealing anything about his clients.
“And aside from those two girls, are there others?” The man read Felyn’s subtle facial cues with shocking accuracy. “Let me guess—three? Five? Seven?”
“Hmm… looks like it’s more than five.”
“Did you pursue them, or did they chase you? Judging by your reaction, looks like they’re the ones chasing you.”
“And what about your status? Are you on the same level as them? No? I see… quite a gap then.”
The man kept tossing out questions and reading Felyn’s microexpressions like flipping through a book.
“Wait! You’re not reading the future at all—you’re just reading my face!”
Felyn finally protested.
Why did this guy feel so much like Daiyi? Even the way he analyzed people was just as twisted.
No way... could he be Daiyi’s father?
But Felyn quickly dismissed the thought.
The man looked to be in his early thirties, and he was a hardcore fan of Zervanie. No matter how he looked at it, this guy couldn’t be Daiyi’s dad.
“More than five young ladies tangled up with you, huh? You’re more impressive than I ever was at your age.”
“I didn’t admit to anything! That’s all just your guesswork,” Felyn argued.
The man didn’t seem the least bit bothered by Felyn’s denial. He had already confirmed everything through Felyn’s reactions.
“Have you ever thought about being with all five of them? I imagine your future would be… very entertaining.”
Felyn twitched his lips. Please, anything but that.
He could already imagine what that kind of life would be like.
Waking up each morning, the sound of the bedroom door opening would never stop. There’d always be a young lady barging in.
He’d step out to find them lounging in every corner of his tiny house. Sure, that sounded intimate… but honestly? No, thanks.
Breakfast alone would mean cooking for five people.
And if his sister Olivia woke up and moved in with him, that number would rise to six.
A harem? Just thinking about it is enough. If one really formed around me, it’d be nothing but trouble.
Compared to that, he’d rather just have a maid.
“You look kind of reluctant. Is it because you feel like you’re not from the same world as them?”
The man narrowed his eyes. “Ah, so that is the reason.”
Felyn wanted to bury his face in his hands.
How the hell did he figure that out?! I didn’t even make a face!
“Not many your age think that way,” the man said with a nod. “Back when I was your age, I was also surrounded by a bunch of noble girls—or, let’s say, candidates to become divine envoys. But love without equality will always be unequal. Only when you work hard to reach their level can you avoid the kind of irreconcilable conflicts that show up once the spark fades.”
“And at the start, what were you like?” Felyn couldn’t help asking.
“I was just some talentless nobody. But through a bit of luck and hard work, I managed to achieve a small accomplishment and married the one who loved me.”
Small accomplishment—what he really meant was rising from an ordinary believer in the Church of Truth, someone without the slightest gift, to becoming the most respected elder in the entire church—second only to the Divine Child.
“Young people should be bold. Don’t worry too much about what others think. When I first met my wife, our statuses were miles apart. But I still ran away with her. We eloped, and we’ve been happy ever since.”
He paused, then added,
“If her family doesn’t approve, you can always run away with her. My wife’s father never accepted me. To this day, I still don’t know why he was so furious.”
Hearing that, Felyn muttered silently to himself:
If you had a daughter, and she ran off with some shady guy with dyed yellow hair, wouldn’t you be furious too?
“Are you happy now?” Felyn asked.
He felt like he was getting old—asking a question like that, one he used to sneer at.
“I’d say I’m pretty happy. I love my wife dearly, and we have a daughter together. Though… she’s kind of a handful.”
Felyn raised an eyebrow. The guy looked about thirty. His daughter couldn’t be more than ten, right?
“I’m not very good at dealing with her,” the man went on. “It’s not that I want to act like some strict dad. It’s just… she inherited both my strengths and her mother’s. She’s way too sharp. I feel like she can see right through me. And honestly, it’s a little embarrassing being totally outplayed by your own kid.”
He chuckled.
“So I try to keep a stern face around her. At least then she can’t guess what I’m thinking. But now she just avoids me on purpose. Sigh… raising a daughter is tough.”
Felyn listened, not sure whether to laugh or try to console him.
“I came to hear your story, but ended up spilling mine.”
The man slapped his own thigh, laughing.
“Anyway, if you ever want to marry all five girls, you’ll have to work hard.”
Polygamy had been legal in the Siveshus Empire for years. To this man, marrying five women wasn’t all that outrageous.
“If you put in the effort, you’ll definitely be happy in the future. And the girls by your side won’t just be one or two.”
“Really?”
“Of course. I can see the future, remember?”
He stood up from the steps and glanced toward the concert venue, then looked back down the road.
“Oh, right. On my way here, I saw a friend of mine sitting on the steps alone. She didn’t look too happy. Could you go check on her for me? I really need to get inside now.”
“Huh?”
“Don’t worry, I’ll pay you—three thousand crowns. Let’s just say it’s payment for that bottle of water. Her description’s written on this paper.”
The man handed Felyn three thousand crowns and a small note.
Just then, the communication seal in his pocket buzzed again.
“Time’s tight. I’ll leave it to you.”
Without giving Felyn a chance to say no, the man waved and walked off.
That pink-haired girl from earlier… she probably knows this kid.
Maybe bringing the two of them together right now will help that boy in some way.
But why do I care so much? Probably because he reminds me of myself when I was younger.
If someone had helped me back then, maybe I wouldn’t have turned out the way I did.
“What an interesting guy,” Felyn muttered, watching his figure vanish into the night. “Though I probably won’t see him again.”
(End of Chapter)