I decided to give the remaining tabletop clock to Lilia-san. Handing it over when she had a spare moment, I explained the gift and presented her with the wooden box.
"Thank you very much. If it is a work of Nebula-san’s, I am sure it must be wonderf—"
"Lilia-san?"
She accepted the wooden case with a bright smile and opened it, only to freeze instantly. The smile remained plastered on her face, yet she went perfectly still as if time itself had stopped. There was a peculiar, silent weight to her gaze—an intimidation that felt strangely heavy.
"Kaito-san... these clock hands... they have gemstones set in them, don’t they? Where did you get these?"
"Um, they were just leftovers from when I made music boxes and accessories. I bought extra thinking I’d need more for the accessories specifically, but I ended up with quite a lot of surplus..."
"I see... My stomach hurts."
"Uh, Lilia-san? Did I do something wrong again?"
"U-Umm... To start with, I want to say that processing gemstones into such thin, delicate shapes is practically impossible by any conventional means. However, since you’ve used Alice-sama’s accessory making kit before, I suppose it isn't surprising that you’ve come to view such things as relatively common... Ugh..."
Seeing Lilia-san clutching her stomach as if suppressing a sudden pang, I worried I was about to get a lecture. Instead, she just looked torn, her expression twisting as she wrestled with some internal dilemma.
It felt as though she was debating with herself whether she actually had the right to be angry with me.
"There isn't a shred of restraint in this, even if every material used is obscenely expensive... But considering Kaito-san originally commissioned this for his own use and didn't have it made with the intent of gifting it to someone else, blaming you out of hand wouldn't be right... Kaito-san."
"Ah, yes!"
"I’m not going to be angry with you... but please, if you are going to give me something this expensive or rare, give me some warning beforehand. This sort of thing is hard on my heart—and even worse for my stomach."
"I-I’m sorry. I’ll be careful."
I see. To me, it felt like I was just finding a use for materials that would have gone to waste, but Lilia-san was right; many of those gemstones were high-value items. When combined with Nebula’s magnificent craftsmanship, the result was undoubtedly a work of art. I really should have been more mindful of that.
"...Well, regardless, I am truly happy that you gave this to me. I shall cherish it."
"I'm glad. Oh, by the way, the colors of the decorations shift as time passes. They change to match the atmosphere of Morning, Midday, Evening, and Night."
"The colors change with the time? That is an exceptionally advanced magic formula... By any chance, did you have to buy this Black Magic Crystal as well?"
"Ah, no. At first, I was planning to buy them and reached out to Tre-san and the others, but it ended up being a gift."
To be more precise, when I contacted her, Tre-san had told me, "Eh? If you just buy some cheap magic crystals and bring them over, I’ll turn them into Black Magic Crystals for you~" True to her word, she had used Tre-san's Ability to Change the Ratio to transform the cheap crystals. However, since her ability wasn't something I should go around revealing to third parties, I just told Lilia I’d received them for free.
"I see. You mentioned that duplicates were produced; are there any others left?"
"Um, Nebula made three in total. I’m using one myself, and I gave the second one to Elis-san."
"...You gave one to Lady Elis? I see. Truly, truly... I sympathize with Lady Elis from the bottom of my heart. I’ve developed a certain tolerance for Kaito-san's blunders, but since she is unaccustomed to them, the shock must be devastating."
After speaking in a somewhat exasperated tone, Lilia-san let a gentle smile play across her lips.
"As expected, this is far too valuable to display in the office, so I think I’ll keep it in my private room. Since we’re here, Kaito-san, would you mind helping me decide on a place to put it?"
"Sure, if you’re okay with me— Wait. Does that mean I’m going to Lilia-san's room?"
"Yes, if your schedule is free..."
"No, that’s fine, but... is this actually the first time I’ve ever set foot in Lilia-san's private room?"
"Now that you mention it... We generally meet in this office, the dining hall, or on the terrace, otherwise I’m the one visiting Kaito-san's room. There hasn't really been an occasion for you to come to mine. Well, I mostly only use it for changing clothes or sleeping, so I feel as though this office is more like my actual room anyway..."
It was a bit surprising, even to me, but I had never actually been inside Lilia-san's room. Even when I gave her the music box, we were in the dining hall, and as she said, she spent most of her time in the office.
My first time seeing Lilia-san's private room... I found myself looking forward to it.
Serious-senpai: Now that I think about it, we’ve barely had any scenes of him visiting other people's rooms in the mansion. Sieg’s room, Aoi’s room, and Hina’s room haven't appeared in the story at all... though Canaris’s room has shown up...