At Dianna's arrangement, Cogita was also given a house of her own.
The main structure was still built from stone.
But with help from Enamorus—this elegant, springlike Pokémon—the roof was somehow covered in lush flowers and greenery.
And around the courtyard that had been deliberately sectioned off, hedges were used to divide the space.
Cogita seemed to like this design a great deal. Whether it was her cottage in the forest or her new home after coming to the underground world, she kept the same layout.
Right now, Elias was sitting in the courtyard with Cogita, sharing hot tea.
It was something he brought back for her every time he went out.
Elias liked to think he understood Cogita's tastes fairly well, so even though the types of tea leaves he brought back varied, she always liked them.
But…
Unlike usual, Cogita seemed distracted today.
Her long, fair hands had been cradling the teacup for ages. The steam that had once risen thickly was nearly gone.
Yet Cogita still hadn't taken a single sip.
Those beautiful emerald-green eyes of hers looked unfocused for a moment, staring blankly into the tea as if lost in thought.
Steam drifted up and beaded into tiny droplets along her long, curled lashes.
At a glance, you might even think she was crying silently.
Only on Cogita, the scene somehow made her look even more captivating.
Elias sat across from her, wanting to ask what was wrong.
But seeing her like this, he couldn't help drifting for a moment, too.
Cogita always carried that mysterious, languid aura—sometimes with a faint hint of age-worn depth.
It made it easy to overlook her beauty, drawn instead to the stories that seemed to cling to her.
It was just a pity…
Cogita rarely spoke about any of it herself.
Even though Elias felt he must once have shared a chapter of his life with her, Cogita still hardly ever told him anything.
While Elias's thoughts wandered, Cogita suddenly blinked twice.
A droplet slid into her eyes, leaving them veiled in a thin, watery mist.
"Elias Hartwell."
She suddenly spoke his name.
Her tone wasn't the usual careless ease—there was a rare seriousness to it.
When Cogita looked at him, Elias instinctively started to answer.
But at the last moment, with the words at his throat, he forcibly swallowed them back down.
The reason was simple—Cogita's way of addressing him felt unfamiliar.
Before, she'd always called him "Elias," the same as Diancie did.
And only Lysandre ever called him "Mr. Elias."
But…
"Elias Hartwell" was a name he was hearing for the first time.
Even so, Elias could feel a faint sense of familiarity in it.
Like it was what he was supposed to be called.
As if to confirm what he was thinking, Cogita let her gaze drift aside and said, "That used to be your name."
And she had chosen it herself.
She didn't say the second part out loud. After all, she'd lied to Elias that they'd once been husband and wife.
What kind of wife names her husband? It sounded too strange.
Elias didn't doubt Cogita's words.
Or rather…
Even if she hadn't explained, he already had a pretty good idea where that name came from.
What he was more curious about was why she'd suddenly used it.
With that thought, Elias lifted his head and met Cogita's eyes seriously.
His instincts told him she must have noticed something.
These past few days, she'd often looked absentminded like this.
Sometimes, even when the tea in her cup had gone completely cold, Cogita still wouldn't seem to notice, frozen in place.
Across from him, Cogita had already steeled herself to be firm.
But when Elias's gaze turned fully on her, she hesitated instead.
"What have you been doing these past few days?"
Avoiding his eyes, Cogita drew a breath and asked evenly.
As if he hadn't expected that question, Elias froze for a second, then said, "Planning out Diancie's growth plan. Sometimes I'm also busy with Lysandre's affairs."
"Don't worry. I'll watch the time."
Elias thought Cogita was unhappy that he'd been throwing himself into work every day, so he tried to reassure her.
However, to his surprise, the moment he finished speaking, the light in Cogita's eyes seemed to dim for an instant.
It was so fast he almost thought he'd imagined it.
Before he could think it through, Cogita's voice—slightly cold—rang out first.
"Do those growth plans need to be written all the way to three years from now?"
"Or is that organization called Team Flare so useless that you have to spend your energy writing out even its development plans three years ahead?"
Cogita rarely showed anger. This was the first time Elias had seen her vent her emotions so bluntly.
Even her usually cool voice was laced with a trace of fury now.
Hearing that, Elias hadn't expected Cogita to have stumbled across his plans in the first place.
He parted his lips, wanting to calm her down first.
Unfortunately…
Cogita seemed to know exactly what he was trying to do, and immediately asked again.
"Are you leaving three years from now?"
"Where are you going? Why didn't you come tell me about this?"
The rapid-fire questions neatly sealed off any room Elias had to talk his way out.
Cogita looked utterly certain, clearly convinced that he planned to leave.
Elias looked at her, startled.
He knew Cogita understood him well—he just hadn't realized it went this far.
On the other side.
In truth, Cogita wasn't as confident as she seemed.
It was just that, based on her understanding of Elias…
When he made Pokémon training plans, he always followed a principle of adapting on the fly.
So normally, he only ever planned within three months.
But now… Diancie's training plan was written all the way out to three years from now—completely at odds with his usual style.
When Cogita learned that, she'd felt an inexplicable tightness in her chest.
She'd felt something like this once before, during the final stretch back in the Hisui Region.
That was why she'd made up her mind to ask Elias today what, exactly, had happened.
Right in front of Cogita.
Elias sat there, stunned in his chair, not knowing what to say.
Tell her the truth?
He felt that with Cogita's personality, if she learned he only had two years left, she would absolutely do something terrifying.
And beyond that, Diancie and the others might find out because of it.
That was the one outcome Elias least wanted to see.
"Gulp—"
Seconds ticked by. In the courtyard, there was only the occasional sound of swallowing.
Cogita was sharp, and she knew him well.
Unlike Diancie, who was easy to smooth over.
If he couldn't give a convincing reason right now, Cogita definitely wouldn't let this go.
---
Lysandre: See? My way of addressing him is devout enough.
T/N: WHAAAT FULL NAME REVEAL???? anyway i just did that because in raws they call him Little Mu or Xiao Mu which is the nickname Diancie gave him, but since i just translated it as Elias I think this is a good time to show you his FULL NAME it also can make sense due to her being like thats what i named you in her head
T/N2: yeah no excuse this time :sob: WAIT NO I WAS STARTING NEW TLS SO HA! yeah sorrrey heres the 4 chapters!
bonus chaps
100 stones -> 1 chapter
200 stones -> 2 chapters
300 stones -> 3 chapters
and so on
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