Silence hung in the tent. A desk and chair set up on the grass. Sitting there, Abel was lost in thought, flipping through papers.
Crunch, crunch.
The sound of a pen scraping across the paper intermittently could be heard, along with the quiet murmurs of thoughts below the surface.
I was quietly admiring the scene from the couch placed on the grass. It felt somewhat like watching an ASMR video while sprawled out like this.
‘It’s oddly comforting.’
Wasn’t there something like that in my previous life? Videos of handsome or pretty people studying together, like Study With Me.
If I just closed my eyes, wouldn’t I be able to fall into a deep sleep? The thought made me chuckle involuntarily.
Had my laughter bothered him? The crunching sound stopped. Abel, who had placed the paper on the desk, looked over here with narrowed eyes.
The scar by his eyes made him look harsher, but he wasn’t actually angry.
Rather, he looked more annoyed. After months of living together, I could read that much in his expression.
Well, it was understandable since I suddenly came into the tent, sprawled out on the couch, and started laughing by myself.
If I were to make an excuse, it was just that I hadn’t seen a couch like this since my reincarnation and I lay down without thinking.
The couch was more comfortable than I’d expected, and I hadn’t managed to get up from it.
Could it be that the look in his eyes made me feel a bit pathetic?
“What brings you in here?”
“Shouldn’t there be some kind of business between people who are already engaged?”
I replied, layering my face with boldness. He chuckled, seemingly taken aback by my answer.
Ignoring that, I continued to lounge on the couch.
Suddenly, my necklace felt uncomfortable, and I tossed it aside. As soon as I did, my white hair began to revert to its original black color.
I even felt a sense of liberation from that. Wearing this disguise all the time felt quite suffocating since mana typically clung to my hair.
Seeing me like this, Abel put down the pen and gave me a slight scolding.
“Honestly, aren’t you being a bit too brazen?”
“Thanks to someone, I’ve learned this trick.”
Abel had definitely flustered me a few times with that brazen attitude of his.
Maybe if I hit back like this, his boldness would diminish a little. Isn’t that what they call ‘mirroring therapy’?
He let out a faint laugh at my response.
“It feels like just yesterday when you trembled like a scared rabbit.”
That was certainly true, especially during our first meeting. My friend often preached about how wicked Abel’s character was.
Now, after so much time, I realized many of his traits differed from the original Abel. He was ruthless and sharp as always, but he had a surprisingly warm side toward those close to him.
“Me? When?”
But I wasn’t particularly keen on acknowledging that. When I shot back with the same boldness, a smile appeared on Abel’s face.
“Hm? It seems you really don’t remember. After the contract ended back then, your legs gave out right there.”
“Ugh! Don’t say that!”
I jumped up from the couch and frantically covered Abel’s mouth with my hands. With his mouth blocked, he gave me a playful smirk.
Feeling his beautifully charming smile almost making me lose my senses, Abel licked my hand.
The sticky sensation made me pull my hand back in a panic.
“Eww?!”
“That’s the price for interrupting a duke’s words.”
I wiped my slightly wet hand on my leather armor, horrified. No matter how you look at it, who would lick the hand that covered their mouth?
I turned my head to argue, and there, Abel was smiling like he had just scored a point.
With a sigh, I laid back down on the couch again. Abel, observing me, spoke in a quiet voice.
“I heard you used the panacea.”
“Has the rumor spread already?”
“I heard it from someone.”
He casually replied, turning his gaze back to the documents. Something about his expression, devoid of any visible emotion, made me feel like I was being scrutinized.
“Are you not going to say anything?”
“Hmm? What do you mean?”
He questioned my inquiry, truly seeming to not understand. He didn’t put up any challenges to my words, as he had a genuinely bewildered expression.
“Why did you go and waste it on someone else…”
At my words, Abel let out a sound of disbelief. His chuckles were persistent as he finally looked at me.
“You thought I seemed that petty?”
I tilted my head away, trying to avoid his gaze. More than that, I was slightly embarrassed by what I had said.
It was precisely because I didn’t think he’d use the panacea like that, which is why I spoke.
Using something grand just to save a person he had barely even met was quite a stretch, to say the least.
As if to deny this line of thought, Abel shook his head slightly.
“The panacea is something given to you. How you choose to use it is entirely up to you.”
“…I see.”
He finished signing the last document roughly with his pen. Placing his quill into the inkwell, Abel sat on the couch opposite me.
Now wearing a serious expression, he looked straight into my eyes.
“Do you regret that decision?”
“No, I don’t regret it, but…”
As I trailed off, Abel crossed his arms and kept staring at me. It felt like he was silently asking me again if I truly had no regrets.
His piercing gaze made me want to look away.
“…Honestly, I’m not sure.”
I answered in a small voice, and he quietly closed his eyes.
“I think it was a good choice.”
“Really?”
“The Pope is a dirty rascal. Just looking at how he’s stuck in that position for over a hundred years tells you that.”
What a joke about caring for the youth. If he really cared, he would have stepped down ages ago.
Abel remarked with a snide tone, which felt oddly unfamiliar coming from him.
While he didn’t openly display hostility towards the Pope, it was clear that he didn’t hold any goodwill toward him either. Abel pointed at the paper stuffed in my pocket and continued.
“Would someone like that give you a panacea without any ulterior motives?”
“That’s…”
“Exactly. In conclusion, saving the priest of the Holy Kingdom was a good choice.”
Instead of owing a debt to the Holy Kingdom, I had instead bestowed a favor upon them. This would make it trickier for the Pope’s side to touch us.
Unknowingly lending a favor and leveraging that debt to gain an upper hand. That’s how the Pope always operated.
“And Yurph, you said? How much do you know about her?”
“I don’t know much. We just met two days ago.”
He lightly tapped his arm with his fingers for a moment before lowering his voice to continue.
“It’s not surprising you don’t know much. She’s one of the Saint Candidates from the Holy Kingdom.”
A Saint Candidate? That Yurph?
Curiosity piqued, I looked at Abel, and he nodded calmly. No, her divine power displayed on the battlefield back then could indeed qualify her as a saint.
But I never would have thought she was a saint candidate.
“Now do you understand why I said it was a good choice?”
“…Ah.”
A knight from the Empire of Arye saved a Saint Candidate from the Holy Kingdom using a panacea he received from the Pope. Just looking at it paints a pretty good picture.
“Politics is complicated.”
After listening to Abel’s explanation, my head started to spin a little. This kind of trading amongst the high society still felt so foreign to me.
In response to my comment, he seemed to agree, letting out a wry smile.
“Yes, it is complicated. I wasn’t this skilled from the beginning, you know.”
“Is that so?”
“Yep. You probably won’t believe it, but…”
At his words, I shook my head lightly. After spending a few months with him, I’d gotten to know a bit about his personality.
“It must have taken you a lot of effort to get where you are now, right?”
Enduring hardships without showing it to others; he seemed reluctant to showcase his own efforts.
According to Laura, the head maid, he didn’t show any weakness even to the servants.
Now that he was expressing his vulnerable sides to me, it felt like I had gained his trust.
“I respect that side of you, Abel.”
“…”
My words left Abel speechless, like a bird that had just eaten honey. Seeing him act so out of character made me chuckle without meaning to.
“Wait, did you just get flustered by what I said?”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
Abel sighed at my words and got up from his seat. It seemed my comment had backfired a bit.
“Now, you should leave.”
“Are you kicking me out?”
“Yeah. It’s time for me to sleep.”
That seemed a bit early for bedtime. Just as I was thinking that, I caught sight of Abel’s slightly flushed ears.
Seeing that made me smile as I got up from the couch. Well, considering I saw a side of him that was rather different today, this was enough.
I put my necklace back on and activated my disguise. Confirming that my hair had turned completely white again, I walked out of the tent.
The chill of the night air still felt oddly pleasant.
§
“Hah…”
He respects me, huh?
Hearing that from someone else felt like a long-lost sentiment. It’s something I might’ve heard from Arin or Evan during childhood, but otherwise seldom.
Suddenly, a slight ripple of emotion surged within me upon hearing those words. Whether it was excitement or just joy from being recognized, I couldn’t tell.
But one thing was certain: I genuinely felt some fondness towards her. I wasn’t sure if it was a romantic affection, though.
“You seem to be getting along with Mother quite well?”
“…Arin.”
I saw Arin’s grinning face. She was leaning against one of the tent poles, arms crossed.
“Who’s your mother?”
“Well, she’s going to be my father’s wife, so she’s my mother, right?”
Was this the audacity to bring up something so personal? Really, where did she learn to be so playful?
Support me by donating at least $10, and you'll have the right to request any novel from Novelpia (excluding 19+ content) using a newly developed tool.
