The fireworks exploded for quite some time before slowly fading away, revealing the original night sky.
There was no way the afterglow from earlier would dissipate so easily, so I slowly lowered my head, still lost in thought.
I didn’t expect to see fireworks here. The ones I saw during the full moon festival seemed to have left a strong impression on Adele.
However, what I actually saw wasn’t the fireworks but Adele under their light.
I really didn’t need to tell her that.
This round felt completely different since I began the annulment with Teresa.
Though I’ve experienced many things, I’ve never had my fate intertwined with Adele, Adrian, and Miragen at the same time.
What if I had simply given up expectations for Yuria and Teresa from the start?
If I hadn’t held any expectations about changes and had solely focused on the Crown Prince, wouldn’t I have avoided facing these memories now?
“You look a bit down. For someone I just called pretty.”
Suddenly hearing that voice, I looked up to see Adele gazing at me with a peculiar expression.
Her words felt significant and echoed my own thoughts.
– A long time ago, I think I wanted to show you this.
That recent remark sounded as if she remembered the previous round.
While I thought it was impossible, I had a fleeting desire to reveal my reincarnation.
If I were to speak of my hundred lives, a span of three hundred years…
Would Adele truly understand that?
As I thought about this and looked at her face, a faint smile tugging at her lips struck me with a sudden fear.
What if she saw me as a strange person?
With a sigh carrying that persistent fear, I slowly parted my lips.
“I’m fine. Just something came to mind.”
“Something came to mind?”
“It’s about old times, I suppose.”
If I were to pinpoint the time frame, it would likely be a few months from now, but for me, it was something from dozens of years ago.
Before Adele died, and after that, I visited the North.
The reason I hesitated to spend time with Adele initially was that I found it hard to accept the possibility of that situation happening again.
Of course, I also knew it was something that couldn’t be undone, so now I could only watch Adele with a complicated heart.
Upon hearing the mention of old times, Adele frowned slightly, then twisted her lips before speaking again.
“I feel like there are too many old things I don’t know. Didn’t I tell you I’m older?”
“That’s true. There’s a three-year gap between us.”
“Yet you have so many secrets. How unfair of you.”
Even if she said that, it looked like she didn’t plan to ask me more.
Adele seemed to live by her own rules, but she certainly had her boundaries.
The problem was that those boundaries only applied to the ones she liked, but thankfully, I met that criteria.
Adele had quite the fondness for me. Although I didn’t realize it before, now I understood why.
It was likely because her father and my attitude were quite similar.
The reason Adele first formed a mercenary group was to search for her father.
She went looking for news about the father who left her when she was young, hoping to smack him once.
To give a slap on the cheek.
There were many who threatened the girl holding a sword.
But Adele’s talent was so brilliant that it took just five years to become the leader of a mercenary group in the North, incapable of finding an equal.
By the time Adele led the mercenary group and received the title of Grand Duke, she had gained much but lost one thing.
– I thought I had gained everything, but in reality, I couldn’t find my father.
Adele’s expression as she said this seemed indifferent.
As if it were nothing, she spoke of it like an old story, her face expressionless.
However, that indifferent expression was proof that she was agitated.
She was overlapping that father with her own.
There was a feeling that one day he might disappear silently; I had heard such words before.
– I was always afraid you would disappear. My father felt that way too, with those dim-witted eyes like yours.
It was the same scenery, yet what Adele said then and what she said now was quite different.
Perhaps it could be a matter of the difference in time. During my stays in the North, I always remained here regardless of the season.
But now, I had to leave. I had to depart from the North and head South, to finish the things that needed concluding.
I cleared away the memories lingering in my mind and met Adele’s gaze again.
For the past two days, I had thought about Teresa, but also how to bring up the subject of betrayal with Adele.
Yet, I couldn’t bring myself to speak those words.
If I spoke them out loud, I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to contain the emotions from the past.
Thus, I considered writing them down in a letter; it might look rather odd, but it would be better to have her read it later.
If I wanted to explain her death, it would require a long time.
Bringing up death abruptly in that atmosphere would also be strange, so I’d better give her time to think for herself.
I believed that if she read all that I had written, she would at least be able to understand.
Even if she didn’t believe it, it wouldn’t matter.
If Adele still chooses to go to the Imperial Palace, I would stop her even if it meant altering my plans.
“I have something to give you too.”
“What are you going to give me?”
“Do you read letters?”
As I pulled out a neatly wrapped letter from my pocket, Adele looked at me with wide eyes.
Reading her embarrassment in her trembling eyes, I smiled gently and placed the letter carefully in her hands.
“You can read it after I’m gone. I’ve written down what I wanted to say.”
“…You’re doing pointless things. Do you think I would read it if you just give it to me like this?”
“I hope you do. Please.”
With my somewhat earnest voice, Adele frowned.
I thought she wouldn’t be able to refuse.
Maybe she didn’t care when we first met, but at this point, she couldn’t possibly disregard the letter I was giving her.
Moreover, it was a letter from me. After examining the letter briefly, Adele cleared her throat and took it nicely.
“Don’t write letters like this again. It’s better to swing your sword during this time.”
“I probably won’t see you for a long time after this; it’s a farewell of sorts.”
“Long? Hmm, yes. It seems we won’t be able to see each other for quite a while.”
Adele, wearing a significant smile, slowly got up. The night sky, now devoid of fireworks, regained its calmness.
The light that had spread around also faded completely, and it was time for the forest to be darkened again by the shadows of the night.
“Maybe we should head back now,” Adele seemed to think the same, quietly moving her lips.
“Let’s go back now. You need to sleep too.”
#
Rustle.
With each step Adele took, the sound of leaves crunching echoed.
Having grown somewhat accustomed to her heels, she walked briskly but turned her head upon realizing I was lagging behind.
“You can’t be later than me. What would happen if a woman in heels is later than me?”
“I’m deliberately taking my time.”
Taking a slightly larger step forward, I stood beside Adele again.
“I have to catch you if you trip.”
“I won’t trip. I’m completely used to it now.”
“Of course, you would be.”
Soon enough, I would see the manor ahead.
I realized, more than I expected, how far we had walked from the manor, letting out a whisper of surprise.
Considering the time, it was nearing midnight.
Waiting for the New Year to begin, those who would await under the bell tower were not visible, but the tall bell tower in the distance clearly caught my eye.
“Isn’t it still not New Year? We shot off the fireworks a bit early.”
“Ringing the bell is one of the most important parts of welcoming the New Year. It’s only natural to think so.”
“I don’t like the bell ringing. It hurts my ears.”
Yet, despite that, her not clearing it away might imply she was somewhat concerned about the people of the North.
I felt the bell would ring soon.
I saw the priest on top of the bell tower praying for the people, then making preparations to toll the bell.
As I stopped briefly to watch that, Adele quietly opened her mouth.
“…Speaking of which, I haven’t apologized to you yet. Since the New Year is approaching, it’s better to say it now.”
Her slender fingers tugged at my sleeve, and I turned my head at the small sensation.
Hesitating, with a slightly embarrassed look, Adele blinked several times and lightly bit her lip.
The word ‘apology’ surprised me.
However, recalling that she had gotten angry with me last time, I simply waited for her to speak.
After a moment, as the priest reached out a hand towards the bell to almost finish tolling, she said.
“I’m sorry for getting angry at you.”
Her fingers, which had lightly clasped my sleeve, had now turned into a palm.
It wrapped around my collar as if to keep me from running away.
Adele’s hand had me caught by the wrist.
Holding my wrist tightly, Adele, gazing intensely at me, continued.
“Apologizing for beheading you the first time we met, and for acting on my own. I’m sorry… I’ve been thinking that way.”
“Didn’t you apologize for it already before?”
“I feel like I have to say it now.”
Suddenly hearing those words, I lifted my head, and Adele, who had diverted her gaze from me, was now looking at the bell.
There was.
It was an expression of recalling something.
Yet, uncertain about it, a furrowed brow could be seen on her face.
“If I don’t say it now, I don’t think I’ll be able to.”
The anxiety was evident.
But not knowing what she was anxious about, I could only slowly squeeze the hand that was gripping my wrist.
The hand that had briefly been tense gradually relaxed.
And through the space of that falling hand, my fingers slipped in.
Under the cold wind, our body temperatures overlapped.
Though it was just a small area overlapping, it was enough contact to feel each other’s warmth.
It was closer to just holding than grabbing.
It was meant to ease her anxiety a little, but instead, Adele’s eyes widened in surprise.
I met her trembling blue eyes.
After a brief moment of silence, which felt like an eternity, passed.
Ding—
The sound of a bell announcing the New Year began to fill the surroundings.
“I am here.”
“…I know.”
“I was here last year, and I’m here this year too.”
Since the bell rang, hasn’t the year changed?
Whether the 20-year-old Robert or the 21-year-old Robert, being by Adele’s side hadn’t changed at all.
Even if the anxiety Adele felt was just part of her, or even if it foresaw her own death.
That was no reason for her to be anxious.
“Is it because you don’t want me to go?”
“Don’t say useless things. It’s just a feeling I have.”
“Then let’s make a bet. Whether we can see the bell toll together next year, or if we can’t.”
Adele, not understanding what that meant, looked at me with a strange expression, but I already knew how next year’s Adele would be.
Adele wouldn’t be there next year.
In all the previous runs, Adele had always died this winter.
Since it was a fact I alone knew, saying it was much like throwing that bet back at myself.
“Which side will you choose?”
But I asked the question without showing any emotion.
I believed that if it were Adele, she would bet on me being there next year.
And just as I thought, Adele responded without any hesitation.
As if it were something obvious, with an indifferent expression.
“I’ll bet on us seeing it together. Then what happens to the one who is wrong?”
“Well…”
The answer to this bet would likely boil down to one conclusion.
To the side that Adele chose, to see the bell toll together.
Adele wouldn’t die.
Even if the future was set like that, it was only natural that I wouldn’t just sit back and watch.
“Let’s make it that I’ll grant one wish.”
“Not a bad idea.”
I thought I should come up with what wish she might make.
Adele Igrit would definitely survive in this life.
Just like the habit she always had, I had decided it that way.
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