“Sophia.”
“Yes.”
“Sophia.”
“Yes….”
I don’t know why he’s calling me so eagerly all of a sudden. Did I mess something up?
“Sophia.”
“What is it?”
“Finally, you’re looking this way.”
“….”
When I turned my head, I saw Kyle smiling at me. I didn’t think there was anything wrong with that smile. In fact, I thought it looked nice.
But it felt a bit uncomfortable.
“Well, you weren’t looking this way at all.”
“Young Master….”
The reason I was avoiding eye contact with Kyle was simple. Actually, I couldn’t help but avoid it.
Right now, I was sitting in a carriage that was running with Kyle.
The reason I was sitting in the carriage wasn’t anything special. He just brought me along because he had somewhere to go.
Anyway, the reason I wasn’t looking at Kyle was just….
“I’m handling paperwork right now…”
“I said I’d take care of that later at the castle.”
“After today’s schedule, when you return to the castle, it’ll be dinner time, so if you handle the paperwork and go to bed, your sleep time will be reduced, so I—”
“Anyway, once we’re married, I’m going to sleep late every day.”
“….”
“And even if I say it’s fine, you’ll just keep on with your work, right? It’s tough to talk to me.”
“Ugh….”
He hit the nail on the head. While I did have thoughts of helping out with what Kyle had to do, I was also trying to avoid his strange comments as much as possible.
There was no helping it. Lately, Kyle had been saying odd things to me constantly.
“Sigh… I’m just talking to you because I like you, but you keep ignoring me.”
“I haven’t ignored you.”
“Oh really?”
“Yes.”
I didn’t ignore him. I just hesitated to answer. It wasn’t my intention at all!
“Then why don’t you answer me?”
“Because you keep saying weird things.”
“Weird things? What do you mean?”
Weird things? Is he playing dumb?
How could he do that?
“You keep saying weird things to me. Like how pretty I am today, or my eyes are beautiful, asking if I’d accept your confession—things like that, haven’t you?”
“Those aren’t weird things. They’re all sincere.”
“….”
“You look good with your hair today. It’s tied up differently than usual, right?”
“It’s just because it’s comfortable.”
“Well, for someone like you, any hairstyle suits you.”
“….”
I just tied it up for convenience. I’d done it occasionally before, too.
It was really just for convenience’s sake.
There was no intention behind it.
“What about trying a braid next time? You’d look pretty.”
“Sigh….”
Kyle was smiling at me again. Seriously, ever since he confessed, he’s been saying stuff like this nonstop. It’s exhausting! Whenever he speaks, it’s always compliments, calling me pretty!
“Sophia.”
“Yes….”
“Do you know where we’re going?”
“I don’t know.”
You’re the one who said to come out! You mentioned going somewhere, and now I’m here handling paperwork while chatting!
“We’re heading to a village within the territory.”
“What happened?”
Why are we going to a village all of a sudden? I have no idea.
I hadn’t heard anything particular about it. Are we going because something happened in the village?
“Yes.”
Really? I was a bit worried. Up until now, nothing had ever occurred while I was in Eristirol.
Or is that why we’re traveling alongside other carriages?
“The two carriages ahead and the two behind are carrying knights, and a few servants from the family are in another one.”
“Oh….”
Kyle’s expression was serious, a bit different from the teasing just a moment ago. What on earth is going on that requires knights?
“Is it monsters?”
That seemed the most likely scenario. It made sense to go after monsters.
Otherwise, there’d be no need for knights to accompany us.
It’s not like we’re in a place with wild barbarians, so it should be monsters, I figured.
“Yes. There’s been some reports of monsters appearing, so we’re heading over.”
“Oh… Is it common for someone like you to go? Isn’t this usually just for the knights?”
Typically, nobles would put their feet up and leave it to the knights. Isn’t it like that?
When I was an adventurer, it was always “Oh, there’s a monster in so-and-so territory,” and I’d be off in a carriage.
It was great getting paid when I got there…
“Well, it wouldn’t be a problem either way. Still, we are nobles and should act accordingly, so I don’t think it’s necessary to hide.”
“Oh….”
But do I really have to go…? It’s about defeating monsters, but what could I possibly do right now?
I’m not in shape like before and haven’t exercised for years, so my muscles have withered away.
I probably wouldn’t be much help…
“You just need to handle a few things in the village, Sophia. Since monsters have shown up and we’re going to provide support, we need an extra set of hands there.”
“If that’s the case, I have no problem.”
So it will be paperwork after all. I’ll just stroll around the village, see what went wrong, and jot it down.
To be honest, when I suddenly hopped into the carriage, I thought we were off on a date. After all, Kyle had been talking like that lately.
I just assumed that was the case.
But I didn’t really expect anything from it.
Since he’s been making weird comments lately, I just thought that’s what it was.
“I’ve postponed the date for now.”
“….”
“Don’t worry. We’ll definitely have our date next time.”
*
“Mmm…”
Once we arrived at the village in the carriage, I was alone.
Kyle, despite being a noble, had gone off with the knights to hunt for monsters.
To be honest, I questioned whether he needed to go at all.
The knights could handle it without him; did he really need to go?
“Wouldn’t it be better if he just stayed with me..?”
It wasn’t a strange thought; it really felt that way. Instead of searching the outskirts for monsters, wouldn’t it be better just to stroll around inspecting damaged buildings and looted grain storages and writing some notes?
Am I just too fond of comfort…? And generally, don’t people want to be closer to someone they like?
Then staying by my side would be better…
“Dammit.”
Why am I thinking like this all of a sudden? My thoughts just took a strange turn.
Am I losing it since I’m finally doing some real work after a long time?
“Sigh….”
Well, it’s definitely real work, unlike just following Kyle around every day.
Since the village isn’t that huge, I didn’t run into any problems strolling around.
But it was tiring going around, writing everything down.
Compared to whoever might be running around looking for monsters, it was easy, but still a bit tiring.
Normally, I’d be walking behind Kyle or a bit to the side, spending time with him.
Given how long I spent with Kyle, it’s only natural, but during these afternoons, we were practically together every hour.
“The grain storage next to the Meso-chi inn has been looted…’ and the roof of Ties General Store is damaged, and the owner of the flower shop called Baekhab is injured.”
Is this enough?
Some others are doing the same job, so I think this is sufficient.
I’ve been wandering around the village for about an hour now, and I couldn’t see any more damage.
It’s unlikely that walking for another 10 or 20 minutes would make any difference.
“I should head inside.”
There’s no need to stay out here in the cold all alone.
I just needed to wait in a building for Kyle, as he said.
So I moved to the inn where I was temporarily grouped with the knights and Kyle and waited for him in the lobby.
It’s been an hour since I parted from Kyle; he’s still got a while before he returns.
The sun is still high, and it’s not even dinner time yet, so he won’t be back soon.
“What is he doing?”
Kyle had left me with a job, so I finished it for now.
That meant I didn’t have anything else to do.
And being alone means there’s nothing to do.
I was simply bored.
If I were at the castle, I’d be helping Kyle with something or other, but now, I couldn’t do that either.
Otherwise, I could’ve exercised with Louise and Elin, but they weren’t here now.
I really had nothing to do.
“I might as well take a nap.”
If I sleep for a bit, Kyle will likely wake me up.
After all, he’s been following me around saying he likes me.
He should manage to wake his favorite girl up if she dozes off for a bit.
I just hope he wakes me before dinner time.
“First…. I should go into the room and sleep….”
As much as I have nothing to do and feel tired, it can be dangerous to sleep in the lobby like this…
So I went into a room at the inn.
I left the door open since Kyle might come in.
I mean, it’s basically the inn for the knights and Kyle, so what could happen?
The knights aren’t a rough crowd, and it’s not like they’d barg into my room.
The only person who’d come into my room would be Kyle, so I figured it would be fine.
“Yawn….”
As soon as I opened my mouth, a yawn escaped.
“It’s been a while since I worked, and I’m really tired….”
Just for a bit… let me sleep….
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