Chapter 11
“There they are! The head of the household and Sir Heter are coming out!”
“Ooooooh!”
Clap, clap, clap, clap, clap.
As soon as we stepped outside, thunderous applause erupted at Sir Gold's signal.
“Sir Heter! Thank you for protecting us!”
“Are you feeling all right? I have some herbs I gathered.”
“Sir Knight! Thank you for protecting us!”
The territory's people crowded around Heter and me, expressing their gratitude.
‘…What?’
Why wasn't anyone saying anything about us holding hands?
Unlike what I had expected, I felt bewildered by how all the attention was focused solely on Heter.
Naturally, I had assumed that, like Ruby that morning, they would see us holding hands and start making a fuss about it.
Well, it was a little embarrassing, but it wasn't a bad thing.
It was better to let things pass naturally than cause an unnecessary commotion, after all.
“Please take good care of our head of household, too.”
“That's right. They're such a kind person.”
‘…Huh?’
As I listened to what the territory's people were saying to Heter, something about it seemed a little strange.
On top of that, the warm expressions they wore as they looked at him resembled those of adults hearing that a relative they'd known since childhood was getting married.
“What do you mean by ‘take good care of me’?”
“Pardon? Just what it sounds like.”
Uncle Loford, the woodcutter I had singled out, scratched the back of his head and gave a hearty laugh.
“Seeing the two of you come here holding hands, that means Sir Heter accepted our head of household, doesn't it?”
“Huh?”
Heter accepted me?
‘It wasn't me who accepted him. Heter accepted me?!’
Is this what getting rejected without even confessing feels like?
I felt strangely indignant at the way the territory's people naturally assumed I had confessed first.
Just as I began wondering why they had come to that conclusion—
“!”
The conversation Ruby and I had shared the previous night suddenly came back to me.
『But that's surprising. I thought you liked Sir Heter.』
『But I bet everyone in town thinks the same way I do.』
“…Ah.”
Come to think of it, Ruby had said that.
She had said that they all thought I liked Heter.
“Hahaha….”
Apparently, I needed to clear up the misunderstanding before giving my speech.
“Everyone, pay attention for a moment!”
When I shouted loudly, everyone's attention immediately turned toward me.
An ordinary person might have tensed under so many eyes, but ever since becoming head of the household, I had grown accustomed to this level of attention.
Without letting their gazes intimidate me, I spoke in a clear voice.
“I am not dating Sir Heter!”
“?”
At that, everyone's eyes turned simultaneously toward the hands Heter and I were clasping.
They wore expressions that seemed to say, ‘Then what is this?’
“….”
Although I had said that, explaining the terms of our contract to the territory's people would be difficult.
‘Hmm, what should I say to explain this?’
Just as I was pondering how to answer the people staring at me—
“That's right.”
Heter, who had kept silent until then, stepped in for me.
“Sir Heter? Is that really true?”
“It is.”
‘Heter!’
Since he was the reason I couldn't let go of his hand, it was only polite for him to make the excuse himself, right?
As I praised Heter inwardly, he suddenly put on a pitiful smile.
“Because the head of the household rejected my confession.”
“!”
“Whaaaat?!”
Everyone's eyes turned toward me once again.
This time, they were looking at me as though asking, ‘How could you reject Sir Heter after going so far to save him?’
‘Fuck.’
Artificial respiration must have played a major part in making them think that.
But even if I explained how artificial respiration worked to save a person's life, how many of them would understand?
They would surely just think I was making excuses because I was embarrassed.
“…Let's just give the speech.”
In the end, I gave up on answering and chose to run away.
This choice might prove to be a blunder someday, but I trusted my future self to handle it somehow.
Just as I stepped forward, saying that I would give a speech—
“Wait, Head of the Household!”
Several children who looked barely five years old came earnestly dragging along an unidentified wooden box.
“Hm? What is this?”
“It's a platform for you to stand on when you give your speech!”
“We made it while Mom and Dad were working!”
“They said nobles are supposed to stand somewhere high when they speak.”
“Hahaha!”
When I saw the children squirming shyly, a laugh escaped me.
“I needed one just now, so this worked out perfectly. Thank you.”
The children's kindness and earnest effort were so touching that I crouched down and patted their heads.
“Heehee.”
“Go on, climb up!”
“All right.”
I carefully climbed onto the creaking platform.
Creeeeak.
As soon as I climbed onto it, the platform let out a scream as though begging to be killed.
‘I can't be that heavy.’
It probably wouldn't hold out for very long.
If it collapsed while I was giving my speech, the children would be terribly shocked.
“From this point on, I shall say a few brief words to you.”
Although the speech had been decided on so suddenly that I had no time to prepare a script, who was I?
A reincarnated person who had lived forty years in total, including my previous life.
“You must all have been frightened by the Snow Wyrm, so I thank you for gathering here again despite that. Although the Snow Wyrm must have caused some losses, the fact that you have all gathered here like this….”
Making up something that sounded vaguely plausible was as easy as pie.
“…With that, I shall bring my remarks to a close.”
Clap, clap, clap, clap, clap.
‘Great. That was a perfect speech.’
I finished a speech so excellent that it was hard to believe it had been improvised, and began climbing down from the platform.
Crack.
“Huh?”
With an ominous sound, my body suddenly sank downward.
I tried to move my arms to regain my balance, but the fact that my left hand was clasped with Heter's threw me off balance.
“Gasp!”
I heard the territory's people suck in their breath, and just as I braced myself for the impact—
Whoosh.
“Eek?”
My left arm was yanked hard, and I felt something slightly firm yet yielding against my cheek.
I was so bewildered that I couldn't understand what had happened.
Phew.
Since it was a little difficult to breathe, I lifted my head and looked up.
“Are you all right?”
Heter's face came into view, unusually flustered, with cold sweat trickling down his cheek.
His blond hair sparkled in the sunlight, and his eyes shone despite being shadowed.
‘He really is handsome.’
Though I'd never seen one in person, I thought this must be what an actor on television looked like as I stared at his face for ten seconds.
“Head of the Household?”
“Ah.”
Heter's voice brought me back to my senses, and my ears and cheeks grew hot.
“Ah, well, you see….”
How was I supposed to explain this?
‘Should I say I stared because he was handsome and I couldn't help it? Absolutely not.’
The masculinity still lingering inside me was loudly insisting that I couldn't apologize for a reason like that.
“This is, um….”
“Do you acknowledge that this was an act of force majeure?”
“What?”
Why was he suddenly bringing up force majeure?
I carefully thought over the meaning behind Heter's words.
‘Don't tell me.’
Was this guy thinking that I was angry because he had touched me despite our agreement?
As soon as I realized that, my heated face quickly cooled, but—
“Kyaaaah!”
The excitement of the women watching the scene showed no sign of dying down.
“Heh heh, this takes me back to when I was young.”
“That's right. A man should know how to protect his woman.”
The men were smiling warmly as well, as though recalling old memories.
“They hugged!”
“Ehehehe.”
The children were too busy teasing us to do anything else.
The children who had made the platform were laughing along, too.
“Sigh, all right.”
Wasn't laughing like that much better than looking gloomy?
“You may let go now.”
“Understood.”
When I slipped out of Heter's arms, he looked at me and spoke in his usual tone.
“Still, it was thanks to our holding hands that I could save you right away.”
“With Sir Heter's reaction speed, couldn't you have saved me even if we weren't holding hands?”
Besides, if we hadn't been holding hands, I probably could have kept my balance on my own.
“I'll have no comment on that.”
At my question, Heter raised his right hand to shoulder height as though he were completely innocent.
“Good grief. Honestly.”
His shameless attitude made me laugh involuntarily.
“Why is that? Did you laugh because I'm so handsome?”
“!”
This guy. He definitely knew.
He knew that I had just spaced out while staring at his face!
‘Crazy bastard.’
He had probably pretended not to notice on purpose to calm me down while I was flustered.
‘This guy. Is his inability to use his left hand a lie, too?’
He was clearly a sly bastard, but I couldn't bring myself to hate him.
Could it be because I had grown fond of him despite myself?
“The speech is over, so let's head back soon.”
“Very well.”
I returned to the mansion, still holding his hand.
“Wow. Looking at that, it won't be long now.”
“You're right. We should start preparing for the wedding reception soon.”
“The young lady's reached that age already.”
I never heard what the territory's people were saying behind us.