Chapter 52
Heter doubted his own ears.
‘Who just paid attention to whom?’
If Alice was being serious, what an absurd misunderstanding this was.
“My lady, please calm down first….”
“I’m perfectly calm!”
When Heter tried to calm Alice, she shouted at him.
Contrary to what she had said, Alice was far more emotional than usual.
She must have had a lot bottled up.
“I understand. Then could you tell me which of my usual actions made you think I was paying attention to Cecile?”
“…I mean.”
Eventually, Alice hesitantly told him what she had noticed.
“…you did that, but you never flatly rejected her. After seeing that, how could I think you weren’t paying attention to her?”
“…?”
A question mark appeared in Heter’s mind as he listened.
Everything Alice said was true.
But all of it had happened when he was keeping Cecile at arm’s length.
What person in the world could tell someone they were interested in, ‘Please don’t wait for me from now on.’?
Of course, since they served the same master, he had softened his phrasing somewhat.
‘Strange.’
Heter sensed something strange as he looked at Alice.
Normally, Alice was perceptive enough to understand his actions without difficulty.
‘But why is she acting like this now of all times… Huh?’
Seeing Alice with her lips tightly pursed in frustration, Heter finally realized why she was acting this way.
‘If my guess is right….’
Heter covered the corners of his mouth with his hand as they twitched upward.
Then, with great caution, he asked Alice a question.
“My lady.”
“….”
“Could it be….”
Did you get jealous because you thought I was interested in Cecile?
***
“…What?”
Jealous because she thought Heter was interested in Cecile?
Who?
Me?
Hearing Heter’s question, I felt as though I had been struck on the head with a hammer.
‘Jealousy.’
What on earth had Heter seen to make him think that?
I was only annoyed because he said he liked me and then acted kindly toward another woman….
‘Fuck.’
Yes, now that I thought about it, jealousy was probably the most appropriate word for what I had felt.
“Huh?”
Had I really been jealous?
Heat.
My face, which had been flushed with anger, began to grow hot for another reason.
“I never thought you’d get jealous over me, my lady.”
“Th-that…!”
Heter looked at me with an amused smile, one hand covering his mouth.
I wanted to argue as I watched him smile so happily, but I couldn’t think of anything convincing to say.
Why?
Because even a three-year-old could see that I had acted that way out of jealousy!
“That’s not it….”
In the end, like a child throwing a tantrum, all I could do was repeat that it wasn’t true without any real reason.
“If it isn’t jealousy… would it be all right for me to continue treating Cecile as I normally do?”
“…What?”
“After all, we both serve you, my lady. Wouldn’t it be awkward if our relationship suddenly became strained because I changed the way I treated her?”
“….”
There was nothing logically wrong with what he said.
If anything, as the head of a territory, the proper thing for me to do was ask Heter to treat Cecile well enough that she wouldn’t get the wrong idea.
But….
“No.”
“Hmm?”
Once again, words contrary to my thoughts burst from my mouth.
“Then could you tell me why? Why shouldn’t I spend time with Cecile as I do now?”
Heter drew closer to me with a mischievous smile.
Ordinarily, I would have felt frustrated at losing an argument.
Clench.
“Fine, I am acting this way because I’m jealous, you bastard.”
“Huh?”
But right now, I felt anger toward Heter.
“Fuck. I’m so annoyed because of you I’m going crazy, and you think teasing me like this is funny?”
I grabbed Heter by the collar and poured out my frustration.
“You said you liked me. Then can’t you refrain from doing things you know I hate?!”
“Wait….”
“I even hugged you because I hate seeing you scared!”
Even after getting angry, the tightness in my chest didn’t ease; instead, my sense of hurt only grew.
Tap.
“Sob….”
“M-My lady?!”
In the end, the tears I had been holding back burst forth and soaked the floor.
“Y-you signed the contract… You said you wouldn’t make me sad….”
“….”
“Then why are you… Fuck it. Never mind.”
I released Heter’s collar weakly and opened the study door.
“Don’t come looking for me again today.”
Bang.
I closed the door and sank down right where I stood.
“Fuck….”
Heter often played mischievous pranks on me.
But why did I feel this way today of all days?
In truth, I had suspected the reason for some time.
But today,
after feeling jealous of Cecile and hurt by Heter, I was finally able to realize it for certain.
“I….”
In the end, I had fallen in love with Heter.
***
Knock, knock, knock.
“Hmm? What is it?”
It hadn’t been long since Cecile had returned from the lake they called the hot spring.
Someone knocked on Cecile’s door.
“Phew….”
Because she had encountered a magical beast for the first time in her life and felt her life threatened, Cecile wanted to meet no one today and simply rest, but—
Knock, knock, knock, knock, knock, knock, knock, knock.
The person outside kept knocking on the door for a long time without pause, as though their fingers didn’t hurt.
“Ugh!”
In the end, Cecile surrendered to the unrelenting knocking.
“Who is it… Eek?!”
Cecile was startled when she saw who was behind the door.
“S-Sir Knight?”
“Good day, Cecile.”
That was because he was Heter, the knight in shining armor who had saved Cecile from the mage supremacists.
But the man who had always firmly rebuffed all her advances had come to her room alone!
‘Oh no… what do I look like right now?’
She had clearly crawled across the dirt to avoid the orc’s attack and returned without even washing….
“Eek!”
Cecile hurriedly tried to close the door she had opened, but the open door did not budge no matter how hard she tried.
“I only need a moment of your time.”
“I-I only need a moment too!”
She didn’t want to meet him while covered in dirt like this.
At the very least, she wanted to change clothes, brush her hair, wipe her face with a damp cloth, and apply a little powder before speaking with him.
“…I understand.”
In the end, Heter was the first to give up.
“Thank you! Please wait just a moment!”
Bang!
The moment Heter let go of the doorknob, Cecile shut the door and hurriedly changed clothes.
“Invisible Finger!”
As she used magic to brush her hair, she thought:
‘But… why did Sir Heter come?’
Could it be that he had come to accept her feelings after all?
‘…That can’t be it.’
Cecile desperately wanted Heter to accept her feelings, but even she knew there was no reason for him to do so now.
‘Or did he come because he was worried about me?’
This was at least a possibility.
She had, after all, shown how frightened she was because of the orcs.
‘If that’s the case… then Sir Heter must have some feelings for me too, right?’
There was also one other possibility besides those two.
“….”
Cecile deliberately refused to consider it.
It was the worst possibility she could imagine.
“I’m ready. Have you been waiting long?”
“No.”
Thus, Cecile opened the door with the brightest smile she could manage.
She thought that, at least while she was smiling like this, he wouldn’t bring up that subject.
But.
“I’ll be direct. I can’t accept your feelings, Cecile.”
“….”
Reality was always cruel.
“Is it… because of my lady?”
“Yes.”
Heter answered Cecile’s question immediately.
Creak.
Cecile had clenched her hands so tightly that her nails dug into her palms.
She knew very well.
The reason Heter had firmly rejected all her advances was Alice Fortune, the owner of this mansion.
She had heard as soon as she arrived at the mansion that Heter liked Alice; it would have been strange not to know.
Even so, she had thought there was hope back then.
Though it had been a short time, she had learned that Alice had not accepted Sir Heter’s feelings.
She had thought that if she continued showing her love to Heter, who was constantly rejected, she could surely change his mind.
“Is there truly no chance for me?”
“….”
Cecile looked at Heter with tear-filled eyes and pleaded.
“You saved me! Unlike my lady, I can give you everything, body and soul, if that’s what you want!”
“Cecile.”
“My love for you is far greater than my lady’s!”
Plop, plop.
Today, Heter once again saw a woman shed tears because of him.
“Just once… couldn’t you give me even one chance?”
Cecile approached Heter in tears.
And when she tried to throw herself into Heter’s arms—
Step.
“Ah.”
“I’m sorry.”
Heter took a step back from Cecile.
“Perhaps… you’re right that my lady’s love for me may be smaller than yours.”
“Then!”
“But.”
Heter looked directly into her eyes and spoke.
“It seems my love for Alice is greater than your love for me.”
“Why do you get to decide that on your own… Ah.”
At that moment, Cecile realized.
She, too, had arbitrarily declared that her love was greater than Alice’s.
Anyone who arbitrarily judges another person’s feelings must be prepared to have their own feelings judged just as arbitrarily.
No one had taught her that, but it was common sense.
“That is why I cannot accept your feelings.”
“…If.”
Cecile lowered her head and spoke in a trembling voice.
“If I were as beautiful as my lady and had met you before she did… would I have had a chance too?”
“No.”
Once again, Heter answered without the slightest hesitation.
“Why?”
“Because you’re not Alice.”
“Ha….”
Cecile realized she had asked a foolish question.
“I understand.”
“…Yes.”
After Heter left, Cecile returned to her bed and threw herself onto it.
Flop.
“Phew….”
Her heart hurt.
More than all the pain she had experienced in her life put together.
And she envied Alice.
She envied Alice terribly for being able to receive Heter’s love.
At that moment.
【Are you that envious?】
“…?!”
Suddenly, a voice sounded beside Cecile’s ear.
【Then I’ll help you.】
A voice that was neither male nor female, as though it did not belong to this world at all, spoke to Cecile.
It told her it would help her.