Chapter 32 - Am I Crazy?

"This is fucking insane."

If he had said it in a noisy place, it might have been different.

But since he said it openly in a reception room with only a few people, the curse Dale spat out seemed to reach Elisia.

"..."

The moment those words were heard, Elisia lowered her expression and stared at Dale, but she seemed to judge that if she reacted to Dale, the subject would be distorted, so she didn't say anything particular and calmly continued speaking, "Since Dale is trying to kill you... it's a natural course that your position will become quite difficult when Dale becomes a hero, Damian."

She said this to me with a worried expression as if she was truly concerned about me and saying these things.

The acting was so natural that it felt like her words were sincere, but because I knew what kind of heart Elisia had while doing such actions, I didn't feel any particular emotion.

"So why are you telling me this?"

"There's no reason. I'm just telling you because I regret the sins I committed against you."

I almost let out a hollow laugh, but I tried hard to hold it back and continued speaking, "I'm sure you do."

I deliberately provoked her by being sarcastic, but Elisia seemed determined to keep pushing the act of retracting the engagement annulment by pretending to regret.

She just smiled apologetically, placed her hand on her chest, and spoke desperately, "Like the many things you've done for me, I plan to return things that can help you, though they may be insufficient."

"..."

"So if it was even a little helpful, could you look back at me just once?"

I didn't know if it was intentional, but it was very similar to what I had said to Elisia.

The moment I heard those words, I wanted to answer, "Did you ever look back at me even once?" but…

Since I've already drawn Dale to my side, judging that proceeding further would bring greater benefits, I tried hard to calm my gradually settling emotions and nodded.

"I'll think about it."

"Thank you. Then... I'll visit you again tomorrow."

As I watched Elisia leave the reception room immediately after saying those words, I let out a hollow laugh.

Dale... no, Dasoon, who was behind, ground his teeth and repeated what he had said earlier, "Isn't she fucking insane?"

***

Dale seemed to feel very wronged by what he had heard earlier, so he told me what Elisia had said.

"No, that crazy woman kept instigating me, saying everything was Damian's fault and that I should kill Damian. And now what? No, ha."

Maybe because his head was full of anger, Dale kept spewing out curses continuously.

I left Dale, who was calling out the offspring of various animals, alone and fell into contemplation about what to do.

I realized it was time to start wrapping up all the matters.

So while I was contemplating how to resolve this, Dale took a deep breath and said to me, "...So what exactly is going on here? Explain it to me."

I thought for a moment about whether to tell him or not, but since he was bound by a soul contract anyway and couldn't betray me, I decided to explain the situation moderately.

"Elisia's goal is to draw me back to the North and regain the warmth."

"What? Warmth? Don't tell me the Sun Spirit? Why do you have that?"

"I got it by chance."

"...?"

Looking at the confused Dale, I smiled slightly and continued speaking, "Anyway, Elisia tried to put me in danger by making you, who has ill feelings towards me, a hero."

I explained that she was trying to build up goodwill by cooperating with me and subtly trying to retract the engagement annulment.

Dale realized that he had just been used and covered his face.

"...No, ha. This is different from the content."

By content, he must mean the original work.

Looking at Dale, who no longer seemed to have any intention of hiding, I smiled slightly and spoke to Liana, who was savoring tea nearby, "So Elisia is trying to persuade me somehow, and the Northern side is dragging out the agreement procedure as long as possible. Right?"

"That's right. By dragging it out that long, they can proceed with the hero appointment ceremony and create a common enemy that you, Damian, would feel threatened by. They've judged that the longer they drag it out, the more beneficial it is, so they're dragging it on and on."

Hearing those words, I thought for a moment and briefly said, "Then to make Elisia eat crow, we just need to make the engagement annulment ceremony end quickly, right?"

Liana was startled at my words and then blinked, looking at me sideways.

I smiled lightly at Liana, who was looking at me as if to say, "What are you talking about, Damian?"

***

Having decided to end the engagement annulment ceremony quickly, I immediately got up and headed towards Damian's mother, Eleanor Carsaril.

Although it was the head butler who was negotiating the engagement annulment ceremony, all the decision-making power was held by Damian's mother, so I went to Eleanor Carsaril instead of the head butler.

"Since you've come all this way, Damian, have some food before you go. Your cheeks have become so hollow due to the engagement annulment, it's truly pitiful to see."

Damian's mother welcomed me very warmly and started talking about various things.

"I heard there were some problems during the first interview."

"Yes."

"This mother has taken care of everything that happened then. There's no need to worry at all, so don't mind it."

At those words, I smiled awkwardly.

I didn't know if it was because it was goodwill directed at Damian, not me, or if I was still awkward with others' goodwill.

Whatever it was, I thought it wasn't adapting well and smiled awkwardly, when Damian's mother asked me the reason for my visit, "So, won't you tell this mother why you've come?"

Thinking it wasn't polite to speak directly, at first, I thought it would be better to speak indirectly, so I said I came to pay my respects, but…

"Hoho, you've learned something interesting after going to the North. There's no need to speak indirectly, just speak comfortably."

Hearing her say to get to the point without saying strange things, I had no choice but to state the main point.

"I want to end the engagement annulment ceremony as quickly as possible."

When an engagement was made between families called prestigious houses, not between families that were unheard of, they made contracts entangled with all sorts of interests.

Usually, it was said that the engagement annulment ceremony took quite a long time.

So even if I ask to end the engagement annulment ceremony quickly, it's impossible to end it quickly.

Nevertheless, there were two reasons why I asked, which were to find out what problems there were if there were any that made it end late, and to find out the approximate schedule of when it would end.

So, asking with a completely different purpose—

"Let's do that."

Damian's mother nodded as if it didn't matter much and put food on the plate in front of me.

"...?"

"There won't be any big problems as we can continue the agreement after the engagement annulment is over. So let's proceed with the engagement annulment ceremony first, and then continue with the remaining agreements."

It was an unexpected answer, so I was momentarily bewildered, but intuiting that I could unravel all the tangled threads if I used this, I nodded.

"...Thank you."

"Hoho, this much isn't difficult. In about a week, all matters will be settled and we can finish the engagement annulment ceremony. Just wait a little."

"Yes."

"That's right, then eat this too."

As I put the piling up food into my mouth, I fell into contemplation about how to use this to make Elisia eat a huge crow and leave.

***

To be honest, until I declared the engagement annulment and left the North, I felt more skepticism than a desire for revenge.

I had a stronger feeling of not wanting to be entangled anymore than revenge or anything, but the fact that Elisia intentionally approached me for the sake of the North and then “instigated Dale to kill me”.

And the fact that she kept acting to evoke sympathy, but behind the scenes, she only thought about using me, now made me feel more irritation than skepticism.

So thinking it would be good to turn the tables on her now,

I told my companions what I had heard earlier.

At my words, Liana, who was still clinging to my lodgings, asked me one question in a somewhat perplexed voice, "Then do you plan to return to your family home immediately?"

It seemed she was asking this because if I returned to my family home, it would be difficult to help the Saintess.

I lightly shook my head at those words and reassured Liana.

"No, I plan to stay here for a while since I need to help the Saintess, too."

"That's a relief."

Even if I somehow managed to deal with Elisia, the Church and black mages would be after the Carsaril family and me, so it was better to cherish the relationship with the Saintess and Liana.

And above all, it was right to return as much as I had received.

Anyway, in that sense, I decided to finish my work and then return, and I said to Liana, "So there's one thing I want to do."

"Yes. Please tell me."

Liana nodded while still sipping her tea, and I asked her a somewhat serious question, "What if we make Elisia declare that she colluded with black mages and caused a rift the moment Dale is appointed as a hero?"

Hearing those words, Liana smiled brightly and answered, "Are you crazy?"