Chapter 72
The day Renoa threw Leon out.
Leon only pretended to leave; he never actually left the room, staying by Renoa’s side the whole time while hiding his presence.
Even though freedom waited just beyond the threshold, he couldn’t leave her alone, shattered and all by herself.
He at least wanted to see her stand back up on her own.
Even if she turned to black magic, if she rose again with a fierce will, then he really meant to turn away without lingering.
But Renoa made no move to recover. She abandoned herself without even drinking a sip of water.
As if she had no more attachment to life.
Since things had come to the point where he could no longer just stand by, he had no choice but to step in.
“What do you think you’re doing? Are you planning to die like this?”
“Mind your own business.”
There wasn’t even a trace of lingering attachment on Renoa’s face as she said it.
Betrayal by the one she had trusted.
And the loss of the magic that had been her entire world.
Those two things had severed the driving force within Renoa completely.
“That’s ridiculous. Acting like some tragic heroine over something so small.”
But as if despair like that meant nothing at all, Leon clicked his tongue and let out a scoff.
“What...?”
“Of course. What exactly have you lost, my lady?”
“You—are you done talking?”
Renoa’s once-empty expression warped into a savage scowl.
Sparks of anger flared in her dull eyes, which had held no life at all.
Leon ignored it and continued looking down at Renoa.
“If you told a passing commoner they could swap places with you right now, how many do you think would accept?”
“...What?”
“Nine out of ten would probably say yes, wouldn’t they? They’d sleep in a soft bed without worrying about survival, bathe in warm water, feast on a lavish meal, and be treated like a young lady.”
“That’s sophistry!”
Renoa bit her lip and snapped back sharply. Her shoulders trembled with the humiliation rising in her.
“Do you think having nothing from the start is the same as having something taken away from you?”
“I see. Then what exactly did you lose, my lady?”
“That, of course...!”
“Don’t tell me.”
Leon cut off Renoa’s spiteful shout coldly, smiling with easy composure.
“Magic you were born with simply because you came from a magical family? A maid hired by your family? You didn’t win a single thing on your own, so how can you call it something that was taken from you? Everything belonged to Edelheid, the house you despised so much.”
“But...”
“But? What, do you want to say you taught yourself magic?”
As if he had already seen through whatever excuse Renoa would make, Leon shot back sharply before she could even finish.
“I told you before. Most people in this world don’t even have the environment to learn magic. Did you earn that enormous mana through your own effort? Did you buy the books you read with your own money? No, right?”
“......”
Faced with the cruel, crystal-clear reality Leon laid bare, Renoa froze in place.
She couldn’t force out a single rebuttal.
Because the things she had spent her entire life taking pride in were, in truth, not things she had accomplished on her own at all.
And if the one saying it was Leon, who had risen to this point from slave status, then she had even less to argue with.
“......So?”
All strength drained out of Renoa’s body.
“I was a nobody from the start, so I should stop complaining and just accept reality?”
The anger that had been blazing only moments before vanished as if it had never existed.
What remained was only listless emptiness, like a hollow shell.
“You’re saying I should live without doing anything, like a bird in a cage? Live like this forever?”
“What I want to tell you is that you shouldn’t cling to what belongs to others, and should be grateful for what you have.”
“What on earth do I have? What on earth is left for me?”
The moment those words left Renoa’s mouth, it was as if he had been waiting for them.
Leon gently took Renoa’s hand and pressed it to his own face.
Renoa flinched at the sudden sensation, but soon realized what it was.
Following that touch, she shifted her gaze. Then the two of them, who had been looking past each other all this time, finally met squarely.
And what he said was:
“You have me, don’t you.”
“......What?”
“Right in front of you is something wholly yours, something no one in this world can claim as their own.”
It was such a shameless thing to say that it left Renoa speechless.
“Take my sword instead of magic, my lady. If you can’t move, use my arms and legs; if you can’t see ahead, I’ll be your eyes.”
Leon still had that languid curve at the corner of his mouth.
On the surface he looked as light as ever, but there was no playfulness or pretense in that smile.
If anything, it was the opposite.
He was sincere.
A sincerity that left no room for argument.
In this filthy reality where even tomorrow was uncertain.
That insolent slave was saying, brazenly, that he would replace everything with his own existence alone.
That attitude should have been ridiculous.
The proper thing would have been to laugh it off and draw a line.
But.
“......”
The moment she faced that utterly arrogant devotion, Renoa’s breath caught for a brief instant.
Blurred things, their outlines tangled together.
In a landscape sunk in monochrome.
Only one thing.
A pair of golden eyes alone stood out clearly.
That gold-tinted gaze dyed Renoa’s vision in warm gold.
“I’m a slave, so I’ll never betray you like certain people do, my lady. How about it?”
“......”
“Wouldn’t I be enough?”
His low voice flowed into Renoa’s ear.
Renoa couldn’t even think to refuse, only stared blankly at the gold before her.
“...Yeah. That’s fine.”
The answer slipped out before she even realized it.
“Excellent answer.”
Leon nodded with satisfaction and stood up.
“A person needs to eat properly to have strength. The soup’s gone cold, so I’ll bring some fresh.”
Leon left the room.
Even after the door shut and his footsteps vanished beyond the hallway, Renoa couldn’t tear her eyes away from the spot where he had stood.
Renoa’s lips parted slightly.
It should have been a heart that had given up on everything and grown cold.
Yet a pleasant warmth spread through her body, beginning to stir slowly.
Thump.
Thump.
Thump.
A strange rhythm, spreading outward.
Something began to bubble up softly from deep inside her chest.
A lukewarm sensation, neither hot nor cold, spread cautiously, tickling at her heart.
Her breathing quickened a little.
A pounding so unfamiliar and noisy she could hardly believe it was her own echoed in Renoa’s ears.
What does my face look like right now? I didn’t look in a mirror, so I don’t know, but...
Probably flushed bright red like a girl.
***
Renoa, having finished the rest of her meal, fell asleep again soon after from sheer emotional exhaustion.
Fortunately, this time she accepted the soup meekly instead of refusing it.
I crouched beside the bed and stared at Renoa’s sleeping face.
“Sigh, what a fate I have.”
What kind of trouble was this, just because I ended up with the wrong master?
She’d been told her master would let her go, yet she came back on her own. There was no more perfect slave mentality than that.
“This is all your fault.”
I poked Renoa’s cheek with my finger. After skipping meals for several days, Renoa had grown visibly gaunt.
In the original story, she was in a situation where she obsessed over Aither, so she would have somehow shaken herself off and even dabbled in black magic.
But now it wasn’t even that, so she’d just given up.
In the original story, Gerard was in my place, wasn’t he?
If it were me, I’d have used black magic too.
Burn this trash world to the ground.
I flicked Renoa’s cheek with my finger. Watching the face she made in her sleep, I stood up.
If the master is going to lie around all day, even I, the slave, have to keep moving.
I left the house and headed for the academy dormitory.
What I arrived at, while avoiding people’s eyes, was a heavily guarded room.
Men in light armor were standing guard at the door.
“Who are you?”
“I am Leon, the slave knight of Edelheid. I’ve come by appointment with Your Highness the Crown Prince.”
“Confirmed. His Highness is waiting for you.”
I opened the door and went in.
A grand room, and I couldn’t tell whether it was a dormitory or a hotel suite, greeted me.
Inside, Aither was drinking wine and reading a book.
“You’re here?”
“Students aren’t supposed to drink.”
“I’m an adult, so what does it matter? Even a crown prince wants to relax in his private space.”
Well, that’s true.
In this world, adult status comes faster than on Earth, so it’s fine to drink.
“Why don’t you sit down instead of standing there?”
I sat across from Aither.
“Want a drink?”
“No. I have to finish my business and head back right away. The lady might wake up again at any moment.”
“What a shame.”
Aither tipped his glass.
“How is the young lady doing?”
“She’s safe. She’s a bit weak, but she’ll recover quickly if she eats well.”
“That’s a relief. I’m also looking for an antidote, so don’t worry too much.”
“Yes.”
“Still, I can’t believe the maid was the traitor. And apparently she was close with the young lady, too? That must be hard to take.”
I had already told Aither about Bibi. It wasn’t exactly something I needed to hide.
Since I couldn’t tell what Bibi was after, I thought it would be good to get whatever useful information I could.
It didn’t help much, though.
That was why I had come here.
No more waiting.
“Aither.”
“Hm?”
“Let’s make a deal.”
“That was out of nowhere. Should I take that as you wanting to speak to me as an equal?”
I gave a light shrug, as if he could interpret it however he liked.
“All right. Let’s hear what interesting thing you’re going to offer.”
I drew a slow breath.
It hadn’t taken me long to make up my mind.
I’d gone over it hundreds of times before coming here.
“You said you were looking for a witch, right?”
“I certainly did. There’s a wicked witch our imperial family has been hunting for ages. She’s still missing, though. Why, have you found her?”
Honestly.
This guy has a nasty personality too.
Even though he obviously knew, the way he casually tested me wasn’t any different from the nobles he hated so much.
I’ll let it slide this once. The one in a hurry wasn’t Aither, it was me.
“Renoa is the witch, just as you thought.”
“I see.”
Aither showed no sign of surprise, as if he had already expected it.
“What suddenly got into you, telling me her identity? Are you handing over the witch and asking me to spare you?”
“If anything, that would have been easier on me.”
If it had been the old me, I would have sold Renoa out.
If that would save my life.
Nothing matters more than my life.
But I changed my mind.
“I’ll cooperate with the witch hunt. In return, guarantee Renoa’s safety.”
The poor girl is too pitiful, so I have to help her.