“Did anything unusual happen?”
“Something unusual?”
“You said you would tell me what happened in the village.”
Oh no! I got so lost in thought that I completely forgot.
I let out an awkward laugh, set my fork down, and slowly began explaining what had happened at the Ruden Trading Company.
Still, I wasn’t sure if it was okay to tell the people of the duke’s castle—who were completely cut off from the outside world—about the village quest, or rather… the body trade. So I left some parts out.
“Well, thankfully, they said they have a magic teleportation circle for transporting supplies, so they can still receive goods from outside.”
“…Then that is a relief. However.”
Edwin, who had been quietly listening, stared straight at me.
“Did everything go smoothly?”
“Huh?”
It seemed he realized something was missing. Since I had never been good at lying, I eventually added part of the truth I had left out.
“Well… actually, the owner of the shop kept going on about His Grace the Duke and acted a little strangely.”
Should I call it excessive loyalty? Or say he seemed brainwashed? The way he praised “the great Duke Belmont” over and over felt more like a citizen of a dictatorship than anything normal.
Anyway, even after I quoted exactly what Mr. Scrooge had said, Edwin didn’t react at all.
“I see.”
“Yes, um… somehow I ended up helping heal Mr. Scrooge’s daughter. And then… she got better.”
“Is that all?”
There was a clear demand for more explanation in that question, but even if he found me suspicious, there wasn’t much I could do.
If I suddenly told the duke, “I used an S-rank gacha ticket and got an amazing restoration ability,” he’d obviously think I was crazy.
Besides, there was no way the system would let me get away with something like that.
“Y-Yes…”
“You certainly had an interesting experience.”
His voice stayed calm, but the look in Edwin’s eyes was still full of doubt.
“……”
“……”
After holding my gaze for quite a while, he finally seemed to make up his mind and calmly voiced his concern.
“However, I believe you’ve left out a few details.”
“W-What do you mean?”
“You never explained how Miss Windsor healed the merchant’s daughter, or how the merchant, who refused to cooperate while invoking my name, suddenly changed his mind.”
Ugh. That was an entirely reasonable point.
But when I had to leave out every part connected to the game system while explaining what happened in the village, there were bound to be holes in the story.
“W-Well, I guess… it just sort of happened. Haha… hahaha.”
In the end, all I could do was add an awkward excuse before looking away with a guilty expression.
“…Of course, that is not the important part.”
Thankfully, Edwin seemed to realize there wasn’t anything more I could tell him even if he kept asking, so he decided to let it go.
Did I finally get past the hardest part…?
“H-Haha, anyway… I’m supposed to pick up the things I ordered in three days.”
“Did anything happen in the forest?”
Nothing happened on the way there, but something did happen on the way back… Hmm, I guess this much should be okay to tell him.
“Actually, I went jogging on the way there. Maybe that’s why nothing really happened… But I was too tired to jog on the way back, and maybe it was just my imagination, but I felt like I heard something.”
“I see… Wait.”
“Yes?”
“Are you saying you jogged that entire distance?”
“Um… why? It only took about ten minutes.”
“Ten minutes?”
His expression subtly changed.
“Miss Windsor. Even at a brisk pace, it takes a full thirty minutes to reach the village through that forest.”
“What?”
That couldn’t be right. Even on the way back, when I was exhausted and dragging my feet, it still hadn’t taken thirty minutes.
The system had even shown me exactly how much time was left, so there was no way I could have mistaken it.
“M-Maybe I unknowingly took a shortcut?”
Since I had only followed the path marked on the map the quest provided, that was the only explanation I could give.
“Hmm.”
After thinking for a moment, Edwin quietly said,
“It seems that strange luck follows you wherever you go, Miss Windsor.”
Strange luck… Well, I guess a strange game system really was following me around. Haha.
I gave him an awkward smile.
“T-The important thing is that I finished what I needed to do and came back safely. Isn’t that what matters?”
“…Yes. I suppose it is.”
Just as he gave that short reply, the sound of a grandfather clock echoed from somewhere in the distance.
After the bell rang exactly nine times and fell silent, Edwin stood up as though it had been a signal.
Without making even the slightest sound as he moved his chair, he rose smoothly and looked down at me with a small nod.
“I will retire for the night.”
“Oh… already? You haven’t even finished eating yet.”
Edwin’s plate looked almost untouched. There were a few signs that he’d taken a bite or two, but wasn’t that way too little?
“I’m fine. Please enjoy your meal.”
It didn’t seem like he intended to wait for my reply. He simply turned around and walked out of the dining room.
I blankly watched him leave before finally coming to my senses and looking back at the table, still covered with delicious food.
“It’d be such a waste to leave all this.”
I’ll finish his share too.
As I enthusiastically dug into the meal, my affection score went up again. I didn’t check, but it was probably the head chef’s. Ha… haha.
This is what it feels like to be watched?
Well, if they were just checking whether I was eating properly… it wasn’t exactly unpleasant or uncomfortable.
****
He opened his eyes as always.
Tuesday.
It was the day he became strongest, but that wasn’t the only reason his heart was racing for the first time in a long while.
“T-The air was just so nice that I decided to go for a run. It made me feel healthier too, and it only took ten minutes to reach the village. It was great in every way.”
“So, Miss Windsor, what you’re saying is?”
“I… went jogging.”
Jogging.
She definitely said jogging.
She said she ran through that cursed forest.
Seeing and hearing everything through the eyes and ears of the waking Edwin, he had to fight the urge to seize control of the body that very instant.
Clank.
The same cruel shackles were fastened around his wrist as he tried to rise.
The “other” Edwin had played another trick while he wasn’t looking.
But today, even that couldn’t ruin his mood.
It had been so long since he’d last felt this excitement that it made his cold blood boil.
She’s probably asleep.
The Nadia Windsor he had seen through that fool’s memories looked completely exhausted from the strain.
Of course, the life in her golden eyes hadn’t faded in the slightest.
It was strange.
In the past, he would have gouged out those eyes for daring to look directly at him and kept them as trophies.
This time, however, he couldn’t bring himself to do it.
At the very moment when the urge to see blood should have taken over, his heart had softened instead.
Still, he didn’t regret letting her live.
He could kill her whenever he wanted.
Besides, Nadia herself was entertaining enough to keep his murderous impulses under control.
You don’t cut open the goose that lays golden eggs.
A new fiancée had arrived at the duke’s castle.
Not only that, she was a woman who had left the castle alive.
And then… she had actually come back safely.
He wasn’t someone who believed in luck, but even he had to admit that Nadia seemed blessed by extraordinary fortune.
What on earth had happened?
He had also been trapped inside the duke’s castle for a very long time, so he was curious about what was happening outside.
With that thought, he quietly arrived outside Nadia’s room.
For a moment, he considered simply walking in without warning.
Instead, out of courtesy, he raised his hand and knocked.
Knock. Knock.
There was no reply.
But without the slightest hesitation, he calmly stepped inside.
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