As I stood there in a daze, the man gave me a strange look and walked past. But I couldn’t bring myself to stop him. Before I knew it, the portrait Count Florette had shown me not long ago surfaced in my mind.
“Do you see? Those are portraits of your father and mother.”
“Yes, I saw them.”
“What a good-looking couple they were… Though both of them had terrible personalities.”
…Right, that was exactly why it stuck in my head so much.
I stared blankly at Count Sehera. That man is my father?
But he couldn’t have cared less about my gaze. Even though I kept staring at him, he had already met up with the people at his table and strolled out of the inn.
I hurried outside, throwing open the door, but had he teleported or something? All I could see before me were mountains.
“It feels like I’ve been possessed by a ghost or something.”
…It’s fine. I never had particularly strong feelings toward my father. And… it’s not like I especially wanted to meet him. I didn’t know what the ‘Time Slip Machine’ actually was, but being directly involved with someone who had known the ‘me’ of the past felt a little unsettling.
And so I simply went back inside the inn.
“Giselle?”
At that moment, Duke Kalinos, having changed into some clothes he found in the inn’s wardrobe, looked at me.
“Ah, yes.” I looked back at him, trying hard to hide my flustered expression.
He stared at me curiously then asked, “Did something happen?”
“…No, it’s nothing.”
Right then, the innkeeper suddenly butted in on us and chirped brightly, “Ah! You went out after that gentleman, didn’t you?”
What kind of tactless innkeeper is this? I instantly felt a piercing gaze from beside me. Shut up.
Even though I was practically radiating murderous intent with my whole body, the oblivious innkeeper just smiled brightly. “Haha, that gentleman really is incredibly handsome. He comes every day. Haha, perhaps because he’s so handsome, many ladies come all the way to this mountain inn just to see him.”
Handsome or not, I barely heard any of it. If he came every day, could I see him tomorrow too? That was all I could think about. Without realizing it, I eased up on the murderous intent I was emitting and asked, “Then will he come tomorrow too? But why does he come here?”
“Yes. As you know, this inn is right at the entrance to Mount Selimak, so there are lots of monster-hunting parties, aren’t there?”
“Aah…”
“But I’m pretty sure he has a fiancée. My, how dearly he cherished her. Ahaha… Just like the hu-husband standing beside you.”
Only then did Duke Kalinos reappear in my vision. His expression seemed perfectly indifferent, but…
“Giselle.”
…I could tell that when he wore that expression, he was actually very angry.
“Yes?”
Only after asking back did I realize. So from his perspective, I’m basically the woman who ditched her husband to chase after some random handsome guy. Now I understood why his expression had looked so bad. And what I was seeing now was the face of a jealous man.
Though I had tensed up instinctively, it only lasted a moment. I noticed the tips of his ears had turned bright red. What the? That’s kind of cute. His jealousy seemed rather adorable. Which made me not want to clear up the misunderstanding right away.
My personality really is weird. But what could I do when he’s this cute?
Grinning at Duke Kalinos, I said, “I’ll tell you after a glass of beer.”
* * *
It was a little while later.
So that man really was my father…
Just a few minutes ago, I had been certain I was fine without ever seeing my father again. I thought I had no feelings about it. Then why? Why did the face I had just seen keep lingering in my mind?
Letting out a long sigh, I turned to Duke Kalinos. “Did you know?”
“What do you mean?”
“The man I followed. He’s my father.”
“Yes. I knew.”
“Why aren’t you surprised? Huh?”
“I was surprised.”
“Then why do you look completely unsurprised?”
Exaggerating a little, I was honestly more amazed by Duke Kalinos’s lack of reaction to my father’s appearance than by the fact that I had met my father.
As I spoke excitedly, he replied calmly and rationally. “Of course, I never thought you would chase after a man other than me. In that case, it was obvious. I assumed the person you saw was someone you knew from the past.”
“…”
“And while listening to the innkeeper, Giselle, you had the expression of someone looking at a face they missed. Besides, this was 20 years ago… Naturally, your family is still alive.”
Amazingly logical. I had no counterargument.
Looking away, I asked. “But then why was your expression like that…?”
He rubbed his earlobe and averted his gaze. “…I did misunderstand for a moment.”
“Oh.”
“Though I knew the truth rationally, my instinct took precedence. It was a fascinating experience. Fascinating enough that I wanted to analyze it later.”
“…”
Ah, seriously. That really sounds like someone completely obsessed with research…
With a deflated expression, I glared at the magical artifact and muttered, “Anyway, back to the main issue. Are we really supposed to stay trapped here for a whole week? And what exactly does this ‘Time Slip Machine’ want?”
“I don’t know either. But I believe I can deduce one thing. I have read the manual before.” Naturally sitting down beside me on the sofa, he took out the half-burned manual from inside the clothes. “I have heard the story of Julius, the creator of ‘Time Slip Machine’. There is such a thing as the laws of the world. The ‘Time Slip Machine’ responds to one’s deepest wishes… The moment the machine is activated, within 24 hours, one will meet the person pointed to by the unconscious desire.”
Listening to him, I sank into thought. Then what exactly is my deepest wish? Why did I have to spend an entire week 20 years in the past?
“…Could it be that I had a wish to see my family? Is that why I met my father?”
But I had never wanted to see my father that badly. I’d been content with things as they were, even now.
Just as I was trying to deny reality, Duke Kalinos asked softly, “Do you truly not wish to see your family?”
“…”
“There was a time when I searched tirelessly for this ‘Time Slip Machine’ to see my brother again. But I never found it.”
“…Yes.”
“Yet instead of coming to me, who chased it so desperately, the ‘Time Slip Machine’ ended up in your hands. Don’t you think there’s a reason for that, Giselle?”
“A reason…”
“Perhaps both you and Father-in-law missed each other…”
After hesitating for a moment, I finally spoke. “Then, since they said he will come tomorrow…”
“Yes.”
“Should I try meeting him tomorrow…?”
At my words, he let out a low chuckle. “Let’s do that.”
“Then I guess we should just go to sleep for today.” After saying it casually, I moved to lie down on the bed when the thought suddenly occurred to me. Come to think of it, this bed was much narrower than at the Kalinos Mansion.
When he lay down beside me, our bodies were almost pressed together. In the darkened room, his breathing sounded strangely loud. Biting down hard on my lip, I asked him, “It’s been a while since we’ve had a break, ri-right?”
“Yes. It has.”
“Ah! Let’s just eat, sleep, and rest inside this inn all day.”
“…Eat, sleep, and sleep…”
Hearing his voice trail off, I felt a flicker of panic. Only then did I sneak a glance to the side… Even in the pitch‑black darkness, I could see the flush spreading across his cheeks.
W-What the. Why are his ears turning red at times like this? That’s incredibly suspicious…!
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