“Evien!”
Once outside the underground chamber, Basileon grew anxious.
“Eve!”
There was no answer when he called her name. If he’d made a mistake, the proper thing was to apologize quickly—and to do that he first had to find her.
‘If there’s anywhere Eve might have gone…’
A place she might go. He wracked his brain, but Basileon’s mind was completely blank.
Thud—!
All he did was pound a nearby rock with his fist.
“Damn it.”
He paced in circles, stared up at the sky, and even cursed aloud, but nothing came to mind.
‘This is the worst.’
His feelings for Evien had been steadily growing, and before he knew it, they had swelled to the point of bursting. If it did burst, Basileon had no idea what he might become. Why hadn’t he tried harder to get to know her while things were still like this? He’d thought he knew Evien better than anyone else, but in truth, he knew nothing at all.
“….”
Basileon crouched down on the dirt path in the Dark Forest. Then he picked up a fallen twig nearby.
Ssshk—.
He began to write on the ground.
Evien Montrose. Eldest daughter of the Count Montrose’s family.
Likes: pulling pranks. Adolf. Dancing. Me….
It was then—
“…What are you doing?”
A familiar voice tickled his ear.
“Ah.”
Basileon, who had been staring at the ground, jumped in surprise and looked up. Evien had appeared—he had no idea when—and she wore a slightly pouty expression. Knowing that falling over in shock would make him look ridiculous, Basileon brushed the dirt off and stood up calmly.
“I’ve been looking for you.”
After that, Basileon covered the writing with his foot so Evien wouldn’t see it. But sharp-eyed Evien didn’t miss it. She read the letters peeking out from under his foot.
“Evien. Likes: pulling pranks. Adolf. Dancing. Me…?”
“This is… I mean, you know…”
“Of all of these, what does ‘me’ mean?”
“…Me.”
Basileon pointed to himself with his hand. Evien’s eyes widened.
“What are you talking about!”
Her expression clearly showed she didn’t agree at all, but she couldn’t hide the flush spreading across her cheeks.
“That reaction… means you don’t like me.”
Basileon said this, a little sullenly.
“Th‑that doesn’t mean I dislike you!”
“Then… does it mean you like me?”
“Do you think everything in the world works in such a simple binary way?”
“Fine, then tell me, Eve. What do you really think of me?”
“What?”
Evien couldn’t meet Basileon’s gaze at all, afraid her fluttering heart would give her away. What if, by some chance, she ended up sharing feelings with him? That was something she absolutely wanted to avoid.
“I’m sorry. Everything I’ve done until now… I regret it. It’s all our fault.”
“Do you expect me to believe that? Damn it.”
The ugliness of humans—something she had experienced countless times. She didn’t want to be hurt by humans anymore, and falling in love with a character from a game was even more absurd. Evien let out a small sigh and gave an answer she didn’t truly mean.
“I like you… as a companion.”
“…Yeah. As expected, I figured it would be something like that.”
A faint trace of bitterness appeared on Basileon’s face. But he quickly composed himself and stepped closer to Evien.
“Anyway, since you don’t dislike me, you should be careful from now on.”
“What are you talking about?”
Basileon’s breath brushed against Evien’s cheek, reaching near her ear.
“Soon enough, you’ll start seeing me as more than just a companion.”
“….!”
Caught completely off guard, Evien couldn’t defend herself at all. Instead, she was too busy worrying that her fleeting emotions might have been revealed in that instant.
“I still have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“Then again, saying that doesn’t explain why I can hear your heartbeat so clearly.”
The moment Basileon finished speaking, Evien became acutely aware of her heart pounding in her chest. She couldn’t think of a single excuse.
“Why has your tone changed?”
Seizing the opportunity, Basileon asked sharply.
“Just… trying to sound a little more grown-up now.”
“Since you became an evil spirit, your tone has never changed once.”
“That moment of change is probably now. After all, you may be an adult in age and appearance, but you can’t stay mentally a child forever, right?”
“…I suppose so.”
Basileon felt a twinge of regret, but accepted it.
“Yeah. No matter how your tone changes, you’ll always be Evien.”
Evien’s heart began racing again. Being from another world, the fact that someone liked her as Evien made her feel both thrilled and sad. Those emotions mixed together, leaving her heart and mind in complete chaos.
“Are you feeling unwell?”
“No, it’s nothing serious. I’ve just been dealing with a lot of things these past few days.”
“If your body feels off, tell me immediately. No, send a signal like earlier. I’ll come running.”
“Okay.”
Basileon’s worried gaze wouldn’t leave Evien.
“I’m going to rest.”
Evien avoided his gaze as much as she could. Carrying her restless feelings, she returned to the airship.
* * *
“Our lord saved us.”
“No, it’s thanks to Lady Evien—she was the one who knocked the mirror down first, so no one got hurt!”
“Shh. There’s Lady Evien.”
Inside the airship’s lounge, the ghosts had gathered, whispering about the recent incident. It seemed the main topic of discussion was ‘who had saved them’.
‘Maybe it’s time for a direct approach.’
I quietly stepped closer and subtly joined the conversation the ghosts were having.
“The important thing is, if it weren’t for me, Basileon wouldn’t have come.”
“L-Lady Evien… I’m sorry. We weren’t gossiping, we just—”
The ghosts quickly apologized to me.
“Ah, it’s fine. I know already. There’s no need to apologize. That aside, I actually have a favor to ask.”
“Please tell us!”
“If you see anything suspicious, could you let me know? Anything at all is fine.”
“…..”
The ghosts just stared blankly at one another instead of answering.
“Yeah. I know you still don’t trust me. If you have any doubts, then keep an eye on me.”
“…Keep an eye on you?”
“Because I have no intention of doing anything bad from now on.”
The ghosts looked somewhat taken aback, but I didn’t think much of it.
“Evien!”
I heard someone calling out to me from afar.
“Hmm?”
“Huff, huff… Evien. So this is where you were.”
Evan, who had come running all the way from a distance, panted for breath.
“Oh. Why did you run all the way here?”
“Because it’s been a while since I last saw you.”
“Oh my, oh my!”
The ghost maids standing nearby burst into giggles when they heard Evan’s words.
“Guys, it’s not like that’s some impressive line. He does this with people other than me too, you know?”
“Only with you, though?”
A few seconds of silence passed. The other ghosts must have heard it too.
‘Basileon as well—and everyone else too. Why are they all acting like this toward me?’
Because we were in the middle of the spacious reception room, it drew an uncomfortable amount of attention. This was troublesome.
“…Come with me.”
I led Evan to a secluded spot where no one else could hear us.
“Evien? Why are you taking me somewhere so scary like this….”
“It’s because you keep saying unnecessary things!”
“I was just being honest.”
‘Tsk.’
It didn’t seem like we were going to get anywhere. No matter how much I pressed him, Evan just kept looking at me with those sparkling eyes.
“Enough. What do you want?”
“It looks like Lilith has opened up a bit. The one who saved the ghosts and monsters this time—that was you, right?”
My face flushed. I had spoken to the ghosts as if it were all my doing, but in truth, I felt a bit of a sense of shame. It was Adolf who immobilized Ella, and it was Basileon who gave the orders to the ghosts.
“Well…”
“‘Well’? The ghosts have been talking about it everywhere, so I heard everything. They said if you hadn’t knocked the mirror down with the glass bottle at first, everyone would’ve been sucked inside.”
“Well, that’s true, I guess.”
“When the ghosts and monsters returned and Lilith heard about what you did, she was completely shocked.”
Evan grinned as if he were proud of me.
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