I’m Just a Counselor – Chapter 111

Author: Dakku-san

Estella couldn’t let people who didn’t know anything about Oppenheim disparage him like that. She had to defend Oppenheim’s name on his brother’s behalf.

“Continue preparing the banquet. So that you can take over perfectly when he returns.”

“Miss…”

“If you need any papers, bring them here… No, bring them to my brother’s room. I’ll take care of it.”

“How… I see, miss.”

The butler, who had been giving her an uneasy glance, backed away. Estella clenched her fists.

‘Studying was something I was quite confident in. I’ll learn what I need to know so I can prepare for the banquet. I already know much of what I need to know, so I should be able to do it.’

“I’ll just have to look at the books in my brother’s office. Vanessa said that Jeremiah must have studied them too.”

As Estella was about to move into Jeremiah’s office, she turned to Shane, who was standing in the distance.

“Mr. Shane, I need you to lead the rescue team for me.”

“If it’s an order, I’ll take it.”

“It’s not an order, it’s a favor. You’re Vanessa’s friend, and you’re also… brother’s friend.”

Shane blinked. Vanessa and he were friends, yes. But were he and Jeremiah friends?

‘…Were we friends?’

Shane pursed his lips, then shut them. He couldn’t bring himself to say no. Especially looking into those hazel eyes that looked so much like Jeremiah’s.

‘…You’re friends. Not just a master-servant relationship, but friends. Jeremiah was my friend, too, even if he was different from Vanessa.’

Shane laughed at the new realization. With that definition, he felt a little lighter.

‘That’s why it was important. Jeremiah was just as important as Vanessa.’

“And you’re my friend, too.”

“Oh, me and the princess are friends too?”

“We’ve built snowmen and had snowball fights together, so yes.”

Shane thought Estella was simply giving orders because the Winter Crown was beholden to Oppenheim.

‘But if it wasn’t that, if it was a favor a friend was doing for a friend…’

“Very well, my lady. I’ll have to be a little more zealous.”

Estella glanced at Shane, who replied cheerfully, and before leaving the room, she asked him one last time.

“By the way, Mr. Shane, you seem pretty calm. I hope you’re not worried about my sister and brother.”

“Well, it’s just…”

Shane looked off in the direction of Mount Alliot, then sighed and smiled.

“I can’t think of anything wrong with those two. My instincts are pretty good.”

“…”

“So I’ll just do what I can here for now, and after that, um, I’ll, uh, compliment them?”

“I think you should.”

‘Is it because he’s a wizard? There was a strange power in Shane’s words.’

“Okay. Let’s do what we can for now.”

Estella’s eyes shone with determination.

* * *

Poof, poof, poof.

I coughed violently as I struggled to my feet on shaky arms. Tears poured hoodedly from every part of my body.

As I strained my eyes to clear my blurry vision, the landscape around me finally came into focus. Everything was white.

“What the hell is going on?”

My stomach lurched, but thankfully I didn’t seem to be hurt.

I sat up on my knees and forced myself to think, trying to recall what had happened before I blacked out.

‘So the beast showed up and…’

Jeremiah drew his sword to fight it. A pure white foreshadowing of snow-like light flickered over his sword, and at that moment, a sudden snowstorm swept over us.

“Ah!” I exclaimed, suddenly remembering the whole thing.

‘If that snowstorm was the aftermath of an avalanche, I was lucky to be alive. I’d heard that if you get caught in an avalanche, you’re not only likely to break something, but you could lose your life.’

“No, it was hypothermia, wasn’t it?”

But I was strangely warm despite being buried in the snow for so long.

Tilting my head in wonder, I soon realized why.

“It’s this cloak!”

Jeremiah had wrapped me in it. I’d thought it was just a warm cloak, but it wasn’t; it was something special, given that it was keeping me warm in this situation.

“And Jeremiah?”

Jeremiah would have no way to keep warm if he gave her this cloak.

I looked around in a panic. The snow was pure white, and there was no sign of Jeremiah. My heart began to pound rapidly.

I clutched the collar of my cloak tightly and squeezed out a voice.

“Duke!”

There was no answer, of course.

“Jeremiah… Jeremiah!”

He must have been swept out in the snowstorm and landed far away.

‘What if he still hasn’t woken up? Even now, Jeremiah’s body temperature is probably plummeting. Even though he’s a northerner who doesn’t get cold easily…’

On top of that, Jeremiah was confronting the beast before he was caught in the snowstorm, in case it attacked him.

With my tail between my legs and the ensuing anxiety, I decided to find him as soon as possible.

‘What if… Jeremiah wasn’t going to die, was he? If Jeremiah dies, it will be my fault.’

My mind raced with these thoughts.

‘If Jeremiah dies of hypothermia, it’s because he wrapped me in this cloak, and if he dies of a demon attack, he died trying to protect me. Either way, it’s my fault.’

I fumbled with my trembling fingertips and suddenly realized something was around my neck.

“Oh, there it is!”

The flute Jeremiah had given me the other day.

‘Blow it if you ever need it, and I’ll know right away where you are.’

His words rang in my ears as he handed me the flute.

I quickly took the flute into my mouth and blew into it with all my might, but unfortunately, there was no sound. I could only hear the hollow sound of the wind.

“Why, why doesn’t it play?”

No matter how many times I blew on the flute, there was no soud.

I dropped the flute in frustration. Now I had no choice but to run around.

“It’s okay, Vanessa.”

‘Jeremiah will be okay,’ I told myself, and I pushed myself to my feet.

My feet sank into the snow with each step. Thank goodness I was wearing thick, furry boots.

‘If Jeremiah hadn’t told me not to take the winter mountains lightly, my knees would have buckled in no time, even with my cloak.’

I let out a bitter laugh.

‘After living in the North for three years, I can’t believe I thought it was so easy…’

It was then.

“Eh…?”

Something jumped out in front of me as I struggled to walk. It was a rabbit with fur as white as snow.

I stood still and stared at it, and it stared back at me with its red eyes.

“You’re not running away?”

I was scratching my head, wondering if hares usually run away when they see people.

The hare hopped and hopped and hopped, coming closer and closer to me, its mouth gaping open. I could see a mouth full of unusually sharp teeth.

“Gah!”

I screamed in horror as the rabbit lunged at me, poised to bite me.

I stumbled backward, landed on my butt in the snow, squinted at the rabbit’s teeth, and swung my hand. And then.

Digging!

“Kiiiiiii!”

The rabbit, struck by the spark from my body, let out an uncharacteristic squeal and bounced backward.

I opened my tightly closed eyes and stared at the sprawled rabbit in bewilderment.

‘Did I have some power I didn’t know about…? Of course not.’

Somewhere in my chest felt hot. I quickly discovered the reason.

Another of the magic tools I’d packed, the one Shane had given me for self-defense, was burning hot. It must have been powerful, because it had knocked the rabbit out of the way.

‘Life is full of twists and turns.’

I sighed, praising myself for bringing a self-defense weapon.

‘I hadn’t expected anything to happen, but I hadn’t expected anything like this…’

But it was no time for complacency. The self-defense weapon was not meant to kill, so its strength was naturally low, and the rabbit quickly woke up with a start.

It staggered to its feet and glared at me in exasperation.

“Krrrrr…”

The rabbit growled in an uncharacteristically rabbit-like sound and opened its mouth again. Its teeth looked even sharper than before.

‘Angry, angry,’ I thought, breaking out in a cold sweat.

“Will this thing protect me again?”

‘It was good for warding off unwanted guests, but not against demons…’

I squeezed the hilt, hoping Shane would help me. The hilt was still burning hot.

‘Ominous… Well, I don’t think it’s a good sign to get a fever…’

“Kyaaak!”

“Hmph!”

I screamed as the rabbit lunged for me, but I was unable to catch it.

Poof!