Chapter 55: The Princess has no friends (2)
The corridor of the castle was quiet, devoid of any signs of activity or people.
Since my arrival, the castle had maintained a quiet atmosphere, but the current stillness couldn’t be attributed to Orcus and Noel’s visit.
Even though the castle was quiet, encountering servants in the corridors was a separate matter. I was aware that my actions might have influenced this current stillness, but I wasn’t sure how they perceived it as I held his hand and walked toward my room.
I had a similar experience at Winter Castle.
Unfortunately, my intention wasn’t to create a romantic moment as they might have thought. However, the fact that nobody paid attention to us allowed me to lean against the door and rest comfortably.
Strangely, there was no strength in my legs. Perhaps it was because I had rushed here to arrive quickly.
No, it wasn’t that I was out of breath or anything like that. No matter how much time passed, the pain, which I should have felt if I overdid it, did not come, and rather, the feeling of exhaustion that started in my legs began to spread throughout entire my body.
As if I was expelling my soul, I took deep breaths in and out. After repeating this several times, my body, which had felt like it was about to collapse, regained some strength, albeit weakly. My mind was trying to find the cause of this current state and why it was happening, and the closer I got to an answer, the faster my recovery seemed to progress.
Not bad, I thought. The previous sense of exhaustion and the current feeling of fullness were both satisfying.
When I looked up and gazed ahead, my face faintly reflected on the castle’s window.
In the windowpane, a pure white girl was softly smiling, looking directly into my eyes. Seeing my face reflected in the window, I closed my eyes for a moment and covered my face with my hands.
Suddenly, I remembered what he had asked me before coming here.
‘Were you jealous?’
'Yes...' I replied.
Now that I think about it, I wondered if he was aiming for that and asking me on purpose. Of course, unlike him then, I spoke my mind honestly.
In fact, his question probably did not necessarily require a truthful answer.
Just because he asked me that question meant he already knew the answer.
It was clear that the emotion I felt back then wasn’t just simple jealousy. So, strictly speaking, my answer to him, as well as his question, was incomplete.
Even before I met Noel, I thought I had sorted out everything in the past, but as soon as I saw her face, I was caught up in the past again.
On the outside, I wasn’t telling the truth by saying at it was just curiosity, but deep inside I knew that the worry that the past would not repeat itself because of this sparring did not disappear deep in my heart.
The anxiety that had been overshadowed by my concern for him up until now suddenly rushed in. Though I knew Noel holding his hand was merely a therapeutic act, nothing more, my heart refused to understand it.
Jealousy...
That word might also be appropriate, but the emotion I felt went beyond that—despair, perhaps.
‘Why don’t you confess your feelings? You know everything already.’
The present Noel, holding his hand, seemed to say those words directly to me.
The sharp words she once told me, which were like a piercing dagger, echoed in my mind. Unlike before, this time I clearly conveyed my feelings. I didn’t repeat the same mistake as before. Yet, the ringing in my head persisted.
Everything I had experienced since the regression felt meaningless. Looking back now, I could say I definitely overreacted to the simple act of holding hands. But as someone whose rationality was paralyzed, I couldn’t think rationally.
I couldn’t straightforwardly tell him about these feelings. To him, who had no memories of our previous life before the regression, these emotions were incomprehensible. Moreover, because he held my hand, the significance of him holding her hand had vanished, so there was no need to reveal it.
When I felt his touch, the ringing in my head finally disappeared. It felt like I had finally managed to escape from the past.
After the regression, almost everything had changed. The most reassuring thing for me was him holding my hand in front of Noel. It made me feel a bit bitter, and I reflected on how narrow-minded I was.
Well, it was okay to be a bit narrow-minded. I felt so good right now.
As I silently laughed, I heard a sound from behind the door, and I moved my feet. I heard the sound of shoes slowly approaching this place. I turned my body to prepare to meet him, and when the sound stopped, the door opened, revealing him neatly dressed.
He looked at the slightly wrinkled hem of my dress with a worried expression and asked.
“Did you wait long?”
“Not really.”
I smiled and answered his words.
***
After changing clothes in the room, I spent some time sitting with Elena.
I had promised to greet Noel again, but considering the size of the lord’s castle, it would be inefficient to roam around looking for her.
No matter how much she was of the royal family, there was no need for me, as Kraus’ small household owner, to follow her around like a puppy.
I struck the silver bell, which I hadn’t seen in a long time, called the attendant, and asked him to bring refreshments and drinks.
Now my father would know where I was, so Elena and I would have to wait patiently in the room until Father called.
It was not that I didn’t have a desire to take a break for a while, but... Actually, this was my true intention. Just returning home and encountering the bomb called the royal family, my mental energy was depleted.
Even if Noel had a good relationship with Elena, Orcus, that man, was someone who could become a fateful connection for Elena. Although the moment he fell for Elena would happen later due to some event, he was still one of the three male candidates for me.
While it was true that Orcus was not the scum who would touch someone with a fiancée, still, anything was possible.
However, even if I put that aside and think about it, the imperial family visit was a matter that required some consideration.
Noel, that girl, was not the type to come here saying, “I came to challenge you because I heard the Knights of the Kraus’ family are very skilled!” Even so, something must be the reason behind their movement.
Father, the head of the household, surely knew more about it than anyone else, so I didn’t worry too much about it. Still, I couldn’t shake off the feeling of unease, so I decided to think about the reason.
If it were a genuinely serious problem, he would have offered help or something. Since that was not the case, it might be a more straightforward issue. Still, knowing something was better than knowing nothing, right?
It wouldn’t be bad to take some time and think about it.
“Young Master, I’ve brought refreshments and tea.”
“Come in.”
Luckily, refreshments were prepared just in time, so everything was fine.
The attendant arranged tea sets and refreshments on the table, bowed his head once, and left the room without a word. I was curious if Father had left any message, but apparently, there was none.
I poured tea into the cups placed between Elena and me and uncovered the cover that the attendant had brought.
Familiar refreshments that seemed to have been made by the chef, whom I hadn’t seen in a while, came into view. As soon as I opened the cover, Elena picked up a macaron and took a bite.
“Mmm~”
Cream oozed out as she bit into the macaron, and it smudged the corner of Elena’s mouth. But she didn’t mind and continued to stuff the macaron into her mouth.
This was also a sight that could only be seen in Sarham. The macaron made in the winter castle kitchen was not to her liking, so she did not enjoy eating it like this.
A week, maybe?
It hasn’t been a long time, but it felt like it had been a while since I saw this sight.
I watched her absentmindedly eating macarons, and somehow, I forgot that I was looking at her. I only noticed when all the macarons disappeared from the plate, and her hand stopped moving.
Now, the only trace of the macaron here was the cream smeared on Elena’s mouth.
Elena looked at me with eyes that seemed to be longing for something. I could see it clearly as if I was looking through the transparent glass, and she smiled brightly, looking quite charming.
Her gaze was quite explicit.
Where did the person who blushed when I fed her macarons go?
However, I had no intention of simply doing what she wanted.
Among the refreshments on the plate, I picked up a bar-shaped snack about the size of my palm.
As I held the snack in front of her, Elena glanced at me for a moment, as if hesitating, then finally started biting into the snack. Unlike before, she didn’t deliberately keep a poker face. She naturally smiled while eating the snack, just like she did with the macaron earlier.
As time passed, the bar-shaped snack, which was about the size of a small pencil, became as small as it was. And the distance between my fingers holding the snack and her lips became closer.
Elena would also be aware that the current situation overlaps with the previous situation. However, she no longer had the shyness she had before. Instead of approaching timidly like before, she moved boldly with each mouthful.
I was aware of that as well.
Slowly...
As she chewed the snack, she came closer. If she moved once more, her lips would touch my finger holding the snack. Elena promptly bit the snack. However, my hand was slightly quicker than her mouth.
Just before Elena’s lips touched my finger, I broke the snack.
Her eyes widened unexpectedly. But my hand didn’t stop there. I took the remaining piece of the snack near her lips and then scooped up a little cream remaining there and put it in my mouth.
“Huh?”
Only then did Elena’s expression begin to crumble. Indeed, her face blushing like that suited her better.
“It’s sweet.”
I quietly commented while chewing the snack.
Although the cream in the macaron was too sweet, the softness of the bar-shaped snack somewhat neutralized it. Nevertheless, it was still sweet.
As the snack passed my throat, I brought the teacup to my mouth to overcome that stickiness.
And in that moment, an unexpected voice came from somewhere.
“Yes, it is sweet.”
“Sp-”
I stopped as I heard the voice coming from the side. Fortunately, it was just as I was about to drink the tea. I almost spilled all the tea outside.
I wiped my wet lips with a handkerchief and turned my head. Of course, the voice belonged to my old family member and butler. It was Ken.
When did he come in?
As I was about to ask him that question, he looked at us again with a benevolent smile and said.
“It is sweet.”
I kept my mouth shut.
