Chapter 39: Principles (3)

[ T/N: For the fastest release, read on ReadingPia.me ]

I couldn’t react to Judy’s words. It was too sudden.

Marriage...

Of course, I knew there was a way. As Grandma said, one of the fastest ways to form a strong alliance was through marriage.

To that extent, it was not uncommon for children of hostile families to marry as evidence of reconciliation.

If I were to marry Judy, the Ice family wouldn’t even think that it was an act to deceive them.

What kind of madman would get married to be a spy? If one looked for them, one might find such a crazy person, but first of all, it was not common.

Besides, even if one approached with an impure purpose, one couldn’t ignore the affection that grows through the spirit of marriage. When children were born in the future, there was no reason to betray the children and cause damage to the Ice family.

After all, the moment one got married, it assured the other party that one came in because one really wanted to belong to the family. It meant that there was some kind of guarantee.

“…..”

Maybe Judy took my silence strangely. After waiting for my reaction for a while, she eventually started making excuses on her own.

“…my… I didn’t say that, but my sister did. Do not misunderstand. That… you know, I’ve never seen you that way. I just thought of you as a good friend, never even thinking about marriage. Oh, uh… Of course, you’re my only friend, so maybe you’ll give it a meaning, but it’s not that...”

Perhaps she wanted to appear as if she was not embarrassed, she said in a low-pitched voice.

But she said it too quickly. As much as I was dumbfounded, she was shy too.

Perhaps she regretted speaking out, while she muttered, ‘I’m sorry..’, she bit her lips and tightly closed her eyes.

Of course, even if she didn’t make excuses, I wouldn't misunderstand her.

As Judy said, I had never seen Judy that way, so I was surprised to see the possibility, but I didn’t think that Judy had proposed that she wanted to marry me in the first place, or that she was lying to me right now.

“…At least, speak something. Because you are not replying, I'll think you have a strange misunderstanding now.”

But, it would not be fun to say that. 

A laugh came out of me seeing Judy, who was anxious and restless by herself.

Maybe it’s because I haven’t had much to laugh about lately, and my longing for fun was itching inside.

In the original Pryster Territory, I used to play a lot of pranks. Keirsey's playful nature after growing up was most likely because of me as well.

When I first met Judy, I joked around a lot. It was so much fun to play pranks on her, I remembered constantly teasing her. Sometimes with a respectful tone, and sometimes about her age…

So, I couldn’t miss this opportunity that came after a long time.

I said with a strangely twisted smile on my face.

“…it’s… Judy, you…”

Seeing my expression, she was startled.

“What?? Cayden, what are you talking about?”

“Sigh, it really feels bitter… I was just trying to be friends… I’m getting into trouble.”

Judy’s face turned red. She frowned with a red face, expressing embarrassment.

“Hey, it’s not! Why are you talking like this as if I want to marry you..!”

“And did you ask your father to make me a vassal for that? Is that why you agreed to send him that letter? I also don’t know…”

“Do you really want to die? I said no!”

“How far did you imagine? Didn’t you even name all the children?”

“Hey!”

In the end, Judy couldn’t stand it and screamed, and I burst out laughing.

Maybe my laughter could be heard by political science students and other people, but I couldn’t afford to care about that now. Judy was still unaware that this was a joke, and she kept making excuses with a crumpled expression on her face.

“…Yes...I felt bad for you, so I sent a letter home…! What a strange misunderstanding…! If this was the case, I just don’t want to see you!”

I still couldn’t control my laughter, so I grabbed Judy’s shoulder and smiled. Judy seemed to be getting more and more frustrated with seeing me like that. In fact, there was a part where I smiled harder because of her expression. The more I smiled, the more I could appreciate her funny expression.

Judy’s face went red without stopping. Even this look was new, so it was fun.

I think it was right to try harder to have fun like this when there were difficult times. After laughing out loud, the stress that had been hidden was released.

Before Judy exploded, I put an end to the prank.

I wiped the tears from my eyes and calmed my laughter.

“It’s a joke, it’s a joke. You should know too. It was just because your reaction was funny.”

Her bewildered face paused for a moment. Then she let out a long sigh.

“……Uh-huh.”

Like a person with a stuffy stomach, she beat my chest and snorted. She must have been very upset to see such a reaction.

While pounding on my chest, Judy glanced at me. I just smiled.

Now that she found out it was a joke, she would know why was I like this. Because I was joking, the awkwardness we had, when she first talked about it, went away.

Usually, in such a situation, friends start to become conscious of each other and move away from each other. If we hadn’t been joking, we still wouldn’t have moved away from each other… but wouldn't we have avoided each other for a day or two?

I threw it all away as a joke, but it turned out pretty well.

Judy knew that too, so she didn’t say anything more to me.

As the playful atmosphere passed a little, I stroked my chin again.

“Ha…but. Well. I’m sure your family will feel safe if I agree.”

“…”

Judy glared. I added.

“No, not that way. Realizing the relationship between our families again. I'm just saying that your family will be able to receive me with peace of mind.”

“…you’re weird that you don’t care. I’ve said it many times. We are called hostile families. Until my grandfather’s generation, there was a war.”

“Okay. Still, as I said, how good would it be if we get along well? Is that not the case now?”

“…..”

Judy looked ahead without reacting. She seemed to avoid friendly replies for fear of being teased again.

I stretched out and headed to the window in the hallway.

The weather was good.

Birds were chirping and I could see a rainbow in the sky. It was so peaceful that I couldn’t believe I had a fight with the twins this morning.

“…Right. Let’s talk about that later. Anyway, thanks, Judy.”

Judy came over and sat next to me. Suddenly, she put her arms on the window and sighed while looking outside as I did.

“Because I understand your heart.”

“…..”

I looked at Judy’s side profile; bluish-gray hair, a similar height to me, a sharp nose, and a balanced figure, she was a beauty comparable to Asena and Keirsey.

While I was looking at her shoulder where the crest of the Ice family, the paw of a bear, was sewn, she said:

“…As you said, the family members should be united.”

Now that I think about it again, I got to know Judy a lot. We were close enough to spit out such words naturally.

Why did I get so close to Judy in the first place? Was it because of family ties? Or was it for no reason? Or was it because I instinctively anticipated such a comfortable future? Would I have wanted a friend in a similar situation to me?

Suddenly, I wondered about Judy’s childhood.

“Did you have a hard time too?”

Judy looked up at me. Looking at her complicated expression, I added more words.

“From the family.”

“…..”

She looked at the distant clouds as if lost in thought for a moment, then nodded slowly.

“…it was hard.”

“…”

And then she closed her mouth.

I thought she would continue her story. As she helped me a lot, it was a sign of my sincerity that I, too, would lighten her burden.

However, Judy hid the story except that it was difficult. It seemed it was still too burdensome for her to tell me now. Maybe it’s because I was not the type to talk about things like this.

Even so, I’d love to hear it someday. Why was she trying to help me so much while empathizing with me? Was it because of what happened in her childhood?

She didn’t look like that, but she had a gentle heart.

“Judy.”

I called her.

She looked at me without any reaction.

“…by any chance, if you are having a hard time because of Asena, tell me.”

“It’s still hard.”

I chuckled at her reaction.

“So, from now on. If she does anything else, tell me.”

“What are you going to do?”

“……”

A thought flashed through my head in an instant. It was because as Asena gradually revealed her malicious nature, I began to worry.

“Oh, I’ll just ask you one thing.”

“Another thing?”

“I’m going to buy you something really delicious. And it's not for me, in fact.”

"..."

“…listen.”

I asked with sincerity complete opposite of the earlier playful look. Through Judy’s actions in the future, it may be possible to prevent major events from happening.

I had seen what kind of villain Asena had become in the novel. She was the type of person who thought of other people’s lives as a joke.

Of course, it was the novel. Here was the reality. I didn’t believe Asena could become that bad. No matter how strong she appeared recently, it was not much compared to her actions in the novel.

That being said, there was no reason not to be prepared.

I said:

“Please watch over Asena from now on.”

“…in what sense?”

Reading my intentions, she asked. I explained in a little more detail.

“I think you should be careful about her actions... Try to think whether they meant something.”

“……”

The atmosphere surrounding us became serious in an instant, like my tone.

“If she does something unusual or goes to a strange place… let me know.”

Judy stared at me for a moment. Then she blinked her eyes and turned her head. She seemed to be thinking about something.

“…Cayden. I understand…”

“……”

She raised her eyebrows and remained silent for a long time. 

She seemed to be feeling complicated. Just when I was wondering if she just ignored it or not, Judy opened her mouth again.

“…it seems like a light request…why am I so reluctant?”

“Yes?”

“…no…no matter how much I don’t like Asena…but I'm her temporary knight…is it correct to say that?”

I sighed in admiration and nodded my head. Thinking about it, it must be an act that went against her inner chivalry.

“…you must know as a knight...”

“Judy, I am not asking this as a knight. I’m asking you as a friend.”

“…still.”

When she hesitated to answer, I decided to give up. Yes, if I asked for something she didn’t want to do, that’s not the way to be friends.

“…okay. no Judy. I’m sorry. The thought was brief.”

“…is there anything you are worried about?”

Of course, there was. Even just preventing one thing done in the novel was a big deal. I couldn’t say this though.

“No. Forget it, Judy. Are you okay? It was just a thoughtless request.”

“……”

Judy didn’t even bother to ask even if she doubted my words. I felt so grateful to see her like that.

“…Judy. Thanks for thinking about it though. I promise you one thing. When you need me, I will help you with anything. If you need help, just tell me. Understand?”

“…Only your thoughts are enough.”

She declined my offer with a small smile.

But my purpose was to let her know my heart. If she really needed help, I had the heart to listen to it whenever possible.

If she knew this too, it might be reassuring.

As we wrapped up the story, we heard the sound of the political science classroom starting to become cluttered. It looked like class was over. 

Again, it was the start of escort training.

“I think it’s over.”

“…yes.”

“Be strong.”

“You too.”

We went back to our place and fixed our posture.

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