Sophia shook her head with an indifferent expression, even though she felt goosebumps.
“This is not my property, and I have no authority to kick out anyone.”
“Why not? If it were me, I could do it whenever I want.”
Joshua said that and got up from his seat. He already knew from Sophia’s words that it wasn’t okay for him to stay here.
“I’m glad you seem okay. But don’t wander around in the middle of the night.”
“I’ll take care of it myself.”
“…I got too involved. I’m sorry.”
She looked away, caressing her bangs for no reason. Joshua was also watching her closely, just like Benjamin. The gift, the collapse, and Benjamin, who was taking care of me. Was the world going differently than before?
She came out to the garden for no reason. The fact that Edmond had come to the castle meant that Benjamin and Joshua were staying overnight at Rosent Castle.
“The flowers here don’t wither.”
“Because they’re like that.”
“Yeah. That’s why it’s a place that doesn’t change.”
It was nice because it was the same, the same as her childhood memories. If she just stayed here, she felt like she was back in that peaceful and happy time.
The wind blew and carried a faint scent of alcohol. Did you drink alcohol? Now that she thought about it, he looked a little drunk.
People always change. Whether it’s their appearance or their personality.”
Yes. Just like she changed.
“I wish it had stayed the same.”
The garden reflected in his eyes as he muttered was filled with morning sunlight, and Benny and Chase smiled at each other while holding parasols, while Sophia looked at the flowers next to them.
Joshua and Benjamin were arguing over who would tell each other the names of the flowers next to Sophia, which was a truly harmonious scene.
Unfortunately, Sophia didn’t see it.
The memories that had already faded were torn and disappeared, barely remaining.
“That’s right.”
But she could sympathize. If everything had been the same, she wouldn’t have ended up like this.
“Sophia.”
“Yes.”
“I’m sorry.”
Again, another apology was heard.
“What on earth?”
“Just, everything. It won’t change now, but I always wanted to tell you.”
“…”
“I’m sorry for changing.”
Sophia listened quietly to those words and then opened her mouth.
“It doesn’t matter.”
“…”
“I don’t care anymore.”
She had already given up everything. When she said that, Joshua’s eyes shook cruelly.
Was it guilt, or was she simply embarrassed that his apology wasn’t accepted?
It didn’t matter either way.
Sophia turned around without hesitation and left the garden.
* * *
Once a month. The day when the Seviche Dukes’ family members would come to see Benjamin and Joshua was set.
Originally, they could come at any time, but after Chase almost killed Sophia, Bled had set a different date.
Today was that day. Since the family members were staying at the castle for a week, Sophia was unable to go out to the garden for a few days.
Even though the Forn Castle and the Rocent Castle were a little far apart, there was a chance that they would meet by chance.
Even so, it was not much different from how she had lived so far, so Sophia called Serita over to kill time and hear the story of when she collapsed in detail.
“Oh, do you want to try it?”
“Oh…”
Serita took Sophia’s temperature and checked if her throat was swollen, and examined her condition quite diligently.
“You said you haven’t had any discomfort since that day?”
“Yeah.”
“Are you sleeping well?”
Sophia nodded confidently.
On the day she collapsed, she had lost sleep for no reason, but after meeting Joshua, she slept soundly because she didn’t want to repeat the same thing.
“You don’t have any strange dreams?”
“No.”
Strangely enough, Sophia had never had a dream. She could have just had one and forgotten it, but as far as I can remember, she never had anything like a dream.
The only thing that felt like a dream was her past life.
“Are you still taking Roform? Isn’t it hard to take pills or something?”
“It’s okay.”
“That’s fortunate. Even though he was 15, Master Benjamin hadn’t taken a single pill. Master Joshua teased him about that so much…”
Serita smiled at the memory that only she knew, but slowly stopped smiling at Sophia’s indifferent expression.
After that, when the examination was almost over without saying anything, Sophia asked.
“Are you really okay?”
“Yes. There’s nothing wrong with your body. You don’t have to worry.”
Serita never lied about such things, so it was the truth.
‘Lorey didn’t lie.’
Was it really okay to not worry?
She kept her mouth shut and thought about it for a few times before quickly discarding the distracting thoughts. She was going to die anyway. There was no need to worry.
As soon as she made eye contact with the lord, she lightly expressed surprise at the fact that something like that had happened.
“Then I’ll go now. If you feel any discomfort or pain anywhere after that, please let me know.”
“I will.”
After finishing her business, she got up from her seat and turned her gaze, accidentally seeing Sophia’s book on the side table.
“Oh, that book!”
Serita quickly apologized and stared at the book again, as she flinched at the sudden raised voice.
“Do you know about this book?”
“Yes. I really like this author!”
Listening to the voice above, she reached out and picked up the book.
The World Where the Stars Fall. Author, Eura.
It was a story centered around travel. Based on the actual region, it was a book where the speaker enjoyed many things, such as food and entertainment, and it was like a teacher of the outside world for Sophia.
“What a coincidence. I like this author too.”
He was famous for writing books about travel, so she read many other books besides this one. The stories were more vivid than others, and the writing was so good that it made her feel like she was actually there, so she couldn’t help but like it.
“Really? Have you read the book ‘Wait There’?”
“Is that all? I also read ‘The Place Where the Sunset Sky is Beautiful’.”
“That’s also a really great piece of work…!”
Serita let out a short exclamation and sat back down on her chair.
“What about the book ‘The Lark Stays’?”
“I still have that book.”
“I have it. Do you want to read it? I’ll bring it over tomorrow. I’m sure you’ll like it.”
There was nothing easier than sharing what you liked when you became close. Serita wanted to talk to Sophia and relieve her loneliness a little, so she didn’t miss this opportunity.
She smiled brightly and looked at Serita, who she liked, from afar.
She was always right, upright, and kind.
“I’ll look forward to it.”
Seeing her choose to save herself even when facing death, she thought she wanted to become close to her later if the opportunity arose.
That’s why Sophia happily accepted her.
* * *
Several days passed, but her body didn’t feel any abnormalities. It was as if the collapse that day was an illusion.
Maybe it was because she had been sleeping comfortably lately. It seemed that her body had failed to overcome the fatigue and she had actually lost consciousness.
The different eye color was a problem, but because of the distance, it seemed like she had seen things wrong. Even the sky looked yellow at that time.
By the way… Serita’s penetrative power is amazing.
“This, this… I think this will go well with you too!”
Serita, who had come to see me to return the book she had lent me, had already forgotten her duty and was diligently choosing clothes.
One dress with a light yellow ribbon tied around the waist, one dress with rich lace in deep purple, and one dress with layers of thin fabric that gradually became a deep blue.
These were the candidates Serita had narrowed down.
“I think purple suits you well, Miss. What do you think?”
“…Anything would be fine?”
“And it would look pretty if you put this brooch on it.”
Serita naturally ignored Sophia’s words and lightly put the dress on Sophia’s body, along with the amethyst brooch near the nape of her neck.
“Yeah, it suits you well.”
“You look happy.”
“Of course. I wanted to try something like this.”
Choosing clothes, talking about what was good and what was not.
After graduating from the academy, she wandered around as a freelancer, but after coming to this castle, she had not been able to do such things, so she had missed the feeling so much.
Even if she wanted to deal with Benjamin or Joshua, they were no fun.
Sophia, who had changed into the clothes Serita had chosen while feeling very excited, raised her head slightly to make it easier for Lorey to put on the brooch.
“As expected, you look good on her.”
Serita smiled brightly at Sophia, who was dressed just as she had chosen.
The hem of her skirt matched her lavender hair, and the color of her brooch and eyes matched, making her look very beautiful.
She had heard many compliments from familiar servants, saying that she looked good on them, but it felt a little awkward to hear such words from anyone else, so Sophia grabbed the doorknob without saying anything.
“I, I’ll go. To the study.”
“Wait a minute. You should come with me, Miss!”
Lorey followed Sophia, who had run away from the room in embarrassment, belatedly, looking embarrassed.
Serita, who was left alone in the room, burst into laughter as she thought about Sophia’s earlobes that had turned bright red right before she left the room.
—————————————————————
Translator Note:
Hello there! This is RJR. I hope you liked it <3
If you like my work please support me with Ko-fi or Patreon. Next post will be released on August, 24.
Want to read more?
