For Your Failed Unrequited Love

Rei’s voice echoed through the hall.

“What?”

Adrian stood in his seat with a stupefied look on his face.

It took him time to understand Rei’s words.

Adrian, who finally grasped the situation, hurriedly let go of Rei’s wrist.

“I’m sorry, I’ve made a mistake.”

Adrian apologized with a puzzled look on his face. Rei hid her wrist, held by Adrian, in her sleeve and spoke in a crawling voice.

“Yes, I mean…… I don’t want to wash up here.… I’m going home now!”

She uttered her final words and hurried out of the room. Adrian, staring blankly at the back, sighed and scratched his head as she disappeared.

A small figure, a face that looks like a young boy, and a voice that doesn’t even seem to have changed.

It was only then that he understood everything.

What a rude misunderstanding I had.

*** 

The next morning.

An insecure knock rang quietly in Adrian’s room. Adrian, who was waiting, got up from his seat and walked to the door.

When he opened the door, Rei, who had washed away last night’s stench, stood blushing. She was supposed to escort her on his schedule today.

She pretended as if nothing had happened and said, “Hello, Mr. Reinhart. Did you sleep well?”

Instead of answering, Adrian quickly stepped aside from the door and let her in.

“Sit down here.”

Adrian guided Rei to the sofa.

“First of all, I have to apologize. ……actually, I mistook Miss Rei for a man yesterday. Seeing Mr. Glenn’s casual attitude toward you, I didn’t think you would be a woman. I’m sorry.”

Rei waved her hand without even looking at Adrian in the eye.

“Oh, that’s alright. It’s normal to be misunderstood because of my short hair.”

Then she put her bag on the table and spoke in a laid-back manner as if she didn’t mind it. There was something there that made a heavy sound.

“I’ve been thinking about it for a while.”

Rei opened the bag, and all sorts of junk appeared in it. Various hats, thick-rimmed glasses, gloves, and various unknown medicines.

“Mr. Reinhart needs to cover his face and hair color first.”

She glanced at Adrian’s bright blond hair.

“……You’ll be less conspicuous by just covering your face and hair.”

Then she took a medicine bottle out of her bag.

“Ta-da! Disposable hair dye!”

She flicked the bottle out in front of Adrian’s face.

“Dyeing medicine?”

“Yeah! It’s plain black! If you dye your hair black with this, you will be less noticeable to people. Besides, it’s made in the Beros Empire, so you can easily remove it. It’s just a little expensive.”

Adrian stared at the medicine and nodded. Actually, he wasn’t very happy with it, but he felt a little sorry for Rei, so he decided to listen to her.

“Well, then.”

Rei offered a dye. Adrian didn’t take it and stared blankly.

“I’m sorry, but I don’t know how to use it.”

“Ah.”

Rei rose from her seat after a moment of panic.

“Then I’ll do it for you.”

She first wrapped a large towel around Adrian’s neck, and then wore gloves that appeared to be used to dye his hair.

She went behind Adrian with a bowl of hair dye and a brush.

Who knows where her confidence went while explaining about the hair dye? With a nervous expression on her face, Rei swallowed her saliva.

“Well, then… I’ll start.”

“Yes, please.”

After some time, he felt someone pat his head behind him.

“Wow…”

Rei, who was unconsciously amazed, coughed a lot.

Soon she began to paint Adrian’s hair with bristles.

Only a quiet time passed throughout when neither of the two spoke. Meanwhile, the atmosphere became more and more awkward as he heard Rei’s breathing and swallowing sounds in Adrian’s ears.

“Now, it’s done! You can wash your hair now.”

As if glad to hear that, Adrian got up straight from his seat and headed to the bathroom.

  *** 

“Miss Rei.”

Adrian called her while looking at his head in the mirror.

“Why is my hair green?”

“Oh, no. Why……!”

Rei immediately found the dye she used and checked the container. Then he ran to Adrian, with his eyes wide open enough to pop out.

“Mr. Reinheart! I’m so sorry, I mistook the color!”

She kept her head down with an apologetic face. However, Adrian was looking at his reflection in the mirror with interest.

“I’ll put it back the way it was! Here’s the medicine to turn it back!”

“No.”

Adrian said, taking his eyes off the mirror.

“I like it.”

“What? That?”

He looked like a very different person in the mirror.

The model student, Adrian.

It was very strange and new to see him look wild, so far from the nicknames he had heard all his life.

“I think there were clothes to change in the bag.”

“What? Oh, yes!”

Rei came straight to the bag and opened it. Adrian looked into the bag himself and picked up some clothes.

“Are you going to wear that?”

“Yes, can’t I?”

“There’s nothing you can’t do, but…….”

Rei looked anxiously at Adrian’s colorful shirt and leather jacket.

Adrian, who disappeared into the room with her clothes, reappeared in a completely different atmosphere. Rei, who was looking at the figure with her mouth open, shouted like this without realizing it with a red face.

“Wow, it looks so good on you!”

Then she quickly corrected her words with embarrassment.

“Oh, no! I didn’t mean that Mr. Reinhart looked like a gangster! I meant that you look good in any clothes!”

“Thank you.”

Adrian replied satisfactorily, too.

“But am I the only one who will wear clothes like this?”

At Adrian’s question, Rei tilted his head. Adrian said, picking up another fancy shirt from her bag.

“If I’m going to be like a gangster, we both have to be like a gangster.”

  *** 

Two people in loose clothes were walking on the quay. Those who appeared to be tourists from the opposite side found the two and sneaked away.

Everyone was scared as soon as they saw him and Rei because of their bad appearance.

“Thanks to Miss Rei, it’s good that people don’t come around. I don’t think even reporters would think that a person dressed like this would be a novelist.”

At Adrian’s words, Rei smiled shyly like a child who was praised.

“I’m glad to hear that.”

“When did you start working like this, Miss Rei?”

“Me? I used to be a mercenary. At one time I made a living by serving in the war. After the war, I gave up and returned to my hometown to work as an escort.”

Rei, who had hesitated for a while, also asked Adrian.

“What about you, Mr. Reinhart? There is a rumor that you are a foreigner.…. But for that, your Bertha accent is so perfect.”

Rei, who asked the question, quickly waved his hand.

“Oh, you don’t like this kind of question, do you? You don’t have to answer.”

Perhaps it was a too personal question, Rei cut off his words.

“Hey, lads!”

Then they heard a voice calling them from somewhere. An old man was beckoning them to the dock.

“Can you help me for a second?”

The old man sat on the floor sweating profusely on his forehead.

“I’m suddenly out of breath and can’t move. I’d appreciate it if you could carry me and move me up there.”

Adrian and Rei faced each other. He didn’t seem suspicious, so when Adrian nodded as if to do so, Rei immediately approached the old man.

“I’ll carry you.”

“No, I’ll carry him.”

“I can carry him too”

Rei kept insisting that she couldn’t wait and watch his client do the hard work.

“Then let’s do it together.”

At Adrian’s suggestion, the two held the old man in the air together. Adrian took the old man’s upper body, and Rei took the old man’s feet.

It was not until they heard someone’s scream that they realized that it could look quite strange to other people’s eyes.

“Hey, hey! The bullies are trying to drown the old man in the sea!”

The passerby pointed at Adrian and Rei and shouted.

“What? Oh, no, we don’t…….”

Rei tried to explain, but people flocked first. They came up to save the old man with scary faces.

“Let’s put it down and run away.”

Rei nodded at Adrian’s words.

“I’m sorry, sir.”

The two put the old man down on the ground and jumped quickly. Behind the scenes, foul language erupted.

  *** 

“Oh, that was close!”

Rei said, after leaving the people out, while breathing heavily.

“Are you all right, Mr. Reinhart?”

Adrian suddenly burst into laughter while sweeping his disheveled hair. This situation was so terrifying and funny.

“It’s the first time I’ve ever been misunderstood as a rogue.”

“Is that so?”

Rei looked at Adrian’s wits. Adrian, who had found the figure, waved his hand and explained.

“It doesn’t mean I’m offended. It’s rather fun.”

Rei looked relieved at the words.

“That’s a relief. But I’ll be careful not to let this happen again.”

But the words overshadow another danger before them.

“It must be him.”

A group of men appeared in front of Adrian and Rei. They were all large and had ferocious wounds on their faces.

“That green hair thing; the guy who hit your brother on the back of the head was unmistakably green-haired.”

At the words of the man who seemed to be a subordinate, the man at the forefront growled and bared his teeth.