Ciello, who had been staring blankly at Noah, opened her mouth.
“Um… Noah, I’m sorry, but…”
Noah swallowed nervously.
‘Did I surprise her too much?’
Cold sweat broke out on his palm. But Ciello’s next words were neither a rejection nor an affirmation.
“Is that what I think it means?”
“Huh?”
Noah looked at Ciello with a dumbfounded face. Ciello was fidgeting and rubbing her foot on the floor.
“I’m a bit sensitive about this kind of thing. I’ve been let down by people too many times…If I’m overstepping, tell me now. I’m embarrassed…”
Ciello, who had been mumbling for a while, turned her gaze to Noah. Noah was furiously rubbing his flushed face. It was a meaning clearer than any words.
“I… =I’m sorry.”
This time, it was Ciello’s face that turned red. Noah mumbled through his fingers.
“Hey, you really…”
“Uh…Yeah. I’d be annoyed too.”
Ciello pressed and then removed the back of her hand to her cheek to cool down, laughing awkwardly. Noah shook his head.
“I’m not annoyed.”
“Huh?”
Noah lowered his hand from his face and looked straight at Ciello.
“It’s absurd but fun. It’s strangely comfortable. So, I like it.…Is that okay?”
So, I like it. The precise words without any pretense flew straight into Ciello’s heart. Ciello nodded blankly. Noah cleared his throat and spoke.
“Anyway, since that’s what you meant, think about it and answer me. I’m sorry for surprising you.”
“No, I’m sorry…”
Ciello scratched her cheek and looked up at Noah.
“But you were originally nice to me because grandma told you to. I didn’t even think you would…you know…”
“Oh, that’s true.”
Noah didn’t deny Ciello’s words and nodded coolly.
“The start was a bit off, so I thought you might have misunderstood, but as I kept looking, I started to like you regardless of that.”
Hearing Noah’s honest answer, Ciello felt a sense of relief. Somehow, a question that she felt Noah could answer came to Ciello’s mind.
“So, Noah, you…regardless of what grandma told you, you…you know?”
“Yeah, that’s right.”
Ciello nodded and murmured quietly.
“I see. Even if someone tells you to, you can really like the person regardless…”
Ciello sighed deeply and slumped down on a large rock in the garden.
“What’s wrong, all of a sudden?”
Ciello tapped the rock next to her. Noah sat down next to her and looked at Ciello. Ciello hesitated a bit before speaking.
“…I had a day when my practice failed last time. That day, people who are my parents came to see me.”
“Ah…So that’s why you were feeling that way then. It must have been hard.”
“Yeah. There were other things too, but that was a big part of it.”
Of course, there was a quarrel with Estribal, but even Ciello, who was clumsy in love, knew how tactless it was to talk about it. Noah shook his head as if he had realized something.
“The Duke chased them away, right? Without even checking. I know what kind of person he is. Ugh.”
“Hey, if that’s the case, it’s a relief.”
Ciello chuckled as she explained what had happened to her. Noah’s mouth fell open as she heard about what Estribal had done.
“Do you know what’s funnier? It wasn’t just those people.”
“What? To other people too? Is that possible?”
“Yeah. The owner of the grocery store I used to go to often, and the staff at the coffee house…I guess there was something everywhere I could go. I always got something extra when I went there. I thought it was because I was pretty.”
Ciello chuckled bitterly. Noah clicked his tongue.
“Wow…Do they really have to do that much?”
“That’s what I’m saying! Then what am I supposed to be?”
Ciello stomped her feet in frustration.
“I was already thinking, ‘Who would play with me if it’s not this or that?’”
Ciello made a coin shape by putting her thumb and index finger together, then hit her thumb and middle finger together to mimic turning back time, grumbling. Noah, who hadn’t expected it at all, opened his eyes wide and asked.
“Why, what’s lacking in you?”
“I just don’t have any close friends. Honestly, you and grandma are people I got to know because of work. I had a close sibling, but she ran away with my money? Well, the situation was bad for playing friends.”
Ciello shrugged her shoulders and said.
“Who would want to be friends, with someone who is a pickpocket.”
Ciello looked up at the sky. The setting sun came down through the gaps in the leaves and drew a round light on Ciello’s cheekbone. The light sparkling on the white skin was beautiful to look at, but for some reason, it seemed like tear marks.
“So I thought the people I met after washing my hands would be okay, but that was all fake too.”
Ciello laughed and looked back at Noah. Noah, for some reason, snapped back.
“Hey, you can’t say that.”
“Why, it’s true.”
“But even if those people didn’t like you, would they have been that nice to you?”
“Hey, it’s either this or that, right?”
Ciello moved her fingers in front of Noah again, talking about money and time. But Noah thought for a moment and shook his head firmly.
“No. You’re not a clueless kid. If they were pretending to be nice, it would have shown, right? You knew right away when you first saw me that the elder told you to do it.”
“That’s… true.”
As Noah said, it was not difficult for Ciello to distinguish between insincere and sincere kindness. At Ciello’s reaction, Noah quickly added.
“The start might have been because of what that crazy guy said, but those people liked you quite a bit, so they wouldn’t have been that nice to you, right? You can’t call that fake.”
Ciello nodded.
“And you…”
Noah glanced at Ciello. Contrary to her sharp first impression, she had a clumsy side, but she was definitely not innocent. The occasional cynical attitude made him think that she had lived a hard life.
She’s not positively without a plan, but she’s honest and proactive. It was hard to define in one word, but anyway, it was a type that was hard to hate.
“People who say they like you might not be believable, but it’s not easy to hate someone like you.”
Ciello chuckled.
“Thank you.”
It was a sorry thing for Noah, but suddenly Estribal came to Ciello’s mind. Would Estribal think the same way?
Even if she approached him closely, he frowned and acted cruelly, saying he couldn’t stand her. Was it because he hated her, or because it was hard to hate her?
Then, even now, when she has trampled his heart, would he still find it hard to hate her? Or has he finally come to really hate her?
“Ciello.”
At Ciello’s changed expression, Noah spoke seriously.
“I don’t have as much money as that guy, but I won’t make you worry like that.”
Ciello scratched her cheek awkwardly.
“Um, I didn’t tell you, but I’ve made a lot of mistakes too.”
“It doesn’t matter.”
Noah answered right away.
“Ah, of course we both made mistakes in the fight. So what. Am I a god? A security guard? The world won’t collapse just because I’m on your side.”
“Wow, so you’re going to be the leader of the Liberation Force?”
Ciello looked at him with a face of disbelief, but her face was full of laughter. Noah also chuckled and retorted.
“Hey, it’s different when I work. And I’m a bit of a fool, so once I like someone, I’m definitely on their side.”
Noah stretched out with a yawn, leaning back.
“Well, I’ve been scolded by the elder for this kind of thing from time to time, but what can I do. It’s my personality.”
Ciello also stretched out following him. Then, with their arms stretched out, their eyes met. They laughed for no reason. It was somehow comfortable.
“Ciello, you’ve been in that mansion for quite a while.”
Ciello nodded. Noah spoke quite confidently.
“Try living here once. Then I’ll show you how good a person you are.”
Ciello’s expression darkened.
‘When I was at the mansion, did I think I was a good person? It wasn’t that there weren’t any times, but it didn’t seem to be often.’
Feeling Ciello’s face darken a bit, Noah lightly tapped Ciello’s shoulder.
“Then you’ll also realize how good a person I am? Actually, that’s the goal.”
Ciello got up, laughing at his joke.
“I’m not sure about number 1, but I think I already know number 2?”
“No, no. Number 1 is important.”
“Hey, I know it’s not. Look at you laughing.”
Ciello playfully kicked Noah’s foot. Noah giggled and got up following Ciello. Ciello spoke in a bright tone.
“I’m getting hungry. I should eat and practice. I feel like it’s going to go well.”
“Hey, if today’s practice is successful, it’s honestly thanks to me, right?”
“I admit that. Oh, but how’s the food here? Is it good?”
“Huh? It’s better than what I used to eat roughly at the hideout. But is that important?”
“Hey! Of course. It’s totally important.”
Noah looked at Ciello, who was mumbling, and chuckled. ‘I wish Ciello would keep thinking about whether today’s meal is delicious.’ This thought brushed past Noah’s mind. Perhaps the Duke had acted in a similar way for a similar reason. Although he still didn’t think it was normal, Noah felt that he could understand him a little bit.
But living roughly in her own way, and then turning the situation upside down at an unexpected moment. That was Ciello. So even the Duke couldn’t hold onto Ciello in any way.
“Ah, would that work…”
“Are you sighing at me right now?”
Ciello flared up at Noah’s muttering. Noah put his hands up.
“No, no! Not that…Ah!”
Noah, startled by Ciello’s hand flying towards his back, quickly ran away.
“I said it’s not that! Listen to me!”
“Why are you running away then!”
“Hey, do I look like I wouldn’t run away?”
Noah and Ciello ran towards the dining room, bickering. The sunset dyed the backs of the two people with a warm color. Long shadows stretched out behind the two people.
