Chapter 14
Prepare for the Predetermined Demise (6)
It was exactly as it appeared.
The knight and Rimos Therion were embracing.
As if that wasn’t enough, the knight patted Rimos Therion’s back vigorously as they separated. The knight’s expression was bright with an unusually wide smile.
‘…What’s going on?’
It didn’t seem like that kind of atmosphere before.
…My brow furrowed in bewilderment.
Did he use mental magic?
No. That can’t be.
Divine magic users can’t use mind-altering magic. Divine magic users handle divine power like magic, they don’t actually know how to handle magic itself.
Then this is…
‘It must be genuine.’
But why? Really, why?
As I was watching the two of them hugging with concern, my horse neighed tactlessly. I hurriedly tried to soothe it by stroking its mane, but…
“……”
“……”
Rimos Therion was already looking this way.
Our eyes met directly.
…So the neighing sound does reach that far after all.
What if he thinks I was spying? Well, I was spying, but…
After a few seconds of silence, he smiled slightly first.
“Lady Edith… you’re back.”
“…Yes.”
He walked towards me. Glancing behind him, I saw that the knight had already disappeared.
“That person just now…”
“Ah…”
In response to my question, Rimos Therion tilted his head and answered neatly.
“We’re, we’re originally close.”
“…Originally?”
“Yes.”
His answer was so brazen that I was momentarily at a loss for words.
Should I ask more indirectly? As I was contemplating, he made an “Oh” sound.
“Lady Edith. This is…”
“Ah.”
Rimos Therion pointed at the blood at my feet.
It’s the bloodstain I hadn’t erased yet from when I just spat.
He looked at the stain and me alternately with wide eyes.
…Oops.
I hurriedly rubbed my sleeve against my mouth where blood might still remain.
Still, it’s fortunate that it was Rimos Therion who saw it.
With a relaxed mind, I spoke lightly.
“Could you keep this a secret…”
“A secret?”
But Rimos Therion showed an unexpected reaction.
He, who had been acting so gentle and obedient to my every word, suddenly dragged out his words and asked back.
…Judging by how he treats other knights, it seemed like his behavior towards me wasn’t his true personality.
‘Why is he suddenly like this? It’s unsettling.’
For now, I nodded calmly.
“…Yes. Could you keep it a secret?”
“Hmm, hmm…”
Rimos Therion tilts his head without giving an immediate answer.
He, who had maintained a blank expression throughout, smiled slightly and whispered carefully.
“Of, of course I should keep it a secret.”
“Thank y-“
“However, in return for keeping it secret… I, I also have something I’d like to ask…”
…A request? It’s not that I can’t listen, but interrupting me mid-sentence?
I need to be cautious. I answered with a slight condition added.
“A request. I’ll hear it as long as it’s not unreasonable.”
Then Rimos Therion stared at me and said something else.
“Be, before that… if everyone knows you’re sick, they’ll all worry. Maybe it would be better to let them know after all?”
…Oh really?
“…I asked you to keep it a secret. There’s nothing good about it being known during the subjugation practice.”
“Of, of course. I wouldn’t tell just anyone about something Lady Edith asked to keep secret…”
“……”
“For example, shouldn’t Ethan Behemoth know?”
Why is his name coming up now?
Rimos Therion blushed and rubbed his nape under his hood.
At a glance it seemed like a blank action, but it was actually a cute threat.
‘Is he saying to listen to him even if it’s an unreasonable request?’
Mentioning Ethan Behemoth, who’s leading the subjugation practice, shows he knows it would be to my disadvantage if my illness became known in detail.
What should I do?
As if encouraging my dilemma, his purple eyes looked at me and whispered.
“You’ll… you’ll listen to my request, right?”
“…Yes. Let’s hear it.”
“It, it’s nothing much.”
He smiled shyly.
🥀
“Are, are you re-ready?”
“Yes.”
And that request was really nothing special. It was simply…
“Can I check your condition during the rest time, Lady Edith?”
He was concerned about my health.
“I’m worried…”
“…I was going to ask you anyway, so that’s perfect.”
“Re-really? I’m glad…”
Rimos Therion had smiled gently while making a gesture of relief at my words.
So now I’m sitting face to face with him.
“Then, here… please place your hand over mine.”
He held out one hand emitting a bright light, as if asking me to grasp it.
Is he trying to examine my body by overlapping our hands?
Just as I was about to reach out and overlap my hand as he said…
A sudden sense of unease flashed through me.
“……”
“…Lady Edith?”
Ah.
I blinked, quickly withdrew my outstretched hand, and looked at him.
An ordinary student, meeting a divine magic user for the first time, would have clasped hands as he said.
But I wasn’t seeing a divine magic user for the first time, and…
So I know.
‘A mage’s divine power isn’t activated through physical contact.’
Then why the hand?
As I maintained silence without answering, his blank expression, which he had maintained throughout, instantly fell.
He tilted his head.
“Lady Edith… what are you thinking?”
A tense atmosphere flowed, feeling like it could snap at any moment.
I had an intuition that the moment I used magic, Rimos Therion would also prepare something.
Rimos Therion’s calm purple eyes looked like dried, twisted violet petals settled at the bottom of violet tea.
I couldn’t take my eyes off them.
“What are you two doing?”
At that moment, someone intervened between us, abruptly breaking that precarious standoff.
“I hope I’m not interrupting?”
At first, I didn’t recognize who it was, but when the golden hair, so vibrant it could be called gaudy, shone in the sunset, I quickly realized who it was.
“Ah, Lady Guinevere.”
The person who heard my greeting smiled brightly.
“Just call me Camilla.”
Camilla Guinevere. The Academy’s top spirit mage and a rising talent.
And… the sister of the cowardly Kain Guinevere.
If my guess is correct, probably…
“Edith. I wanted to thank you, are you very busy right now?”
“No, it’s fine.”
Right. She must have come to express gratitude for me saving Kain Guinevere.
Camilla Guinevere wasn’t the type to leave such a debt unpaid.
At least, that’s how I knew her.
Considering that arrogance he shouted even from the bottom of the cliff, it’s probably better not to expect a thank you from Kain Guinevere himself. Instead, his sister Camilla Guinevere coming to see me will actually help my reputation.
“If you’re not busy…”
She trailed off, looking back and forth between me and Rimos Therion.
She seemed to be trying to gauge what kind of atmosphere there had been.
‘This is my chance.’
I turned to Rimos Therion naturally and said,
“Therion. Would it be alright if we continue our conversation later?”
“Yes. O-of course…”
Rimos Therion, as if he hadn’t just had a stern expression, instantly returned to a fragile look and nodded.
The change was chilling.
‘Why is there a student like this at the Academy?’
No matter how much I think about it, he’s clearly not someone who remained in my memories.
Every time I looked at him, I felt like I was looking at a puzzle piece that still didn’t fit.
He had already withdrawn the hand he had held out.
When I unconsciously looked down at his hand, he slightly smiled, raised that hand, and covered his mouth.
It seemed like a gesture of shyness, but looking at his eyes, I immediately understood his intention.
“Have a g-good time.”
“Yes.”
‘He means he’ll talk about my secret if I don’t keep quiet.’
I clicked my tongue inwardly while lightly nodding on the outside.
Where did such a guy come from?
The variable called Rimos Therion was infuriatingly annoying, but I couldn’t see a way to remove him right now.
My gaze turned to Ruth, who had just finished setting up the tent alone with difficulty.
To think he’d set up a tent for me, whom he had despised.
Whatever Rimos Therion did to them when I was spying on them in the forest, it made them act like completely different people.
If Rimos Therion could make the knight called Ruth act like that, then Rimos is certainly a dangerous person.
However.
As long as he doesn’t harm me right away…
‘Right. As long as he’s not an immediate threat to me.’
I can tolerate his threats to some extent.
I don’t have the energy to worry about everything. Even if things go wrong… well.
‘What’s the worst that could happen? I’d just die?’
Oops, there I go, thinking like that again.
🥀
Thank you for reading! ♡
