Chapter 37
Happy Crowell Castle (1)
The carriage wheels rattled as they rolled along.
Having left the academy far behind, unfamiliar deciduous trees were beginning to drop their leaves outside the carriage window.
The journey to see family is always a joyous and overwhelming event.
Unable to hide my excitement, I asked Therion sitting next to me.
“Does my dress look alright?”
“Y-Yes, of course. You look beautiful.”
He nodded, blushing.
Pretending to be shy at every turn, Rimos Therion must surely have rosacea. I’ll be taking full advantage of that.
Though it was obviously just flattery, I was grateful for his words alone.
I knew best that the flowing dress I was wearing after so long wouldn’t feel natural.
Sure enough, it seemed to have gotten a bit wrinkled, as Therion smiled brightly and carefully pulled at the hem of the skirt. That part must have been folded.
“Ah, thank you.”
I had made sure to put it on properly with Camilla’s help, but it had gotten wrinkled in the meantime. It’s quite bothersome.
‘I don’t know how I used to wear this throughout entire banquets.’
There was definitely a time when I rushed through my debutante, thinking social climbing was my path, and then flitted about ballrooms.
It all seems like a past life. No, it was actually a past life.
There will be no debutante in this life. I won’t do it.
More importantly, calm down, calm down. You’re too excited, Edith Crowell….
“Hoo…. Ha.”
After taking a couple of deep breaths with my chest wide open, I felt a bit calmer.
“……”
Ethan Behemoth sat across from me, staring blankly to one side.
More precisely, he was resting his chin on his hand and looking out the window.
‘What is he looking at so intently?’
I followed his gaze out the carriage window, but all I could see was the outside scenery already starting to welcome autumn, despite not having traveled that far.
I have no idea what he’s looking at.
Giving up on figuring out what he was seeing, I just leaned back into the soft cushion.
‘I suppose the weather change is natural since we’ve warped twice.’
The Behemoth ducal family’s carriage, which came with Ethan’s accompaniment, was quite a sweet offer.
Enough to make me reconsider his offer to accompany me, which I was going to refuse outright.
The Behemoth ducal family’s carriage can warp at the midpoint. This means I could arrive at Crowell Castle a week earlier than I had originally planned.
In fact, with my current abilities, I could arrive at Crowell Castle right away, but there’s too much attention on me right now, including from the magic tower.
‘If a 16-year-old arrived alone at such a distant fief requiring multiple warps, they’d be in an uproar.’
I sighed involuntarily. I don’t want to stand out more, but my surroundings aren’t helping.
‘So what can I do? I have to take the opportunity.’
Even when we were actually lovers, I had never taken Ethan to my house.
Just as Ethan never told me about his mother, I never introduced my family to him. We were lovers who kept a lot hidden from each other and only met face to face on the battlefield.
Come to think of it, we weren’t exactly a normal couple.
Anyway, there was one thing that could be helpful if I brought Ethan along on this trip home. So after careful consideration, I agreed to his accompaniment.
“Miss Edith. W-Would you like some of this?”
“Ah, thank you.”
While I was lost in thought, Therion fumblingly offered me some lemon cookies.
I wonder which human he snatched these from? I quickly accepted and ate them.
‘Delicious….’
As I chewed on the sweet cookies with my cheeks puffed out, I glanced sideways at Rimos Therion and Ethan Behemoth.
The atmosphere between them was quite concerning.
Even with the lemon cookies, for instance.
Therion didn’t offer any cookies to Ethan Behemoth, who was clearly in the same space, and Ethan didn’t seem to care about that.
More precisely, he seemed to be ignoring Therion’s very existence.
‘Why am I the one feeling awkward….’
I began to wonder if Ethan Behemoth had properly understood my excuse. Are you still suspicious?
Therion had shamelessly asked to accompany us as far as the temple along the way and boarded the carriage with us.
And what he’s actually doing after inevitably riding in the same carriage….
[I’ll contact you again after I’ve skimmed through the ancient texts at the temple. Don’t get lonely without me, okay?]
[I won’t be lonely.]
This was how he was chattering away with me using magic that directly transmitted thoughts.
To think he’d use transmission magic, meant for emergencies, for such idle chatter.
If I hadn’t hurriedly built up my magical power while recuperating at the academy, this would have been unimaginable.
Though still far from my prime, I have enough magical power to do ‘that task’ before meeting my family.
Therion, sitting next to me, smiled gently and whispered into my mind.
[You’d be lonely without me, wouldn’t you? By the way, can’t I just visit your home after I finish my work?]
[I don’t mind if you come, but make sure Young Lord Behemoth doesn’t notice you. …And somehow, doesn’t it seem like the Young Lord Behemoth dislikes you?]
[Oh come on, surely not.]
“L-Lord Behemoth.”
I suddenly looked up. Therion was addressing Ethan with a sweet and delicate smile. Has he gone mad?
Ethan slowly turned his head from the window to look at him.
“Yes?”
“Am I, perhaps, making you uncomfortable?”
“Hah….”
“……”
A sigh escaped my lips before I could stop it.
It was already too late to stop Therion’s mouth too.
Ethan Behemoth didn’t answer.
Of course not. Who would ask such a thing outright?
The most annoying thing about Rimos Therion is how he pretends to be oblivious while actually being perceptive.
“Not particularly.”
When Ethan answered simply, Therion shrugged and turned to look at me. As if to say, ‘See?’
‘What’s there to see?’
“We’ve arrived at the temple.”
As I was rubbing my face with my dry hand, the coachman’s voice was heard.
The carriage had stopped without me noticing.
Glancing out the window, I could see the entrance of a grand temple.
‘He’s just going to walk in there, huh.’
Seeing him act so nonchalant, I almost forgot that Rimos Therion was a demon.
There’s probably no place more thoroughly prepared against demons than a temple. What does Therion plan to do?
I was curious but didn’t bother to ask.
I could almost picture him clasping his hands and bringing them to his cheeks disgustingly, saying ‘Are you showing interest in me~?’
“Ah, well then. I’ll be ge-getting off here…”
He picked up his lightly packed luggage and approached the door. Ethan spoke softly to Therion’s back.
“I hope there will be a chance to learn more in detail next time.”
“Yes, I… I’ll look forward to seeing you again too.”
Rimos Therion took off his hood, brushed back his messy white hair, and smiled faintly. Right on cue, sunlight poured in.
‘That’s cheating….’
He couldn’t look more innocent than this.
How would Ethan react? I glanced at Ethan.
‘Wow….’
Impressive. Ethan Behemoth’s gaze remained serious, even in the face of Therion’s smile. Perhaps because of this, Rimos Therion’s gaze towards him also gradually thinned.
‘…Hah.’
If the two were to have a battle of wills, who would win? I was somewhat curious, but I didn’t want to find out right now.
I stuck out my head to block their line of sight.
Then I nodded firmly towards Therion.
“Yes. See you next time.”
“Yes… But Miss Edith.”
Therion looked at me, then put on a pitiful expression as if he had forgotten something and held out his hand.
“Could I borrow your hand for a moment?”
“…?”
As I extended my hand with a puzzled look, Rimos Therion lowered his head as if he was going to place something in my palm….
“…Ah.”
“See you later.”
He gently kissed the back of my hand.
It was much more concise and refreshing than the lingering kiss in the cavern.
For a moment, I almost thought this was a common farewell greeting.
[Therion, what is this….]
So there was no need to be flustered just because Rimos Therion kissed the back of my hand.
His magical power spread through my body from the back of my hand.
His unpleasant magical power intertwined with the pure magical power I had carefully refined while recuperating at the academy.
Though I could remove his magical power if I wanted to, it seemed he had some intention, so I barely managed to hold back from taking immediate action.
Rimos Therion, who had been watching my reaction, smiled brightly and whispered magically.
[Just in case, I wanted to leave some magic behind. Well then, I’ll be going.]
🥀
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