My Ex-Boyfriends Are Interfering With My Death

Chapter 42
Happy Crowell Castle (6)

 

I kept my mouth shut, sensing the situation. My father, after rubbing his face once, continued in a low voice.

“…I see. Anyway, I’m glad that both Edith and Young Lord Behemoth have returned safely.”

‘…It’s passed.’

It was thanks to Ethan. I’d better keep my mouth shut.

“We were lucky.”

“You’re even modest. I’d like to talk more with you at dinner, Young Lord, if that’s alright?”

“Of course.”

I watched silently as my father and Ethan conversed.

Ethan, you… Come to think of it.

‘I thought he always spoke briefly…’

Well, even Ethan Behemoth was formal with the professors.

As I was looking at him anew, my mother stepped forward and bowed slightly.

“We’ve kept our guest standing too long, worried about Edith. Would it be alright if I show you to your room and give you a tour of the castle?”

“Yes, thank you for personally guiding me.”

Seeing Ethan follow my mother, I also spoke to my father.

“Ah, then I’ll prepare until dinner as well.”

“Alright. Then let’s all meet in the dining room. It’s been a while, we have a lot to talk about. Diana has been talking about you so much.”

“Yes.”

I curtsied lightly, pulling the hem of my dress, and followed my father into the castle.

Diana, who had somehow attached herself to my side, seemed intimidated, perhaps because she saw my mother and father treating Ethan so respectfully.

Diana kept looking back and forth between my mother, father, and me, slightly pulling at the hem of her dress.

Ah, although I tried to clean up as best I could, there might still be monster blood splattered on it. Plus, there’s a lot of dust.

In many ways, I was not in a state good for a child’s respiratory system right now.

Gently pushing Diana away, I smiled softly.

“Shall we talk after I change clothes? Or we can talk at dinner.”

“…But!”

“I’ll be recuperating at Crowell Castle for a week anyway. We can talk plenty during that time.”

“Okay. Then later…”

It’s the first time I’ve seen Diana so restless. I lightly held her hand, then patted her back to send her off. Go on.

Diana kept looking back at me as she entered Crowell Castle, following a servant.

I also stood at the main gate of Crowell Castle and glanced up at it.

Old and rugged, but my cozy home that would protect me from the winter cold.

There had often been talk of demolishing and rebuilding the castle after I became an archmage and the Crowell territory prospered, but I had always actively opposed that.

Because I wanted to keep the castle as I remembered it.

‘Because my family is in there…’

Everything was warm and peaceful.

Like my long-held memories. As it had always been.

🥀

Perhaps because it had been a while since someone entered, a chilly feeling permeated the quiet room.

Standing alone in it, I gazed into the large mirror placed in the room.

My eyes met the cool gaze looking back at me from the mirror. It was natural since I was looking at myself.

The vivid golden eyes, like those of a beast, seemed to urge me to pull myself together.

Running my hand through my hair, still damp and not fully dried, I tore my gaze away from the mirror.

The pink hair, heavy with moisture, tangled in my hand. Like a question that wouldn’t easily be resolved.

Wherever the wet hair passed over my palm, it left faint traces of water. The sword wound across the middle of my palm was also damp.

The sudden sense of incongruity stemmed from this sword wound, which I had newly discovered while washing.

Turning my palm over to reveal the sword wound, my mood sank.

“Father must have seen it…”

I had clearly opened my hand several times in the direction where the sword wound was visible.

I thought I had seen father’s gaze brush over my hand.

Above all, hadn’t he held and stroked my hand several times during our first meeting?

And yet…

“…He didn’t say anything about it.”

I raised my other hand to touch the sword wound. Although time had passed and it had healed, unlike the faint scar on my cheek, this scar still remained in a deep color.

He was so worried and angry about me participating in the subjugation exercise, yet he overlooked this noticeable scar?

My father, who worries so much.

‘I returned from the academy with such a large scar…’

Was it strange to feel this way about the current reaction because in the previous regression, I always came back from the subjugation exercise wrapped in bandages, causing my father to finally break down in tears?

Still, it felt odd.

I kept remembering how Diana said she had something to tell me. And how she kept glancing at mother and father.

“Ouch.”

Lost in thought, I kept rubbing the sword wound on my palm until the scab came off, revealing a fresh red wound.

“Haahh…”

I clenched my fist, the palm still lacking calluses. Thanks to just having washed, the skin was appropriately soft like a young lady’s.

“…Maybe they just didn’t notice.”

Right. I’ve just returned home, such worries won’t help. It might be disappointing that Father didn’t recognize my wound, but it shouldn’t be a sign of something amiss.

Rather, isn’t this life more meaningful because of the changes different from before?

I tried to convince myself that it was just a continuation of the uneasy feeling I’d had since saving the two servants from the stone house.

Don’t worry about it. It’s a pleasant evening, after all. Ethan will be there too.

If I showed signs of being concerned, it was obvious he’d get involved as well.

I lifted my head and headed to the dressing room to change.

All the dresses in Crowell Castle were simple enough for me to change into alone, so I didn’t bother calling for a servant’s help.

“…Ah, this is troublesome.”

But there was a problem.

It seemed I had grown in the meantime, as the sleeves of the long-sleeved dress I had chosen were about half a span too short.

Is this okay?

As I was twisting my white wrist visible above the blue fabric, black powder fell from my wrist.

“……”

…Ash?

Could it be that the curse that scatters into ashes has already started to progress?

It was too fast, not even a year had passed yet.

But perhaps one of the unexpected changes had accelerated the curse’s progress. It had happened occasionally before.

“……”

To check, I rubbed my wrist hard with my fingers. Perhaps I used too much force in my urgency, as the skin turned red.

I held up my reddened wrist, turning it slightly to examine it.

“…Hah.”

Nothing more came off. A dry sigh of relief escaped me.

The progression of the curse remains the same.

See? Even the curse is the same. It’s still okay, right? Nothing’s wrong.

“There’s no reason to worry unnecessarily…”

As if emphasizing to myself, I muttered under my breath while pacing the dressing room.

“……”

I thought about calling a servant to prepare new clothes for the shortened dress sleeves, but decided a shawl would cover it anyway, so I roughly draped a black shawl and tidied up my appearance.

Conversely, I found a bandage and wrapped it noticeably around the wound on my hand.

Surely they would notice this.

Somehow, I felt strange, like a child trying to get their parents to notice their injury, but I wanted to gain some assurance this way.

Just then, there was a timely knock at the door.

“A message from the Baron.”

“Come in.”

The servant slowly opened the door and entered. Though I didn’t know the name, it was a familiar face.

I unconsciously greeted them warmly.

“It’s been a while. Have you been well?”

“My lady! Dinner preparations are complete, so please come to the dining room soon!”

“…Alright.”

Though the tone was bright and energetic, the conversation felt strangely off somehow.

‘…Why didn’t they answer my greeting?’

Feeling uneasy, I quietly looked at the servant, who in turn stared back at me without moving from my room.

Then, they spoke again.

“Please come to the dining room soon!”

“…I said I understood. More importantly, have you been well?”

“Hurry, my lady.”

It wasn’t my imagination. The servant, ignoring my question, smiled broadly and opened the door, stepping aside.

Despite wearing a thick shawl tightly, a chill ran down my spine.

…I had decided not to think strange thoughts.

Trying hard not to show it, I nodded.

“…I’m coming now.”

I followed the servant. As I descended the spiral staircase leading to the dining room, I felt somewhat nauseous the whole way down.

🥀

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