Chapter 51
I Want to Be Helpful to You (6)
“I already said I was sorry.”
“You’re quite shameless.”
“I learned a little.”
Tsk. I was the first to move, resuming my steps after pausing for our conversation.
This time, I was the one leading him. I walked towards my room.
“Even if you are Young Lord Behemoth, that’s too much. I was also raised with love. Even if my father wasn’t brainwashed, he wouldn’t have decided my marriage partner like a consumable for the family’s advancement.”
“Then what about you?”
“Pardon?”
“Would you be able to decide your marriage partner for the advancement of your family? Or are you the type to wait for destined love to come along?”
“…..”
The question from behind was rather direct for a young lady who hadn’t even had her debut. I finally realized.
‘He doesn’t even see me as a potential partner.’
Same-sex peers often asked each other such things. I had exchanged similar questions with Camilla before.
Once I understood the intent of the question, the answer was easy. I replied simply.
“I have no thoughts on it.”
“I see.”
Of course. What are you asking a sixteen-year-old?
“But after this is over, you must properly retract what you just said to my father. It could lead to misunderstandings.”
I turned to look at Ethan as I opened the door to my room, intending to gesture for him to enter.
However, when our eyes met, Ethan was smiling faintly.
“It wasn’t just something I said casually.”
“…Pardon?”
As I stood still, he closed the door behind us and stepped inside.
This being the second time, he looked natural handling the room’s furnishings.
Ethan led me by the wrist to the chair I use. Then, seating me in the chair, he declared.
“I really want to put the development project for Crowell territory into action. You don’t think I learned business classes at the academy for nothing, do you?”
“…So you learn such things in your final year.”
“You probably learned it too. It should be a subject taught from the first year.”
Avoiding his gaze that seemed to say, ‘Are you stupid?’, I quietly placed the purple envelope I had been holding on the table.
“…Anyway. So does that mean you were also serious about that marriage alliance or whatever? No, you weren’t. So hurry up and the letter…”
“If you don’t have any particular thoughts on engagement yet. I could consider a positive answer.”
“…Pardon?”
“That’s right.”
“…Why would House Behemoth… I mean? Even if I don’t know much about noble customs, why me?”
“You’re a noble too.”
“Perhaps you have a childhood engagement with the imperial family?”
“No.”
“Or maybe a royal from a neighboring country who has been eyeing Ethan since childhood?”
“I don’t know what you’re imagining, but I’d appreciate it if you’d stop.”
Right. There’s nothing like that. I’ve never seen anything like that in all my regressions. Why am I asking about things I already know?
“…..”
I leaned back in the chair, running my hand through my hair.
“Hmm…”
Having moved around a bit, my pink hair had already tangled, pulling at my scalp as it caught between my fingers.
This is really troublesome. Why is he doing this when he doesn’t even like me?
“…This isn’t a decision you should make impulsively.”
“It seems a reasonable assumption that even after waiting several more years, someone with your level of talent won’t appear again, Edith.”
“Ah.”
Because of my talent?
Setting aside the fact that the talent he’s focusing on is something I’ve built up over hundreds of regressions.
Could it be that in other lives, he confessed to me for the same reason? My suspicion grew stronger.
I lifted my head slightly, untangling my hair as I firmly expressed my intention.
“Never mind. I hope you won’t add such concerns to my already complicated thoughts.”
Ethan nodded as if he understood.
“My apologies for my lack of consideration. Do you think we could have a serious discussion about this after we resolve this matter?”
His attitude was as calm as could be. “After we resolve this matter,” he said.
These were words filled with the vitality of someone living ‘this life.’
I reluctantly nodded.
“Let’s leave it at that.”
And to convey that I wanted him to focus now, I tapped the purple envelope I had placed on the table earlier along with the letter opener.
“Ah, you brought it out.”
“Yes. I didn’t have time to read it.”
“That’s even better. I wanted to examine it too.”
He pulled up a chair for himself, placing it opposite me and taking a seat. It’s time to return to our collaborative system.
Right, losing my temper with a child would only damage my dignity. I pointed at the wax seal on the envelope.
The fact that a once-read letter was resealed and put away means that, as Diana suspected, there must be some hidden information in this letter.
“Then, let’s examine the letter.”
I placed my hand on the envelope and first searched with magic.
It would be troublesome if there was a spell that would make the letter scream when reopened. And the search result was…
“…As expected, it’s clean.”
I removed my hand with a subtle feeling. It’s just an ordinary, slightly thick envelope. Am I being too cautious?
Ethan asked.
“Is it okay to open the seal?”
“Yes. We can restore it when we put it back.”
As I nodded, Ethan slowly removed the wax seal with the tip of the letter opener.
And then.
“Ugh…?”
A black, sticky liquid gushed out like a fountain from between the slightly opened envelope as the seal was removed.
And for a moment, my vision flashed. This was because Ethan had grabbed my waist and pushed me against the wall while I was wide-eyed.
For Ethan to make such a quick judgment, the liquid flowing from the envelope must have been full of ominous energy. This is…
“Edith, are you alright?!”
“…Yes. But. Just a moment. Just a moment.”
“……”
“Ethan, please let go.”
“…Alright.”
Ethan hesitated for a moment, then released my waist.
I hurriedly approached the table.
An unbelievable amount of liquid for just an envelope had soaked the entire tablecloth and made the floor carpet damp.
When I pushed the spilled liquid with the tip of my shoe, it formed a viscous line along the toe of the shoe and clumped together.
“This is…”
I crouched down in front of it, gathering magic at my fingertips and reaching out towards it.
“……”
I could feel Ethan twitching behind me as if about to jump out, but a moment later, he stayed still.
Pssst…
As soon as the brightly shining magic from my fingertips touched the black liquid, it instantly solidified and scattered like powder.
Confident, I strengthened the magic, and all of that black liquid dispersed into black powder.
I muttered in disbelief.
“I see. It’s magic waste.”
“…What?”
I immediately stood up and opened the envelope that remained after all the black liquid had disappeared, pouring out its contents.
Tap tap.
Two pieces of paper fell with a light sound. Both had been immersed in the sticky black liquid, yet there wasn’t a single wet spot.
I unfolded the thinner of the two papers and explained to Ethan.
“When erasing magically recorded documents, they are often immersed in magic waste. It’s volatile due to its polarity. This is a method used in magic towers…”
I found it. When I flipped over the thin paper, there was a magic circle drawn on it. It was an amplification magic circle designed to activate when the envelope was reopened.
Given that there were only two sheets of paper despite the thickness of the envelope, it seemed they had used a method of putting in a small amount of magic waste and amplifying it.
It’s no wonder nothing was detected in my search since the magic waste, which has the opposite property to magic, was covering the magic circle.
“Hah…”
Calmly flipping over the remaining sheet, I saw a letter with scattered words as if haphazardly erased.
I slammed it down with a thud. I was trying to suppress my anger.
“…This is how they completely erase the contents.”
“It seems the sender of this letter was thoroughly prepared.”
“…No. It was probably my mother’s doing.”
“The Baroness? How?”
“My mother spent a long time at the magic tower. She was the one who recognized my talent… Anyway, I didn’t think much about magic because I couldn’t sense any magic in the entire Crowell Castle.”
Should I have worried more and opened the envelope more carefully? I glared at the letter beneath my hand with narrowed eyes.
No. This level of precaution was the best. I could faintly sense my mother’s trace in the magic circle.
She must have moved to protect the contents of this letter after being brainwashed.
If so, it means the contents of the letter were more crucial to the brainwashing spell than we thought…
Can a single letter really shake the entire Crowell Castle?
Remembering my mother’s bright smile directed at me during meals, I unconsciously bit my lip hard.
At that moment, Ethan placed his hand on my shoulder.
“Edith.”
“…Yes.”
“There’s a part left on the letter.”
What?
🥀
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