The Lady is a Stalker

For some reason, the sound of Damian chewing on the snack sounded like he was making fun of him. After studying his expression for a moment, Damian put down what he was eating and spoke as if he had noticed something.

 

“Ah, are you sure you didn’t receive it? What’s wrong?”

 

Damian seemed to be trying to hold back, but a sneer slowly appeared on his lips. 

 

Raven said, trying to keep a nonchalant expression.

 

“I don’t really want to receive something suspicious like that, do I?”

 

“Are you still saying that? I know it’s a trauma, but… Oh, or maybe you’re upset because you didn’t receive it… Ahaha, I’m sorry. I guess I’ll have to go watch to see if anyone is messing around. Ahaha.”

 

When Raven looked at him with murderous eyes, telling him not to talk nonsense, Damian’s body trembled. He smiled awkwardly, walked away and disappeared.

 

‘He’s the only one messing around, but he’s really…’

 

Raven looked away from him as he walked away and tried to focus on the documents he had to process, but random thoughts kept coming to his mind and he couldn’t say a single word. His vision seemed to be blurred with anger. But he didn’t know exactly what was causing it. He seemed to know, but he wasn’t caught at all. He felt like he was going crazy with frustration. What on earth?

 

…Come to think of it, Serabi also mentioned Damian’s name when they met in the morning. Serabi was generous to herself from a young age, but was stingy when it came to compliments from others. This was the first time in 14 years that he had seen her praising others like that. Usually, unless she liked something, that kind of thing was… As he continued to think like that, he was startled by his own thoughts and froze. He recalled Serabi’s words of evaluation of Damian in the morning. 

 

-He is objectively a good person. It looks light, but it doesn’t go overboard. The core is strong and the skills are good. He may be a bit out of date, but he’s young and capable, so he’ll probably be in line for marriage. Oh, the face is just fine.

 

At times like this, he resented his needlessly good face. He remembered exactly what Serabi had praised Damian in the morning, without missing a single word. He kept taking deep breaths to try to calm down, but his hands continued to shake with anger. What if it’s objectively okay? Did it mean that she wanted to stand in line for marriage? When she kept following him around like that, it’s time to…!

 

“…what!?”

 

‘No. Let’s calm down.’

 

Thinking about it calmly, if she had lost her mind, wouldn’t she be celebrating? If that’s the case, she might finally become a good friend after 14 years. Now she’s finally faced her true self, and she really wasn’t that bad after all. No, it was actually a good axis. He still wondered why Serabi suddenly changed. Although it was her fault that he became a bit too blunt, it was actually a plus for Raven, who hated making noise. She pretended not to be like that, but he also knew that she suffered silently behind the scenes. It still didn’t make sense to hide the damage to her shoulder, but she probably didn’t want to worry him.

 

Wasn’t it like that? Moreover, she was brave enough to bluff the elf god. In the end, she passed it all on to him… She was not soft and gentle, but she had a very firm personality. And she thought it would be awkward for the two of them to be together, but she wasn’t that awkward at all. He didn’t know what she thought of the time she spent with Raven, but he felt that he at least had a pretty good time.

 

The more he thought about it, the more he thought he could be a good ‘friend’ with Serabi. What if Serabi fell in love with someone else instead of him? If so, he should be happy, but he didn’t feel that way at all. He didn’t know why, but he was worried.

 

Serabi, who fell in love with him, was the type of person who would attack at any cost. Then she would hide in Damian’s bedroom, just as Serabi did to him, and she darkly deals with her nemesis without either the rat or her bird knowing…

 

It was a routine thing just a month or two ago, but now he somehow couldn’t imagine it. Hedidn’t  think that if Serabi did something like that again, he would feel twice as bad as he did. It seemed like he was so stressed out by the crunching sound that he heard all day long. Actually, it wasn’t that annoying, but as soon as he recognized that Damian’s food were snacks made by Serabi, he heard them from all directions. How much did she make?!

 

Raven approached a group of his men who were talking during a brief break. The crunching sound was so annoying that he couldn’t stand it, so he was thinking of banning snacks.

 

“Did you get that from Serabi too?”

 

“Ah, yes. She often make it and give it away. Because the craftsmanship is good.”

 

“…”

 

‘You mean this isn’t the first time? I mean, it was like that often. So why have I never received one?’

 

As he talked about snacks, the topic of his subordinates suddenly changed to Serabi.

 

“Now that I think about it, the image of the princess has changed a lot.”

 

“At first, we also misunderstood because we only saw what was being said to the commander…”

 

“Until now, all the chefs were scared and busy running away, but she is not scared. And if you get to know her personality, she sometimes plays pranks…”

 

It was so funny. Raven, who had been quietly listening to what they were saying, was startled by something unexpected.

 

“A dog playing pranks? That’s ridiculous. That blunt kid?”

 

He asked with a suspicious look, interrupting his subordinate. He already knew that Serabi was a better person than he realized, but she wasn’t a gentle person to the point of playing pranks on others. Besides, it seems Serabi didn’t get along well with his subordinates. Rather, they were anxious because they couldn’t argue with each other. Since when, and what happened in his absence, did his subordinates’ attitude towards Seravi change 180 degrees? It was a transformation that was unimaginable a couple of months ago. What on earth did Serabi do? How on earth did she tame these guys?

 

His subordinates looked at him with an expression of incomprehension.

 

“She is definitely not kind or the type to laugh a lot, but I wouldn’t say she is blunt either, right?”

 

“He’s a human being, so of course he laughs at funny stories and jokes around.”

 

“…”

 

He had never seen Serabi smile. No, he had seen her smile sinisterly many times in the past… but what the autumn subordinates were talking about was definitely a different kind of smile. It was difficult for him to think that he was talking about the same person as the Serabi he knew. Damian, who was quietly listening to their story, glanced at Raven and said.

 

“…We decided to go out together during the National Foundation Day Festival.”

 

“What? The two of you?!”

 

When on earth did these two people become so close? Raven looked at Damian with confused eyes. Damian’s red eyes deepened as if trying to understand his thoughts, but he was too embarrassed to notice it. Damian answered with a look on his face as if he had no idea what he was doing.

 

“No. All of us who are wasting time… She was standing next to us while we were talking, so I asked her out of courtesy if she wanted to go too, and surprisingly, she readily agreed…”

 

Somehow he could imagine it. Even when Damian made the suggestion out of courtesy, she said ‘Yes,’ with a straight face. He thought she said, ‘I’ll go.’

 

Like when she accepted the elf child’s marriage proposal without much thought. So Damian’s words may not be lies.

 

“I’m sure the princess is the kind of person who can’t refuse a favor.”

 

One of his subordinates laughed and added to Damian’s words. Was she the type of person who is not good at turning down requests? Serabi? The image of Serabi, who had completely rejected his request again today, flashed through Raven’s mind. She completely ignored his simple request to have a meal with him and his words that he would gladly teach her magic… 

 

He felt like the reason he had maintained until now was suddenly broken. He covered his face with one hand and muttered in a sullen voice as if he were talking to himself.

 

“…Can’t you refuse a favor? Going out to celebrate the founding day together? It’s funny.”

 

“…yes?”

 

That was really funny. As he muttered to himself, his men began to ask questions, but he was in no mood to answer them.

 

“Kkk…”

 

It was so funny that uncontrollable laughter burst out from deep in his throat. He lowered his head and muttered darkly to himself.

 

“Everyone’s discipline has become lax. They can’t come to their senses… Are you even thinking about going around having fun? That’s right… Hehehe. Hehehe.”

 

Those who had been making fun of Seravi until just now suddenly became quiet, as if they had been hit with cold water.

 

“Tsk tsk ahaha.”

 

He laughed so hard that his back bent forward, and then he suddenly raised his head and looked at his men with a straight face. Those who met Raven’s eyes were startled by something, trembled, and looked at him with thoughtful faces.

 

“S-commander?

 

One of his subordinates asked in a voice as if he were seeing something unfamiliar. He stopped laughing and spoke in a low voice to his subordinates.

 

“…It’s hellish training until the founding day. Don’t expect to return home.”

 

He thought there would be a backlash against the sudden decision, but fortunately no one complained about his words. It was fortunate that everyone noticed quickly. If they didn’t notice how he was feeling at the bottom and rebelled, it wouldn’t have ended with just a warning. Feeling much refreshed, he turned his back and left without any regrets.

 

Behind him, one of his men gulped, swallowed dry saliva, and muttered in a voice steeped in fear.

 

“The eyes… were red.”

 

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Translator Note: