“W-Why would you run away with me?”
“I can do that much for you, Sera.”
“But Simone, you’re doing fine in the Kingdom of Boleno. There’s no need for you to go that far.”
“Well, it’s more because I consider you more meaningful to me.”
Admittedly, it was a tempting offer. If he ran away with me, I might actually be safe. But….
“Hmm, I’m not ready to run away just yet. I might find a clue to defeating Princess Eva from Aurora….”
I didn’t want to back down yet.
I hadn’t even caught Aurora, and escaping from Princess Eva was all I had managed so far.
I hadn’t even confronted Princess Eva directly.
Maybe Princess Eva wasn’t an opponent beyond my ability to defeat.
“When we strive to become better people, the things around us also improve.”*
*Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist
I was the type of person who had to confront things head-on. Retreating before even trying was something I couldn’t stand.
Talking with Simone helped me organize my thoughts. I realized I wasn’t ready to run away yet.
Seeing the resolute look on my face, Simone spoke gently.
“Alright, then let’s start by tracking down Aurora together. Deciding to run away can come after that.”
“Yes….”
After parting ways with Simone, I went straight to my room and furiously opened my diary.
Damn it! I can’t take this anymore!
– August 24th
Simone Monteverdi, verdict: Guilty.
He’s seriously infuriating… unnecessarily kind…. But the problem is, his face is exactly my type… which is why I’m so annoyed.
Today, he asked me to run away with him.
It feels like something straight out of a romance novel; is he the male lead? Oh wait, he is the male lead….
Of course, I’m not going to get ahead of myself and assume he likes me.
After all… nothing’s happened to suggest otherwise, right? Romance novels often have scenes where the male lead falls in love but the female lead insists, ‘There’s no way he likes me!’ Those stories always share one common feature.
Key trait: The female lead saves the male lead.
They either deliver impactful lines, rescue the male lead from his abusive childhood, or in some way ‘save’ him.
Of course, I’ve never saved Simone. Since the ‘conditions’ of a romance novel aren’t met, I’m not going to assume he has feelings for me.
But it still annoys me when he acts in ways that confuse me.
Ugh~~ I just want to find Aurora already~~~
***
“Hmph, I won’t read another book ever again.”
Arkhangelo, whose stomach churned at the mere sight of text now, muttered to himself as he walked down the hallway of the mansion.
Where could he hide from the group’s watchful eyes? That’s it!
“I should lock myself up in the garden.”
The garden of the Lithman mansion was beautiful and could easily satisfy Arkhangelo’s sense of aesthetics.
Humming a tune, Arkhangelo made his way to the garden, only to discover, much to his dismay, that someone was already there.
“Ghieuspe.”
Ghieuspe was sitting on a garden bench, reading a book.
Finding him in such an unexpected place, Arkhangelo asked, slightly flustered,
“What are you doing here? Why aren’t you in the study?”
“For a change of pace.”
“Damn, I didn’t know you even knew how to take a break!”
Despite grumbling, Arkhangelo didn’t leave and instead sat next to Ghieuspe. Ghieuspe was a quiet person, unlikely to nag him about reading books, so he figured it was safe.
Then Arkhangelo noticed the book Ghieuspe was reading, and his eyes widened.
[The Power of Love]
To his surprise, Ghieuspe was reading a book with ‘love’ in the title!
“Wait, Ghieuspe, you’re reading a book about love?”
When Arkhangelo asked in disbelief, Ghieuspe calmly replied,
“I was wondering if the power of love, as people call it, could overcome the limits of magical engineering.”
“This is unbelievable.”
Shaking his head in disbelief, Arkhangelo added slyly,
“Do you believe in the power of love?”
“I’m not sure yet.”
“Well, you’d have to experience love to know, wouldn’t you?”
“What about you?”
“I love myself.”
“……….”
Ghieuspe expressed his exasperation through a rare silence, but Arkhangelo remained unaffected.
“At least Seraphina must know what love is.”
“……….”
“Lately, even Simone seems to have discovered the power of love.”
“………!”
“What? We both know it’s true, don’t we?”
Ghieuspe silently stared at Arkhangelo for a moment before slowly nodding. As someone with keen observational skills, there was no way Ghieuspe hadn’t noticed.
Of course, if even the Duke of Lithman was aware of it, there was no way Arkhangelo wouldn’t know either.
In other words, they all knew but were pretending not to, simply to avoid getting involved in anything troublesome.
Ghieuspe briefly thought of his friends.
Raffaello already had an illustrious history of romantic relationships….
So, perhaps Ghieuspe and Arkhangelo were the only ones unfamiliar with love.
“Do you think you could fall in love?”
When Ghieuspe asked, Arkhangelo looked utterly baffled.
“What on earth? I never thought I’d hear you ask that.”
“……….”
“Well, won’t it happen eventually? I believe in the kind of day that comes like fate.”
“……….”
“You look unsure. But I think you, too, will find love one day.”
“…..….”
“Ugh, whatever.”
Arkhangelo shook his head and quietly looked up at the sky. The weather was clear today, and the sky was beautifully blue.
“Hmph, come to think of it, it’s been a while since we’ve had a proper conversation.”
“……….”
It felt strange. As if the door to his heart had opened just a little.
Arkhangelo, feeling an odd urge, decided to throw out another comment.
“Do you think of me as a friend, too?”
“…I do.”
“Good, then I’ll acknowledge you as a friend, too—wait a minute!”
Arkhangelo suddenly stood up, and Ghieuspe turned to look at him.
Arkhangelo’s outstretched finger was pointing at…
“Aurora’s box!”
***
“My dear little sister, how unexpected of her to write me a letter.”
Sitting leisurely on a luxurious sofa, Princess Eva smirked in amusement. She was, as always, impeccably perfect.
Suddenly, she glanced in the mirror and pulled her lips up into a smile that stretched unnaturally wide. The grin was so inhumanly stiff that anyone could tell it wasn’t genuine, yet the maid brushing Princess Eva’s platinum blonde hair didn’t so much as blink.
Of course, that was only natural—because the maid was an automaton developed by Princess Eva herself.
Humming a cheerful tune, Princess Eva tore open the letter envelope with unnecessary force.
Shreds of the envelope scattered to the floor, and Princess Eva burst into a peal of laughter, as if she found the mess amusing.
Ah, humans were truly fascinating. Watching things mimic human movements was even more entertaining!
After once again checking in the mirror to see which expression appeared the most ‘human,’ Princess Eva began reading the letter from her sister.
“Hmm.”
As expected, the letter wasn’t very interesting. It was a plea from Angela, worried that Princess Eva’s influence might extend to the Cassan Empire.
Naturally, Princess Eva had no intention of granting such a request. But more importantly….
“It seems my dear Sera was in the capital of Cassan.”
She was already aware that Seraphina had participated in a magical demonstration event in the Cassan Empire.
“Oh, I wonder if Angela met Sera as well?”
If so, things might become quite entertaining.
Princess Eva’s lips curved gently, forming a soft smile, as she penned her reply to her little sister.
She hoped her beloved Sera would think of her a little more often—and be just a little more nervous.
To achieve that, she’d need to tighten the leash on her.
No matter how hard Sera tried to escape, in the end, she would have no choice but to return to her.
