Chapter 44 – Episode 44. Doubt and Love (2)
“Astrid, you’re late.”
“Didn’t you tell me when you were coming?”
“Where are you going?”
“I went to the Imperial Library.”
Still, thinking that it would be better than nothing, Astrid borrowed about five books on summoning magic. He called a carriage with the book, and on the way back home, he heard that Leopold had come and was seeing Ashley alone.
“To the Imperial Library? You?”
He got permission, but he didn’t expect to be there so soon.
Leopold made a curious expression. At that expression, Astrid pursed her lips.
“I also read at least a book. What… What do you see people as?”
“Ashley, what do you think?”
“… That, people change a bit when they become adults, don’t they?”
Ashley was also hard to believe. It is hard for her to believe that Astrid has been to the library. That Astrid is a library.
“Anyway, what are you doing?”
“Hmm… Ashley, could you step aside for a moment?”
“All right. Your Highness, I’ll prepare meat for dinner, is that okay?”
“Not so.”
“All right. Then.”
Ashley bowed deeply and left her drawing room. Leopold sips tea as if he were the owner sitting on a chair at the table in the drawing room, and Astrid stands idly by while watching such Leopold. It was as if the owner and guest had switched.
“Astrid, sit down.”
“I see.”
There is nothing inconvenient.
Does not exist. There should be no obviously there won’t be
However, because of what had happened this morning, Leopold was also a bit uncomfortable.
‘I don’t have to avoid it.’
Come to think of it, the real Astrid was quiet for some reason.
He slept, and it seemed that he was really sleeping.
If the real Astrid had been awake, if she had been alone with Leopold like this…
【… Oh, oh?! Me, Highness?!]
‘You can’t be a nobleman either.’
【Wh, what nonsense are you talking about?!】
He fell asleep, and somehow he woke up again. Again, her head began to throb.
Astrid said to the real Astrid, who was making a fuss about changing it right away, that there is a time limit, but I will change it at a more decisive moment, as if treating a three-year-old child.
“Have you been waiting long?”
“No. I came a little while ago.”
Astrid cupped his hands neatly and placed them on his thighs, staring at Leopold.
‘He was really handsome.’
【Of course! How many times do you say something obvious, you!]
“That’s right. Come to think of it, he said he had something to tell me.”
“It did. Astrid.”
“Yes?”
Leopold’s blue eyes turned to Astrid.
Astrid couldn’t read the emotions reflected in it. What does it mean? Even if I call, there is nothing to say. It was so quiet for a while. Leopold didn’t say anything, just staring at him.
After enduring that long time, it was around the time Astrid was about to ask why.
“I heard you were very sick.”
“Uh… “
Judging from the context, he must be talking about the time when he had been asleep for a month. Astrid didn’t know what to answer. That one month, he was not the one who had been asleep for a month. It’s the real Astrid babbling in her head.
“I’m sorry I couldn’t go to the hospital.”
【As expected, His Highness has me… !]
“I’m sorry for finding out so late.”
“What are you trying to say… “
“Since then, you seem to have changed a lot.”
“Yes?”
Changed, what
What do you mean has changed?
“Yes, that tyrannical disposition, the sword of a horse that hacks into the hearts of the people around you. They have completely disappeared from you now.”
[Possessive, savage… ?】
‘Now, wait a minute.’
“I really hated the way you tried to hurt the people you were with. So even though I knew I had to visit you in the hospital, I couldn’t bear to do so.”
[Now, what is Your Highness saying?]
“Me, Your Highness. For a moment… What are you talking about… “
“I thought that when I saw you performing your squad leader duties at the academy. I don’t even know if you’re not the old you. I thought about that for a while.”
“That… Did you run?”
Leopold raised a cup and drank tea.
Leopold was drinking the tea that Astrid hated because it was tasteless.
“That’s why I thought for a while that maybe you might have improved after being seriously ill.”
The real Astrid became less and less talkative.
The past that Leopold says is the real Astrid, and the one that says he changed at the academy is the fake Astrid.
In other words, Leopold was saying that he liked the fake Astrid better than the real Astrid.
【Now… Your Highness, what are you saying… I wonder.]
‘No, there must be some mistake. Let’s hear more. Huh?’
Somehow, it felt like the real Astrid was feeling right now. The feeling of falling into an endless, bottomless depth. I feel like the light of my life has gone out right in front of my eyes. I feel like I am in front of an endless precipice where the guide I used to walk relying on in the dark finally guided me.
Such a dark, muddy, humid, wet feeling.
“It was, but… “
Leopold’s words continued.
“Your behavior at the ball, dealing with Lady Ureid, Lady Georgien, and Lady Autria, was no different from yours in the past. You before you got sick, you at the academy, you at the prom. It seemed like everyone else was different. Besides, last night you clearly told me.”
Dalgrak.
A teacup was placed on top of the saucer.
Leopold’s blue eyes were looking straight at Astrid.
With no emotion, no personal interest, sunken eyes as if he just wanted to know the truth.
Astrid lowered her gaze, unable to face such Leopold.
“You said Why do I have to suffer like this because of you? Come on, Astrid. Tell me What do you mean by you guys?”
I couldn’t remember.
In the first place, I couldn’t remember what I said while drunk, or even if I said something like that, although they only come to mind in fragments.
“You were like a person changing in a flash. I wanna know. What happened while you were sick, and what caused you to change like that?”
Leopold stood up from his seat.
Then, he came over to Astrid, who was sitting across from him, and slowly knelt down on one knee and held Astrid’s hand.
“I know that it is not appropriate to ask me what happened to you, who has not even visited you, my fiancée, in the hospital. But Astrid… No, Asti. Tell me what happened to you I wanna know.”
‘… Let’s just tell the truth.’
【… Is it so. I have no choice but to do that.]
I couldn’t think of any other way.
No matter what excuses he gave, there was no way those words would work for the current Leopold.
I didn’t know that I could see through Astrid, who changed so quickly as if she had become a different person, with such precision.
“Actually, I am.”
“Okay. Tell me.”
Leopold looked up at Astrid with a lowered gaze than Astrid, who was sitting in the chair.
Feeling quite warm in his gaze, Astrid bit his lip.
“Astrid is a-“
Town.
【What are you doing other than talking?】
‘No, I’m trying to talk… ‘
“Not Astrid-“
Town.
Words do not come out
I meant to say that she’s not Astrid, she’s another spirit that inhabits her body.
As soon as he tried to say the words, his throat locked up and no words came out.
“Does your throat feel bad?”
“No no… No, actually, I am not Astrid.”
Again
If you try to say just that, your throat will choke.
【Perhaps there is a ban on not being able to say that.】
‘Taboo… ?’
【A kind of forbidden word… I’ve heard that there is something like that in the magic of barbarians.]
‘Why is that… Then once… ‘
First of all, I decided to stop talking too much.
“… It’s just, drunkenness. Drunkenness.”
“It’s something I don’t want to talk about. I get it.”
Leopold stood up slowly.
“After that, you will find out naturally. Anyway, got it.”
“…”
I wish I could have told you the truth.
Astrid bit her lip again.
*
It was a rather sudden visit from the crown prince, but fortunately, she visited with enough time to prepare a meal.
【That unemployed child never goes out to play!? He thought it would be a meal for just the two of us!]
‘I’m your brother… Calm down… ‘
Just a little while ago, Leopold had unintentionally heard harsh words, but Leopold was straight as if he’d forgotten about it.
… For some reason, it felt like he was forcibly squeezing vitality out of Astrid’s voice.
Suddenly, his head throbbed with pain.
Astrid squeezed her temples and tried hard to avoid the current situation, which was adding more confusion to this burdensome position.
“Oh, it’s been a while since we’ve had a meal together like this. Your Highness Leopold.”
“Yeah, long time no see.”
“Because the last time I saw you was over 10 years ago. It’s something I couldn’t say before, but you’ve changed a lot.”
Ashley laughed out loud.
The female Astrid is the shortest, the next tallest is Leopold, and Ashley is slightly taller than Leopold.
However, all three of them were not short, so the table where the three sat together looked quite full even though it was a table for eight people.
‘Why are you doing this to your younger brother?’
【Isn’t that obvious! I thought I would have a private meal with Her Highness, but my expectations were dashed, wouldn’t you be angry?]
‘That’s what I’m going to get tired of later, but please be kind to my younger sister… ‘
I wondered what kind of treatment Ashley had received.
No matter how bloody she is, she is still her little sister, so why not take care of her? She didn’t think it was her sister.
“Your Highness is getting better and better.”
“Thank you for the compliment. Ashley… “
Leopold glanced over at Ashley. It would be a little difficult to say that he is handsome even with empty words, but the cut across his face is quite impressive, so he looks more like a handsome man than a handsome man.
“… You are reliable, like a brown bear.”
【That guy must have eaten something good alone… 】
‘Because he’s your younger brother!?’
Astrid fighting fiercely in her head, Ashley staring at her with a smile full of laughter, and Leopold staring at Ashley.
It was a strange atmosphere.
“Ashley, are you going to keep leaving only salad?”
“Ah, didn’t you intentionally leave it there for your sister to eat?”
Ashley laughs off Astrid’s bruises. Then Astrid moved her fork and fetched the salad from Ashley’s plate.
“Aigoo, thank you. Sister.”
Astrid takes the meat from my plate and transfers it to Ashley’s plate.
And, Leopold was quietly watching that scene.
Thinking that it wasn’t just for Leopold himself.
