EWEML 27

Chapter 27

Do you want to make me sad?

Dielo’s eyes trembled slightly as he asked that question.

“……Ah.”

It wasn’t only his eyes that were trembling.

I could feel a faint tremor in the hand that was holding mine.

The moment I realized it, Dielo smiled sadly.

It was a smile so painful that it seemed capable of making even the person watching him ache.

“I’m not used to goodbyes, Crua.”

He turned his gaze back toward the sea.

“The sea of Argenta…… This place has always brought me nothing but farewells.”

He seemed to be trying to speak calmly. But having read the original novel, I knew.

Even though I had only read half of the original story, it was more than enough to understand what kind of person Dielo was.

That he had experienced countless farewells by the sea.

It was true.

[Young Dielo sat by the sea, endlessly waiting for the knight.

The knight had already died on the battlefield ten days ago, but young Dielo wasn’t ready to accept it.]

That was how it had been described in the original novel, I think.

Cruelly enough for someone as affectionate as him to bear, the monsters of the Infinite Sea had taken away countless people of Argenta.

And every time, he grieved.

Perhaps that was what he meant when he said he wasn’t used to goodbyes.

“…….”

I could see his trembling eyelashes.

In the end, I clasped his hand tightly with both of mine.

Only then did Dielo seem able to breathe again.

Had he been tense all this time?

He glanced briefly at the people behind me.

As though he had to maintain the image of a strong and ruthless ruler, if only because of them.

“Dielo―”

I was about to say something to him when I belatedly noticed something strange.

Blood was spreading across his pristine white shirt, creeping down his arm.

It wasn’t blood that had splashed onto him.

It was spreading from his own arm.

He had suffered a deep wound.

“For now, calm down, Dielo.”

I could see him trying desperately to maintain his cold demeanor, yet I could also feel how tensely he was breathing.

I wrapped my arms around his waist and gently patted his back.

Dielo immediately embraced me tightly in return.

I could feel strength returning to his previously limp fingertips, as though he were trying to hold me captive.

Over his shoulder, I could see Mirta lying dead.

“…….”

At first, I was definitely shocked.

But as I gradually felt my heart beating more calmly, I also began to regain my composure.

This probably wasn’t the first time Crua’s body had experienced something like this.

“Crua…….”

Dielo’s arms loosened as he whispered my name softly.

―Clang!

The sword he had been holding struck the pebbles on the beach, making a sharp sound.

“Don’t move your arm.”

I said that while using a handkerchief to staunch the bleeding from his arm.

Even then, Dielo kept looking at me.

With that same painful smile.

As though he were asking me not to leave his side, just like all those people who had left him by the sea.

……How long had we even known each other?

He was way too affectionate!

No wonder he was always getting stabbed in the back!

I pressed firmly against his arm.

“Ah……!”

I saw Dielo flinch.

And yet, even while clearly hurting, he still tried to put on that sharp, intimidating air again.

It was almost pitiful.

I let out a short sigh.

“I promise. I won’t suddenly leave.”

Dielo blinked at my words.

Actually, I had been planning to run away early, before things became complicated, once I dealt with Duke Aloze.

More than anything, I was afraid I might grow attached to Argenta.

Once the real Pero eventually came to Dielo’s side, I couldn’t stay here anymore.

‘I can make Pero irrelevant.’

……What had that meant?

“Really, you’ll promise me?”

Dielo asked then.

His trembling voice sounded almost heartbreaking.

Once again, my attention was stolen by him.

“I don’t want to part with you, Crua.”

So don’t act as though you’re going to leave someday.

The voice that whispered those words was incredibly gentle and sweet.

I pressed a hand against my forehead.

Did I really pick the wrong card?

I knew he had an innocent nature, but if eliminating a traitor could shake him up this badly, how was he ever going to deal with Duke Aloze?

For now, it seemed I needed to strengthen my business partner’s mental fortitude.

“All right. Of course I’ll stay with you until Pero comes.”

I whispered softly.

“And you’ll have plenty of time to prepare for the farewell. Even if Pero appears tomorrow.”

I won’t suddenly disappear!

Only after I reassured him like that once more did Dielo finally give me a relieved, relaxed smile.

That sorrowful smile……

He really was a man who stirred up one’s protective instincts.

In novels, people like this often turned dark later.

I should make sure to comfort him properly before he became one of them.

“……My lord, my lady.”

As though our tense state had finally eased, the others cautiously approached us.

Dielo continued looking only at my face until Pielle came right up beside us.

I pressed firmly against the wound I had been treating.

“!”

He jumped in surprise.

I told him,

“We need to deal with the situation.”

“……Ah.”

Dielo slowly closed and opened his eyes.

Then he firmly pressed his lips into a straight line before speaking to the Argenta knights following behind Pielle.

“Erase all traces and return to Argenta!”

“Yes, my lord!”

Only then did the knights begin moving quickly.

I waited until the surroundings had become sufficiently noisy before speaking to Dielo.

“But, Dielo.”

“Yes.”

Dielo turned toward me.

His arm was still in my grasp.

Amid the chaos of people moving frantically around the beach, his gaze remained fixed on me.

I looked at him and let out a short sigh.

“You need to practice pretending to be a bad person a little more.”

“What?”

I pointed at him.

“Everyone can see you trembling.”

“……Can they?”

Dielo smiled gently at my words.

“That smile is a problem too.”

There were people who could dominate others simply through their presence.

But this man was nothing more than a soft, fluffy pudding once you got past his slightly sharp first impression.

“Try making a scary face.”

At my words, Dielo tensed his lips.

Is that supposed to be a scary face?

You just look like you’re dissatisfied with the meal in front of you.

This wasn’t going to work.

“……I’ll teach you.”

How to pretend to be bad.

How to become a sharp and intimidating ruler.

I wasn’t as innocent as Dielo, and at least Crua’s body seemed to know exactly how to do those things.

I could become a good teacher.

“It would be an honor.”

Dielo gave me a radiant smile.

Seeing that pure smile, brighter than the sun itself, made me realize that I had a long, long way to go as his teacher.

On the way back.

“But how did you get hurt?”

The Argenta people from the fourth floor who were accompanying the two listened to the conversation between the head of the family and his wife.

Of course, it was the duty of servants to pretend they hadn’t heard anything even when they could clearly hear it, so they desperately tried to block their ears.

“Mirta put up quite a fierce resistance.”

But Dielo’s gentle voice shook their minds regardless of their efforts.

They already knew that he was pretending to have a weak and gentle personality on the outside.

But wasn’t he being especially gentle right now?

It was almost as if honey were dripping from his voice.

Moreover—

……Judging from the angle of the sword wound, it doesn’t seem like it was inflicted by his opponent’s sword.

Since most of Argenta’s people trained in swordsmanship, they couldn’t help but notice.

The wound on their lord’s arm that their lady had been treating was clearly one he had inflicted on himself with his own sword.

It was probably so that he could continue his usual act of pretending to be weak and incapable of properly wielding his strength.

There was no way someone like Mirta could have wounded their lord.

The people of Argenta were certain of that.

Of course, no one dared to openly discuss it.

Because every now and then, the lord’s murderous gaze swept over them.

‘Stay quiet.’

That was what the gaze seemed to say.

A gaze that was completely different from the one he directed toward his lady.