USSUF 06

Chapter 06

‘I thought they weren’t a close couple at all….’

My head tilted to the side on its own.

In the original novel, Zekron and his wife had not been described as particularly affectionate.

Zekron had no interest in forming relationships with others.

As a war hero, he received both the admiration of the empire’s soldiers and the love of its citizens.

After the war ended, he once again proved his abilities by flawlessly handling the management of his territory and affairs of state.

But that was all.

He was always alone.

His relationships with his parents and siblings were distant, his marriage cold, and he never kept friends or lovers by his side.

Then, several years after the Duchess died, Zekron reunited with Veronica, the female lead and his first love from childhood.

For the first time in his life, he formed a relationship that could truly be called a relationship, and he devoted everything to it.

All the wealth and power he possessed.

All the feelings and passion he never even knew he had.

‘But that only applied to Veronica. Toward everyone else, including Elfwin, he stayed cold and indifferent.’

Maybe Elfwin had secretly loved such a husband.

Just thinking about what Zekron had said earlier made her heart race abnormally fast.

‘She probably liked him but didn’t know how to express it properly.’

Elfwin was the kind of woman who did everything her own way, so there was no way she knew how to properly convey her feelings to someone else.

And since Zekron himself was cold and detached, he likely never paid attention to the subtle changes in her behavior.

That was probably why his rare moment of gentleness made her heart react so sweetly.

‘Could there be something like a diary?’

The thought suddenly crossed my mind.

If there was, I felt like I could understand Elfwin a little better.

I needed to learn as much about her as possible.

It would be incredibly awkward if my heart suddenly started racing or my face turned red in situations I never expected.

I opened every drawer in the bedroom and private sitting room.

But nothing that resembled a diary appeared.

Actually, there were barely any books at all.

‘Oh? Maybe…!’

I opened another door connected to the bedroom.

A small, cozy study appeared.

It was probably Elfwin’s private study.

Only then did I finally see things shaped like books.

Though there still weren’t many.

There were a few practical books about noble culture and etiquette, along with several novels.

I scanned the titles.

The curly unfamiliar letters were completely foreign, yet I could read them without any difficulty.

That was probably thanks to the twenty percent of Elfwin still remaining in my brain.

The Secret Outing of a Count’s Daughter, Not There, Your Highness, A Holy Knight’s Exhausting Day…

Hehe, somehow Elfwin’s taste in novels seemed pretty similar to mine, and my sense of kinship with her suddenly shot up.

‘I should read these later when I have time.’

Right now, the diary was more important.

I opened the desk drawers one by one.

But the very bottom drawer was locked.

‘If there’s a diary, it’s definitely in here!’

I had a good feeling about it.

Finding the key was easy.

I opened the top drawer and reached deep inside, fumbling around until my fingers touched a cold metal key.

My heart began to race.

Thump-thump.

I felt like someone about to commit a crime while nervously worrying about getting caught.

I inserted the key into the lock of the bottom drawer.

“Bingo!”

As expected, there was a diary inside.

I quickly opened it.

‘Huh? What is all this?’

As I skimmed through the diary, I felt my face burning hot.

I hadn’t written any of it, yet somehow I still felt embarrassed myself.

The contents went something like this:

…Zekron is stupid! Zekron is an idiot! Zekron is mean! Zekron, how could you do this to me? They say Zekron is ugly! Super ugly! Bleeegh! Zekron is a sea anemone! Zekron is spit-out squid! ….

“This is seriously insane…!”

A furious outburst escaped me.

Snap!

I hurriedly closed the diary.

Then I lifted my head and looked around.

I already knew nobody was there, but I still wanted to check again.

I absolutely did not want anyone catching me reading this nonsense.

No—more accurately, I didn’t want anyone discovering the existence of this diary at all.

Goosebumps spread across my body.

‘Ah… Elfwin….’

I shook my head.

Elfwin was twenty-one years old.

A fully grown adult.

But that seemed to apply only to her physical age.

Mentally she was probably… seven? Eight?

Even being generous, there was no way she was older than ten mentally.

Still, at least she had the sense to lock the drawer containing the diary.

I decided to gather my courage and continue.

I had only read the first page so far, and maybe—just maybe—there could be something useful inside.

…The blueberry cheesecake served for dessert today was so delicious that I accidentally ate an entire slice. Aaaagh! Are you crazy?! How could you eat all of that? You stupid pig! If you keep stuffing your face thoughtlessly like that, you’ll become obese in no time! My stomach’s already starting to stick out lately and it’s stressing me out! Get a grip! A pig is unacceptable in Wiltson!! ….

“A pig?! Obese?! Has she completely lost her mind?!”

Sighs burst from me one after another.

This girl was trembling over a single slice of cheesecake despite being this skinny.

‘And what pregnant woman worries about her stomach sticking out? Good grief….’

She was immature beyond belief.

Should I keep reading or not?

I worried I’d only grow more disappointed, but I decided to endure just a little longer.

Grinding my teeth together, I flipped the page.

My hand trembled slightly as it turned the thin paper.

…Dad isn’t here either. Dad is stupid! Mom isn’t here. Mom is stupid! My sister isn’t here. Sister is stupid! My brother isn’t here. Brother is stupid! Why aren’t they here? Idiots! I miss them, so why aren’t they here?! They said they’d stay beside me whenever I needed them! They said they’d always stay with me! So why are they lying?! Why is nobody here?! I hate everyone….”

At this point, I just felt sorry for her.

It looked like a little child throwing all her frustrations into a diary while whining to her mother.

Maybe this thin diary had been her only conversation partner.

“You really are pitiful.”

Giving up on reading further, I placed the diary back into the drawer.

“Hm?”

But the drawer hadn’t contained only the diary.

There were other books inside too.

They looked like psychology books.

How to Enjoy Conversations with Men, The Love Women Speak and the Love Men Speak Are Different, Fifteen Behavioral Habits Only Charming People Have…

Titles like those.

And when I opened them, I saw traces of heavy reading—underlines everywhere, notes scribbled in the margins.

‘Ah… Elfwin….’

The tip of my nose stung.

The things hidden inside that locked drawer.

Those were probably the feelings she never wanted anyone else to discover.

Her worries about her appearance, her longing for her family, and also her somewhat childish affection toward Zekron, along with the frustration of wanting to get closer to him without knowing how.

Ahh…

A deep sigh escaped from the depths of my chest.

It felt like the sorrowful heart of an older sister watching a clumsy youngest sibling.

“Still, calling Zekron stupid and an idiot was a bit much, Elfwin.”

I put the psychology books and diary back into the drawer and locked it again.

I had no intention of returning the tiny key to its original place.

It was far too easy to find there.

I walked over to the bookshelf in the corner of the study.

Then I pulled out a book from the deepest part of the bottom shelf and carefully slipped the key inside.

I was more meticulous than Elfwin.

And probably twice as shame-prone too.

The idea of someone discovering that diary was horrifying.

‘Well, the chances are low. But it never hurts to be careful.’

If someone ever read that diary, I felt like I would literally die from embarrassment.

For a moment I considered throwing it straight into the fireplace and burning it, but that felt too cruel, so I restrained myself.

After all, I was essentially borrowing Elfwin’s body.

As I stepped out of the study, I heard a knock.

Knock, knock, knock.

“Milady, we’ll help you change into your nightclothes.”

Kate and Judy entered.

“Oh, it’s already that time.”

Entrusting my body to them felt strangely natural.

If it had been the old me, showing my naked body to complete strangers and letting them handle me however they wished would have been unbearably awkward and uncomfortable.

But now, it didn’t bother me at all.

It felt as though I had entrusted myself to them for a very long time already.

‘It’s probably because of the sensations and habits left behind in this body by Elfwin.’

That belonged to the twenty percent of Elfwin still lingering in the software.

“Huh? Ahh!”

After changing into my nightclothes and trying to walk toward the bed, my body suddenly staggered.

My legs gave out and my vision spun.

Cold sweat broke out across my skin, and my hands trembled faintly.

“Oh my, Milady!”

“Are you alright?”

No, I absolutely was not alright.