I Became the Villain of a Romance Fantasy

46 – Way home (3)

“…Ugh?”

A strange sound came out of his mouth at the soft sensation surrounding his whole body.

It seems like he was sparring with Wilhelm at the gymnasium just a while ago, but why was he on the bed now?

I struggled to get up and tried to remember, but I can’t quite remember what happened before I came this far. What clearly came to my mind was that I accepted Wilhelm’s sparring and cut off his sword flying towards me.

What happened after that felt blurry, like looking at a photograph with noise.

“Couldn’t it be that I fainted while sparring?”

Considering his physical condition at the time, it is no wonder that he fainted during the sparring. Still, I feel like I saw Elena’s face at the end, but why is that?

I stopped thinking for a moment, then got up and looked around. I had just woken up, so my body was a bit heavy, but I didn’t seem to be hurt anywhere.

However, there was one curious thing. If I had fainted during the sparring, the shirt I was wearing should be soaked in sweat as I had been moving so much since dawn, but the shirt I am wearing right now is as clean as if I had just changed.

There was no trace of the sour smell of sweat on his body. Rather, the subtle scent of lavender tickles my nose.

As soon as I smelled the scent that was thickly left on my body, I felt the corners of my mouth go up, and I felt like I could immediately find out who made me this way.

It wasn’t even soaked in water, but it was so clean. It couldn’t have been possible without magic.

Looking out the window, the stars and moon were already hanging in the sky.

This absolutely blew the whole day away.

There was no clock in this room, so I couldn’t tell the exact time, but the position of the moon gave me a sense of how long I had been lying down.

So, I accidentally skipped all three meals a day. The empty stomach has been crying out for food ever since I came to my senses. If it was now, it seemed like I could eat the macaron that Elena handed me in one bite.

Considering the time, dinner has already been over, and it is questionable whether there will be anything left to eat.

Still, I thought it would be better to go to the kitchen than to sit quietly in the room and hold back my hunger, so I picked up my coat from the hanger and started preparing to leave the room. However, despite my preparation, Ken entered the room with a short knock.

“I thought you would be up by now.”

In one hand he spoke softly, he held a basket of bread as if he had prepared it for me.

If someone sees this scene, they might be surprised by Ken’s appearance at the right time, but maybe it’s because he’s already gotten used to it over the course of five years. It wasn’t too surprising to me.

I took a piece of bread from Ken’s basket and put it in my mouth. No matter how late it was, I couldn’t help but feel the texture of the bread chewing in my mouth was not so good. Perhaps it was funny to see me chewing on something, Ken sighed and opened his mouth.

“This is the first time other than the Count. The Bocchan was so exhausted. I never thought that the Bocchan would lose to someone other than the Count in my entire life.”

“Ken. I’m still 16. And losing… I haven’t lost. Probably.”

At the end of the story, Ken giggled at my blurry expression, saying it was a joke. I wanted to say something to refute that smirking face, but the memory of the sparring with Wilhelm was completely gone, so I couldn’t say what I wanted to say.

Wilhelm was one of the knights recognized not only in the north, but throughout the empire, so even though a 16-year-old boy in Dalian didn’t lose his sword in one match, he might be praised by those around him, but that didn’t work for me either.

Even among the opaque memories, his swordsmanship remained distinct.

I remember the sword clearly, as if a ferocious wolf was aiming for my neck.

It was a sharp sword that seemed like it would blow off my throat in an instant, but I’m sure I wouldn’t have lost to him because I remembered it.

Of course, it is not certain what the result was because it was the sentiment I felt at that moment.

I don’t think I’ve really lost, though…

I don’t remember clearly, but I didn’t think I lost.

If I really did lose the match against him, it would be normal if there was a hole somewhere in my body or one arm was wobbly.

But there was no way to explain it to Ken, so I kept my mouth shut and chewed the bread in the basket.

Although it was hard, I was able to pass it down my throat as I ate it while drinking the tea Ken brought. After a while, the basket full of bread revealed its bottom.

After some hunger subsided, I looked at the blackened window again. The stars, now perfectly positioned high in the sky, tell me how much time I have wasted meaninglessly.

Looking at the stars like that, I suddenly feel regret when I think that the time I might have spent with Elena just went to sleep.

There was not much time left to spend in Merohim now.

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Maybe two days at most?

For me, who wanted to have as many memories with her here as possible, it was a pity that I wasted so much time. Rather, it seems like a mountain of things to pay attention to after coming here.

The lavender scent she left behind still lingered on my body.

Even if it’s not, the senses that are more sensitive than before continue to catch her scent, making Elena’s face keep coming to mind even though I didn’t think about it.

Probably not.

I couldn’t stand the scent of lavender that kept hovering around me and got up from my seat.

I woke up, looked at my reflection in a small mirror placed in the corner of the room, straightened my clothes, and opened the door. I was surprised by my sudden action, but Ken sat down and said with a determined expression as if nothing was wrong.

“There’s no need to be in such a hurry. The lady hasn’t gone to sleep yet.”

“Yes?!”

Even though he didn’t say anything, Ken’s words stabbed me in the middle, and I looked at him with a bewildered face in horror. The old butler with a warm smile was looking at me with eyes that he already knew.

“If you’re in a hurry, you’ll do things you wouldn’t normally make mistakes. Look, isn’t the brooch still crooked?”

“ah…”

As Ken said, he looked in the mirror again and saw that the tie’s brooch was slightly tilted.

Other than that, wrinkles in clothes or other minor problems start to show. As I slowly went back and tidied up the clothes one more time, Ken spoke to me in a calm voice.

“Bocchan. If you meet the young lady, don’t make excuses and honestly speak out what’s in your heart. That would be better.”

“…I see. Thanks Ken.”

You’re just staring right into my head.

I responded with a small smile at Ken’s advice and walked out the door.

In the dark hallway, only the moonlight coming through the window illuminates the path. The darkness made my heart impatient, but I didn’t speed up and kept the same stride as at the beginning.

As I walk to the beat of my pounding heart, my excitement seems to subside a little.

see the light

It was dark all around, so the light leaking through the gap in the door was even more noticeable. When I put the light in my eyes, the fact that I could see her completely restored my mind. Fortunately, as Ken said, she doesn’t seem to be asleep yet.

I cautiously approached the door of her room and knocked on the door.

***

I can not sleep.

If it was as usual, it would be time to lie down and go to sleep by now, but for some reason I couldn’t close my eyes. It seems like there was something I absolutely had to do, but it seems like I just let it go.

Frustrated, I went out to the balcony and quietly looked down at the scenery below the winter castle.

It’s a sight I’ve seen countless times since my previous life, but I wonder if it’s because of the fact that I’m leaving for Sarham soon, and I felt a bit regretful at the thought that I wouldn’t be able to see this for a while.

I inadvertently turned my head to look to the side and murmured softly.

“Sorry…”

He said so, but it was not from the heart that he could not see the scenery in front of his eyes. What made me say that was his absence, which was now taken for granted.

it’s a shame.

Thinking of his face when he wasn’t next to me, I knew why I couldn’t fall asleep. It wasn’t even a question to ponder so deeply. It was just a pity that I couldn’t spend time with him today.

At that fact, I leaned against the railing and let out a small laugh.

At first, I was satisfied with just being by his side, but now I feel regret that I haven’t talked to him for a day. In fact, unlike before, when I felt happy over small things, I could clearly feel that something was changing as my relationship with him improved.

The regret that he was not by my side was still lingering in my heart, but the smile never left my face. It was like proof that this heart had gotten used to the time spent with him.

『Beep-』

A small blue bird perched in the dark night sky and landed on my hand.

The blue bird with fine blue feathers was looking at him with sparkling eyes. I stroked the blue bird’s head with my fingers and then sent it flying toward the sky again.

“Master.”

Who could look at that bird and think that it was made of magic? Even the master of golem magic and the owner of the Golden Tower, known as the Archmage, would not be able to create such sophisticated magical creatures.

Contrary to the cute appearance of that bird sent by his old master, it had the ability to easily knock down quite a few wizards.

It’s not that I don’t think she sent it to threaten her, but this blue bird I’ve seen in my previous life was just a tool she sent to help me fulfill my promise.

“No matter how much, I can’t find it now.”

I muttered to the blue bird flying towards the sky.

Dragon eggs grow by feeding on the magic of the earth flowing from the dragon vein.

That’s why, before the Tower of Dawn was built, she put her egg into the dragon vein flowing here. However, a tower is built on top of it, and the tower’s wizards take out her egg and store it somewhere in the magic tower’s remarks, and things start to get tangled.

It was a dragon’s egg that didn’t show until it consumed some magic power, so for those who discovered it at the time, it was just a stone that absorbed magic power. Now that a long time has passed, in order to find the egg, you have no choice but to thoroughly sweep through all of the huge remarks, but if you wait 5 years, the egg will steadily consume the magic around you and wake up.

And this blue bird is for that time. The moment I detect the egg’s magical power, this bird is designed to guide me to the egg’s location.

Theia, who was connected by the egg and the mind, sent me this bird because she could guess even though she couldn’t know exactly when the egg would wake up. Of course, having turned back time already, I know exactly when the egg will wake up.

As I reflected on my promise to Theia, the events of that day came to mind again.

Come to think of it, he made a very embarrassed face when he made an appointment with Theia. Well, from the story he knew, it was the beginning of a relationship between me and Master, so it’s no surprise, but if he knew about my return, he wouldn’t have reacted that far.

“In the future, there will be countless things like this… I’m looking forward to it.”

Borrowing his expression, did you say that this is the destruction of the original?

Previously, I’d run around trying to change my fate with him, but now, just staying still would change everything he knew. Because the fate he knew from the original no longer existed in this world.

When I imagine how he will react to the changed future, I smile.

“…I can’t possibly do that.”

I raise my body that was leaning on the railing.

I thought it would be okay if I looked at the surrounding scenery, but it doesn’t seem to have any effect. Even if you think about it alone, as before, it somehow leads to a related topic.

At least if I see his face before going to bed, I think my heart will be at ease.

smart-

The moment I made up my mind, I heard someone knocking on the door.

Is this an instinct? As soon as I heard that sound, I knew who was standing in front of the door even though it wasn’t open.

“Come on in.”

Speak while controlling your voice so that it is neither too high nor too low, so that your current emotions do not come out.

With my permission, the door opens and he enters the room. The eyes of his that illuminated my face were definitely dragon’s, but there was nothing like that sharpness there. His golden eyes, looking at me with warm eyes, were close to the sun.

Seeing me, he said with a small smile.

“It’s late at night. Why haven’t you slept yet?”

I can’t bear to say that I think of you…

“…I haven’t been able to sleep well. What about Damian? Why are you here so late?”

After saying that, I asked him again. It was the same for him not sleeping until late at night. In fact, even as he said this, his answer was somewhat expected. He must have entered the room after seeing the light in the room that hadn’t been turned off yet.

But the answer that came out of his mouth was completely out of my expectation.

He averted his eyes from my question for a moment, then smiled slightly and approached me. Standing next to me on the balcony, he looked up at the sky for a moment, then opened his mouth without turning his face to me.

“…Woke up and just wanted to see your face, Elena.”

The soft voice that comes out of his mouth that passes by my ear melts my ears.

His answer, which was far from expected, was enough to evaporate my reason in a moment. But I no longer turn into an idiot who can’t do anything with his words like before.

Cooling off the heat from the blowing wind, I held his empty hand.

I grabbed his hand with more strength to his warm yet strong pulse. Holding his hand, I looked up at the sky like him.

The starry night sky was beautiful. When I leave Sarham in a few days, I won’t be able to see the sky like this anymore, but I didn’t feel regretful.

I was sure that the sky looking up from the south would be just as beautiful, so I leaned against him, feeling the warmth of his hand.