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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: FusionX
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“…You can sleep here. Or I can send you back to the capital. If staying at an inn or something is more comfortable, you can do that too.”
“I’ll just sleep here.”
“Okay then, have a good night…”
Sylphia’s voice trailed off in a strangely lonely way as she turned around.
Our conversation was cut off the moment I uttered those words.
Conversation is an exchange.
It’s an exchange in the form of language to express opinions on a specific topic or to engage in the so-called back-and-forth banter.
If you simplify that into two letters, it becomes a conversation.
However, from the moment I blurted out those words, what we had was not a conversation but a hollow echo.
I had a bitter taste lingering on the tip of my tongue.
It felt as if I had not only rejected Sylphia’s kindness, but had pushed her into a cesspool.
It was a feeling as if I had broken a taboo that shouldn’t have been broken, or committed a sin.
And Sylphia…
“She had a shocked expression.”
The quiet murmur soon scattered softly.
Truth can sometimes be cruel.
There’s a reason why expressions like “well-intentioned lie” or “white lie” exist.
But I spat out the truth bluntly without any filter, and the result was that our conversation was now scattering like an echo that didn’t return.
No, maybe this was better.
If I had acted indecisively there and behaved as if I had accepted Sylphia’s feelings even though I didn’t intend to, the shock she would have received when I later flipped my attitude like the back of my hand would have been greater.
There was nothing as vicious as playing with someone’s heart, which was my belief, so maybe it was better to cleanly tie the knot here.
No, it definitely was.
As if hypnotizing myself, I repeated those words and flopped onto the bed that looked fluffy at a glance.
I hadn’t washed up yet, but I was mentally exhausted.
My tired mind and body were demanding rest.
However, even after lying down and pulling the blanket up to my neck, there was no sign of falling asleep.
‘…I’m definitely tired though.’
It was true that I’d been through a lot of things in the past few days.
Moreover, today I was roughly tossed around like an experimental mouse for various magic experiments under the pretext of fixing my constitution, but perhaps because of the shocking incident earlier, my mind was still awake.
It was a contradiction of being mentally tired and wanting to sleep, but sleep wouldn’t come.
Thanks to that, although it was a bit strange to call it thanks, I was able to slowly reflect on what had happened earlier.
First of all, I didn’t like this situation itself.
In my previous life, it wouldn’t have been too bad to be unilaterally courted by a woman so beautiful that you would unconsciously look back if you passed her on the street, something I couldn’t even dream of.
Of course, there was a conditional clause that this was not a gender-reversed world.
“…This is reality.”
Thanks to the existence of magic, the level of technology was incomparably higher compared to the Middle Ages of my previous life.
Although it wasn’t to the extent of fully enjoying the conveniences of modern civilization, it was enough to not have any inconveniences in daily life.
But what was the use of technological advancement through the development of magical engineering?
The civic consciousness here was at the level of the Middle Ages.
The fact that this world was a gender-reversed world meant, in other words, that the treatment of men in this world was the same as the treatment of women in the Middle Ages of my previous life.
Twenty years old.
In my previous life, at this age when I had just become an adult, I was already considered an old bachelor who had missed the marriageable age.
In fact, there were few combinations that sounded as ridiculous as the age of twenty and the word “old bachelor,” but that was the reality of this world.
It was only because I was granted a kind of exceptional clause as a mage that it was to this extent.
If it weren’t for that, or if the various episodes that happened to me in the past month were hypothetically absent,
“I would have been going on arranged dates by now.”
I unconsciously muttered.
My parents, who were already troubled by my older and younger sisters who were considered quite old maids by the standards of this era, would have been pestering me to get married as soon as possible, even if I was a little younger.
The sense of disconnection between the memories of my previous life and the reality I faced in this life was eating away at me.
A hollow laugh escaped me.
It seemed that while my thinking was still the same as in my previous life, I had been under the illusion that I was adapting and living in this world.
And I was still selfish to a fault.
Perhaps I had adapted, but I was still too selfish and self-centered to conform.
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The next morning.
As promised, it was now Arwen’s turn.
I was getting used to the fact that they were taking turns dating me.
It was also partly because I had agreed to it in order to avoid debuting in high society as Princess Elena’s ball partner.
And as if we had made a promise, Sylphia and I remained silent about what had happened yesterday.
More precisely, we were both being careful, shushing each other as if we were talking about a taboo word, as if nothing had happened from the beginning.
“You might feel a bit dizzy.”
Although I was somewhat tired from staying up late the night before, I managed to hold onto my sanity and grabbed Sylphia’s hand.
It was a sign of teleportation magic.
The surrounding mana began to boil and distort.
“Didn’t you say there was a blocking magic circle installed?”
“It doesn’t matter when going out from the inside. It’s to prevent coming in from the outside.”
A normal conversation and a flat tone, no different from usual.
In fact, it wasn’t that important.
I just wanted to somehow break the awkward silence from earlier.
Anyway, just like yesterday, I felt warmth from Sylphia’s hand that I was holding, and when the fluctuating mana reached its threshold, the surrounding scenery instantly changed.
It was a distance that would be impossible for a human mage to cast without the help of a magic circle.
But it was an easy task for a dragon who prided itself on being the strongest creature on earth.
Come to think of it, even that dragon tried all sorts of things yesterday to try to fix me, but failed.
I didn’t know what the final method she mentioned as insurance was, but if it weren’t for that, I might have been a bit discouraged, even if I didn’t show it.
Getting a terminal diagnosis for eight years, not even three or six months, was a complicated and subtle feeling in many ways.
And in the midst of experiencing the teleportation magic in real-time, Sylphia casually spoke to me.
“Only you are being teleported.”
“What do you mean, Miss Sylphia?”
A subtle change in the way I addressed her, different from yesterday.
It was a kind of gesture to treat me as usual.
I had nothing to lose, so I accepted her words, but Sylphia moved her lips as if she wanted to say something, then frowned.
“That vampire specifically asked me to send you to your room.”
“…What?”
“But for me to just enter a man’s room… When I think about it, what about that vampire? It’s a bit irritating. Anyway, since that’s a bit much, I’ll just send you.”
“…?”
Words with an incomprehensible meaning.
As I kept tilting my head, Sylphia shook her head.
“Go and ask her in person for a detailed explanation.”
And at some point, the distorting surroundings turned pitch black.
I could still feel the warmth from my hand that had been holding Sylphia’s until just now, but Sylphia was already gone.
There was nothing but darkness all around.
In that fleeting moment, as I adapted to the darkness, I could only tell from the faintly visible outlines of the surroundings that this was my room, which had somehow become familiar in the past month.
I couldn’t feel any human warmth or presence.
And then,
“You’re here.”
The usual elegant tone and relaxed voice.
Although I definitely didn’t sense any presence, when I turned my head, I could see Arwen sitting on the bed as naturally as if it were her own room.
“Arwen…?”
“You came faster than I thought. I thought you would be a bit later after having breakfast.”
“…Sylphia said to go and ask for an explanation from the person involved. What does that mean?”
“Isn’t it obvious?”
As if asking why I was asking something so obvious, Arwen opened her mouth while sitting cross-legged.
Her mysterious eyes sparkled like jewels even in the darkness, and she spoke leisurely while gazing at me.
“You don’t particularly like going out and about, do you? You must have been busy going here and there for the past few days, so let’s spend today leisurely.”
“…Oh.”
That line just now was a bit sweet.
If I switched positions and I was the woman and Arwen was the man, I might have felt butterflies.
“Who else would take care of you if I don’t? It’s an obvious story. Rest comfortably today. I won’t bother you.”
“I appreciate you taking care of me… But why is the room so dark?”
“The owner wasn’t here anyway. I just turned off the lights and set it up to my liking.”
I usually kept a night light on even when I sleep, but the room was completely dark with the curtains drawn to block out the light at the source.
Thanks to that, even now that I had adapted to the darkness, it was still dimly visible.
Click.
“Eek, the light…!”
“Please don’t say such typical vampire lines…”
When I turned on the light without warning, Arwen frowned and shielded the light with her hand.
Well, I’m the owner of the room, so it’s fine.
But thanks to that, I can rest well today.
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Arwen might be the best