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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: FusionX
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I had sensed someone outside the door a while ago.
I was talking to Lothos when I suddenly felt a presence. I quickly realized it was Adele.
She was probably here to talk to me or to eavesdrop on our conversation. But I had simply given her a taste of her own medicine for forgetting what she had said last night.
While I wasn’t particularly upset, it was a bit much for her to say those things and then not remember anything.
I thought it was a sufficient punishment.
Lothos seemed surprised by my blunt words, but he chuckled softly when he heard the sound from outside the door.
He must have sensed someone was listening to our conversation.
He seemed to have figured out who it was. He shrugged and looked at me.
Lothos was quite perceptive.
He would have realized by now that I wouldn’t normally say such things. His gaze flickered between me and the door before settling on me again.
Lothos smiled faintly and spoke softly.
“Hmm, I thought you would say something like that. You wouldn’t lie about something like this.”
“There’s no need to lie about something like this.”
It wasn’t a lie.
I had always thought Adele was beautiful, I just hadn’t said it out loud. It wasn’t my concern how others interpreted it.
I realized how much my mindset had changed since my first regression.
Back then, I was searching for a place to die, desperately seeking a quick end.
But now, my heart, which I had thought was empty, was filled with unfamiliar emotions.
Should I view this as a positive change or a negative one?
Lost in thought, Lothos suddenly appeared in front of me, covering his mouth with his hand as he whispered.
“You’re surprisingly mischievous. Did you say that on purpose?”
“…Half of it was intentional.”
“Hmm.”
He grinned, seemingly intrigued, and gave me a thumbs-up.
He seemed quite pleased with my actions.
When nobles did that, it was usually because they had witnessed a satisfying performance. Was he that satisfied with what I had just done?
Well, it was obvious how Adele and I would appear to an outsider.
A love story straight out of a novel.
If they didn’t know about the regressions and deaths, they would think spring had arrived in the North.
If my life were a play, I couldn’t be sure what kind of ending my current mindset was leading towards.
Was death a comedy, or was my desire to survive a tragedy?
I would soon find out how my 101st life would end.
It was ironic.
My desire to live could lead to my own misfortune. It was a story that would be met with ridicule.
But it wasn’t something I could confide in anyone.
I looked at Lothos, who had a sly expression on his face, and chuckled wryly before walking towards the door.
I suddenly flung open the door, which had been radiating a presence for a while now, and saw a woman standing there.
As expected, she was looking at me with a strange expression.
“Were you here all along?”
“It seems like you knew.”
“Well, I didn’t. Perhaps Lothos did.”
But I decided to put those thoughts about endings aside for now.
Hadn’t I come to the North to clear my head?
Trouble would find me even if I didn’t seek it out. For now, I wanted to relax.
“Is that the attitude you learned from becoming Duke?”
“Attitude?”
“You’ve become more cunning. You used to avoid my gaze, but now you’re teasing me.”
The difference stemmed from my changed mindset.
I had initially avoided Adele to prevent getting involved with her, but now I was envisioning a future where she wouldn’t die.
I was quite exhausted when I first regressed.
I desperately wanted to end the cycle, and my final wish had been for someone to kill me.
“I’m more comfortable now. Compared to before.”
“You’ll be staging a rebellion if you get any more comfortable.”
“Who knows? I might even become the Grand Duke someday.”
There was no need to be awkward.
Adele was alive and well, and there were no problems at this time.
Trouble would arise in autumn, but for now, it was still spring.
Adele watched me with a faint smile, then burst into laughter and shook her head.
Lothos had disappeared, and a strange silence filled the room, now only occupied by the two of us.
I probably wouldn’t be able to leave until tomorrow, so it was fine to stay with Adele until then.
But she seemed hesitant to talk to me, perhaps because of what had happened last night.
I was wondering if I should initiate the conversation when Adele finally spoke.
“I… I remember everything from last night. I thought about it earlier, and it seems I said a lot of strange things.”
“You remember everything now? I was a bit upset that you might not.”
I chuckled softly when she flinched at my words. It wasn’t a big deal. I just enjoyed teasing her.
And it was hard to stop when she reacted so amusingly to every word.
But I knew she was being sincere.
She had said she was upset and that she missed me.
There was a reason for the saying, “Drunken words are sober thoughts.”
She must have said those things because she truly wanted to.
But it was her responsibility to deal with the embarrassment.
Adele’s cheeks flushed as she looked at her hands, realizing she had clung to me until I fell asleep.
“I think I should avoid drinking with you in the future. You wouldn’t be comfortable with me being too honest, would you?”
“I wasn’t uncomfortable. It’s better than hiding it. You came here because you wanted to apologize, so I would have said the same things.”
I smiled brightly at Adele, who was still looking at me, and continued.
“I missed you too.”
I hadn’t contacted her mostly because I was busy.
It was an excuse, but I had assumed she would forget about it eventually. And I had thought the North would be busy at this time of year. But her feelings had deepened more than I had expected. It was my fault in the end.
Adele cleared her throat, frowning at me.
She always made that expression when she was embarrassed.
She disliked showing her embarrassment to others, so I changed the subject.
We couldn’t stay like this forever.
She couldn’t keep being embarrassed about what happened last night. Adele seemed relieved by the change in topic.
When I asked about the current situation in the North, she thought for a moment and replied briefly,
“It’s fine.”
If she said it was fine, it was probably fine.
But it wasn’t a completely positive answer, so I tilted my head slightly.
What could be wrong now that the subjugation of the barbarian tribes was complete?
Adele seemed to have noticed my confusion and continued.
“The uncharted territory has been acting strange lately. Things that shouldn’t be there have appeared.”
“The uncharted territory… Are you talking about the masked figures?”
Adele’s eyes narrowed at my question.
She seemed to be asking if I knew about them.
I nodded, and she touched her forehead, her lips moving silently.
She seemed troubled by their presence.
They were bothersome even if they weren’t actively doing anything.
“You knew about them too? They don’t seem to be doing anything, but they keep appearing. They shouldn’t be able to enter the uncharted territory, so I don’t know what they’re up to.”
“I’ve been investigating them as well. I was planning to continue my investigation after arriving in the North.”
“So that’s what you were discussing with Lothos earlier.”
I nodded.
I had a feeling the unrest occurring near the Taylor Dukedom might be related to the masked figures.
We still didn’t have any concrete information, so we could only rely on speculation for now.
We knew for sure that they were connected to Kaitel and the Four Dragons.
But it was unlikely they were trying to resurrect the Four Dragons.
Even Arwen had said it was highly improbable. It would be impossible without a mage more powerful than her.
“I’m still considering it. It would be easier if we had some clues, but right now, we can only search blindly.”
“Lothos didn’t seem to know much either. Do you need my help?”
“It’s alright. I can handle it alone. You have things to do, don’t you?”
Adele sighed again and frowned, looking at me in frustration.
I was puzzled by her reaction, but then she touched her forehead and spoke.
“Are you planning to leave me alone again? You said you remembered everything I said last night, but it seems like you’ve forgotten it all.”
“…I’m just saying you don’t have to help me. You don’t need to misunderstand-”
“I anticipated this, so I already took care of it. You seem to have forgotten, but I also remember the time I spent with you.”
Adele tapped her head and smiled, pulling out a piece of paper from her pocket.
It was a tightly sealed scroll.
It had the Grand Duchess’s seal on it. It was one of the documents classified as top secret, if I remembered correctly.
“I thought about why you came to the North. I didn’t think you would come here just to see me, so I looked into what you’ve been investigating lately.”
“…And you found out that I’m interested in the masked figures.”
“That’s right. I also found something related to them in my archives.”
Adele touched her smooth lips with her finger and smiled seductively, seeing my stunned expression.
She seemed to have been waiting for this reaction.
She smiled softly and added,
“Didn’t I tell you? I won’t let you go.”
“…Haha.”
“At least not while you’re in the North. I’m not letting you go alone. Regardless of your wishes.”
Adele seemed to be in a good mood.
Perhaps I had taken the bait.
But it wasn’t entirely bad for me either.
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