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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: FusionX
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It was a dress that flowed like water.
Coupled with the cold moon, it emitted a slightly cold color, but it left an impression that wasn’t so cold as it suited her face.
The woman who was always dignified had a blush on her cheeks.
As if embarrassed, she hesitated and pulled at her skirt.
Was this the first time Adele had worn different clothes?
The moment my breath caught in my throat and I couldn’t open my mouth, Adele’s eyes narrowed.
As she moved her head, her naturally flowing hair was visible.
Her snow-white hair touched the dress like that, as if it turned the surroundings monochrome for a moment.
At the same time, what I felt was a sense of incongruity.
I had already seen this dress somewhere, so even as I looked at it, I couldn’t just call it beautiful.
A voice pierced through those blurred thoughts.
It was Adele’s voice, with furrowed brows.
“Is it bad?”
“No, I mean…”
What should I say?
The sight captured in my eyes was something I had never imagined.
Adele in a dress, if the social circles saw this, wouldn’t they be truly shocked?
But even though she was wearing a dress, her posture was still crooked, so I inadvertently let out a laugh.
“Then why are you laughing? Don’t make people frustrated. It’s the first time… yes, it’s the first time I’ve worn it. I just want to know how it looks.”
“Why haven’t you worn it until now? It suits you so well.”
“Hmph.”
Even as she snorted like that, she didn’t seem to be in a bad mood as she slowly brushed her hair back.
Even looking again, I couldn’t believe this sight.
Rather than being awkward, it suited her so well as if she had been wearing it from the beginning.
Because of that, I lost my words.
I didn’t know what intention she had for taking out the dress, but if she wanted to surprise me, it could be considered successful.
… Honestly, she was pretty.
I couldn’t find any other words to express it besides that.
She was always beautiful, but Adele in a dress particularly stood out in that aspect.
After watching Adele awkwardly fiddle with her skirt for a while, I suddenly wondered why she wore the dress.
So when I asked, she looked at me as if it was obvious.
“Did you forget there’s a New Year’s event at midnight today? That’s why I told you to stay two more days, I was planning to show you before you left.”
“Ah.”
I had completely forgotten, my mind preoccupied with the south.
The new year would come after midnight passed, but she wasn’t the type to dress up in a dress for that.
However, since her whims changed depending on the occasion, I just accepted it as it was.
She probably just wanted to wear a dress.
Even if I couldn’t deny that the reason was me, I had no intention of saying anything since it suited her well.
But compared to her dress, my attire wasn’t very neat.
Since I hadn’t expected this situation at all, when I tried to change clothes, Adele opened her mouth.
“You don’t need to go. I didn’t wear it to show it to anyone anyway.”
“But there’s something called courtesy, isn’t there?”
“Who are you trying to show courtesy to? I said I don’t mind, so just quietly be my escort.”
Just like at the Full Moon Festival, she reached out her hand to me and waved it.
When I lightly grasped it at her gesture telling me to hold it quickly, Adele chuckled and approached to stand next to me like that.
It seemed I was the only one feeling awkward and fidgeting at the sight of Adele wearing a dress instead of armor or a cloak.
Smiling awkwardly like that, I moved my steps to follow Adele.
Perhaps towards the festival to decorate the last night of the year on my last day in the North.
“Let’s go now. The festival in the North will be a bit novel.”
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The word “novel” didn’t seem to have a positive meaning.
It was probably due to the cultural differences between the North and the central region.
There were many things that were a bit intense for Adele to participate in while wearing a dress, and they were all bleak when it came to seeing something.
Although it was a festival for the New Year, it had a strong shamanistic character.
It was different from the shamans of the south.
They simply worshipped beasts and nature and expressed gratitude to the god who let them pass this year safely as well.
That’s probably why the people from the church felt uncomfortable with the North.
Since it was a gathering of people who revered nature more than the god of the moon, perhaps that was the reason Adriana and Adele felt uncomfortable with each other.
While looking around aimlessly like that for a moment, Adele, who spotted Bunta running around with a barrel of alcohol, furrowed her brows.
“I told him to wander around quietly, but it seems hopeless.”
“Well… I think it’s fine. As long as he doesn’t harm others.”
My brow twitched when I saw him smash a street stall.
Of course, there was no way Bunta wouldn’t cause trouble.
No matter how much of a deputy he was, Adele couldn’t overlook even this.
As a subordinate of the Grand Duchess, shouldn’t he set an example?
Just as Adele was about to move with a sigh, it happened.
“Hey, Bunta. Her Grace must have told you to stay put.”
Lothos, who had walked over from somewhere with heavy steps, grabbed Bunta’s collar.
Pretending to be angry, he stared intently into Bunta’s eyes, and the guy’s head slightly tilted towards this direction.
After making eye contact with me, he grinned and continued.
“Her Grace is busy today. She can’t pay attention to you one by one. Grab the alcohol barrel and follow me. We need to fix this place.”
Lothos, who winked one eye disgustingly, bowed his head in our direction and then swiftly disappeared.
Should I say he was quick-witted or not?
Adele, who had been staring at Lothos with an astonished expression, shook her head and let out a hollow laugh.
“He’s completely crazy.”
“Then what will you do now?”
I asked, glancing at Adele’s dress.
Her movements seemed quite awkward even as she walked with me.
Her feet would probably start hurting soon, since high-heeled shoes would be quite difficult for her.
I didn’t quite understand why she was going through this trouble, but I didn’t want to see her walking around uncomfortably.
As if understanding my intention to some extent, Adele, who had been staring at me for a moment, nodded her head and answered.
“… I should rest a bit after all.”
“I wonder if your feet are okay.”
“It’s fine. They won’t hurt just from wearing shoes for a bit.”
Then she shook her feet a few times and started walking briskly towards somewhere.
The direction Adele was heading was clearly towards the forest.
A quiet forest where there were no people, where the entire sky could be seen this winter.
Even as we walked between the bare trees, I held onto Adele’s body as she occasionally slipped.
“Are you alright?”
“You don’t need to hold me. I won’t get hurt even if I fall.”
“There’s no need to do that deliberately.”
When I slowly lifted her up by the waist, Adele, who had been staring at me blankly, patted her waist and started walking again.
If she was going to be like that, it would have been more comfortable to wear her usual clothes.
I thought she wore it to give a speech, but there was no speech by Adele at this New Year’s festival.
The reason was because it was bothersome.
If Adele said so, it was an understandable reason.
So in the remaining free time, she must have gone to find a dress and put it on.
If asked why, I wasn’t sure.
In the forest that had now become completely dark, a small flame rose with a whoosh.
The artifact held in Adele’s hand emitted a small flame, spreading into the forest and making a faint light rise around.
So it wasn’t very dark.
We could reach our destination without much difficulty in the dim light like twilight.
It was a familiar place to me too.
It was a place Adele often brought me together with her.
I wondered when we would come here in this life, and today seemed to be that day.
The only place in this forest where the sky was wide open, where a fallen tree was placed like a chair.
In the circular opening in the sky, only a full moon hung lonely.
Countless stars dotted like dots next to it.
After a moment of silence in the wind that seeped through the trees, my eyes met Adele’s as she looked at me.
It was a face that stood out even in the dim light.
Was it because of her intensely dressed appearance,
Adele seemed to have completely escaped the name of Grand Duchess as I slowly parted my lips while looking at her.
“Is this the place you wanted to come to?”
“Yes, it’s a place I often come to. When I want to be alone.”
“But today there are two of us.”
“I know. I brought you here on purpose. Didn’t I say there was something I wanted to show you?”
I thought the thing she wanted to show me was the dress, but it seemed there was still something else left.
I wonder what that could be.
So when I quietly looked at Adele, she shrugged her shoulders upon realizing my gaze was on her.
It was noticeable that her dress was thin.
Although it seemed fine to some extent due to magic treatment, this was still the North, wasn’t it?
After staring blankly for a moment, I opened my mouth again.
“You look cold.”
“I’m not cold.”
Me, wearing a cloak, and Adele, wearing only a dress without any outerwear.
If someone saw us, wouldn’t it be fine to think I was doing something terrible to her?
It bothered me.
Even if she was okay with it, I was uncomfortable.
I approached Adele, who was sitting at the base of a tree, with big strides.
Adele, who was startled by my approach, then stared at me blankly as the cloak covered her shoulders.
“I told you I’m not cold.”
At the sight of her furrowing her brows as if asking what I was doing now, I inadvertently let out a small laugh.
My shoulders felt empty without the cloak, but instead, my heart felt at ease looking at her.
“Just stay like that. I’m worried you might be cold.”
“… Don’t worry unnecessarily. You’re leaving tomorrow anyway.”
“Why did you wear the dress? Wouldn’t it have been more comfortable to wear what you usually do if you were going to come all the way here?”
She wasn’t giving a speech, and if it was for the festival, she wouldn’t be making an official appearance.
When I asked, Adele moved her lips for a moment as if pondering her answer.
After thinking for a long time like that, she slowly answered while making eye contact with me.
It was different from her usual eyes.
Softly, as if recalling a distant memory, with rippling pupils.
“I think I wanted to show you this a long time ago.”
“What…?”
When I asked back for a moment, wondering what she meant, Adele shook her head and didn’t say anything more.
A long time ago.
I didn’t know what time period she wanted to talk about, but it didn’t feel like it was that long ago.
A strange question arose and settled in my mind.
Just now, her way of speaking seemed as if she was talking about the ‘past’ that only I knew.
The dress Adele was wearing was something I had seen once before.
The dress I had seen when I entered the room she was staying in after failing to prevent Adele’s death due to the rebellion.
The memory of looking at the ownerless dress was still vivid in my mind.
Her saying that to me seemed to bring back the memories from that time.
It was probably just something she said.
It just happened to overlap, no one had ever recalled a previous round.
So I turned my gaze again.
When I escaped from the old memories and looked up at the sky like that, it happened.
“Robert. This is what I wanted to show you.”
Swish-
Along with Adele’s voice, I saw something crossing the sky.
The sound that I had heard at the Full Moon Festival, the sound that had awakened my consciousness when I was lost in thought like this.
Bang-!
The fireworks that crossed the sky exploded all at once, instantly painting the surroundings with noise.
The sound was so loud that my ears felt muffled, and the light was so bright that the moonlight became obscured and no longer visible, dyeing the night sky.
White, red, blue.
A feast of colorful lights, each different, blinded my eyes.
“You liked what you saw at the Full Moon Festival last time. So I directly brought it all the way to the North.”
Bang-!
The loud noise erased all sounds at once, but Adele’s voice was heard clearly.
Looking at the light in the middle of the wide open forest, I looked at Adele again like that.
For a moment, a shadow appeared.
Adele’s face under the bright sky was obscured by darkness like that.
Nevertheless, meeting the eyes that caught my gaze.
A voice was heard from the lips that moved again.
It was a slightly cautious voice.
“Isn’t it pretty? Your expression… seems a bit lackluster though.”
Old memories resurfaced.
The woman who had told me to wait, saying she had something to show me, but never returned in the end, was here.
This was the aftermath.
To me, living in memories, it was like a curse, so in the end, I could only overlap it with Adele.
When the blurry afterimage overlapped to form a single image, I finally saw a faint smile on the face I faced.
Light, darkness.
In the repeating scene, what remained in my eyes was not the light of the fireworks.
It wasn’t the moon hanging in the sky, nor the stars regaining their light.
It was just a woman wearing a flowing dress.
“… It’s pretty.”
I answered while looking at Adele, not the sky.
Without adding that it was the fireworks, Adele slightly avoided my gaze that was just staring intently.
Looking at her like that, I then added softly and smiled.
“Very much so.”
The words I should have said before, but only uttered now.
And then I realized.
I was still living in the aftermath of my memories.
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Kyaaaaaaaaa