Chapter 78: The Exiled Marquise Closes the Lid, Tightly
“It seems my ears are full of sugar, so I’m going home.” Having seen off Shara who said that and left, Erika was drinking Tea at the living room table.
It was because she somehow felt too lethargic to return to her own room.
Perhaps because she was spacing out, she ended up sipping from the empty teacup.
As a lady, it was quite an unacceptable mistake.
Converting the sigh that almost escaped her lips into a deep breath with an iron will, she returned the empty cup to the table.
As soon as the hand that held the cup was free, her fingers danced meaninglessly on the table.
The moment she realized her fingers were spelling out Shin Longdagger’s name before she knew it, Erika finally gave up.
She clasped her impudent hands together and placed them on her lap.
Even so, the sigh that escaped her throat was like a thin thread. Was it perhaps because the face of her best friend from her hometown flickered in her mind?
Because it started with strong words like, “Let’s separate,” she was a bit flustered, but the gist of it was simply that they would act separately for a while.
She was a little upset at first, but once she calmed down, it was fine.
“Starting conversations with strong words sometimes is a bad habit of his, isn’t it?” Erika recalled Shin’s face and gave a wry smile.
Shin had said he had been complacent, relying on his ideal being close by.
His ideal—that is, his goal—was, after spending one year by her side and finishing the charade, to gain the acquaintance of his best friend, the Maiden of Light.
No, that’s wrong. Even that was merely a starting point for him.
Didn’t he say he hadn’t even taken the first step?
“Please allow me to leave your side for a while so I can be near my ideal… is that it?”
She remembered Shin’s face when he said that.
He had that same look he’d had in the carriage.
He went so far as to make that face when he said it. If that’s the case, then it must be essential for him.
From the start, she didn’t have the words to stop him. Nor was she in a position to do so.
If Shin said he would leave her side for the sake of what comes after the ideal (the promise after one year) is fulfilled, and to take that first step… then for her to stop him would be disloyal.
She was certainly a bit flustered at first, but when she asked, he said it would only be for about a week.
It’s not a big deal.
That was a huge lie.
The nights spent alone in this house were long.
Every time the anti-intruder Magic Tool reacted to a neighborhood stray cat, even though she knew what it was, she still grew restless, wondering if he had come back.
To be like this when Shin had only been gone for half a day… Erika wondered what on earth was wrong with her.
“No, this isn’t good,” Erika calmed her heart.
For Erika Solntsalri, Shin Longdagger was truly a rare existence.
Having a person who was neither family nor the same gender stay by her side was a first experience for her.
She had only clearly realized recently that she seemed to be the type of person who made men strangely tense around her.
But since it had been that way since her childhood, she was used to it and had even come to accept it as just the way things were.
Therefore, for Erika Solntsalri, Shin Longdagger could become special.
He stayed by her side, perfectly calm.
And yet, he himself wore an expression that suggested he wouldn’t move a single step unless it was his own will, whether blown by a storm or dragged by chains.
“That’s unfair,” Erika thought.
Surely, in the direction he desired, he would walk calmly, whether into the heart of a storm or dragged by chains. He probably wouldn’t even run.
A person who lives like that should just go straight to his best friend.
He shouldn’t be making detours to places like hers, she thought.
Thanks to that, her chest hurt this much.
Oops, no, that’s not good.
Erika closed the Lid that was about to open.
She recalled their exchange yesterday, before they parted.
“Is that something you must accomplish alone?”
To her question, Shin had clearly answered, “Yes, it is. That’s how it is.”
If that was the case, then there was nothing more she could say.
Ah, no, that’s a lie too.
Didn’t she swallow her words?
“What are you saying? If it is something you intend to accomplish, then it is naturally something I should assist you with wholeheartedly. So please, do not hesitate to rely on me”—didn’t she swallow those words?
If Shin were to fail—wouldn’t this one year be extended, even just a little?—didn’t she think that?
So, making the excuse that she had no words, pretending to understand his intentions, didn’t she swallow her words?
Ahh, no, this is bad, this is really bad.
Erika Solntsalri placed the Lid on her heart.
If it was going to be like this, she wished she had looked at his face more.
Her chest ached for every time she had gotten embarrassed and averted her gaze.
“Ouch.”
“I closed it a bit too tightly,” Erika murmured, gently pressing her chest.