Chapter 41

Tess hugged me. His arms, now wider than mine, felt comfortable. It seemed like only the two of us were left in this world as I was stroking his black hair and my nose buried in the thick sweetness of his neck.

“Tess.”

“Yes?”

“I have something for you.”

“What?”

“What I really wanted to give you.”

I loosened Tess’s slack arm and brought the pouch that had been placed on the table next to the bed.

“Voila. It’s a meming fruit. I brought it because it bore fruit.”

The meming fruit, which has a similar appearance to a tangerine, is refreshing and sweet.

When Hardland mansion was repossessed by the imperial palace, I assumed that the meming tree planted in my memory would have been cut down. Surprisingly it grew well. I heard from Father.

I heard Tess asked Sir Guard to keep the tree from getting cut. It was a tree planted on the day I was born, so I would’ve wanted it to live a long time.

“I brought it to eat with you.”

So, I wanted to eat the first first fruit with him. As a token of gratitude for taking care of this tree while I’m gone.

“You’re sick, so I’ll peel it for you today.”

Tess opened his mouth as I opened the skin to reveal the inner part.

“Feed me.”

For a moment, it reminded me of when we were young. I was going to complain but I took a deep breath and exhaled. Because I decided to be generous today.

As I put a piece of the fruit into his mouth, Tess smiled broadly. As if nothing else could make him this happy. It made my heart ache.

Tess’ face was still pale so I got up right away.

“I’m going, so get some rest.”

“Will you come again?”

“Yes.”

“Promise.”

I put my finger on the outstretched little finger.

“You eat well and rest well. Okay?”

“Yes.”

As I stroked his black hair, a slight blush appeared on his pale cheeks. It’s hard to deal with such an overly affectionate reaction.

So, after stroking Tess a lot more than I intended, I left Hill Palace. I came to the forest road I had come with Tess and was able to run into no one.

My face will be very red now, so it’s really fortunate.

Oh, Tess. Tess makes me uncomfortable.

I knew that I couldn’t push him away, but I didn’t know it would be like this.

I only knew that deep skinship was unpleasant, but it was difficult for it to feel this good.

“Sigh…….”

The thought of coming back to see Tess next time made me complicated.

* * *

I could go and see Tess sometime next week, but there’s a party before then.

I made a rough schedule in my head and was happy that this week was rather empty, but waiting for him was embarrassing.

“…… His place of work has moved to the province?”

I contacted Nus asking him to accompany me to Duchy Lantia’s meeting this week, but what I got back was a reply sent by Aurin instead. Did Nus get assigned to the provinces without me knowing?

Rarely do high-ranking nobles go to the provinces.

“No way…….”

I suddenly thought of Ethyl, who had been called to the imperial palace when I was supposed to practice swordsmanship with him one day.

“No, Tess wouldn’t have been that crazy.”

Anyway, I was troubled.

Nus didn’t say anything. But considering I stopped Lili Xuen from punishment, I thought it was okay to use Nus as a partner three times.

Ethyl will definitely go with Aurin. So he’s out of the roster. Even if he doesn’t go with Aurin, it’s a bit much to ask Ethyl to go with me.

“Should I go alone?”

I was sure to be a laughing stock, so I didn’t want to go. There must be some gossip about what happened on the first day of the New Year’s ball.

I had to go to the Concium in a slightly bad mood because of things that didn’t work out as expected.

I was on my way to the Concium after meeting a professor belonging to the academy. The path connecting the academy and the Concium was sparsely populated, but I stopped when I heard a familiar voice here.

“So, don’t be proud with just that.”

Lili’s Xuen’s sharp voice pierced my eardrums.

“Know your place. Don’t act like you’re something, know your place, and sit quietly in the corner.”

That girl doesn’t get tired of it and seems to be having a fight with someone again.

I wanted to intervene because I felt sorry for the person who was going through it, but I stepped out because I thought it was none of my business anyway.

“You heard me? Ganiel Hardland.”

What…….My heart fell with a thump.

“Don’t you dare raise your head just because your sister danced with His Majesty.”

“I’ve never done that.”

I moved my frozen legs and took a few steps closer, and I heard Gael’s voice.

“You’re an eyesore to be going around doing that. Keep your head down.”

Gael, who began to come into my sight little by little, pitifully lowered her head.

“Yes, keep doing that. If you tell your sister what happened today, I won’t leave you and Euseniel Hardland alone-”

“-Hey!”

It’s probably the loudest call I’ve ever done in my life. I let out a roar that felt like it couldn’t be defeated by the dragon’s roar, and strode closer.

“Sister.”

The pale Gael raised her head and was at a loss.

In contrast, Lili Xuen raised her head. I wanted to grab hold of that scarlet hair and bury her on the floor, but the priority was Gael.

“Gael.”

“Sis, Sister, you can’t come here. If you come, you’ll get hurt…… !”

Gael, who had tears in her blue eyes, grabbed me.

“What are you talking about, Gael? Sister won’t be hurt.”

I hugged my younger sister. Patting her trembling body, I glared at Lili Xuen and the girls behind her.

“But, but that person won’t let Sister go…….”

Gael, who has lived in Varen all her life, has no friends here. In other words, it means that there is no one who can inform her of the trend of this place.

Besides, Gael was later than her peers, perhaps because she had inherited strong elf blood. In this situation, Gael must have been frightened when her senior, Lili Xuen, came with backup.

Yes I was careless.

My parents’ attention is bizarrely focused on me. I felt sorry for Gael. So I tried to pay more attention to Gael. But recently I couldn’t look at her because I was preoccupied with my work.

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