3 bar menu

Volume 6 Chapter 2 Part 14

Translation: Kurehashi Aiko
Editing: Team Foxsunes

I wanted to say something here, but that man handed me a cup full of fruit wine in order to try and calm me down. In about a moment’s notice I have lost all the will to complain. It’s not like I suddenly did not know what I originally wanted to say, but it was more like the wine made me unable to formulate my thoughts out loud. Faced with that, the only thing I could do right about now was to remain silent in order not to make a fool out of myself. Feeling utterly powerless right about now, I could only drop my line of sight to the ground and after a brief moment of silence I managed to mumble:

「I’m terribly sorry. I get it, I understand, I really do. It’s just that, whenever I look at the Princess and the Medium together, I just can’t…… Umm……」

I may not be able to put it into words all too well, but I do realize that it is really selfish of me to try and make opinions of someone without knowing the first thing about them. Same thing goes for the Medium’s case right now. I might know that I should not do that, but here I am, doing so anyways. For all that we know right about now, it is far too early to judge the Medium in any way, or to deem him worthy or unworthy of the Princess.

I am not the Princess, so it is not my role to judge the Medium in any kind of way. Only the Princess herself could decide how she feels about the Medium in the end. But for now, she had a role that needed to be played and she was doing her very best to play out that role as perfectly as she could. Also, there was the matter of publicity at stake here. The Medium might be twelve, thirteen or fourteen at best, I am sure that he must be aware of his position and the responsibilities that would come together with it. But could it be that I am the only one in here who would love to see the two of them acting in a more affectionate way towards one another?

「Looking by the way they act towards one another, aren’t you worried about the Princess, Edi? That Medium-sama may not be a suitable candidate for her?」

 「Do you really think that this Princess of ours is just some cute little maiden who would let herself be hurt by something like that? Or could it be that because she’s the Princess she is like a beautiful little flower that needs constant protection from the cruel world?」

「See, you and your wicked tongue again. I never said anything quite like that, now did I? If anything, I consider the Princess to be a beautiful lily that is capable of growing up and mesmerizing everyone all on her own and with her own power.」

I responded to the man’s words and upon hearing my answer the man snickered quietly, looking at me in a weird way.

「Why do you think we were invited to come here together with her in the first place? It is fine to worry about someone when there is a reason for worrying, but what you do right now is simply called being overprotective. If you really consider yourself to be the Princess’s friend and ally, why don’t you just stop worrying for a moment and just watch how she handles herself?」

「––––––––– Yes, I guess that you are right.」

It certainly is exactly as that man says. I came here to be the Princess’s ally and to support her in every way possible. It is something that this man does not need to remind me of. But if I am only going to act in an overprotective manner, I am going to quickly become a nuisance who would be best left behind than be relied on. So if the Princess acts like she is satisfied with Medium-sama as her partner, I should do nothing else but to accept that fact. And even though it was not taking an active role in anything, it was most certainly better than nothing.

I keep telling myself that, and take the goblet full of fruit wine with both of my hands and take another sip out of it. Surprisingly enough, its taste right now was slightly better than before. Right, for now, instead of worrying I should focus on tasting some of the dishes from around the table and actually having some fun.

Looking down at me, the man gently patted me on the shoulder, in his own clumsy attempt at cheering me up. I looked up at the man, gazing into his eyes and feeling that my cheeks were starting to burn up once more. That man made a grumpy expression when he saw that, but since we were living with one another for so long I got used to the fact that his expressions did not always mean what they would normally mean. Still, even when grumpy, I could not stop being amazed just how beautiful that man’s features were. I place my fork back at my plate and tilt my neck in puzzlement while looking at that man. Just then the man let out a sigh and his expression turned to be really grumpy for some bizarre reason.

「Rather than worrying about the Princess, for now you should really start to worry about yourself. No matter how much make-up you may apply onto you, there are some scars that will still be visible, no matter your efforts.」

Again with that argument? Even if he did not say that to me just now, I was more than perfectly aware of that fact. However, it looked like that man’s current expression was way more eloquent than his words. His expression was that of a genuine concern, and there were small embers of anger dancing deep inside of his eyes. It somehow reminded me of that man around the time when we first met.

「Even if you yourself think nothing about your scars, it does not mean that others will not have something to say about them. Which is really laughable, considering the fact that out of all the people present in this room you surely must have been through the most hardships so far.」

「…… Thank you so much for your kind words. 

There were no other words that I could use here to answer that man’s own special kind of kindness. I do realize that it was a weird and oddly specific way to answer that man’s words, but they were the best to describe how I was feeling right about now. Especially after that man’s words that might have sounded harsh, but I know that they were meant to be anything but that. So I know that even though that man might have looked angry, in fact he was just worried and he was having a hard time showing it in a more affectionate way. And even though he was saying that I was overprotective when it comes to the Princess, I cannot help it but to think that he was even more overprotective when it comes to me. Still, it was really nice to know that he cared about me so much.

Although I have compared the Princess to a beautiful lily, if I were to compare myself to a flower, it would most certainly be a weed. That is because no matter how much you try to trample on them and root them out, weeds would always find a way to survive and persevere. So no, no matter what other people might think or say about my scars, I would never take offense in them or be ashamed of them. Because for me, those scars were more like badges of pride rather than the reason to feel ashamed. But thinking of the scars like badges of honor, I wonder if that man got mad at me if he ever heard me use that phrase in his presence.

「And besides.」

「There is even more from where that came from?」

「Way more than you might think.」

That man seemed to be unaware of my inner thoughts, and he raised his brows up slightly before eventually continuing with his words. Honestly, I would much rather prefer for him to give me a break for now. It was already more than embarrassing enough for me to be wearing this unfamiliar outfit, so I did not really need to add a lecture from him into my pile of worries and anxieties. It was then that I heard that man whispering into my ear softly.

「Only I should ever be allowed to see you being dressed like that.」

 「!?!?!?!」

That is exactly why I wanted for everyone to give me a break! I could feel that my face was becoming bright red once more, and it was surely not the alcohol’s fault. Seeing my reaction, that man took the sip of the wine himself, seemingly satisfied and in a relatively good mood. Just in this one moment I thought that this was the part of him that I really despised. No matter what I say or do, I simply cannot gain the upper hand over him. It was one of the few causes of regret for me.

Can’t wait to see more? Want to show your support? CLICK HERE to be a patron and get additional chapters ahead of time!