Chapter 15
“Avoided it?”
Shatrina did?
I strained my ears, wondering what he meant, but unfortunately, Michael didn’t explain the reason. Instead, unlike himself, he even changed the subject.
“I’m glad. Very much so. It feels like the distance that once felt a bit far has grown closer.”
“…I’m sorry.”
I feel this every time I transmigrate, but pretending to have lost memories that never even existed is quite difficult. If I slip up, people start to harbor strange suspicions.
Still, thanks to having experienced all kinds of situations until now, I managed to give an answer that fit the moment.
And perhaps it was the right answer, because Michael smiled—just a little sadly.
“It’s all right. Just the fact that you came back again is more than enough to make me happy.”
That must have been meant for the real Shatrina. As I listened carefully to Michael’s words, an odd sensation made my fingertips twitch.
His words were full of things I couldn’t quite understand, yet I couldn’t bring myself to ask him directly.
“Please return safely.”
Unaware of my situation, Michael smiled foolishly, grinning like an idiot. Softhearted fool.
“I’ll be back.”
In the end, instead of saying anything else, I chose to keep my mouth shut.
However, no matter how much she was Shatrina, there was one thing she did not know.
After she left the room, Michael, left alone, cast his gaze down at his arm. It was the place his wife, Shatrina, had been holding just moments ago.
He gently rubbed the spot where a faint warmth still lingered and slowly blinked.
Black haze began to rise from his fingertips.
At the same time, a voice rang out—so grating it sent chills down one’s spine, like fingernails scraping across a chalkboard.
[Was that woman earlier your wife? The daughter of those Revilia bastards?]
“…Shut up.”
A sharp headache surged through him. Every time he heard that voice, the pain followed without fail.
But unable to show it, Michael pressed his lips tightly together.
Even so, the ‘voice’ continued to chatter on unabated.
[Wow. Look at how your tone changes the moment she’s not your wife. I finally wake up, and my ‘contractor’ has gone and gotten married before even I did.]
“Keep your mouth shut.”
When he put force into the word “contract,” Michael issued a cold warning.
The ‘contract’ he had been forced to make to survive. A secret known to no one else to this day—one he alone carried.
Perhaps it was something he would have to hide forever.
After all, making a deal with a ‘demon,’ regardless of the reason, was a crime perfectly deserving of execution.
[Ah, right. And I heard your wife almost died yesterday? Surprised you didn’t rush out there.]
“……”
[Hey—! Why are you ignoring me!]
Even without the ‘voice’ deliberately provoking him, Michael was already far from sane.
The rumor that she had nearly been assassinated had reached even this place, far removed from the center of things.
When he heard that Shatrina had almost died—and that the First Prince had been at the scene—how much he had—
‘Wanted to kill him.’
Michael slowly unfurled his tightly clenched fist.
The black energy that had begun at his fingertips now enveloped his entire hand. This too was because that ‘voice,’ which had reemerged after a long time, had stirred things up.
[Still, it’s really fascinating. That human has no vitality at all.]
Like someone who had died and come back to life. The ‘voice’ whispered slyly, suggesting he investigate, just in case.
[Or should I look into it for you?]
Michael narrowed his brow slightly and snapped back sharply.
“If you want to be sealed.”
[…Hmph. I knew it. What’s so important about a pathetic human like that anyway.]
Humans, honestly.
Clicking its tongue as if truly regretful, the ‘voice’ went on.
In the meantime, the black energy faded, and a vivid blue pattern appeared on the back of Michael’s once-smooth hand. His brow furrowed irritably.
Seeing that, the ‘voice’ burst into raucous laughter.
[How long do you plan on hiding it? Now that the Emperor has taken an interest, it won’t be long before it comes out that your body isn’t actually sick, you know?]
“I’ll handle it myself.”
[Come on. Don’t be like that—why don’t we become Emperor together? You went through the trouble of making a contract with a ‘demon,’ so you should at least use the power.]
“Shut up.”
Muttering a curse under his breath, Michael took off the shirt he was wearing.
The bruises Shatrina had seen—those caused by the head attendant—had long since disappeared.
As he looked at the faint remnants of scars that were all that remained, the ‘voice’ murmured, sounding almost regretful.
[What a shame.]
For a contractor to be reduced to this state.
The day of the tea party.
While I was having breakfast, the maids diligently prepared the dress I would wear to the tea party that day.
But after briefly looking over what they had chosen, I lightly snapped my fingers.
“Bring something else.”
“Y-Your Highness!”
“Your Highness!”
At my single remark, the maids’ expressions collectively drooped, as if they’d had their favorite snack taken away.
Still, I had my own point to make.
“I asked you to prepare something easy to move around in, didn’t I?”
At my words, Anna trembled slightly, like a puppy caught in the rain. Then, perhaps feeling guilty herself, she cautiously glanced at me.
But even that cute display was swallowed by my sigh.
“Good grief.”
From her perspective, she probably thought it was active enough.
But by my standards, “active” meant something you could at least run in without any problems.
Still, seeing how dejected the maids looked, I felt I should console them. Reluctantly, I pulled out my trump card.
“Later, I won’t say anything even if you dress me up as much as you want.”
“!”
“!”
At those words, the maids’ eyes lit up.
“…Really?”
As I took a step back, Anna seized the opening perfectly.
‘…Was this her plan?’
Her face brightened noticeably, and I looked at her with suspicion.
Anna was holding a ribbon, a grin hanging broadly from her lips.
“Please come this way.”
Just as I was about to step back again, Anna pulled the ribbon taut.
…Not bad at all.
I’ve transmigrated into many novels before, but I could count on one hand the number of times I’d attended a tea party.
I’d gone in and out a few times as an escort for nobles, but this was practically my first time participating directly.
‘Well. Wherever there are people, it’s all the same.’
I wasn’t planning to stay long anyway. Deciding to act according to the situation, I absentmindedly tried to cross my legs—then froze.
Wearing a dress that reached my ankles, crossing my legs would be obvious, but more than that, the person sitting across from me was the bigger problem.
“Is there something on my face?”
‘That’s what I want to ask.’
Going to the Hendron Marquisate was fine. We could have gone separately. Yet Cedric insisted on going together and even brought the carriage all the way to my palace.
The moment I saw the six-horse imperial carriage, I nearly fainted.
“Good thing the weather’s nice.”
“It is.”
Nice, my foot. The sky was so overcast it looked like it could start raining at any moment.
Keeping my gaze fixed outside the window, I forced the corners of my mouth up.
“You know that reply just now was completely soulless, right?”
‘You know everything, so why ask?’
But I valued my neck too much to answer honestly.
Instead of replying properly, I broke into a wide smile. At my shameless expression, Cedric let out a hollow sigh.
“Your Highness.”
“What.”
“May I ask you just one question?”
“What is it?”
After obtaining Cedric’s permission, I pretended to think for a moment before asking carefully,
“Do you really not have any friends?”
“……”
At my question, Cedric seemed momentarily at a loss for words. His clear blue eyes wavered sharply for a brief moment.
“…Why do you ask that all of a sudden?”
“I was just curious.”
There were plenty of other people he could have gone with. I couldn’t understand why he had insisted on taking me to the Hendron Marquisate.
We weren’t particularly close to begin with.
Nor did Cedric and I share any special common ground.
Different genders, different interests. He was even five years older than me.
“Because it’s interesting.”
The answer, tossed out casually, left me dumbfounded.
“Interesting?”
“Yeah. You’re the first fearless one I’ve met.”
This guy had a strange way of mixing praise and insults. When I narrowed my eyes slightly, Cedric added, insisting he was serious.
“I mean it.”
“You even asked me if I’d ever killed someone.”
“That was… just a hunch.”
Perhaps realizing himself that it was a bit much, Cedric glanced at me awkwardly. He might be the only person in existence who could ask someone he’d just met whether they’d ever killed anyone.
Staring at Cedric, I sharply narrowed my eyes. He might have said it lightly, but his words bothered me.
‘A hunch.’
If he truly meant that, it was a frightening thing to hear. There was nothing sharper than a person’s intuition.
Of course, I might have been overly sensitive because it touched on my past, but the fact that he could bring it up so casually was unsettling in itself.
‘A guilty conscience needs no accuser.’
It would be a lie to say I wasn’t pricked by those words. I just didn’t show it.
“I’m sorry for asking something like that when we’d just met. Even I think it must’ve made me look like a lunatic.”
‘Good thing you’re aware of it.’
It would’ve been troublesome if he weren’t.
“But when I say I want to be friends, I mean it.”
“…May I ask why?”
From his position, there was no reason to pay attention to a side character with no presence. If this was the first time we’d met since the wedding, that said it all.
I would’ve been the same if our roles were reversed.
Unless there was some purpose behind it, it wasn’t easy to concern yourself with someone who was soon to die. Wasn’t I the sibling who had lived my whole life beneath the surface?
‘The Emperor is an exception, since I wanted to meet him myself.’
No matter how I thought about it, there was no reason for Cedric to take an interest in me. Yet contrary to my expectations, his answer was unexpected.
“You don’t put on airs.”
“……”
“I know I’m a lunatic, but maybe because I’m royalty, everyone still bows their heads.”
But—
“You don’t. That’s why.”
