TNCFO 78

~Chapter 78~

“Pfft.”
Seeing the knight piece sitting lost in the wrong spot, Noxian lowered his head.

A short laugh escaped him, and Shariette raised an eyebrow.

Still smiling, he rubbed the corner of his mouth and reached out.

“Let me borrow your hand for a moment.”

As always, he asked first, then held her hand to move the piece.

“The knight moves like this. One square forward, then one more diagonally.”

“Too bothersome.”

Her immediate complaint made him chuckle in a low voice.

“But it’s the only piece that can jump over others. You can use it in unusual ways.”

Of course, she would pick that one—he thought.

“If you take the king like this, the game ends. In war, if you take the head, you win.”

He held her hand and moved the pieces as he explained the simple rules.

“Do you actually enjoy this?”

“I do.”

“Even alone?”

“You just imagine an opponent. Try to predict how they’d move.”

She couldn’t see how that was fun at all…

“Who knows? If you try different things, maybe one will suit your taste.”

Why not?

She pushed her rook straight and captured a bishop that was about to take a pawn.

At her oddly inefficient move, Noxian’s eyes lit up.

“You just sacrificed a fortress.”

“Huh?”

“And lost your queen too.”

“??”

He laughed, clearly amused.

“Saving a pawn, only to lose a rook and a queen—impressive.”

Shariette looked at the board, hollow as a general who had lost her country.

“It’s my first time, of course—”

“Again.”

“…Shariette?”

“I said again.”

And so, a rematch began in the middle of the night.

“Again.”

It didn’t end until she won.

“Again.”

Shariette clearly had no intention of tiring before victory.

“…Endurance battles are a valid strategy too.”

Rubbing his eyes, Noxian realized this could last until morning.

Just as he was about to make a “mistaken” move, Shariette stared at a pawn and suddenly asked:

“Did Anette really propose to you?”

Noxian’s hand slipped.
The piece he was moving rolled away.
Sleep vanished instantly.

He hadn’t pressed earlier because she seemed unwilling to talk.

Now he lifted his head from the checkered battlefield.

“Did you hear that from her?”

Noticing his sharp reaction, Shariette put her piece back down.

As expected, Noxian’s mouth curled coldly.

“Did she say that? Or is someone gossiping? Tell me who.”

Why is he so serious about this?

She had asked because pawns that reached the end could transform into other pieces—
and it reminded her of Blanche and Anette.

“……”

Realizing he’d reacted too sensitively, Noxian eased his expression and chose his words slowly.

“…I’m more sentimental than I look. But that kind of cheap, spiteful thing doesn’t count as a proposal, Shariette.”

Still, his words were filled with emotion.

If sentimental people all drowned in the Lat River, he’d be at the bottom by now.
Shariette thought.

“It’s too rude even to be called a contract offer. Whatever you heard—it’s nonsense. Don’t take it seriously.”

His tone was harsher and sharper than usual.
It was as if the word “proposal” itself triggered an allergic reaction.

But his firm denial cleared away the discomfort that had been sitting in her chest.

“Sorry. So you really did run away.”

“Run away? Me?”

Noxian frowned.

Who had she been talking to while he was gone?

Shariette explained lightly, her tone suddenly brighter.

“Nixia and the Pendragon knights said so. That you suddenly went south to avoid Anette’s proposal.”

“……”

From that absurd explanation, he guessed the situation.
For someone like Shariette, who asked things directly, that was probably the best excuse they could come up with.

Damn it. He pressed a hand to his forehead.
All because that bastard Lionel barged in…

‘Wait.’

He remembered the strange book titles he’d seen in her room:

— Sacred Contracts: Proposal, Engagement, Marriage
— Rights and Responsibilities of Engagement: Things to Know Before Marriage

…Ah. So that was why?

It dawned on him.

She had heard from Anette that she came with a proposal, then asked Nixia and the knights, then looked up books, and now asked him directly…

“So she’s been worried about that for half a month.”

Noxian pressed down the corner of his lips with his hand, trying not to smile.
But his eyes curved anyway.
He was about to burst out laughing.

“…What?”

Shariette frowned at his sudden change.

Why was he like this? Angry one moment, laughing the next.

Emotional instability?

She had suspected for a while.
She recalled the composition of the sleeping medicine she had been preparing for him.

Any side effects from long-term use? No… Still, I should check again.

Side effects were serious. She mentally marked this as an important note.

Seeing her serious face, Noxian realized she was jumping to the wrong conclusion and finally chuckled.

“What’s funny?”

“Not everything funny makes me laugh.”

“Then?”

“I laugh when I’m happy too.”

“What makes you happy?”

Resting his chin on one hand, Noxian smiled playfully.

“You, Shariette. You suddenly seem happier.”

“Me?”

Caught off guard, she touched her own face.

“You’re asking more questions. Chattering. Your voice is louder, your eyes sparkle… Like a fire that was dying but flared up again.”

She was the only one unaware of it.

Noxian decided to enjoy this patience—it was entertaining.

“……”

Interest. Curiosity. Joy. Satisfaction.
She could see all of those emotions in his gaze and smile.

So this is what people mean when they say they’re “in a good mood.”

Did Noxian see the same thing in her?

Instead of difficult thoughts, she decided this was the moment to say something important.

“This is a strong guess, but…”

Shariette carefully opened her mouth.

“Anette Maze’s power isn’t simple healing.”

“……”

Again—that woman.
Noxian’s smile slowly faded.

But regardless of his dislike, he knew the matter was serious.
Hadn’t he himself rushed south to find a way out of this situation?

Gather information, find weaknesses, hold the right card to attack—

He gestured for her to continue.

“The results look the same, but the principle is different. It seems more dangerous.”

Even she thought her words sounded flimsy.
Unbelievable, really.
And he would surely ask how she knew.

But she couldn’t think of any other way to stop Anette’s power.

If she had really stopped the southern plague with it, then someone must have borne the cost in her place.
And it could happen again.

If anyone could find a solution, it would be him.

Noxian, listening quietly, finally spoke:

“My doctor doesn’t want others to get hurt because of her, it seems.”

Exactly!

Shariette nodded fiercely.

“……”

The Shariette he knew—both the Shasha of the past and the Shariette of now—had one infuriating habit.

[Watch me drink it. I’ll wake in six hours because my body detoxes quickly.]

“Why won’t you drink? Should I try it first?”

Whether medicine or poison, she would swallow it herself to prove it.
Always showing results first, then convincing others.

If she said this much, she must have already confirmed it her way.

Noxian asked gently:

“Alright, I’ll take note. But tell me, Shariette—
how exactly did you ‘confirm’ that it’s such a dangerous power?”