Chapter 4
Crunch, crunch.
The sound of someone shoveling food into their mouth filled the dining hall. Joshua, almost without thinking, stole a glance at Robert’s face.
As expected, his expression was twisted in clear displeasure.
Clack!
Robert deliberately set down his utensils with a loud sound.
“Selena.”
Munch, munch.
“Selena!”
“Hm?”
When Robert practically shouted her name, she finally lifted her head. Seeing the sauce smeared all over her mouth, he frowned.
“You need to relearn table manners from scratch. I’ll have to hire a new tutor for you.”
Of course, he had no real intention of assigning a tutor to a twenty-four-year-old duchess’s daughter.
It was simply his indirect way of saying, “Your table manners are unpleasant—fix them.”
“Go ahead, if you want.”
Selena answered offhandedly, then promptly buried her face back into her plate.
“Selena Rommel!”
“Oh, why all the fuss while I’m eating? Ever heard the saying you shouldn’t bother even a dog during a meal?”
“If you have complaints, speak them out. Last night you suddenly left your homecoming banquet to meddle in my study, and now you’re eating with your bare hands?”
At that, Selena deliberately picked up a chunk of meat with her hand and shoved it into her mouth.
Robert’s face twisted as if he were about to gag.
“Couldn’t eat food this good during the war. Same with the wine.”
Gulp, gulp.
Selena drank the wine like water. Her manners were going from bad to worse, and Robert rubbed his forehead.
“…Tsk.”
“Oh, Father, don’t be so harsh on her. She just returned from the war; she needs time to adjust,” Joshua quickly cut in, trying to defuse the tension.
“Selena, you too… It might have been fine until now, but now that the war’s over and you’ve retired, you need to refine your table manners… You understand, right?”
“Of course, Joshua. Since you said it.”
Selena smiled brightly at him, then reached into the valet’s chest pocket, pulled out his handkerchief, and wiped her hands.
The startled valet didn’t dare protest.
“You mean like this, right?”
With clean hands, she began slicing the half-eaten steak with flawless grace.
Robert could find no fault in her execution.
“…Looks like you’ve developed a taste for mocking people.”
“No way. I just couldn’t remember a thing until my lovely brother reminded me, and then—poof—it all came back.”
Her face was the picture of innocence.
“So. What now? Going back to Valery?”
“Hah. You’re the one who summoned me from Valery, and now you’re telling me to go back?”
“That was because the situation was urgent.”
“Sure, I understand.”
They had stopped expecting anything from each other long ago—since Selena was twelve.
“I plan to stay in Adelheit for now.”
“In Adelhite…?”
“Of course. With that face, why wouldn’t I want to stick around? Come on, cheer up.”
Selena pretended to lift the corners of his mouth with her fingers, but Robert’s expression stayed frozen.
“You intend to remain in Adelheit?”
“Why, can’t I?”
“…”
“I’ll have to come back in a year anyway. No point going back and forth.”
Robert held back the words he wanted to say. With public eyes on her every move, confronting her recklessly would only make the Rommel name a laughingstock.
“Or will you drive me out again, like you did to Valery?”
“It was study abroad.”
“Oh, please. We both know the truth.”
Her streetwise tone made him rub his forehead again.
“You didn’t act like that at the banquet, I hope? Using the excuse that you need time to adjust after the war only works so many times. How long will you—”
“Yeah, yeah. I get it~.”
Selena leaned back, picking at her ear.
“Oh, by the way—I seem to have picked up a fiancé I didn’t know about?”
“…So you’ve heard.”
“Bits and pieces.”
She abandoned all manners again, downing her wine.
“What were you thinking?”
“Isn’t it only natural for your only daughter to have no less than the Crown Prince as a match?”
“You’ve been dancing around your words since earlier. Very inefficient.”
Thud!
Selena put her feet up on the table, legs half-crossed—past rudeness into outright insult.
“Why give a fiancé to someone who’s about to die?”
“Watch your tongue!”
“What? Is it a secret that espers have short lifespans?”
She shrugged innocently, knowing full well it wasn’t what he meant.
“It’s a miracle I’ve lasted this long. It’s impossible to find a guide whose wavelength matches mine.”
“Selena Rommel. I let you live freely until now, but as long as you’re in Adelhite carrying the Rommel name… I won’t tolerate this behavior.”
“If you can’t tolerate it, then what will you do?”
“…What?”
“I said—what will you do about it?”
It was outright insubordination. The servants gasped, Joshua trembled, and Robert’s eyes blazed with fury.
“You…! How dare you—”
“Kill me? Ha, impossible, and you know it.”
Selena grinned wide.
“I’ve tried many times. Just won’t die. Hahaha!”
“Selena Rommel!”
“Funny, right? No, listen. Once, on the battlefield, I came face-to-face with a Myern soldier—you know how they use machines or whatever to make weapons? Guns, I mean.”
She tapped her forehead.
“The muzzle was right here.”
Her eyes were unsettling enough to make Robert flinch.
“I told him to pull the trigger. Don’t you want to know what would happen? A person who can’t die, in a situation where they must die.”
“You…”
“So guess what happened?”
Her half-lidded gaze met his crimson eyes.
“In the end—bang! …But.”
“…”
“The bullet didn’t come out.”
She chuckled.
“Strange, right? He swore all six rounds were loaded, and they were—checked after he died.”
Robert felt a chill. He understood instantly—the coercive force of prophecy.
Once a future is observed and fixed, it cannot change. And the world itself eliminates any possibility of it changing.
“That’s why, until the day I’m destined to die at twenty-five, nothing can kill me. Even with a gun at my forehead.”
The universe would twist events to keep the prophecy intact.
“L-Lucky, I guess!”
Joshua forced out a laugh.
“Yes, it must be the Lord’s blessing on you!”
Selena smiled softly.
“Yeah, that’s right. I must be blessed.”
A strange blessing—waiting helplessly for a fated death.
“Right, Duke?”
“…”
But Selena had a gift for speaking words she didn’t mean.
Blessing or curse—it didn’t matter. The future would not change.
“Hey, sis!”
Right after the ice-cold meal ended, Joshua hurried after her.
“Call me ‘noona.’”
“But… Father said it’s more respectful to call you—”
“Forget that crap.”
“!”
Joshua’s eyes went wide. Though startled, he didn’t seem displeased.
“When we’re alone, call me noona. You did yesterday.”
“Okay… noona.”
He grinned.
“So, what did you want?”
“Oh! I may not be an esper, but… could you teach me?”
“Swordsmanship?”
“Yes! But if you’re busy, it’s fine! Really!”
He rambled nervously about not wanting to disrupt her schedule.
“I’m fine with it. How old are you again?”
“Sixteen!”
“Hm. Might break a bone.”
“What?”
“Don’t worry. I’ll adjust.”
She ruffled his hair like he was a puppy.
“Noona, my hair—”
“It’s cuter this way.”
His tidy hair was instantly a mess.
“Young Lady. Pardon the interruption.”
“Oh, head butler. What is it?”
“You have a visitor.”
“For me?”
As far as she knew, barely anyone in the Empire was on friendly terms with her.
And Joshua was right in front of her. That left only one possibility—
“Your fiancé has arrived.”
“Ah.”
“He’s in the drawing room.”
“Got it. I’ll be right there.”
The butler bowed and left.
“Why would His Highness the Crown Prince come here?” Joshua asked.
“He’s my fiancé.”
“But… you don’t seem to like—”
“Pretty close.”
In truth, Selena felt nothing toward Johannes—hardly knew his face or name.
“Then why—”
“Oh, probably to ask for help finding someone. Or to give up.”
“What?”
“Never mind. I’ll go!”
She vanished before Joshua could stop her.
Selena’s guess was dead-on.
“There’s too little information about the guide I’m looking for. Do you have any other requests?”
Just as she thought.
She looked Johannes up and down, bored.
“Nope.”
The look of frustration on his face was almost satisfying.
