CHAPTER 21…………………………………..
Roll Roll
Clatter.
It was dinnertime. Having returned to the mansion, Rowell sat at the dining table, repeatedly picking up and putting down her fork for no reason. When she lifted her gaze slightly, she saw Leon eating with a blank expression.
Unlike her anxious self, Leon looked perfectly calm. Rowell watched him quietly cutting his meat for a long while, then suddenly recalled the moment when she had entered the mansion earlier.
Just as she was getting down from the carriage, she had run into Leon as he was entering the mansion.
‘Where have you been?’
She had wanted to ask casually, like any ordinary question. But at that moment, Leon’s words—telling her not to concern herself—flashed through her mind, and no words came out of her mouth.
While Rowell stood there saying nothing, Leon cast her a dry glance and brushed past her.
And so, from then until now, not a single word had been exchanged between them.
“……”
The heavy silence dragged on. Rowell found it unbearable. With so many things that needed resolving, silence was of no help at all.
‘Besides, I even got splashed with water today because of Lord Leon. I should at least be allowed to say this much.’
Thinking that, Rowell finally couldn’t hold back any longer and opened her mouth after a bit more time had passed.
“About the scar on your shoulder.”
At those words, Leon’s eyes snapped sharply toward her. Rowell flinched slightly, but she steadied herself and continued.
“I found some herbs that should work for you. They’ll help slow the spread of the wound. For now, we can treat it simply with this, and later at the temple—”
“How many times do I have to say it for you to understand?”
Leon cut her off.
“I told you not to concern yourself. Is meddling excessively in other people’s affairs your hobby?”
His face showed a well-mixed blend of anger and irritation. Soon after, Leon clicked his tongue and stood up. The chair scraped unpleasantly as it was pushed back.
“……”
And so Rowell sat blankly in the dining hall for quite some time, filled only with the sound of the second hand ticking. She remained frozen in the exact posture she had been in, fork still in hand, utterly alone and silent.
A little while later, something fell. It was the sound of Rowell’s fork dropping—or perhaps the sound of her patience snapping—a short, dull tuk.
Bang!
What happened next unfolded in an instant.
Less than three minutes after Leon had stood up from his seat, Rowell suddenly appeared in front of him as he was heading back to his room—and Leon found himself abruptly trapped within a wall formed by Rowell’s arm.
Caught off guard by the sudden shift in position and the unexpected situation, Leon missed a beat in his breathing and froze in place.
“Article 3 of the contract: both ‘Party A’ and ‘Party B’ must faithfully carry out all obligations.”
“What?”
“Did you forget that we’re bound by a contract?”
“What are you—”
“Fine, I’ll apologize for suddenly prying into your wound and all that. But you can’t just push me away like this because of that!”
Rowell fired off her words rapidly right in front of Leon’s face—no, she shouted them.
“I have an obligation to take care of your health! Did you forget that we made a promise together?”
Faced with the barrage of words, Leon stopped all movement and simply stared at Rowell with a stunned expression.
“So… don’t push me away.”
After saying that, Rowell lifted only her eyes and stared straight into Leon’s.
“……”
“Are you going to take the herbs or not?”
Catching the brief tremor in Leon’s eyes, Rowell spoke in a half-threatening tone.
“Th—”
“Yes?”
“…I’ll take them.”
At the finally satisfactory answer, Rowell withdrew the arm that had been trapping Leon and broke into a bright smile.
“Good. Then I’ll brew the herbs after dinner and bring them to you.”
She pulled her upper body back, which had been close to Leon. A satisfied smile lingered at the corners of her mouth.
“I may not look it, but I’ve heard quite a lot about herbs from various places.”
She added this while looking at Leon, who was still dazed.
“Well then, I’ll go finish my meal.”
After that, Rowell walked back to the dining hall on her own two feet. Feeling refreshed as she moved, she didn’t even realize that she had just used an order naturally.
‘There can’t be a situation where Lord Leon’s body weakens and makes it difficult to fulfill the contract.’
Her mind was filled with other thoughts.
“……”
Meanwhile, Leon remained rooted to the spot where Rowell had been, staring at the floor, held captive for a long while by the echo of her voice in his head.
“Hah….”
Only after quite some time did Leon remember how to breathe evenly again.
“That’s not as painful as you think.”
That night, sitting on the edge of the bed, Leon let out a sigh as he finished the medicine and set the glass down.
“Pardon?”
“It doesn’t hurt enough for you to look like the world’s collapsing while staring at me like that.”
At his words, Rowell realized she had been staring far too intensely at his shoulder and leaned back. Still, it was hard to believe him when he said it didn’t hurt.
As a result, her narrowed eyes quickly formed an expression that clearly read, Liar.
“It’s true. I naturally feel less pain than most people. It’s something that often happens to those whose mana manifests late.”
“Often?”
“Yes, often. If you don’t believe me, go ask the Heinstain young lady. A family like Heinstain’s would’ve had private tutors since childhood. She must’ve heard all sorts of things back then.”
“The young lady was frail, so she couldn’t properly learn magic. That’s why she surprisingly doesn’t know much about it.”
Rowell said this while shooting Leon a sideways glance. After a short pause, she opened her mouth again, hesitating briefly.
“You’re not going to answer why there’s corruption, are you.”
At that question, Leon’s gaze, which had been fixed on Rowell, drifted away. In that brief instant, Rowell caught the light flicker and vanish from his eyes.
“Okay. I won’t ask.”
She spoke quickly, reading the change before Leon could respond. After all, she had no right to dig any deeper here. That lay outside the bounds of the contract.
“But! You have to answer this.”
Startled by Rowell’s sudden words, Leon’s drifting gaze returned to her.
“Have you been sleeping properly lately?”
“What?”
“Last time I saw you, it looked like you were sleep-deprived.”
“……”
“You really haven’t been sleeping well, have you? Don’t you know that sleep is the foundation of stamina management?”
Leon looked at the furrowed brows that had somehow ended up right in front of him. After staring at them for a moment, he slowly spoke.
“You seem to have forgotten—I’m the vice-captain of the knight order. So when it comes to stamina management, I’m better at it than you—”
“But you’re not managing it well right now. When I moved you from the tower to the mansion, you didn’t even wake up—you just kept sleeping.”
“That was just that one time. Normally, I don’t lose to anyone when it comes to stamina.”
“You don’t even realize how deep the shadows under your eyes are from being tired.”
Rowell didn’t back down and kept talking.
“Hah… so what exactly are you suggesting?”
In the end, Leon raised the white flag. The hand brushing his bangs back moved sluggishly.
“You’re uncomfortable sleeping properly because you’re sharing a bed with me, aren’t you?”
“…What?”
“I know. You’ve probably slept alone your whole life, and suddenly having to sleep next to a woman you’re not related to makes you uncomfortable. So I found a solution. For your comfortable sleep.”
Saying that, Rowell stood up. She rummaged through the wardrobe beside the bed, then reappeared holding something.
“We can’t sleep in separate rooms because people might see, and you said you’d feel bad if I slept on the floor. I feel the same. If you slept on the floor, it’d bother me too. So let’s do this. I’ll sleep like this.”
Rowell suddenly wrapped the thin blanket she was holding tightly around herself, rolling herself up, and then threw herself onto the bed.
“If I do this, I won’t touch you, and you won’t touch me, right? We’re both safe from each other.”
“No, what in the—”
Leon looked down at Rowell, who lay on the bed rolled up like a scroll. It was a strangely familiar sight. Because of that, Leon genuinely wondered whether she was joking or being serious.
“Just think of it as having a rolled-up cake next to you. Then you’ll be able to sleep without worrying.”
Seeing Rowell’s sparkling eyes and proud expression, it seemed far more likely that she was serious.
Soon after, Rowell closed her eyes, clearly intending to sleep exactly like that—and as always, she fell asleep quickly.
“What kind of kid is she, seriously….”
A hollow laugh escaped Leon.
The next morning, as soon as dawn broke, Rowell headed for the knight order headquarters to keep her promise. The appointment had been one-sidedly set by a knight named Agnes she’d met in the shopping district, but Rowell had been planning to visit the headquarters anyway, so it felt like a timely opportunity.
“Thank you for your cooperation.”
When Rowell finished speaking, Agnes Ranistan said gently with a smiling gaze. On the paper atop the desk, Rowell’s account had been neatly transcribed in tidy handwriting.
Only then did Rowell relax and look around. The reception room at the knight order headquarters was furnished with modest furniture; aside from the decorative swords mounted here and there, it looked like an ordinary, unadorned sitting room.
“Um, by any chance, did you also go to investigate Lady Heinstain?”
As she looked around, Rowell suddenly remembered that the true first witness hadn’t been herself, but Aria.
“No. We had many things we wanted to ask her as well, but we heard that her health isn’t good. Apparently, she hasn’t even left the house since the incident.”
At that answer, Rowell bit her lip without realizing it.
“She’s ill….”
That was possible. Aria had always been physically weak; the shock from the previous incident might have worsened her condition.
‘But…’
It didn’t sit right to think of it as something so simple. Because of that, worry began to creep across Rowell’s face.
“You don’t need to worry so much.”
“Yes?”
“It’s true that this is the first time demons have attacked so close to the capital. But we’re preparing our forces accordingly, so there’s no need for concern.”
Agnes spoke in a soothing tone, having misinterpreted the emotion on Rowell’s face. She probably thought Rowell was simply afraid of the demons and meant it as reassurance.
“…Yes.”
At the misplaced comfort, Rowell lifted the corners of her mouth politely. What she was worried about wasn’t a demon invasion, but Aria herself—but she didn’t bother correcting her.
“There’s no need to worry.”
Inside the carriage on the way home, Rowell mulled over Agnes’s words.
“I’ve heard that same line from other knights before, too.”
In every regression so far, the knights had always said the same thing to Aria: that there was no need to worry, that they would protect her.
But this was already the seventh time Aria had died and regressed. Naturally, even Rowell—who had stood beside her and heard those words—could no longer trust the knights.
‘That’s why I have to try harder.’
Watching the trees pass by, Rowell clenched the fist resting on her knee tightly.
