ITETD 05

~Chapter 5~

After I finished getting ready, I went downstairs to the first floor. There, I saw the knights of Duke Hertrio occupying a table in the inn. As soon as I descended the stairs, the chattering stopped.

Before I even realized it, I had spotted Calix amongst the strangers. As soon as I turned my gaze, I saw the familiar face sitting quietly.

When he noticed my entry, he stood up and approached me.

“Rena, come here.”

“……Calix.”

I approached Calix, ignoring the surprised knight next to me who had his mouth wide open in shock. He took my hand and sat me down next to him.

“What do you want to eat? Would you like some milk?”

Nodding my head, the shrewd innkeeper went straight into the kitchen. I looked at Calix, who was sitting next to me, and decided to try my luck.

“I still want to stop by my house before I leave.”

“……Why?”

Seeing his face harden in an instant, I suddenly felt the need to make up an excuse, fiddling with the cup of milk the innkeeper had brought me in the meantime.

“I think I’ll have to say goodbye to the villagers.”

“You can write them a letter. We can ask the mayor of this village to deliver it for you, as well. Since it’s the neighbouring village, he should be able to deliver it right away, hm?”

The way he soothed me by holding my hand and gently rubbing it with his thumb was familiar, like he had done it a few times before. Rather than answering Calix, I looked at his face instead.

“Rena?”

Calix called out to me; he was probably feeling anxious after I didn’t say anything in response. After a moment of silence, I finally nodded my head.

“……Okay.”

This was my karma, I couldn’t help it.

Every time Calix looked at me, I could clearly see his true feelings. His anxiety, fearing that I might disappear at any moment; his restlessness, not wanting to let go of me and have me out of his sight.

That’s why I didn’t feel good about this situation. It was one thing to say, “I didn’t know”, in response to the characters, the heroine and the male lead, saying they could take care of themselves and another to actually see the consequences of my actions in front of me.

I hid my complex thoughts, choosing to simply nod my head. When I agreed with his suggestion, Calix’s face brightened.

“You must be hungry. What would you like to eat?”

“I’ll have the same thing as you.”

He looked down at the food in front of him.

“I have an omelette. Are you okay with that?”

“Yeah. I like omelettes.”

“Okay. Let’s go and eat something more delicious.”

Calix rubbed my cheek and ordered breakfast for me. I could see the knights around us watching in horror and awe. In particular, the knight closest to us had his mouth open so wide it seemed that his chin fell off.

But neither Calix nor I cared about them. I felt like I could clearly see what the upcoming journey ahead would be like.

***

After breakfast, Calix, in a natural manner, followed me into the carriage. I had entrusted my letters, which were addressed to the villagers, to the chief of the village.

After some contemplation, I decided to add a message to the ends of the letters, saying that if anything were to happen, they’d be able to find me in the Duchy of Hertrio. Calix didn’t seem to mind me adding that part in.

As soon as I sat down in the carriage, I looked out the window and started thinking again. I decided to ignore Calix, who was fiddling with my hand and trying to get closer to me.

I met the male lead again, someone whom I thought I would never meet again. Not to mention, we met again under the worst circumstances imaginable.

Whatever’s happened has already happened, and now all I could really do was prepare for what’s going to come ahead.

What I should really be caring about most was…

The supporting character who should have died but now is the only survivor of a family that was framed for treason, Regina Rohelo Troxia. In other words, me.

How will the course of events, the future development of the original work, be affected by my staying by the male lead’s side? More importantly, how would this situation affect my safety?

My original plan to escape from this world through death had failed so miserably that I didn’t have the strength to come up with another one, choosing to live for five years without a plan instead. But I couldn’t do that from now on.

It was time for me to plan for my survival.

If I left my life up to chance, it would probably turn out for the worst.

‘……The problem is that I can’t remember any of the content in the original work properly. ‘

At that moment, Calix’s voice awakened me from my thoughts. He was asking me while stroking my hand at the same time.

“What are you thinking about?”

“……Uh? Just… This is the first time I’ve been out of town, that’s all.”

This was the first time I had left the village and the area immediately surrounding it since being rescued and settling down five years ago, so I technically wasn’t lying.

At my words, Calix rubbed his forehead against my shoulder and said,

“Once we arrive in Pensir, we will be taking the train. It must be your first time taking the train as well.”

Startled, I looked away from the window and turned to him.

“Train? We won’t be taking the carriage all the way to the duchy?”

“Yes. I get motion sickness if I only ride in a carriage. I prefer to take the train.”

I’ve never had carriage sickness in the past. Did you get motion sickness?

‘Is it because of your motion sickness that you are sticking next to me like a piece of gum?’

Thinking that way made him seem a bit pitiful. My heart felt weak, especially with the way he was leaning on my shoulder due to his motion sickness.

“Are you okay now? Do you want to lie down somewhere?”

“No, it’s okay. I want to stay like this.”

“Alright. If it doesn’t get better, tell me.”

Calix smiled lightly and rested his head on my shoulder.

His neck must be sore because I’m so short compared to him, wasn’t it uncomfortable for him?

However, since he seemed so satisfied, I didn’t say anymore and proceeded to look out the window again.

My previously interrupted thoughts continued.

It was an obvious problem that I could barely remember anything from the original novel. I’d be a step ahead if I remembered. But, it was a novel I read seven years ago. If anyone could remember a novel from that long ago, that would be even weirder.

After I had decided to escape from this world, I stopped caring about it because the story was going to develop as usual without me. If I had known that this was going to happen, I would have memorized as much information as possible.

The only things that came to mind were the description of the female lead’s appearance and the location of the first kiss between the female lead and the male lead, as well as the appearance of the burning building. Calix had saved the heroine from almost dying, at one point as well.

‘How did the female lead and male lead meet in the first place?’

Calix needed the information the female lead knew.

In the original story, Calix always referred to the female lead as Renia. I don’t know if it was her nickname or her real name, or if that name came from his dead first love’s name.

Two things were for certain.

The Troxia family committing treason was a false accusation, and that someone wants me dead. That person is still freely walking around outside.

After riding the carriage for a long time, I suddenly had an idea and turned my head, facing Calix, feeling a bit mischievous.

“Calix.”

“Hm?”

“You said we got married. Who was the one to propose?”

“Uh……?”

I didn’t miss the fluctuating eyes of Calix, who was flustered.

“Who said ‘I like you’ first?”

I couldn’t stop the playfulness in me from coming out. I wanted to hear Calix’s answer. I wanted to see what he would say, so I deliberately asked him in a mischievous way.

Calix slowly closed and opened his eyes, meeting mine. Gently closing those bright blue eyes once again, he opened his mouth.

“Of course, you asked me to marry you first.”

“Huh….?”

“When you were a kid, you fell for me and followed me around. After a week of our meeting, you asked me to marry you.”

“Did I say that…?”

“Yeah. That’s right.”

It was clear what he was implying.

‘Are you still going to pretend you don’t know me?’

However, I didn’t want to admit defeat with my own hands now either. I nodded my head innocently, acting as though I didn’t know anything.

“I see, then I must remember you quickly. I suppose it was love at first sight then, but now I feel sorry because your face isn’t to my liking. I’m sorry I didn’t fall for you at first sight again, like back then.”

“That’s alright, you will remember it later.”

Calix kissed me on the cheek.

The curtain on such an elaborate scam has risen.

I pretended not to remember him, and Calix pretended to be fooled by me even though he knows my words were all lies.

It was a scam where there were only cheaters and no victims.

***

I was the one who told Calix to go to sleep when he felt tired, but I ended up falling asleep first. I couldn’t stand the increasingly boring journey, being in a carriage for several hours while only seeing the same scenery.

‘Would you like to sleep if you’re tired?’

“If you’re tired, would you want to sleep?”

I couldn’t resist Calix’s offer and leaned on him, unable to resist the way he nuzzled me as he spoke. When I came to my sense, I was lying on the carriage seat, my head on Calix’s thigh.

Sigh. I could feel Calix’s touch, who was wistfully stroking my shortened hair with regret.

I could sense the calmness in the air surrounding him even though my eyes were closed, so I continued to pretend to be asleep, although I did feel embarrassed for some reason.

Then, just as I was actually falling asleep again, I heard a knock on the carriage door. At the same time, I noticed that the carriage was no longer moving and had stopped somewhere.

“Come on in.”

Click. The door of the carriage opened, and the voice of the man I assumed to be Calix’s knight could be heard. It was the same voice I had heard in the morning.

“When will you be leaving?”

The knight didn’t seem to be impatient and demanding for an answer. Calix gently patted me on the shoulder.

“In a little while. I don’t want to wake up a sleeping child.”

There was a hint of laughter in Calix’s reply. In an instant, I was treated as a ‘sleeping child’. I was so embarrassed that I desperately tried to act like I was still sleeping so he wouldn’t have known that I’d already woken up.

The knight asked.

“She is…?”

Only then did I realize that Calix had yet to explain a word about who I was to his knights. I held my breath still, wondering what he was going to say.

I felt Calix’s long fingers graze my cheek. He opened his mouth with an air of hesitation.

“…The Wizard of the Territory.”

“A wizard? Didn’t you say you’d never let in a wizard to your territory? Is there any reason why you changed your mind?”

“……”

What did you mean by a ‘wizard’.

“…I don’t have to wait any longer.”

‘Wizard!’

Did Calix intend to take me in as a wizard?

You were confident that there was a way. Was this the way? Cheating me in as a commoner wizard?

‘You told me you’d take me as your wife.’

“Very well. I’ll tell Mier to prepare the wizard’s room in the east wing of the mansion.”

“No. Have her room be the room right next to mine.”