ICTIMP CH 07

Chapter 7. The Premature Death Flag Right from the Start (7)

“You must have a companion.”

Despite my stiff tone, Ash maintained his friendly attitude.

“Would you like me to introduce you?”

No, thank you.

But before I could say it aloud, Ash waved to someone.

“Olga, come over here.”

At his words, the brown-haired girl approached quickly.

“Ash, honestly. What would you have done if you went off by yourself?”

“This is Olga Florencence.”

Ash introduced her. I barely managed to suppress a sigh.

“Just call me Anastasia.”

As expected of the female protagonist, Olga greeted me with an incredibly friendly and approachable attitude.

“Nice to meet you, Anastasia. But did you come here alone?”

“My companion went to help some injured people he found in that alley over there.”

Something seemed to click in Olga’s mind, because she looked troubled. She glanced at Ash before apologizing to me in a guilty voice.

“I’m sorry. Those people were hurt because of us…… We got caught up in a confrontation, and we failed to handle it like proper nobles.”

With Ash’s terrible temper, it was entirely believable that something like that had happened, so I showed little reaction.

I simply wanted them to leave as soon as possible.

“Aren’t you two going to release sky lanterns?”

“Ash isn’t interested in things like that. And I’m worried about Anastasia too……”

I had no idea how she could possibly be worried about me when she had only just met me.

I frowned and pulled my hat down again.

“He’ll be back soon.”

“We’ll wait with you until then. It might be dangerous for you to be alone, and besides, you’d be bored.”

Was there perhaps a sign on my forehead saying Please worry about me?

Olga sat down with some distance between herself and Ash. She looked at me with sparkling eyes.

“By the way…… Is Anastasia a noble? It’s just that…… Ash rarely speaks to other people first. It’s rather surprising.”

Ash Cloud was the son of a marquis and looked at commoners as though they were dogs. He was extremely blatant about his discrimination based on social status, which was probably why Olga found it strange.

Ash wore a suspicious smile.

Had he seen my face?

Red hair was certainly rare, but silver hair was also quite uncommon.

In particular, there had never been any commoners with this hair color, so someone as observant as Ash might have noticed.

And he had probably become certain after seeing Adel.

“Anastasia.”

Adel came running toward us, his body covered in sweat.

Ash’s expression soured the moment he saw him.

“So you were Anastasia’s companion.”

“It’s been a while.”

Adel greeted him without any noticeable change in expression.

The two of them were constantly compared to each other.

They were around the same age, and both were heirs to a duke and a marquis respectively, so they were frequently the subject of conversation among the nobles.

Of course, Ash was no match for Adel.

His personality, character, talent—there was nothing in which he could surpass Adel.

Even the marquis himself had gone so far as to say that he coveted Adel as a son.

Perhaps it was only natural that Ash hated Adel.

Ash put on an arrogant air.

“You acted irresponsibly. There are quite a few drunk people around here. You shouldn’t leave a young lady who is already in poor health alone.”

As expected, Ash had realized that I was the daughter of the Sinclair Count, who was suffering from an incurable disease.

Well, Adel had been spending almost all his time with me lately, so rumors were bound to have spread.

“It’s quite something to hear you worrying about someone else.”

Adel showed him only the bare minimum courtesy before turning his attention to me.

“Anastasia, shall we go to the place you wanted to visit?”

“Huh? But……”

I tilted my head.

Why wasn’t he even looking at Olga, his future lover, who was staring at him with wide eyes?

I was curious, but for now, I pretended not to know anything.

“Do you two know each other?”

“I’m sorry for the late introduction. My name is Ash Cloud. I’ve met Young Master Magnus a few times.”

Only then did Ash introduce himself.

If I hadn’t pointed it out, would he have kept his identity to himself until the very end?

It was a little annoying.

“Do you still have business here?”

Adel looked at me curiously when I hesitated.

That was when Olga carefully spoke up.

“Um, excuse me, but are you Young Master Magnus?”

“Yes, I am.”

Adel belatedly looked at the female protagonist.

Olga’s face flushed red, creating a lovely atmosphere that suited her nickname, Peach Blossom.

“Oh my, you really are Young Master Magnus! I’ve heard so much about you. My parents said that there is no one in existence as kind and noble as you. And I heard that no one can match you when it comes to swordsmanship, and that you also possess an aptitude for magic……”

“I see.”

Huh?

Something felt strange.

Adel showed absolutely no reaction.

“May I sit down and talk with you for a little while?”

“I’m sorry. I need to focus on Anastasia.”

I closed my open mouth.

Olga’s eyes widened as though she had never expected to be rejected.

I was just as shocked.

I had been prepared to accept Adel abandoning me to go spend time with Olga.

Eventually, Olga stammered in a voice like a little songbird.

“T-Then what about tomorrow? The sky lantern festival will continue tomorrow too, so if you plan to come again……”

“I have no reason to come unless it’s with Anastasia. If you have no further business with me, I’ll take my leave.”

Adel gently took my hand.

I stood up without even realizing it.

The moment we stepped away from the table, I heard Ash sneer.

“Wow, our goddess took quite a hit to her pride. But somehow, I think the one over there looks more like a goddess.”

I felt strange.

I wasn’t simply happy.

I was confused.

Adel walked toward the cotton candy stand.

He was holding my hand loosely enough that I could slip free simply by twisting it slightly, but every now and then, he took deep breaths.

If even that monster of stamina was out of breath, he must have really run all the way here.

I poked the back of Adel’s hand.

“Adel, that girl was pretty, wasn’t she?”

“I suppose.”

“Didn’t you feel your heart racing, like you sensed some kind of destiny?”

“The only time my heart races is when Anastasia is teasing me.”

I laughed hollowly.

“I’m asking seriously. You fell for Olga, didn’t you? You actually wanted to talk to her more, but you were too embarrassed, so you rejected her, right?”

“I’m not sentimental enough to fall in love with someone at first sight.”

At that, I snapped.

“That makes no sense. Olga is so beautiful!”

She was the female protagonist!

She was supposed to have every handsome man in the world fall for her and become obsessed with her!

Adel stared at me quietly.

“In my eyes, Anastasia is much more beautiful.”

“Hmm?”

“And I don’t want to associate with someone who has such high expectations of me without even knowing me well. I used to endure it even though it made me uncomfortable, but I don’t want to anymore.”

It felt as though I had been struck over the head.

I asked in a much quieter voice,

“You mean it made you uncomfortable?”

“Anastasia, I’m an ordinary person too.”

Adel muttered with a smile.

The man walking beside me at my pace suddenly felt like a completely different person.

In the original story, he had been the perfect overpowered character.

His only struggles had been for the sake of winning the female protagonist’s affection, while everything else was treated as nothing more than a trivial problem.

But what if Adel had been struggling in his own way too?

Just because the novel had focused heavily on romance didn’t mean he couldn’t have been hurt.

Just because I—and everyone else—considered him ideal didn’t necessarily mean Adel himself felt that way.

So, you were an ordinary person too.

I realized it for the first time, but deliberately complained anyway.

“……Fine. Let’s go get cotton candy.”

“We’re going to throw the trash in the trash can, right?”

Adel asked as though preparing himself in advance.

I scoffed.

“What are you talking about? Trash belongs in the trash can.”

We bought cotton candy and each held one.

Around then, I started feeling strange.

Could it have been because of the smell of alcohol earlier?

The more little pieces of cotton candy I ate, the more ominous I felt.

I began stumbling more frequently, and I felt like I might start retching.

It was similar to the sensation I had right before a severe bout of coughing up blood.

We had already released the sky lanterns, and quite a bit of time had passed, so it seemed better to head home.

I tugged on Adel’s clothes.

But Adel was staring at something else.

A group of men walking toward us came into view.

They were all covered in injuries, as though they had rolled around on the ground several times.

They glared at us—or more precisely, at Adel—with such vicious expressions that it looked as though they wanted to tear him apart.

When the distance between us narrowed, the smell of alcohol reached us.

“Hey, you’re the one who reported us to the city guards, aren’t you?”

They were clearly the people who had been lying in the alley earlier.

One of them advanced as though he were about to grab Adel by the collar.

“Who told you to show us that useless kindness? Huh?”

Even though his speech was slurred so badly that he could barely pronounce his words, he didn’t forget to swear.

“We had to pay a fine because of you, bastard!”

Suddenly, I became dizzy.

I staggered and collapsed onto the ground.

“Ugh……”

“Anastasia?”

I-I feel sick……

“Move aside!”

Above my head, Adel and the men were arguing.

“You can’t do that.”

“Pay the fine we had to pay. Then we’ll move.”

Apparently, they were so drunk that they hadn’t recognized Adel.

Well, they had even picked a fight with Ash and gotten beaten up, hadn’t they?

They couldn’t possibly be acting like this while sober.

“If you don’t hurry up and hand over the money, that woman might die.”

The man grinned.

I could sense the people passing by beginning to take an interest in the commotion.

I struggled to raise my head.

“I-I’m fine.”

Adel didn’t believe me.

“I’ll give you the money. How much do you want?”

“Ten gold.”

“No, wait. Now that I think about it, it was thirty gold.”

They were really shameless.

I looked up at the arrogant men with pity.

Ugh.

I really was going to throw up at this rate.

Then a chilling voice, cold enough to send shivers down my spine, pierced my ears.

“I’ll give you all the money I have, so please step aside.”

I never knew Adel could use a voice like that……

I covered my mouth and watched the situation unfold.

Perhaps they had finally realized that something was wrong, because the man at the front backed down slightly.

“O-Okay. Fine. We’ll leave.”

After receiving the money, the men backed away.

Adel carefully helped me to my feet.

“Anastasia, we need to return to the estate immediately.”

Yeah…… I really don’t feel well.

“Oh my, isn’t that Young Master Magnus?”

I turned my head toward the voice and saw a woman with a flushed face.

The moment she spoke, the murmuring around us grew louder.

“It’s Young Master Magnus!”

“Unlike those other nobles, he actually looks at us properly!”

In an instant, people surrounded us.

Out of habit, I pulled my hat down.

Adel’s jaw tightened.

“My friend is very ill, and we need to return as quickly as possible. Please make way.”

But no one seemed to pay any attention to his plea.