Chapter 323: Promise Me

Even if I snapped that there was nothing to be embarrassed about just putting on a shirt, it was obvious it wouldn’t make a dent.

To be honest, using this opportunity to confess, I actually was a little embarrassed.

To my eyes, a nightshirt and a long-shirt dress were basically the same design anyway.

‘But… it’s really comfortable. Nothing tightens the body.’

That’s why I’d bought pajamas a long time ago but left them untouched. I just couldn’t get around to wearing them. Compared to outdoor clothes, these were plenty comfortable, but maybe because I’d gotten used to even more comfortable sleepwear, they felt unnecessarily restrictive.

I’d have to consider changing after the protagonist of another novel left later.

“In my opinion, you suit a nightshirt more than pajamas. Should I say it gives you a more classic, dignified feel?”

“Stop spouting nonsense with a serious face and hurry up and explain that skill called 【Eye that Perceives Truth】.”

I couldn’t keep talking about sleepwear forever.

I dismissed the protagonist of another novel’s words and brought up the reason I’d let him into the room.

But unfortunately, he didn’t respond to that.

“Before I talk about that, there’s something I need to address.”

“Just in case, let me say this in advance. If you’re planning to drag things out by rambling aimlessly because you’re afraid I’ll kick you out after hearing about the skill, forget it.”

“That’s absolutely not it. Since you might try to kick me out midway, I’ll say this beforehand too: I have a lot of topics I want to discuss with you today. That’s why I suggested we meet comfortably after washing up.”

“What do you mean ‘not it’?! How is what you just said any different from saying you want to stay up all night chatting and playing around with me?”

“I think there’s a world of difference between rambling aimlessly and saying I have things I’ve thought about in advance.”

I’d felt it before, but this protagonist of another novel seems to have a talent for sophistry.

It’s clearly nonsense, yet he picks out words that are vague enough to make it hard to point out he’s wrong.

So I silently crossed my arms and glared at him, and he added the following explanation.

“It’s all important, and what I’m about to say now is especially important.”

With no hint of slyness, wearing a terribly serious—almost grave—expression.

In that moment, Reysir even exuded the momentum worthy of an original protagonist.

I suddenly realized that from the moment he knocked on my door until now, he hadn’t once laughed out loud.

“Wait a moment.”

If the important talk was going to be long, it’d be best to prepare some drinks in case I got thirsty.

And to complete the set, I’d need some snacks to go with them.

For the above reasons, I prepared a tea tray with omija tea and assorted dried fruits, then sat down across from Reysir.

For reference, Reysir sat down while I was in the bathroom.

When I came out after changing into my sleepwear, he was already seated.

He’d even taken off his eyepatch and placed it on the table.

“Wow, another drink I’ve never seen before? And these snacks are new too! Did you and Yor make these?”

“I brought this out because you said you had something important to say. So don’t try to sneak in small talk and just get to the point.”

“Okay. Let me wet my throat first.”

It wasn’t time for him to be thirsty yet; he was just curious about the taste of the new drink.

Still, drinking a single sip doesn’t take long, so I let it slide.

Whether he liked the sweet-and-sour, slightly bitter, and subtly tangy drink, Reysir let out a short “Oh…!” and set down the glass.

Judging by his expression, he seemed eager to comment on the taste of the drink he’d just had.

But then he immediately returned to a serious expression, so my repeated warnings not to chat seemed to have some effect.

“Last Thursday. You warned Helly that Drembi might charge at her with a sword without warning, right?”

That was from Chapter 270. Even just hearing the opening, I could tell what Reysir was trying to say.

And I couldn’t miss why he was making such a serious face.

“When you forced him to apologize to humiliate him, I could brush it off as you just making an excuse because you were embarrassed to admit that you wanted Helly to receive an apology from him.”

Does he not realize that by saying it like this, it becomes something that hasn’t been brushed aside?

Embarrassment surged, and I desperately wanted to argue back.

But since I’d forbidden him from making small talk, I couldn’t throw out a comment that blurred the point, so I just endured it.

That’s why. It wasn’t because I lacked grounds for rebuttal that I had to keep my mouth shut.

“But confronting someone you deemed dangerous, insulting their family by calling them a ‘parvenu,’ or digging up things that never happened to interrogate and corner them—that wasn’t like you.”

“…So? Are you saying you’ve learned I’m the kind of person who does such things without hesitation, and you’re disappointed?”

“No. Because if I asked directly, ‘You deliberately provoked him so Helly would be in danger, didn’t you?’ you’d deny it and make excuses. So I just presented the evidence first.”

“……”

Even I thought that was probably what I’d done, so I couldn’t deny it.

“You’re a cautious person, and since the attempted poisoning incident, you’ve been on edge about your own safety… I won’t bother asking why you did it. The answer is already clear.”

It was obvious what ‘answer’ Reysir was guessing.

The Hailga family is weaker than me. And an attack on the baron’s daughter would be treated less severely than an attack on me, the duke’s young lord.

He thinks I deliberately sacrificed myself.

And saying he wouldn’t even ask why is a way of nailing down that there’s no point in denying it or making other excuses.

Now, there’s only one thing I can say.

“I judged that nothing dangerous would happen to me. And it didn’t.”

“What do you mean? It didn’t? Didn’t Drembi spray you with acid solution G||??”

“I prepared in advance, so I blocked it, didn’t I?”

“If the timing had been even slightly off, you wouldn’t have been able to block it.”

“You know I have a skill that can increase my reaction speed, don’t you?”

“I know very well. I also know that activating that skill has conditions, and if things had gone wrong, you might not have been able to activate it in time.”

In Chapter 319, when Valtraus scolded me about poking a hornet’s nest, I felt annoyed, thinking, ‘Who is he to interfere?’

But now, I didn’t feel that way.

The eyes meeting mine and the voice I heard were brimming with genuine concern, which made me feel sorry instead.

But I was just trying to prevent this novel’s genre from becoming an angst piece.

“Do you think I did wrong? If I hadn’t, your childhood friend would have been seriously hurt, wouldn’t she?”

A sudden surge of hurt feelings at the original protagonist’s attitude made me blurt this out.

It was practically an admission that I had redirected the danger aimed at Hailga toward myself.

I realized it too late and thought, ‘Uh-oh…’

But maybe he wanted to keep the serious atmosphere going?

Fortunately, instead of pointing it out and teasing me, Reysir shook his head with a smileless expression.

“You stepped in to save someone else—someone who’s like family to me, Helly—how could I fault you for that? On the contrary, I’m thankful. Really, I am………… but I was just too worried about you. Because you’re also precious to me.”

“……”

It wasn’t particularly great prose.

But even that utterly ordinary sentence made the hurt feelings that had filled my heart drain away at once, like an ebbing tide.

The empty space left behind tickled strangely.

Maybe it was because the words contained both recognition and affection for me: praising me for saving someone close to him without ignoring the fact that I could have been in danger, and not belittling what I did by saying I shouldn’t have because he was worried.

“What I’m trying to say is, if you ever volunteer for something dangerous like this again, I want you to give me a heads-up beforehand. It’s a good thing Drembi’s preparation was something that could be blocked by stretching an Ether Barrier, but what if it had been a bomb? Or if he had a hidden trick and broke through the Ether Barrier before spraying acid?”

“In that case, you would have blocked it well on your own, right?”

“So next time, let me protect you… huh?”

Reysir paused mid-nagging and showed confusion.

Just as I was wondering why he was acting like that,

His eyes went wide, and his face lit up with emotion.

“You really believed that as long as I was by your side, no matter what happened, I would protect you! That’s why you could safely provoke that Drembi bastard?!”

“What?! No, that… that’s…!”

“It’s not?”

“……”

“Really, it’s not?”

Leaving aside that it was too late to flatly deny it,

If I gave the impression I was overconfident in my own abilities, it might deepen his worry—that would be unfortunate, and also,

It was true that I trusted the original protagonist’s survival skills and intended to use him as a shield, and I planned to continue doing so in the future.

“…It’s not that it’s not true…………”

—I had no choice but to admit it reluctantly.

Then a satisfied smile clearly rose on the protagonist of another novel’s face.

“Hahaha! Really? You trusted me?! I’m seriously so happy~!”

“……”

“Oh! Come to think of it, when you fought the Boss Monster today, you trusted that I’d manage somehow too, right? From the looks of it, I guess I’m pretty reliable?”

“Hah, stop talking nonsense! Just hurry up and tell me about the skill you got back then!”

“You haven’t even promised to share your plans with me in advance when risking danger, yet you’re trying to change the subject subtly.”

Just a few minutes ago, he was saying it as a request to give him a heads-up, and now he’s holding out his pinky, urging me to promise quickly.

It felt like he’d gotten way too cocky in just a few minutes.

As I stared blankly at the outstretched hand, dumbfounded, the protagonist of another novel wiggled his lifted pinky finger.

As if to say, ‘Why aren’t you linking your pinky with mine?’

It was just a single finger movement, but it was so irritating that my hand reflexively shot out and smacked it away.