Traces. (2)

Von Meshel.

I arrived at the restaurant I'd visited quite often myself, fully expecting Julie to be there. The person smiling brightly beside her, however, was unexpected.

Yuseffin.

From Deculein's perspective, a named character in the highest danger tier—higher than anyone else. This was my first time facing her in person, though I'd seen her on monitors a few times and knew her settings inside out.

"You must have drawn quite a few stares on the first floor coming up."

I hesitated for a moment—should I sit or leave?

But I couldn't just walk out now. On second thought, meeting her like this might actually be better.

Yuseffin was the type of named character who would always hurl a killing intent at least once.

Better to trip over it in some unexpected everyday moment than take a fatal blow at a critical juncture.

I sat down and looked at Julie. She looked back at me. Her gaze was visibly flustered, laced with a hint of apology.

As if she had anything to apologize to Deculein for.

"Julie's my little sister, but she's stunningly beautiful—and you, same as a man, but damn handsome, aren't you?"

Zeit, who had entered after me, rattled on like that, but it went in one ear and out the other. I kept my eyes only on Julie.

"How is she? Julie today?"

Yuseffin suddenly asked. I snapped to attention and nodded.

"She is beautiful."

For a moment, our eyes met and held.

Even in her usual unadorned armor without makeup, her stunning beauty always stood out.

Today, she outshone anyone I'd encountered in this world.

Was this the effect of that 'defamiliarization'?

"Hahaha! Right? What'd you expect from my sister!"

Zeit guffawed.

"By the way, it's been nearly three years since the engagement by the calendar. When's the wedding?"

Even before the appetizers arrived, he picked up his knife and fork, looking ready to carve up the table itself.

What an impatient fellow.

"M-My lord—"

"This is family elders' talk."

Julie tried to speak, startled, but Zeit silenced her with a palm like a pot lid.

"Julie, you stay quiet."

"……"

Just then, as Julie pouted silently, a faint red haze caught my eye.

Villain's Fate.

I first thought it emanated from Julie, but of course not.

It came from the woman beside her—the one smiling sweetly at me, Yuseffin.

"Deculein, when suits you?"

Zeit asked, and Yuseffin chimed in.

"Yes, tell us. We'll follow Professor Deculein's opinion."

Yuseffin was the epitome of two-faced. Not a hair's breadth of her murderous intent showed as she spoke so kindly.

The manifestation of Villain's Fate was mere dust if you didn't look closely.

No— it had already vanished.

A mask that could fool even the trait's eye.

"Bitro Sygien. Grucious, Kigirln."

The door opened, and the head chef entered, muttering some alien tongue as he served the appetizers.

Zeit speared one with his fork and popped it in his mouth. Gluttonous, yet dignified. Not dropping a single piece showed a warrior's unique grace.

"……I'd leave it entirely to Julie."

"Leave it?"

Zeit asked ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠after swallowing.

I chose my words carefully, all my senses locked on Yuseffin.

I knew Yuseffin's true face.

Perhaps I was the only one who did.

Beneath that beautiful shell lurked a monster that could devour even demons.

A ruthless sociopath who spared no means or methods. A snake in human skin, one of the continent's strongest alongside Zeit.

Yet there was one person in this world she truly loved—

Her sister, Julie.

That made her Deculein's enemy. She had every ability to kill him. Beyond the empire, her web spanned the continent's shadows—the group called 'Shadow' belonged entirely to ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠her.

Not a metaphor—all of it was literally hers.

Why she hadn't killed Deculein yet…… I didn't know. Only Yuseffin herself or the author would.

"Deculein. What are you thinking so hard about?"

"……I was pondering for a moment."

This death flag was especially threatening, a slip of killing intent from Yuseffin, who was so adept at hiding herself.

I didn't know how to overcome this death variable. Yuseffin was protean, unpredictable—a true shadow.

"I know."

But one thing.

Now, I would show not Deculein, but I, Kim Woojin, my sincerity: that I would no longer harm the Julie you love.

"You know? Know what?"

Zeit pressed.

"I know Knight Julie has no conviction in this engagement. If she doesn't want it, I have no intention of forcing ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the marriage."

"……No intention of forcing?"

Wrinkle lines creased Zeit's brow.

"The public sees me as the profligate who blew two hundred million in one night at the Rutten auction. Even if we break the engagement now, everyone would blame me."

"What, so you splashed that money at the auction on purpose? For Julie?"

"Not exactly."

I shook my head.

"Don't worry. Even if Knight Julie wants to break it off, ties between Yukline and Phairden will remain strong."

Julie bowed her head. I thought it was moved…… but her hands trembled fiercely. She was desperately suppressing her rage.

Beside Yuseffin, the red haze—no, faint dust of Villain's Fate flickered and faded again.

Wrong answer.

I moistened my parched mouth with cold water.

"Tch. No, no good. How can you speak of breaking the engagement so lightly?"

"Oh my. To think so considerately. Professor Deculein, you're quite the gentleman~"

Zeit hardened his expression and shook his head.

Yuseffin smiled, but she didn't take my sincerity at face value.

"Breaking it for such a reason? The family elders would never allow it. Showing that mindset only makes us want to stick together more."

"……"

I swallowed a sigh inwardly.

Indeed, breaking noble engagements came with too many constraints. Especially for great houses involving millions.

Deculein's pre-baked Phairden elders would be baffled, and Yeriel right away—

"You were bitching about wanting the engagement before, now breaking it? Fine, do it. But you take full responsibility. ……What? Cooperate even after breaking it? No thanks? Why should we help those border trash? Breaking it makes us strangers, idiot. Cough up the two hundred million!"

—something like that.

Too easy to imagine.

"……My lord."

Then Julie spoke.

The main dish, steak, had just arrived.

"Leave us two alone. I beg you."

Julie gazed at me with clear eyes. Sensing her seriousness, Zeit said,

"If Deculein permits."

"It's fine."

"Alright. We'll do that. Yuseffin."

"Yes~"

The two rose and left. Or rather, they pretended to—they poked her head back at the threshold.

"Have a nice talk~"

And Yuseffin was gone.

Or so she pretended.

I knew her personality. She'd surely rigged some eavesdropping trick.

Fortunately, Yuseffin didn't know that I had her personality pegged.

"……You've gotten more cunning."

Julie grumbled first, lips puffed from grinding her teeth.

"Cunning, you say."

I nodded. Fair enough—before, I hadn't been cunning at all.

I knew Deculein's one-dimensional villainies. Not just from the game, but compiling all the rumors in this world……

Before the formal engagement, using family ties to force it, promising Phairden all sorts of interests to sway vassals and elders, pressuring them to hound Julie,

Excluding her from the front lines under pretext of 'combat danger,' jealous of her fellow knights until he ousted them, threatening her scolding superior with family authority, isolating her in the Imperial Knights,

Until she quit the Imperial Knights herself, damaging her career, then brazenly offering her command of the Yukline-owned Hadekan Knights—which she refused—so he spread vile rumors in high society,

Yet when she rose again on her own talent, he schemed to block other knight orders, sabotaging everything she tried,

Tormenting, breaking, enraging her until she sought Yuseffin's help,

Tormenting, breaking, enraging her again and again,

Mistaking affection for a cursed desire to keep her 'only by his side,' crumbling everyone around her so she'd lean solely on him—acts close to demonic.

I knew it all.

So I understood Julie's loathing.

She loathed Deculein, not me.

I sliced my steak casually and asked,

"Looks like you can't break it on your whim. No, from now on, neither of us can do as we please. We've come too far."

"……"

"Why didn't you refuse from the start?"

Julie trembled. Then glared at me with fury-filled eyes.

"So, finally, you're starting again?"

Her voice shook.

After all that torment, she seemed on the verge of tears.

"Starting what? Pressuring your new knight order? Heard it's doing well lately."

Freheim, the knight order Julie founded with comrades. Barely a year old, but succeeding on her character, drawing knights who admired her.

"Argh, really!"

Julie gripped her fork reverse-style and stabbed the steak viciously.

"Really, dragging me to a place like this by force!"

She tore into it whole and shoved it in her mouth.

Sauce splattered her lips, dress, and table.

"I didn't arrange this meal by force. Zeit—"

"You forced it anyway!"

She chewed ferociously.

Julie was deliberately doing what she knew I hated.

Petty revenge like this in the world.

Yet surprisingly, it was working. The flying sauce was muddling my mind, chipping my mental fortitude.

"Stop—"

"This is how I always eat!"

"……"

"Mmm, delicious!"

I closed my eyes. The chomping, slurping—my brow twitched at the sounds alone, but I regained composure and opened them.

"Julie, I won't do it anymore."

"Not falling for it!"

"I know I've bound you till now, and your family has too."

"……What did you say?"

Her savage forkwork finally halted. She glared, lips smeared with sauce ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠and grease.

"What are you trying to say—"

"That I've done wrong all this time."

I took a napkin. Julie's face twisted oddly.

"But not just me—your sister and brother are overbearing too."

She gritted her teeth.

"……No. They—"

"If they weren't overbearing, why block your breaking the engagement?"

I knew the settings cold. I probably knew the Phairden house better than Julie did.

Julie was always the one sacrificing for the family.

"Obviously, because you want the marriage!"

"I said I'd follow your will. Does that feel like a lie too?"

"……"

Julie shut her mouth. Then looked at me, as if peering into my soul.

"Yes. I'm not honest."

"……?"

"No faith, no firm convictions."

Her face mixed shock and confusion. Those round eyes and cheeks were cute.

"Nothing like the upstanding ideal you want. The epitome of a mismatched mage for you."

Deculein's ego would have rejected such self-deprecation outright.

He'd have died before saying it himself.

If he were Deculein.

"But Julie, don't you want the 'Guardian Knight' position?"

"!"

Julie's eyes flew wide. How does he know?!—pure shock and alarm.

A secret wish she'd never voiced to anyone, harbored alone.

"How did you……"

"To become Guardian Knight requires family consent, but yours will likely obstruct it."

"No, no. It's not like that. Our family—"

"To become Guardian Knight, you must leave the family. You know that, so you've hidden it."

"……"

Guardian Knight: the knight's pinnacle, highest honor. The empire's foremost sword.

But a Guardian Knight has no house.

Marriage allowed, but no affiliation to any house. Solely guarding the 'empire.'

The problem: glory for the individual, empty honor for the house.

Empire-wide protection meant no involvement in house or territory disputes. No political voice even.

Opposite the Phairden house's central ambitions.

"Yes, this will do."

A good idea struck; I smiled faintly.

"Keep the engagement, skip the marriage. I want to let you go sincerely, but with tangled interests, I can't—so use my name as your shield as long as you need."

"……?"

"If you're with me and it looks amicable, they won't block your path."

"……"

"Until then, I'll maintain the engagement and wait. No suitable match anyway."

I added a playful tease.

"Who knows. Time might change your heart."

Julie finally turned serious.

"……What scheme is this? Why say it now?"

"No scheme. I can swear a vow if you want."

Mentioning a vow startled her again.

"No need! I don't seek proof of faith. I just…… wonder what you want. If it's my body—no, if that's it! Never!"

A faint blush colored her cheeks.

I knew exactly her worry.

"……What I want."

I want nothing.

I just want to spend time like this with you and eventually break it off, like you.

I don't want you killing me, or those around you doing it.

Yet if you doubt my sincerity,

Then give an answer worthy of it.

"Well."

I looked at Julie. She was tense.

Belatedly, I noticed how quiet the restaurant was.

No noise, no interruptions.

Just Julie's gulp.

And the faint presence of a shadow somewhere, relaying our talk.

"Well……"

For Yuseffin listening nearby,

I prepared my line.

"Yes, this is good."

But don't misunderstand.

This was theater to win Yuseffin's favor, a means to erase the death flag.

Nothing more.

"Once a day."

……Or so it should be.

Oddly, my voice carried sincerity. I stroked my chin, pondering why.

"No, once a week."

Strangely, before Julie, I could do anything easily.

Smile, relax, even falter a bit.

Why?

Simple.

"If even that's impossible, once a year is too much, so at least once a month……"

Deculein truly loved this woman.

His affection ingrained as part of his nature.

"……Smile at me. That's all I desire."

I said with a soft smile.

And silence fell.

"……"

Julie said nothing, just blinking.

Dazed, for a long while, then innocently asked back.

"Smi-smile? At you?"

Not even a proper question. Broken words spilled from fool-wide lips, her final squeak adorable.

"What the……"

Julie worked her lips, then dropped her head. Static-like, her hair frizzed up.

Her startled animal reaction was cute.

"……"

But that silence held no assent. No affection.

Cold burden, stark quiet.

I didn't mind.

Yet an unconscious sigh escaped.

Julie reacted wildly to it. Her bowed crown flinched. Through white hair, a pretty ear flushed tomato-red.

I offered her the napkin. She glanced up, then quietly wiped her mouth.

"Haha."

I just laughed. Julie furrowed her brow slightly and grumbled.

"Wh-what's so funny? Not falling for it!"

"Fine. Believe or not, as you will. I'll do as I said."

Even if you say that, not buying it. No way. Absolutely……

Julie muttered to herself.

Clink, clink.

After that, only the sound of cutlery.

No— one more.

Finally, my currency balance exceeded 10.