Chapter 81 Night Market (3)
Night Market (3)
"I saw how well you performed in the subjugation expedition, Knight."
Those words spoken by Estelle when we'd met by chance at the night market. The question of how she'd come to know that fact had kept me awake all night.
Because of that, the corners of my eyes reflected in the mirror were slightly darkened.
I'd never had dark circles this pronounced before.
Even though it was only the second day of the festival, Estelle's bombshell statement had left my mind in complete turmoil.
I considered confiding in Abel, but since I couldn't predict how he might react to Estelle, I ultimately decided against it.
After all, she was a decent person in her own way.
"Sigh..."
I'd known Estelle was no ordinary figure. The Crown Prince, the Tower Lord, even the Imperial Knight Commander—she had connections with them all.
Each one was practically a heavyweight in their own right.
The Crown Prince, who was morally questionable at best—being the type to chase after women—could be set aside, but the Tower Lord and Knight Commander belonged to an entirely different league.
No matter how I thought about it, there was no way an ordinary young lady could earn the favor of such remarkable individuals without reason.
Most importantly, she had been the one to first whisper information about Ark to me.
'This is giving me a headache...'
Suddenly, I recalled the memory of asking my friend about the protagonist of the original work.
It must have been right after my friend described the scene where the three male leads fought over Estelle.
Curious about how someone could attract such powerful figures, I'd asked her about it.
After pondering my question briefly, my friend had grinned and answered:
"Hehe, it's simple. The protagonist has good eyes."
Good eyes. Certainly, sharp perception and observational skills were essential traits for a romance fantasy protagonist.
But that alone didn't seem special enough. Of course, in a mass-produced novel, that might have been sufficient.
"What does that even mean?"
"If you want to know, why don't you read it yourself~?"
Whenever I got curious and asked, my friend would only respond with that kind of sales pitch.
She probably just wanted me to read the same work.
But honestly, receiving such recommendations only made me feel slightly resistant to the novel—isn't that just human nature?
In the end, I never finished reading it.
Looking back now, I should have read the original work thoroughly right then and there.
Because I knew so little, the early days after transmigrating were nothing short of extreme hardship.
I even ended up being directly targeted by the Crown Prince...
Just remembering that time still made my head spin a little.
"...I should head out now."
It was almost time for my appointment. Since I wasn't attending a social gathering or feast, I decided to skip the makeup.
Just covering up the dark circles with cosmetics would be enough.
Thinking that, I approached the mirror.
The moment my reflection came into view, I froze.
Even without any adornments and with dark circles under my eyes, the face staring back was still beautiful.
The original owner of this body, Adel—had she met such a miserable end despite having this face?
Come to think of it, if not for Abel, I might have met a similar fate.
Perhaps from the moment Adel fell in love with the Crown Prince, that destiny had been inevitable.
'Well, it's not like I'd ever fall for such a brat anyway.'
After hastily covering the dark circles with makeup, I stepped out.
The hallway felt unusually quiet—uncharacteristically so. With Lily away on her hometown vacation, a sense of loneliness crept in.
Even though she had personally come to say goodbye, there was still an emptiness in my heart.
Lost in thought, I entered the mansion's lobby—and spotted a familiar face.
Abel was sitting on the stair railing, deep in thought.
"Abel?"
"Hm?"
Only when I called out did he seem to notice me, unfolding his arms. He then stepped down and approached.
"Heading out?"
"Ah, yes. I have an appointment."
"An appointment?"
I hesitated at his question but decided to be honest. Telling him about my meeting with Estelle shouldn't be a problem.
"Yes. I made plans to meet with Miss Estelle."
"Estelle... I see. Understood."
"Then I'll be going now."
"Wait."
Suddenly, Abel grabbed my shoulder. An eerie sensation shot through me, and I flinched reflexively.
Thud!
Reacting instinctively, I slapped his hand away. Abel's eyes widened slightly, seemingly surprised by my reaction.
He hesitated, mouth working silently, before quickly offering an apology.
"...My apologies. I must have acted too hastily."
"No, it's fine. I'm just a little tired... I must have overreacted."
Honestly, I knew he couldn't have meant any harm. But I had unpleasant memories associated with such sudden contact.
There had been similar incidents in my past life, and in this one, the Crown Prince's antics had only reinforced that discomfort.
I thought I'd moved past it, but apparently, it hadn't completely faded.
"Here."
Abel opened a subspace and handed me a jewel.
The pure white gem radiated a dazzling light. Even at a glance, it was clearly no ordinary object.
"When you need it, channel mana into this."
"What does it do?"
"Well, you can look forward to finding out."
He grinned as he said that. Unable to help myself, I let out a small laugh in response.
"Alright. I'll look forward to it, then."
§
The autumn breeze brushed against my face. Leaves fluttered down from the trees, carried by the wind in a slow dance.
Amid this scenery that so vividly embodied the season, Estelle sat waiting on a bench.
The autumn breeze brushed against her face as she quietly flipped through the pages of her book.
Watching her like this, the only words that came to mind were, She's truly beautiful.
If Adel was the type of beauty who exuded a cool, chic aura, then Estelle was the epitome of purity and elegance.
Her slender fingers turned the pages of the hardbound book with deliberate grace. The cover, made of luxurious material, bore a title written in the Imperial tongue.
The script was slightly different from the Imperial language I knew, so I couldn't quite decipher its exact meaning.
As she turned another page, she seemed to sense my gaze and gently closed the book.
Placing it beside her on the bench, Estelle rose gracefully and greeted me first.
"Hello, Adel."
"Ah, hello, Miss Estelle."
She paused at my formal address, looking at me with a hint of disappointment.
"My, didn't we agree to drop the 'Miss'?"
"Oh. Sorry."
"Hehe. No need to apologize. It's true we haven't seen much of each other lately."
"Ahaha..."
I laughed awkwardly at her words. It was true—we hadn't met much these past few months.
Our last encounter had been at the tea party before I left for Ark. And even then, we hadn't had a proper conversation.
Flustered by her mention of the Emperor's hometown, I had rambled incoherently and hastily ended the discussion.
"I didn't interrupt your reading, did I?"
"Oh, don't be silly. I was just passing the time."
She smiled innocently, though I couldn't tell if it was genuine.
If I were being honest, there was something faintly mischievous about Estelle's smile.
Of course, that might just be my own bias.
"Mind if I ask what you were reading?"
"Hmm..."
Pondering for a moment, Estelle picked up the book from beside her. After skimming a few lines, she chuckled softly and handed it to me.
"Would you like to read it yourself?"
What kind of book would make her laugh like that? Suspicious, I took it and flipped it open.
I skimmed through, absorbing the general flow and content.
Not to brag, but in my past life, my hobby had been reading web novels. Speed-reading was one of the few skills I'd picked up along the way.
"..."
The more I turned the pages, the warmer my face grew.
At first, I thought it was just a typical romance novel, but the descriptions grew increasingly... blatant.
T-This is...
By the tenth page, it had escalated into full-blown adult content. Startled by the unfamiliar explicitness, I snapped the book shut.
This is straight-up erotica!
Though I was used to romance fantasy novels, I'd never ventured into adult-rated territory before.
I checked the cover again and noticed traces of something having been slipped over it.
No wonder it felt so high-quality...
It had a dust jacket!
When I looked up, Estelle was grinning at me.
"Hehe."
"Uh, um... This is..."
"You're adorable when you're flustered, Adel."
The problem isn't that I'm flustered—it's that you were reading this in public!
Just moments ago, she had looked so refined and elegant with her book, but now she seemed like a full-blown lewd demon.
Not that I'm particularly conservative, but isn't it strange to read something like this out in the open?
"H-How could you..."
"Want me to lend it to you?"
Her question left me speechless. What kind of response is even appropriate here? My mind blanked out in multiple ways.
With a playful smirk, she added,
"Ahaha, just kidding. It was a joke."
That didn't sound like a joke at all.
When I handed the book back, she took it and slipped it into a small bag.
Despite the book's size, the bag didn't bulge—likely enchanted with subspace magic.
As I stared in fascination, Estelle explained,
"Lev gave me this bag. It's got subspace magic, so it's really convenient."
"Oh..."
The Tower Master gave her that? Based on the rumors about him, I never would've expected him to do something like that.
Noticing my expression, she shook the bag lightly and asked,
"Want me to ask him to make one for you too?"
"N-No, no. I can just ask Abel for one."
Estelle smirked at my response.
"You and the Duke must be quite close now."
"W-Well..."
It wasn't like I couldn't talk about it, but...
It just felt a little embarrassing to say out loud. Would Estelle react the same way if I asked her?
"Ah, Estelle."
Come to think of it, there was something I'd been meaning to ask.
The whole reason I wanted to meet her was to find out how she knew about the subjugation expedition.
"Hmm? What is it?"
"About yesterday... How did you know?"
At my question, Estelle fell into deep thought before suddenly letting out a small gasp of realization.
"Ah..."
After a brief pause, she seemed to make up her mind and spoke again.
"I have good eyes, you see."
She pointed to her own eyes as she said it.
The words made me freeze. That's exactly what my friend told me.
Hearing it from Estelle herself left me speechless.
Does 'good eyes' mean more than just sharp vision?
While I was still lost in thought, Estelle continued.
"I'll tell you the details... after we enjoy the festival together."