At the same time, in a thickly overgrown thicket in one corner of the park, where several trees stood.
"So that’s what happened..."
Dante, concealed behind a tree, murmured quietly, while Angelica hid behind another tree without a word, silently watching the two people and one spirit bickering in the park.
"I feel like I just heard something incredible for some reason."
While Ian and Dolnesia were squabbling over their respective shares of Don Quixote.
Not far from them, beneath the shade, there were people watching with bated breath as though munching on popcorn.
Namely, Angelica and Dante, who had naturally slipped away midway by claiming they had something urgent to do.
This was how the two of them had ended up hiding here.
They had stepped away at Dolnesia’s pleading glance, but there was one problem.
Dante and Angelica did not even have a meaningful connection between them.
Furthermore, as far as Dante knew, Angelica was about as far removed as possible from the sort of person one would have a private conversation with.
She was so extremely self-absorbed that she did not even lend an ear to other people’s stories, and beyond simply liking or disliking them, she did not so much as spare a glance for anyone other than Ian, her rival.
Perhaps because of that, an awkward atmosphere had settled between the two of them after Ian and Dolnesia left them behind.
It was like the sort of conversation that flowed easily while three people were together, only to abruptly die the instant the friend serving as the bridge went to the restroom.
That was right.
Through no fault of his own, Dante had been left holding the bomb as well.
In any case, just as he was resting his chin on his hand and considering how to kill time in the stifling atmosphere, a rumor flashed through his mind.
The rumor that Angelica was crazy about sparring.
More precisely, sparring with Ian.
That rumor had come to mind at just the right moment. Dante was confident in his own swordsmanship as well, so he had been about to speak to her, thinking they could pass the time by crossing blades.
But then.
"Let’s follow them."
"...Pardon?"
Angelica, who had been expressionless and utterly uninterested, abruptly threw out that bizarre declaration first.
Thus, Angelica began tailing the two of them, with Dante reluctantly following after her.
That was how they had ended up here in this park.
Though he had not meant to, Dante had learned Ian and Dolnesia’s hidden secret and relationship. With a faint sense of guilt, he watched their conversation.
Yet perhaps because he was interested in what they were talking about, his eyes had begun to shine brightly before he knew it.
Dante actually liked this sort of thing.
He liked that bittersweet atmosphere of a man and woman bickering in an open clearing beneath the moonlight.
It was partly because the First Imperial Princess Eileen had told him all sorts of entertaining stories, but above all, romance novels were his favorite kind to read.
Dolnesia might have been adopted and Ian an illegitimate son, but they were still members of the same family bearing the Logres name, which added a faintly forbidden flavor to it.
But pureblood marriages between noble families were common in high society, so that was not particularly important to him. He simply immersed himself in the scene before him, feeling that bittersweet atmosphere with his whole body.
"...I can’t tell whether he’s pretending not to know, or if he really doesn’t know."
Dante shook his head inwardly.
‘Well, it’s Ian. I suppose it can’t be helped?’
The Ian Dante had observed was always surrounded by attractive women, yet he had never once seemed to harbor romantic feelings for anyone himself.
Of course, he was kind toward them.
But that was affection between people, not romantic affection.
‘It is strange, though.’
He did not mean it disparagingly, but even to Dante, it was true that Ian had a rather fierce-looking face.
Yet there was not only Dolnesia, right in front of him now, but Isabella, called the Flower of Eterna in high society.
Angelica, the top scorer on the entrance exam and his rival.
Iris, who had awakened as the Holy Maiden, and her friend Haede.
Even Kafka, the spirit contracted to him.
Moreover, even the academy head had recently taken an interest in him, and hadn’t he also become increasingly entangled with Dante’s sister lately?
Though quite a few among them were quietly fond of Ian, Ian did not seem to notice that affection at all.
Perhaps that was why it felt a little frustrating.
‘Well, perhaps that’s part of Ian’s charm.’
Thinking even that frustrating quality was charming in its own way, he quietly chuckled to himself.
Beneath the brightly shining moon, the streetlamps glowed pleasantly.
Even the insects seemed to hold their breath, and only Ian and Dolnesia’s voices filled the silent park.
Dolnesia showering Ian with affection, and oblivious Ian completely failing to notice it.
And the Tin Knight observing that strange atmosphere at their side.
The ticklishly sweet scene, as though it had stepped out of a fairy tale, had turned Dante into a reader.
And Dante was not the only one.
"..."
Without making a single sound between her red lips, Angelica hid in the shade of the neighboring tree and watched the two of them.
Like Dante, her eyes too were fixed upon Ian and Dolnesia.
But how should one put it?
She was feeling something entirely different from Dante, who was purely enjoying the situation.
An inexplicably cold, mysterious air flowed from her heavy gaze.
When Dolnesia tightly hugged Ian’s arm and pulled him along.
When she sat on the bench and pressed herself close against him.
How could she explain it?
In those moments, she felt as though her chest were suddenly being crushed, suffocatingly tight.
It was a sour sensation, like needles pricking deep inside her chest, like her breath was catching in her throat.
To her, who had lived knowing nothing but the sword, it was an unfamiliar and strange emotion she was encountering for the first time in her life.
‘What is this feeling?’
At this unfamiliar sensation she had encountered for the first time, Angelica felt her brow crease without realizing it.
Of course, the change was far too subtle to show noticeably on her expressionless face, so no one but her father or Ian would have detected it.
It was unpleasant.
An unfamiliar but sour, stabbing feeling she never wished to experience again.
It was different from the unpleasantness she felt whenever others looked at her as though she were a monster.
But she could not possibly find an answer as to why watching the two of them being so close brought this suffocating feeling over her.
She wanted to know.
But it was so difficult.
For her, to whom nothing in life had ever been difficult except relationships with other people, this was an impossibly perplexing problem.
Unlike the feeling she had experienced when crossing swords with Ian—when he had insisted on catching up to her, even turning himself into a monster like her—
this time, she could not easily find an answer.
She wanted to unravel this tangled skein as quickly as possible.
‘If Father were beside me right now, he would have taught me.’
Her father, more prudent than anyone, would have told her the answer at once.
He would have looked at her with the warm smile he always wore and patiently explained, just as before, what the answer to this problem was.
But when Angelica quietly turned her head toward the space beside her... only the chilly night breeze passed by. Her father was not there.
So, for now.
She could not obtain the answer to this problem.
‘It’s suffocating.’
It was now a feeling she did not even know how to describe.
A suffocation so unbearable that she felt she would not be able to endure it unless she walked out into that wide, open clearing.
In the end, unable to bear it any longer, Angelica began walking out of the thicket one step at a time.
"Lady Angelica?"
Dante quietly tried to stop her, but Angelica merely turned her head slightly, her face calm.
"Judging by the flow of their conversation, it seems there would be no issue with coming out now."
With that indifferent reply, Angelica strode out confidently. Dante blankly glanced at Ian and Dolnesia in the clearing.
In any event, the purpose of following them had been unclear, and as Angelica said, their conversation did seem to have more or less wrapped up.
For some reason persuaded by her words, Dante carefully nodded and followed after her.
#
Today’s outing could be considered a success, more or less.
I found out that tomorrow was my birthday, the hidden piece I had intended to acquire had been upgraded into an item far better than expected, and Don Quixote, which Dolnesia had acquired this time, was top-grade.
On top of that, I had unintentionally received an unexpected gift, and even thoroughly cleared away the lingering knot in my heart with Dolnesia.
At this point, the results were not merely satisfying—they were more than I could have asked for.
Well, it was a little disappointing that we had been pressed for time and had to make do with street food for a meal.
Still, it was fortunate that everyone seemed satisfied with it.
Though the look Angelica gave me when we returned to the carriage was really bothering me.
That girl never says anything, either.
Well, I could ask her about it later.
"I had fun today, Ian."
Dante, who had entered the dorm room with me, stretched luxuriously and spoke with a refreshed smile.
I felt strangely sorry.
It had been our first outing, yet instead of taking him somewhere nice, I had dragged him around a place that was basically a horror spot because of a request, and I had not even been able to buy him one proper meal.
Dante had seemed happy, saying the street food was delicious, though.
Tch.
I stripped off my shirt and tossed it aside.
It was not particularly hot outside.
But perhaps because of the heavy pressure Dolnesia had exerted on me, I had secretly broken into a cold sweat, leaving the clothes I wore damp and soaked through.
Then—
"Hic!"
A strange sound broke the silence in the room.
Wondering where it had come from, I turned my head to see Dante covering his mouth tightly, his eyes wide and round.
"W-Why are you suddenly taking your clothes off?"
"Huh? They’re damp. I’m going to wash up now."
"N-No, that’s not what I meant...!"
Dante, whose gaze was fixed on my upper body—specifically, my abs—drew in a sharp breath.
Then he turned his gaze toward the window and began fanning himself repeatedly with one hand, pretending as though nothing was wrong.
His cheeks had taken on a faint reddish hue as he did so.
How strange.
"S-Still, Kafka is in your shadow! Someone is watching!"
Dante shouted, even gesturing as though it were unfair, but... hmm.
I casually replied as I tossed my wet shirt into the laundry basket.
"Kafka? She’s an exhibitionist to begin with, so it’s not like she’d think anything of seeing my body."
"...What?"
"She’s always stripping naked, so seeing a bit of my body won’t mean anything to her."
She wore a uniform these days, sure.
But thinking back to when we first met, and besides, she even tossed all her clothes off when she slept.
‘I-I’m a woman too, you know?’
‘Take a look at your own behavior. And get out. I’m going to wash up.’
‘Tch.’
Giving her telepathic complaint a casual response, I pulled Kafka and Niklas out from my shadow.
Even if she was an exhibitionist, there was clearly a difference between showing one’s upper body and showing one’s lower body.
By the way.
"Aren’t you going to wash up?"
"Hm? M-Me? I’ll... wash up after you’re completely done..."
Why was he so tense?
As I quietly watched the stammering Dante, something came to mind, and I nodded in understanding.
Come to think of it, he had never directly seen me naked even once.
His nightly walks were an essential routine, so he would only return to the room around the time I had finished washing up and was about to go to bed.
Since he was a prince, he apparently found it embarrassing to see another person naked.
But wasn’t this a problem that could be resolved at once by showering naked together?
"Dante, want to shower together?"
"Hm? No... I’ll shower a little later."
Dante readily refused my offer.
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