Chapter 55 – Ariel Gets Hit On

Ariel Gets Hit On

“It seems I’ve finally gone mad.”
Marian sits down, saying that as soon as she sees me visiting her office.
Her face looks somewhat red… Is she unwell, as her lieutenants said?

“Um… Marian? What do you mean by that?”
Instead of answering my question, Marian just stared at my face.
“It’s real.”

“…Of course it’s real.”
Hearing her say that with such a serious expression was a bit funny. Marian has her quirky sides, I tell you.
Sigh. After letting out a short sigh, she got up and asked me.

“What brings you here, Ariel? I’m sorry about just now. I was a bit surprised and said something strange.”
“I see… I’m sorry. Was I being a bother…?”
I came here remembering the conversation with Mona, but thinking about it now, I might have been a bit of a nuisance.

Unlike a jobless person like me, Marian is a working professional.
‘If you think about a jobless friend visiting your workplace…’
It’s quite inconsiderate.

Shaking her head at my words, Marian said in a flustered manner,
“It’s not a bother! Ariel. Please, have a seat. Oh my, the sofa is a mess. I’ll clean it up quickly. Please wait a moment.”

“Thank you….”
Then she started hurriedly tidying up the dolls and blankets that were haphazardly placed on the sofa.
Afterwards, I awkwardly sat on the sofa that Marian had quickly tidied up.

The sofa still had some warmth left.
‘Was she sitting here until just now?’
Or she might have been sleeping. There were dolls and blankets after all.

‘Is all this work…?’
Marian’s desk is full of papers that look like reports and letters.
Just looking at it makes me feel suffocated. Seeing this, I made a decision.

‘…I’ll just give her the gift and leave.’
Since it felt a bit wrong to come empty-handed, I prepared chocolates sold in stores as a gift for Marian, who likes sweet things.
Let’s just give this gift and leave. I don’t want to disturb a friend who’s working.

“Here, it’s a gift, Marian. I just came to see your face for a bit…”
I got up from the sofa after handing her the gift.
“Wait, are you leaving already?”

“I came without notice… and I feel like I might be disturbing your work if I stay.”
“That’s…”
It’s a bit regrettable, but I can’t be a nuisance to Marian.
Knowing Marian’s personality, if I stay here, she’ll be distracted trying to take care of me, which would obviously interfere with her work. That goes beyond being a nuisance.

“See you next time, Marian.”
I said goodbye to Marian, who looked a bit dejected, and left the office.
‘Maybe I shouldn’t have come. I should have contacted her in advance.’

As I was thinking this and about to leave the Guard building, someone blocked my path.
“…Excuse me, Lady Ariel.”
The one who blocked me was Henri, one of Marian’s lieutenants.
…I had met her earlier when I visited Marian’s office today.

We’re just acquaintances since Marian introduced us before, but I wonder why she stopped me.
“What is it?”
“Well, I have a favor to ask, so I took the liberty of stopping you. I apologize.”

I asked Henri, feeling curious and puzzled in my mind.
“A favor…?”
“Would you mind going on a patrol with Marian-nim for a while? Please.”

…Her answer contained something a bit unexpected.
“What? What do you mean by…”
“As I said, I’m asking if you could go on a patrol with Marian-nim. Please.”

Bow. Henri bowed so deeply that even I was surprised.
Then, she apologized to me again.
“…I apologize for making such a sudden request.”

“Ah, no, it’s okay. But, why suddenly a patrol?”
Curious about Henri’s request, I asked her.
She started explaining the background of her request.

“Actually, the patrol is just an excuse, and the real purpose is to make Marian-nim rest. She’s not the type to take a break unless there’s such a pretext.”
“…If you’ve met Marian-nim, you probably know, but recently Marian-nim has been pushing herself too hard. It’s the result of the heavy workload Marian-nim has taken on, combined with various circumstances.”

‘Certainly, Marian did seem a bit off today…’
From her uncharacteristic flustered behavior to the dark circles under her eyes, there were quite a few things that felt strange… Now that I hear Henri’s words, it makes sense.

“Even when we lieutenants tell her to take a rest, it’s only for a moment, and she quickly immerses herself in work again as usual…”
“I understand what you mean, Henri-ssi. Should I keep Marian with me for today?”
“…That’s right, Lady Ariel.”

As expected, Henri’s face brightened when she heard my words.
Maybe it’s because she’s been with Marian for a long time, but I can feel her concern for Marian reaching all the way here.

Just then, along with the sound of footsteps coming down the stairs, Marian’s voice was heard.
“Henri! Has Ariel already left…”
It seems she came after me belatedly.

“Then, I’ll leave it to you, Lady Ariel.”
Just as Henri finished speaking, Marian approached us.
“You were talking with Henri. I thought it wasn’t courteous to a guest not to offer even a cup of tea, so would you like to have at least one cup of…”

“Marian-nim.”
Henri, interrupting Marian’s words, started whispering something to her.
“What? Go on patrol with Ariel? If it’s patrol, Edrail should…”
“That friend suddenly caught a cold, they say.”

Marian asked back with a dumbfounded expression after hearing Henri’s words, but Henri was firm.
“No, wasn’t he fine this morning?”
“…It’s said to be an acute cold, Marian-nim. Then, I’ll leave it to you.”

Leaving only those words, Henri headed towards Marian’s office, leaving Marian standing in the hallway.
“…Colds these days must be severe.”
To her words mixed with puzzlement, I said with an awkward smile.

“Seems so. Anyway, what’s the patrol range?”
“If it’s Edrail’s patrol area, it’s the northwest range of the capital. It shouldn’t take too long, but… are you really okay with this?”
The meaning of ‘are you okay’ probably means if it’s okay to accompany her on the patrol.

“Of course. Lead the way quickly.”
“…You seem strangely excited. Well then, I’ll leave it to you.”
And so, a somewhat sudden patrol with Marian began.

The sudden patrol with Marian proceeded smoothly without any special incidents.
To begin with, as it was the capital, which could be called the center of the empire, the public security was correspondingly good.

There was a reason why Henri-ssi asked me to take Marian out on patrol.
At this point, it could be considered more of a walk than a patrol.
‘Where did Marian go….’

And now, I was sitting alone on a bench next to a fountain.
During the patrol, she made an expression as if something had occurred to her, then left me sitting here and went somewhere.
‘I haven’t been abandoned, have I?’

No way. That can’t be… right?
Suddenly, there’s no way Marian would leave me behind.
‘The sky is blue… the weather is nice.’

As I was waiting endlessly for Marian in this situation, I noticed a group of men staring at me intensely from a distance.
“…She is beautiful. It seems she’s alone.”
“You go first this time. I spoke first last time, remember?”

…I can’t hear clearly what they’re saying because they’re far away, but I have a feeling it might become troublesome.
Currently, I’ve slightly changed my facial features with disguise magic, but given the original…

‘Please don’t come…’
Making my prayer meaningless, two men who looked like immature noble youths at a glance gradually approached me.
“Excuse me, lady. The weather is quite nice, isn’t it?”

A man speaks to me in an oily tone while brushing back his hair. I already feel like throwing up.
“Ha ha, ha. Yes, it is.”
“Since we’ve met by chance like this, would you like to have a cup of tea?”
“I’m sorry, but I’m with someone.”

I managed to maintain a smile while suppressing the rising nausea as I spoke. If I cause a commotion unnecessarily, it might become troublesome.
But the man continues to persistently say strange things.
“Haha, actually, we’ve been watching for a while, and we saw that you were alone the whole time. It seems you’re quite shy.”

“…It’s true, though.”
No, if you’ve been watching since earlier, why didn’t you see Marian? This is really absurd.
“Don’t be like that, if you just have a conversation with us once, your mind might change.”

‘If this isn’t a conversation, what is it? A song?’
“Um, I actually have a lover I’m meeting. I’m sorry.”
“A shield doesn’t always block every attack.”
“Ah, really…!”

Even though I showed such clear signs of discomfort, either not understanding or pretending not to understand, the guy keeps pestering me.
As I kept refusing, the man, seemingly angered by my attitude, let out a long sigh and said,
“Sigh. I didn’t want to say this, but.”

“Pardon?”
“I am the eldest son of the Gold Line Count family. My friend standing there is the second son of the Sillinber Count family. We’re not just any random people.”
‘Huh. So what?’

I was at a loss for words for a moment due to the absurdity, which the man seemed to take as a positive sign.
“Haha, it seems your mind has changed a bit. I know a good tea house in the capital. Let’s go.”
He suddenly grabbed my wrist and tried to drag me somewhere.

This was the limit.
“Gravi…”
Without thinking of the consequences, just as I was about to use magic to teach the man in front of me a lesson…
“What do you think you’re doing there?”

…Marian approached with an unusually angry expression.
Holding ice creams in both hands.