Summer Vacation – 10

It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that Cordelia was having the most enjoyable time of her life. Enjoying a festival with the person she liked—how many things could be happier than this?

“Where should we go next?”

“We could look around here and there, but today’s main event is the burning ceremony anyway.”

“The burning ceremony?”

Mikhail’s face filled with bewilderment. Isn’t that too extreme for an event celebrating the harvest? In his mind, he instantly pictured criminals tied to crosses, wailing as the local people enjoyed the spectacle. That seemed like pure madness.

Seeing Mikhail’s easy-to-read reaction, Cordelia laughed and explained the burning ceremony.

“We’re not actually burning people. We burn a large scarecrow.”

“Then why call it a burning ceremony?”

“A long time ago, even before the Empire was established, there was a tyrant who ruled this region. The people living here couldn’t stand it anymore and rebelled against the king. After a long battle, the people executed the tyrant by burning and decided to seek the Empire’s protection. The person who led the people then was the founder of our family.”

Cordelia recited the origin of the burning ceremony without hesitation. Hearing the explanation, it was quite a traditional event.

Mikhail was impressed. Not by the origin of the burning ceremony’s name, but by Cordelia who explained its origins fluently and eloquently, like a teacher.

In truth, Cordelia had only learned about this last night. There was a reason why she couldn’t properly wake up this morning. She had stayed up late studying about the festival and planning which places to visit. She was preparing to essentially act as a guide.

What about before? She had simply gone wherever her eyes and feet took her. Though she visited tasty food stalls every year, she had never planned anything else in advance. The exact origins of various events? How could she possibly know such things?

“Well, let’s just look around freely then. There seem to be quite a few things to see around here.”

Mikhail suggested. From his perspective, perhaps because it was the first day, there weren’t as many impressive sights as he expected. He was just being polite when he said there were quite a few things to see; it felt like a large university festival with nothing special.

Shops and a small number of ordinary people set up their stalls on the street, while others enjoyed them. The burning ceremony hadn’t started yet, and though Cordelia said there wasn’t much to see on the first day, it was just ordinary despite its large scale.

Seol-ah had similar impressions. She hadn’t expected much to begin with. After all, the festival had been described in the original story, and nothing special happened there either.

Still, it wasn’t bad. The festival atmosphere itself was quite exciting, and it was also enjoyable to watch Cordelia, who seemed so excited that if she had a tail, it might not just wag but fly off.

“Let’s go this way next! This way has, um, clothes and accessories for sale.”

Cordelia took the lead. Mikhail thought that probably none of the four would buy cheap clothes from a place like this, but as they say, even standing in line is enjoyable when you’re with people you get along with. He decided to follow without saying anything.

Hestia smiled seeing Cordelia’s somewhat clumsy attempt at leading. Various emotions crossed inside her as she watched Cordelia’s enthusiasm.

The reason why Hestia remained quiet despite Duke Deneb’s various machinations. The reason why Cordelia stayed up late making plans with such excitement.

It all stemmed from what Hestia had said on the first day in the bathhouse.

“You all like Mikhail, don’t you?”

“What… cough! cough!”

Cordelia was so surprised by Hestia’s sudden bombshell that she inhaled sharply and coughed roughly.

Lily also clenched her fist. She tried to gauge what Hestia’s intentions were, but couldn’t figure it out no matter how much she thought about it.

“I’m not really trying to interrogate either of you.”

Hestia’s expression remained calm without any special change, as if she were having an everyday conversation. This was natural because from Hestia’s perspective, she really didn’t have any special intention behind the question.

In her view, it was practically confirmed that both of them liked Mikhail, and the current question was genuinely meant to hear their thoughts clearly. If they couldn’t boldly reveal their feelings here? She had no intention of giving them even the slightest chance if they denied liking him.

“Then why are you asking?”

“I want to be certain.”

Hestia answered Lily’s question firmly.

“Yes. I like him.”

“Lily?!”

Lily also responded firmly, refusing to back down. Only Cordelia, who hadn’t fully grasped the situation yet, was confused, wondering what was going on and what Lily meant by saying she liked Mikhail too.

“What about you, Cordelia?”

“Wait a moment… This is too sudden.”

“Cordelia. Please be honest. You like Mikhail too, don’t you?”

“Uh, ah, yes.”

Pressured by Hestia’s words, Cordelia made a few strange noises before finally admitting it.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t really mean to…”

Although Cordelia had boldly suggested an affair to Mikhail’s face when she was feeling confident, now that she was caught by Hestia, she had to struggle with guilt that left her speechless.

“Don’t be. There’s nothing to be sorry about when a person likes another person.”

Hestia replied nonchalantly. Cordelia, who had tightly closed her eyes expecting criticism, opened them with a confused “Huh?” Lily also looked at her with a surprised expression.

“How… did you know?”

Cordelia carefully asked. Lily looked at Cordelia with an incredulous expression. Seriously, after being so obvious, did she think Hestia wouldn’t notice?

“You were so obvious, how could I not know? I was a bit unsure about Lily though.”

“How did you know about me?”

Lily asked. She was a bit surprised since she had tried to be careful. She wondered exactly what had given her away.

“The scent. Since Mikhail started wearing cologne, strangely, both of you started to smell the same. That’s when I became certain.”

“Ah.”

The fact that she liked this man, that they shared the same scent, that she showed slight signs—these were exactly what had given her away.

Cordelia and Lily lowered their heads and kept their mouths shut as if they were criminals.

Hestia spoke up.

“Why are you like that? Did you think I would get furious, calling you thieving cats?”

Lily was about to mention that it wasn’t just about getting angry, but that Hestia had actually gotten angry once before when they were drinking, but she stopped herself.

“Actually, I’ve been thinking a lot. If you two were complete strangers, it might be different, but you’re also dear friends to me and Mikhail. I wondered if I could solve this by just pushing you away and forcing you to give up your feelings.”

At her meaningful words, Lily gulped.

“Does that mean you’ve thought of another way?”

“It’s not grand enough to call it ‘another way.'”

“Then?”

“Ah, before that, let me make one thing clear. No matter what happens, I am Mikhail’s official wife and first wife.”

Hestia wanted to make this absolutely clear. Not for any other reason, but because she didn’t want to compete with them. No matter how much they came at her, ultimately, she was the first in Mikhail’s heart. She didn’t want to fight with her friends over a result that wouldn’t change.

Cordelia and Lily exchanged glances several times with disgruntled expressions before nodding. After all, she was Mikhail’s official fiancée, and the person Mikhail liked the most. It was a fact that they were outmatched in both principle and reality.

“Now tell me what you really want to do.”

“I like Mikhail. But I also like both of you. Enough that I don’t want us to drift apart like this.”

Both were surprised by Hestia’s unexpected confession.

“Well, I like you too.”

“Me too.”

“So I thought, let’s just leave things as they are.”

Lily couldn’t hide the bewilderment on her face. How many steps had been skipped in that transition?

“Leave things as they are?”

“I mean I won’t stop you two from trying to appeal to Mikhail. I don’t want us to fight amongst ourselves.”

“What if Mikhail chooses me?”

“That won’t happen, will it?”

Hestia tilted her head at Lily’s words. That action made Lily feel even worse. If she had laughed or gotten angry, it might have been different, but Hestia’s action just now seemed to genuinely indicate that she didn’t understand Lily’s question. She seemed confident that no matter what, Mikhail would never betray her.

“What about after you get married…?”

“That too, I’ll leave to Mikhail’s choice. What I wanted to say is that I’m Mikhail’s first, so let’s not fight, and as long as that’s respected, I won’t stop your actions.”

Cordelia thought about it. Wait, I have nothing to lose here, do I? She never intended to replace Hestia as the official wife anyway. The affair she was planning to have in secret had just been officially acknowledged. Though, setting aside the question of whether it’s still an affair if it happens with acknowledgment.

Lily also didn’t want to refuse Hestia’s offer. Aside from returning to her original world or the strange bet she had made with him before, she also didn’t want to fight or grow distant from the other two.

Well, that aside, she honestly felt a bit of fear about Hestia who could bring up such topics so casually.

“Then, I’ll take it that everyone agrees. Shall we move on to a new topic?”

“A new topic?”

“We’ve seized such a good opportunity.”

Hestia started a new subject.

“To commemorate this kind of… agreement between us, let’s set a period where we yield to each other.”

According to her, since they were at Cordelia’s house this week, it would be Cordelia’s turn; the next week would be at Hestia’s house, so Hestia’s turn; and naturally, the last week would go to Lily, the remaining person. The idea was to yield to some extent during the set period.

“It’s fine with us, but why is Hestia going to such lengths?”

Lily asked. As she said, Hestia had no reason to offer such an opportunity. If she just did nothing, most of the time would naturally go to her anyway.

“I want to give you a chance. It’s awkward saying this myself, but Mikhail likes me quite a bit more. I thought without something like this, whether we make an agreement or not would probably make no difference.”

Although Hestia was denying it herself, she wasn’t entirely without a sense of enjoying the thrill. This was like walking a tightrope with her trust in Mikhail as a safety net.

Both Lily and Cordelia sensed from Hestia’s words her confidence that no matter what they did, they couldn’t beat her. They were honestly quite irritated by her unwavering certainty, but…

“Do you dislike it?”

“No.”

“No.”

Honestly, neither wanted to refuse such an offer.