Episode 58 – Tea Time

*

After finishing my conversation with Mella’s son, Edward, and sending him back, I returned to the top floor of the hotel.

I didn’t realize it when I was in my undead body, but now that I’m human, climbing the stairs to the top floor is quite a chore.

Of course, it’s not that my stamina is crap, it’s just that I’m not used to the sensation of pain, which I had forgotten for a while.

As I opened the door and entered, Ellie greeted me with a bright voice.

“See? I told you I was right, didn’t I?”

“Yeah, you’re so amazing.”

“You can be a little more impressed, you know? You were honestly surprised.”

“… I guess so.”

“Heehee,”

Ellie and Deborah had come to see me early in the morning, long before Mella’s son visited the hotel.

Thanks to sleeping in yesterday morning and waking up in the evening, I was wide awake at night and welcomed the two of them, reporting everything that had happened in the meantime.

The two were genuinely happy that I had regained my human body.

Lara, Mena, and Deborah were sitting together near the window, drinking tea.

Ellie picked up a teacup and came to the door to greet me.

I said to Ellie.

“What kind of princess walks around drinking tea?”

“Oh, do I have to be formal in front of Ed too? You don’t know how uncomfortable it is to drink tea in the Imperial Palace, do you? I just want to drink comfortably here, at least,”

“…Yeah, I guess it’s none of my business whether you drink while walking or standing on your head.”

“You always have to say things like that.”

I passed by Ellie, who was pouting with her cheeks puffed out, and asked Lara.

“Where’s Lily? Still sleeping?”

“Yeah, she’s always been a heavy sleeper. Why? Should I wake her up?”

“No, let her sleep. Sleeping is good.”

“It sounds different when Ed says it, heehee.”

Lara smiled and tilted her teacup, sipping it.

Lara and I used to drink tea often in the cabin in the Whirlpool Forest.

No, tea was a very popular beverage in this empire, so it would be more accurate to say that everyone drank tea often.

However, we’ve been drinking tea more often lately because Mena’s tea-making skills are far superior to Nana, Lara, and Lily, and the tea she makes is incredibly delicious.

Even the princess, who is usually so laid-back, drinks it deliciously, so the years she spent working as a maid in the Count’s family were not to be taken lightly.

Deborah also drank her tea with a satisfied expression and spoke to me.

“You look good, Ed, just like I heard.”

“Does it remind you of the old days?”

“Yeah, it does. Maybe we should train together for the first time in a while when we have time?”

Training with Deborah.

I shook my head.

I shuddered and replied to my teacher’s expression, who was looking up at me with a mischievous look.

“…No.”

“Huhu, is your skill rusty or something?”

“…If I have to, I’ll do it in my undead state.”

“That’s pointless, the purpose is training.”

“Ugh,”

Deborah chuckled at my reaction.

She was the type of person who was happier when others disliked or struggled with something.

Seeing her like that, a sad premonition flashed through my mind that there would be an inevitable training session with her someday.

I sighed deeply and pulled out a chair near Deborah, sitting down at the table.

Before I could even sit down, Mena got up from her seat, placed a teacup in front of me, and poured tea from the teapot.

The tea wasn’t too hot to drink, but it was still steaming.

“Thank you, Mena.”

“…Yes,”

I picked up the teacup and smelled it, and the fragrant scent of the tea filled my nose.

It must be the same tea leaves, so why can’t I brew it like this? How does she brew tea like this?

I was about to take a sip of tea when Ellie suddenly hugged me from behind.

Lara pretended not to look, but she raised her head and glared at Ellie with sharp eyes as she drank her tea.

Whether Ellie knew it or not, she was tightening her arms around me.

I was startled and complained to her.

“Whoa, I almost spilled it, Ellie.”

“Hehe, Ed. So, how was it?”

“What?”

“The Saintess’s son, I mean. When do you think he’ll find Jennifer’s horrible secret laboratory?”

I saw Mena flinch.

I glared at Ellie for bringing up the topic so carelessly, and Ellie smiled awkwardly.

Isn’t this princess too clueless, even though she’s so smart?

I checked Mena’s complexion and then answered.

“Sooner today, later tomorrow or the day after? He seems to care a lot about his younger sister.”

“Hmm… Ed, aren’t you worried?”

“Worried? About what?”

“Jennifer, I mean. She might try to kill the Saintess’s son who found out her secret.”

“Eh, he’s Robin’s only son, I doubt she’d kill him, right? Besides…”

When I stopped talking, Lara, who had been listening, urged me on.

“Besides?”

I pursed my lips.

Fortunately, Lily wasn’t here, but I was careful in case she might hear.

Ellie seemed to notice my thoughts and said the answer for me.

“Besides, it doesn’t really matter if he dies. Right?”

“…”

“…”

“Ed…”

Deborah had a slightly uncomfortable expression for a moment, but she soon finished her tea with an indifferent expression.

Lara’s lips twitched as if she wanted to say something, but she quickly closed them.

Well, Lara, who killed Rose with her own hands, wouldn’t have anything to say to me.

In the slightly awkward atmosphere, Ellie asked me with a bright voice, as if she found something amusing.

“I was worried for a moment that you might be getting a human heart now that you’ve regained your human body, but I guess not?”

“That’s not going to happen.”

“Has coming back to life as a human softened your desire for revenge or anything?”

“…”

“Ed?”

“That’s not going to happen. Never.”

“Ahbabbab, why are you answering with such a burning gaze? I’m just saying, maybe you’ll come back to life as a human, relieve some stress, and feel good, and then you’ll say you’re going to enjoy your second life instead of revenge.”

“…Coming back to life as a human isn’t all that great, you know.”

“Huh? Really?”

“Yeah.”

It’s only been two days since I started living as a normal human, but honestly, I’m already completely sick of the human body.

The truth is, I didn’t even want to regain my human body, and it’s also because I’m so used to the advantages of the undead body.

The mental fatigue that had been tormenting me was ridiculously relieved after sleeping for half a day, and because I had spent so long in an undead body that couldn’t feel pain or fatigue, my body had become too sensitive to all kinds of stimuli and pain.

In the past, I wouldn’t have cared much if my feet hurt from walking all day, but now I get annoyed just by the fatigue in my ankles from climbing the stairs.

I was honestly annoyed by the constant hunger and the throbbing in my head from just a slight cut.

Ellie’s guess that I might have developed more human emotions after becoming human was actually somewhat correct.

After regaining my human body, I had forgotten about it for a while.

No, the emotions that had been fading away were revived as if firewood had been added to a fire.

That emotion was loneliness.

The cool night air felt so lonely and cold on my human skin.

Of course, it couldn’t be helped.

Because Mella was by my side on the last night I had a human body.

Ironically, as a human, I couldn’t help but feel Mella’s absence more vividly.

Damn it, I slept so much during the day that last night, when I stayed up with my eyes open, was a night so cold it chilled my bones.

That coldness paradoxically rekindled my anger and desire for revenge.

I said to Ellie with a sneer.

“And you don’t seem to know, but I was more evil and bad when I was alive. My teacher knows that well.”

Deborah smiled faintly at my words and agreed.

“That’s right, he was a really cocky brat.”

“I feel like I did more good deeds when I was undead. I took care of the poor and donated a lot.”

Ellie smiled and said.

“That’s a relief. I was worried you wouldn’t want to go back to being undead.”

“Why are you worried about that?”

“Did you forget, Ed? We made a bet. The loser has to grant a wish.”

“Ah, that’s right. But why? Is it something that requires an undead body?”

“Yeah, I need you to do a mission for me. I won’t say what it is yet, but it’ll be a pretty dangerous mission.”

A mission,

Maybe it’s to assassinate someone from Duke Valguir, who Ellie said was her enemy, or maybe it’s to steal confidential documents that would be their weakness.

If the wish Ellie would ask me for with the right she won was something like that, I was confident I could grant it.

I nodded and sipped my tea, answering.

“…Yeah, if it’s something like that.”

“Hmm- I thought you’d hate it more, but that’s unexpected. Come to think of it, what kind of wish did you imagine, Ed? Did you think of something lewd or something?”

“Ptooey!”

I spat out the tea I had in my mouth at the bold statement from the empire’s princess.

Ellie giggled and moved away from me.

I brushed the tea off my clothes and said.

“Aish, what crazy bastard would have such impious thoughts in front of the empire’s princess!”

“Since you’re undead and can’t die, wouldn’t it be someone who doesn’t value their life?”

“…Ugh, I just want to shut that mouth of yours…”

“There are two ways to shut a woman’s mouth, Ed, one is with your lips, and the other is with a man’s…”

“Are you crazy?!”

Good lord, there’s nothing the princess can’t say.

Ellie poked my cheek, which was showing a flustered expression, and laughed.

Deborah also giggled, finding something funny, and Mena also smiled slightly, as if she had relieved some of her worries about Banata for a while.

However, only Lara’s expression was frighteningly expressionless.

Lara put down her empty teacup and said to me.

“Ed, I know it’s more uncomfortable than you thought to be human, but still, for the time being, or at least as long as you’re in this room, try to stay human.”

“Hmm? Why?”

“…Um, well, I’ve seen you get mentally stressed out, so… I thought it would be good for you to sleep.”

“Hmm, yeah, if I’m sensitive, Lara and Lily will have the hardest time…”

“Yeah, and you have to take out the Holy Sword to become undead. Everyone in the country knows about that famous sword, so where are you going to put it?”

“That’s true too.”

“Right? Yeah.”

I nodded at Lara’s words and emptied my teacup.

Lara had a satisfied expression and looked at me with a slightly clingy gaze.

Ellie saw Lara’s expression and suddenly crossed her arms, put one hand on her chin, and tapped her lips with her finger, lost in thought.

A moment later, when I had finished my teacup, Ellie approached Lara and whispered something in Lara’s ear in a small voice that I couldn’t hear.

Lara’s face turned bright red at whatever she heard, and she turned her head sharply and said to Ellie.

“…That’s none of your business, Your Highness.”

“Lara-nim. You know it too, right? That it’s cowardly.”

“…”

The atmosphere suddenly became strange.

I looked at Deborah with a bewildered expression.

Deborah shrugged as if she didn’t know either.

I spoke to Lara and Ellie, who were in the middle of an intense staring contest.

“What’s wrong, what’s going on all of a sudden? Lara, Ellie. Are you fighting?”

“Ahbabbab- It’s nothing like that, Ed. Fighting? What are you talking about.”

“…Yeah, it’s nothing like that.”

“Really?”

However, contrary to what the two said, the atmosphere in the living room was heavy.

Lara with an angry expression and Ellie with a mocking look as she looked at her.

It looked like Ellie had said something to scratch Lara’s nerves.

I got up from my seat to warn Ellie.

That’s when it happened.

Squeak,

“Oh? You should have told me we had guests…”

Lily with messy hair opened the bedroom door and entered the living room.

.