Episode 114 – Meeting

*

Lara, despite being greatly shocked by the fact that Ed’s mental state, which had been teetering precariously on the edge, had finally reached its limit, didn’t tell anyone about it.

Of course, it wasn’t that she thought Ed would fall, but she worried that Lily or Banata might see this as an opportunity and pounce on Ed, who had unnaturally severed all lingering feelings for Mella in his mind. Also, Lara simply didn’t want to admit that he was broken, so she chose to remain silent.

Of course, that didn’t mean they were unaware of Ed’s condition.

The fact that Ed’s mind was performing a precarious tightrope walk was something everyone who had faced him directly knew. Moreover, the sense of unease felt from Ed when he returned from that rainy night a few days ago was so clear and strange that everyone could immediately sense it.

Even Ellie, who only communicated with him through voice calls without meeting face-to-face, could tell.

Today, three days after Ed met Mella, Lily, Banata, and Mena were sitting at a table, drinking tea and discussing Ed’s condition.

Lily opened her mouth with a worried expression.

“What on earth happened?”

“Lara-nim seemed to know something. Did you ask her?”

“Yes, but she wouldn’t tell me easily.”

Mena added soft cream and sugar to her tea, sighed, and said.

“If it’s something we need to know, she’ll tell us.”

“Of course, but just letting it pass like that…”

Lily couldn’t finish her sentence and trailed off.

Everyone already knew what she was trying to say without her having to spell it out.

The expressionless face of Ed, which seemed devoid of any movement, looked like a mechanical device with Ed’s face was moving. It might be a cruel comparison to Ed, who is undead, but it also looked like a puppet being controlled like a corpse.

Lily found it difficult to face that awkward appearance, but at the same time, she worried that if this state continued, Ed would eventually lose his human heart and truly become a demon.

At that moment, Mena suddenly clapped her hands and looked at Lily with a worried expression, saying.

“Come to think of it, when I went out to do some grocery shopping, there were rumors circulating on the streets.”

“Rumors?”

“Yes, the story was that Baron Salvier and Count Voldiras had a big fight at a banquet, and after that, Lady Voldiras went crazy.”

“Lady Voldiras, you mean…”

“Countess Voldiras. It must be Mella-nim, of course. Jennifer is dead, and Lara-nim is here.”

“…So, Ed’s condition might be related to Aunt Mella?”

“It’s just a rumor, but considering the timing, I think it’s somewhat related.”

At that moment, Banata, who had been quietly listening to the conversation while drinking tea, put her teacup down with a clatter and said.

“So, it’s a woman problem after all, huh?”

“Banata. You need to be careful with your words… It’s not that simple to say,”

“What’s so complicated? The answer’s already out there.”

“…Banata?”

Banata stood up from her seat, leaning on the table.

Lily looked at Banata and asked.

“…What are you going to do?”

“Isn’t it obvious, Lily?”

Despite the various incidents that had occurred, the two, who had been living in the same mansion and had become close enough to drop honorifics, looked at each other.

Lily had a puzzled expression, not knowing what Banata was about to do, while Banata had a somewhat seductive look.

Banata began to speak with a triumphant smile.

“I know about that tragic and heartbreaking love story between Ed and the Saintess-nim. If Ed became like this after meeting the Countess, it means he received a big shock, right?”

Lily nodded involuntarily at Banata’s momentum, who was even raising her index finger as she spoke.

“Lily, the only thing that can heal a wound inflicted by a woman is another woman.”

“…?”

Lily, who had lived in the forest her whole life, couldn’t understand Banata’s words and tilted her head in confusion.

Mena looked at her daughter and sighed.

“What are you planning to do?”

“Hehe, isn’t now, when Ed is vulnerable, the perfect chance to win his heart?”

“…What?”

“Of course, it’s also because I want to, but you also want Ed to find new love and overcome his painful feelings, right?”

“Ye, yes, but…”

“What ‘but’? This is an opportunity. A chance to leave a good impression on Ed while he’s hurt and weakened,”

“Ah…! No, Banata. You shouldn’t try to take advantage of someone’s weakness…”

Lily was startled and scolded Banata.

Banata shook her head at Lily and said, putting her hands on her hips.

“Oh, Lily. Have you never been in a relationship? That’s how it always is. You have to be a little petty to win love.”

As if revealing Banata’s mood, her long tail swayed seductively behind her. 

Banata puffed out her chest and raised her head.

Still, because of her small height, Banata’s eye level wasn’t much higher than Lily’s sitting height.

Lily looked at Banata and quietly asked.

“…Then have you ever done it?”

“…”

A moment of awkward silence passed.

Banata, embarrassed, took her hands off her waist, cleared her throat, and raised her head again, saying.

“No?”

“…”

“But I have a teacher who is an expert in seduction,”

“…Ah,”

“…Banata.”

Mena’s gaze sharpened as she looked at Banata, who was mentioning Rose.

Banata looked at Mena and waved her hand.

“Ah, Mom, you don’t have to worry! I’ll never give up my body. Ed told me never to give it up in the first place!”

“…If something like that happens again like last time, I’ll die.”

“Hehe, that won’t happen, so don’t say such scary things.”

Banata smiled awkwardly and headed for the stairs.

“Since I already have an appointment, I should ask Ed to go on a date with me today.”

Mena drank her tea to calm her anger and slowly said.

“Ed-nim isn’t here right now.”

“Eh? Then where is he…?”

“He went out early this morning.”

Not only Banata but also Lily looked at Mena with wide eyes.

Lily carefully asked Mena.

“Since this morning? Where did he go?”

“I don’t know. He doesn’t say anything unless you ask him these days.”

“Come to think of it, Mom isn’t here either, could it be…?”

“Ah, Lara-nim also went out. But the two of them didn’t go out together. Lara-nim said she was going to do something Ed-nim ordered her to do.”

“Ed…? What did Mom go out to do?”

“I don’t know. I didn’t hear that far.”

Banata sighed and trudged towards the table where Lily and Mena were sitting.

“What- I thought today was the day I could finally go on a date…”

“Banata… do you really like Ed?”

“Yeah, a lot. So much. Why?”

“…”

“Lily?”

“Ah, no, just wondering.”

“Then what about you, Lily?”

Lily swallowed nervously at Banata’s question.

Mena, seemingly embarrassed, turned her eyes away from Lily and slowly stirred her tea, dissolving the sugar.

Banata asked, ‘Do you like Ed too?’ and brought her face closer and closer to Lily.

Lily hesitated for a moment, then gently pushed Banata away and answered very carefully.

“I, I have Mom…”

“Ah, Lara-nim, that’s right. Come to think of it, if Ed and I get together, Lara-nim might get angry.”

Banata said that and laughed heehee.

Lily turned her eyes away from Banata and quietly whispered.

“It would be a relief if it ended with just getting angry,”

*

Inside the shabby building, with walls made of roughly stacked thick-cut wood and gaps filled with red bricks and mud, warm light and cheerful music flowed.

The sour smell of beer and the coppery smell of meat mixed together, heavily filling the interior. It was an offensive odor, but if you smelled it, you would quickly get used to it and even feel that it was savory.

This pub, which had a strong impression of being somewhat plebeian, was not noisy because it was not yet night, and the few customers sitting there were simply enjoying a simple meal and a glass of beer.

I took off my stuffy mask, pulled down my deep hood, and sat at a corner table in this pub, waiting for Ellie.

This was because I had received a message from her through the music box this morning, asking to meet.

Perhaps because we had set a meeting time, she didn’t keep me waiting long.

Ellie, who opened the door of the pub and entered from afar, was wearing a work dress with a shabby apron.

She had somehow dyed her hair brown, and her face was covered with freckles that weren’t originally there. She saw me, smiled, and came over to sit across from me at the table.

Deborah, wearing similar clothes and with her hair dyed the same brown color and even wearing a straw hat, was with Ellie. No matter how you looked at them, they didn’t have any aristocratic atmosphere at all.

Because of their dirty skirts with a little dirt on them, the two looked like village girls running a flower shop.

Instead of greeting them, I briefly exclaimed in admiration.

“Your disguise skills are improving day by day.”

“Hehe, I put in some effort.”

“Is it dye? Or magic?”

“Temporary dyeing using magic potions. Well, you wouldn’t know even if I told you in detail anyway.”

“I guess so.”

I nodded and closed my mouth.

A waiter approached our table and asked what we would like to order, and Ellie ordered naturally.

“Three lime beers, please.”

When Ellie handed the waiter six copper coins, the waiter took them and quickly returned with three glasses of beer filled with foam.

Only after the waiter placed the copper glasses on the table and left did we start talking again.

“By the way, why did you call me?”

“Well, I have things to report and things to hear from you.”

“I don’t really have anything to say or hear.”

“What, Ed. Aren’t you curious about how Robin’s investigation is going?”

“Well, it won’t be anything special. All the suspicions about the Demon King or whatever are just things I made up anyway.”

Ellie nodded at my dry response.

“Hmm, that’s actually true. Robin will probably be released tomorrow. But he’s been stuck in the castle for almost a week being investigated, so he seems very pissed off.”

“Okay.”

“…Anyway, Robin said something like this to His Majesty the Emperor.”

“…?”

“He said that he couldn’t hold the 20th anniversary of the end of the war, that it wasn’t a situation where he could do it, so he wanted to hand over the authority to hold the party to someone else.”

“Villard died, so there was no source of money.”

“His Majesty refused, but Robin was almost acting like he was going to die…”

“Okay.”

“So His Majesty told him to find someone to host it himself. He said he couldn’t accept it unless he could find a substitute himself.”

“…”

I closed my mouth.

Who else would be a suitable substitute?

I listened quietly, even though I expected Ellie’s next words.

“Robin will probably come to Baron Salvier tomorrow to apologize in person.”

As expected.

I nodded calmly.

“Okay.”

“Is that it?”

“…What kind of answer do you want?”

“No, well… I wanted to hear what you were going to do. Whether you’re going to accept it, reject it, or kill Robin on the spot.”

I answered calmly to Ellie’s question.

“Do you think I’m going to host the 20th anniversary of my funeral?”

Ellie and Deborah flinched greatly at my words.

Ellie held her beer glass with both hands and sipped, saying.

“…Ah, I didn’t think of it from that perspective, sorry.”

“…”

I didn’t say anything.

As an uncomfortable silence continued, Ellie drank her beer without saying a word, and Deborah also picked up her beer glass and gulped it down.

The sound of Deborah gulping down her beer echoed in my ears, cutting through the cheerful music that was preventing our conversation from being heard by other tables.

After emptying 2/3 of her beer glass, Deborah asked me after exhaling a “Puhah-“.

“Then are you going to kill him on the spot?”

“Tomorrow, huh… I don’t know.”

I showed a lukewarm reaction.

It wasn’t that my will for revenge against Robin had weakened.

It was just that I had decided that killing him right away tomorrow wasn’t a good idea.

According to the Emperor, Robin’s influence had already plummeted, and if I just took my time, his honor and authority would also plummet, but he was still a hero.

Of course, I didn’t intend to wait that leisurely.

“Ed, are you okay?”

“Yeah, Ed. Are you okay?”

The two looked at me with worried faces.

Deborah even seemed a little shocked.

I asked the two of them back.

“What?”

“…I’ve felt it since you contacted me through the music box, but something’s wrong with you.”

“Did something happen, Ed?”

“…No, not really.”

Ellie put down her beer glass and said.

“Don’t try to hide it, what happened after you were trembling at the banquet on the day of the social gathering?”

“Ha, I guess something’s wrong with me, seeing as everyone’s asking me that.”

I briefly told the two of them what had happened with Mella, just like I did with Lara.

The expressions on the two people’s faces stiffened as they listened to my story.

“…That’s what happened. That’s all. It’s not that I’ve become strange, it’s just that I don’t have any lingering feelings for Mella anymore. So don’t worry.”

“…No, that’s a good thing, but, Ed.”

“Why…?”

Ellie asked me with a somewhat serious expression.

“Revealing your identity to the former Saintess-nim was a bit reckless. If she… just in case, it’s unlikely, but if she tells Robin,”

“It’s okay.”

“Ed!”

“No, I’m not doing it without thinking.”

“Then…?”

“Mella is being watched by Lara right now.”

Deborah was so surprised when I finished speaking that she almost dropped the glass she was holding.

Ellie also tilted her head, wondering if she had misheard, and asked me back.

“What?”

“I asked her to stop her if she tries to tell Robin or commit suicide. Lara will be watching Mella for the time being.”

Ellie widened her eyes and trembled slightly.

“Those two…?”

I nodded.

.