episode_0045

Agnes’ dreams were always in pastel colors.

The scenery that makes that dream come true is a bright red rose garden, and the sun shining down on it is also bright.

The reason was that the woman standing in the middle of the landscape had very light colors.

Agnes looked at the woman at the end of her gaze.

The woman who trimmed the roses in the garden with her gentle hands was beautiful.

Light blonde hair with curls, pink eyes resembling spring flowers.

A good-natured look with drooping eye corners and a faint smile blooming above it.

Her name is Leah Levadein.

This was a woman who pouted her lips, saying she was dissatisfied with her first and last name starting with the same letter, ‘Le’.

“Agnes. What are you thinking like that?”

If there is warmth in the voice, it would be exactly the same temperature as a human body temperature.

It must be the temperature of longing that makes you want to bury yourself and die.

Agnes lowered her head as she thought about that.

As he sometimes did when he had dreams like this, his body had already become that of an adult.

When I looked up again, Leah Levadeine had suddenly become a noble lady with beautiful wrinkles etched across her face.

This was a scene that could not be achieved.

Agnes grinned.

“It’s this dream again.”

“Dream? Oh, did you have a nightmare today?”

Leah Levadeine stopped tending the roses and began to approach Agnes.

The slightly opened arms looked as if they were trying to hug a child having a nightmare.

“Don’t come.”

Agnes said so.

The smile was relaxed, and the tone was also sly.

However, the eyes were dark.

“Don’t come. Liar.”

The moment I said that, the scenery became blurred.

The pastel-toned world gradually lost its shape, with the woman in the center like a wet watercolor painting, and eventually turned pitch black.

Agnes curled up inside it.

And then I closed my eyes.

There was only one thing I wanted.

This dream will end quickly.

*

When Agnes opened her eyes, Deltan had finished his business and was halfway down the rocky mountain.

Deltain said as he looked at Agnes, who opened her eyes with a little tossing and turning.

“Are you awake?”

At the blunt voice, Agnes’ cherry blossom-colored eyes rolled to look at him.

Agnes blinked her eyes, but soon saw that her body had returned to its original state and smiled.

“… I just finished processing it.”

“Because he’s nothing special. The devil of retrograde has a miserable level of combat power.”

“Praise me?”

“That’s it.”

Agnes’ body was wrapped in something like a blanket.

This is because the body returned to its original state and all of the clothes were torn.

It’s like a child wrapped in swaddling clothes.

Agnes, who had been thinking about such things, asked playfully.

“Deltan people are perverts.”

“Don’t even think about saying nonsense like spying on a sleeping woman’s naked body. Because it was all done by Kaltara.”

“Princess! I’ve gained some weight already!”

Kaltara raised Deltan’s hand and pretended to be friendly.

Agnes looked blank for a moment, then pursed her lips and spoke to Deltan.

“Did you show my naked body to someone else?”

“I don’t like it this way, I don’t like it that way. What are you going to do with me?”

The Deltan’s attitude was irritable.

Even considering that he used to be that kind of personality, it felt like he was particularly nervous.

There was no other reason.

A retrograde demon encountered in a cave and a series of facts learned through the demon.

That was the reason it was going through my mind.

Something Agnes wouldn’t know.

First, she was someone who was quite quick to notice changes in the Delta people.

There would be no need to further upset the Deltans.

Agnes leaned her head against his chest as she thought about it.

Then he moved his legs and said.

“Thank you, though. For going through such a hard time because of me.”

“If you know, you will do well in the snowy mountains. I’m good at coaxing spirits too.”

“Yes, I will try my best to seduce you.”

“First of all, I’m going to camp down there today. The plan was twisted, but if I don’t replenish fuel here, I have no chance after going to the system.”

“Where am I?”

“Mountain on the northern border.”

The border is another half a day’s drive from here.

Beyond that is the northern snowy area, where there are no paved roads anymore.

The speed of the vehicle will drop to less than half, and the danger that comes will expand to include not only demons, but also demonic beasts and other races.

Agnes, who was listening to the Deltan’s explanation, opened her eyes wide.

“Are there other races in the north as well?”

“Snow tribe. It’s a rabbit beast. It’s a little known fact. Of those who meet them, less than 1% come back alive. They are warlike and wary, trying to kill everything they see.”

“Are you okay?”

“Uh, there’s no need to go out. If it is seen nearby, the hunting dog will take care of it.”

I don’t know if it was faith or confidence, but Deltan’s expression was so calm, and the hounds didn’t show any reaction, as if it was a natural thing.

Agnes nodded and showed understanding.

“Hmm, anyway, it’s really camping today.”

“You sleep with me. I was going to leave it to Kaltara, but her temptation immunity is too rubbish for that, so I have to wear it myself.”

“Is it a confession?”

“Don’t be a damn thing. Apologize to me for going through a hard time because of you.”

“Sorry.”

Agnes giggled and Deltan sighed.

“It’s really annoying.”

“You still love me, right?”

“I don’t.”

“You know what? Kids who act stiff like you are always desperate for love later on.”

“They are just unscrupulous bastards.”

“Well, I somehow think you are like that.”

“Throw it away.”

Agnes pursed her lips.

Nothing more was said.

This is because it had already come down to where the car was.

“Lady!”

The maids approached Agnes with surprised faces.

Perhaps because he was quite worried, his face had already become half-faced.

Agnes said, giggling.

“Sorry, I made you worry.”

The tone was not the least bit sorry.

*

The camping that followed was in a way that was different from Agnes’ romance.

It was natural.

The Deltans were extremely civilized, and as such, they prioritized convenience even in the field of camping.

Agnes, who came out after changing her clothes, made a ‘wow’ sound when she saw a small cabin that appeared from nowhere and unknown letters engraved on the outside of the cabin.

“Is this camping?”

“If you sleep outside the house, it’s all camping.”

“No romance.”

“Listen carefully. Do you know what kind of cubs in the world lag behind the fastest? They are bastards who are trying to chase romance. If you judge rationally, there is a better way, so why go down the difficult path?”

Deltan said and opened the cabin door.

“Come in. Because I have to sleep early and leave early tomorrow morning.”

“What about rice?”

“Sandwich.”

“Again?”

“If you ask me, would you ask your maid to make it for you?”

“Not to that extent.”

Agnes entered the cabin.

It was a simple interior with one large bed, a small tea table, and a small closet.

Deltan said as he sat down at the tea table, picked up a sandwich and ate it.

“Eat.”

Agnes complied.

There were still a lot of pickles in mine, and there were no pickles in Delta’s.

Agnes thought about it for a moment and then spoke.

“But you know.”

“What.”

“It’s not like you can’t eat pickles at all. You.”

Stop.

Deltan’s movements stopped.

He made a blank face, then his complexion gradually turned red and he looked at Agnes with trembling eyes.

I realized what her words meant.

I ate pickles this morning.

It was the moment when her mind returned to being five years old.

Agnes grinned.

“You are really weak towards children.”

Deltan’s lips softened.

Not a single word came out.

The events of today, which passed by like a panorama, were holding him captive.

Agnes burst out laughing at that embarrassed face.

“Picky eater Delta!”

“Shut up.”

“Tone-deaf Delta People!”

“Shut up.”

Deltan’s body trembled.

His once flushed face has now become so saturated that it is indistinguishable from his hair color.

“… If you go somewhere and spread rumors, they will kill you.”

“I have nowhere to spread rumors.”

“Maybe. That damn 7th princess or something. I think you could say that you went back to your childhood while just saying something fun.”

Agnes paused for a moment.

‘I?’

To Elina?

Agnes shook her head.

That will never, ever happen.

Agnes was someone I could tell about my experience of infantile regression to everyone else, but I couldn’t tell it to her.

The reason was that he did not have the courage to face how Elina would look at him at that moment.

“… don’t worry. Even if I die, that won’t happen.”

As Agnes smiled, Deltan looked at her suspiciously.

I didn’t say one more thing.

“… done. Just go to sleep.”

He said that and lay down on the bed.

“If you sleep right after eating, you won’t be able to digest it.”

“I can do it.”

I want to talk more, but he comes off quite strongly.

Agnes made a ‘hmm’ sound as she thought about it, and then as if she had a good idea, she walked over to the bed and lay down next to him.

“You know.”

“What.”

“I can’t sleep.”

“What should I do?”

“It’s your fault. They made me sleep as much as I wanted during the day, so I’m feeling very restless now.”

Deltan’s eyes turned to Agnes.

Agnes said playfully with a frown on her face.

“Sing me a lullaby.”

“… Get out.”

“Huh? If you sing me a lullaby, I will shut my mouth.”

Agnes hugged Deltan’s waist. He put his legs up on Deltan’s thighs and started kneading them.

“Even if I can’t call you, I will look after you. Huh?”

Deltan felt the back of his neck being pulled.

‘Rotten.’

The weakness has been discovered.

How much will I be made fun of again for this?

This evil woman was like this.

It’s really getting on my nerves, but I’m going crazy and jumping up and down because they’re only poking at the parts that seem too uncomfortable to get angry at.

Deltan glared at Agnes with vicious eyes, but Agnes only got more excited the more he glared at her.

Deltan, who was in tears at that, said.

“Come to your senses. You are twenty. Not a five-year-old who needs a mother.”

A word I uttered out of anger.

It didn’t take long for Deltan to realize that was a mistake.

Even setting aside all other reactions, her momentarily shaken expression was so vividly engraved on my retina.

‘Oh, fuck.’

I made a mistake.

While thinking about what to say to the Deltan, Agnes spoke faster than that.

“You thought you just made a mistake, right?”

Agnes soon calmed down and smiled.

“Sing me a lullaby and I will listen to you.”

His attitude seemed to be that he was going to take advantage of even that mistake in his words.

However, the momentum was not the same as before.

The playfulness in the smile was a little dead.

Deltan felt uncomfortable in his stomach.

Somehow, what came to mind at that moment was her mother.

… No, I already knew why.

The first thing that came to mind was as a provocation when I realized that, unlike five-year-old Agnes, she was someone who never opened her mouth even accidentally when talking about her mother.

What excuse is there?

Mistake was correct.

Even as a Deltan, touching on other people’s misfortune was not a very pleasant thing.

“… I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay. If you sing me a lullaby.”

“You’re so stubborn, really.”

Deltan’s expression crumpled.

Agnes said, pressing her index finger between his eyes.

“If you don’t call me, I will call you a liar instead of a Delta person from now on.”

“What kind of liar are you all of a sudden?”

“You lied.”

Agnes giggled.

“Mom will come at night.”

Deltan’s body flinched.

His eyes turned to Agnes.

“Mom didn’t come.”

Her gaze was persistent, as if trying to figure out what emotions were hidden in her smile and what her intention was for saying these words, but she could not figure out anything.

She had the best poker face of anyone Deltan knew.

There was only one thing Deltans could do.

He trembles as if he is ashamed and spits out words of warning.

“… I’ll just do it once.”

“Yes, byeolnimdalnim.”

“That damn star… !”

For no reason, Deltan turned his gaze to the ceiling.

For some reason, he frowned with watery eyes.

His complexion was as red as a tomato.

Eventually, my slightly trembling lips softened.

A stiff voice comes out, kicking the pitch.

“Star… one… .”

The song was terrible.

Hebron, the Delta, was a terrible tone-deaf idiot.

Agnes burst out laughing.