Ch.212Side Story: Unexpected Reunion – 3

Kartina’s bright red eyes sparkled with curiosity. Her gaze was so intense that I instinctively took a step or two backward.

I was dumbfounded as I watched Kartina, who had her hands clasped in front of her lips, staring at me with enough intensity to bore holes through my face. She squealed to herself, her face turning red.

“Then of course I must understand! I can’t ignore an adventurer’s pure love! To think you won’t even approach other women because of your betrothed whom you’ve promised a future with—you’re such a romantic!”

Being called a romantic when I have four women I’m responsible for seems more than a little dubious. My stomach churned.

Kartina’s expression was so innocently pure and clear that I felt as if the very spot where her gaze fell was being purified. I’d rather deal with black-hearted criminals and scum a hundred times over.

My conscience was screaming at me to bow my head and apologize immediately. Especially since I already harbored guilt toward Kartina. Serena had caused quite a scene back then, too.

After squealing to herself for quite some time, Kartina finally managed to calm herself down, clearing her throat with a “hem-hem” as embarrassment washed over her, turning her cheeks red. Even her earlobes had turned bright crimson.

She must have been incredibly embarrassed.

“Um, Adventurer. Why are you here then? Surely you didn’t come looking for me. Did you have some important business to attend to in these deep woods?”

Her attempt to change the subject was obvious, but I decided to go along with it.

“It’s a coincidence, just a coincidence. I needed some time to clear my head, so I was just wandering wherever my feet took me. I never imagined I’d find the Lady here of all places.”

It was the truth. I never dreamed I’d meet Kartina again here. I had assumed she was alive somewhere, but who would have thought I’d actually run into her today? And in the middle of this forest, no less.

Perhaps running into me today could have been fortunate for Kartina.

What if I had been with one of the four—Serena, Charlotte, Christine, or Olivia—or if Kartina had recognized me while they were watching me?

She would have been thoroughly tortured until her very existence was erased. Though she didn’t know it, if the situation had gone just slightly differently, she would have truly died.

“You needed time to clear your head?”

“…Pardon?”

“You said you came here because you needed time to clear your head, Adventurer…”

My inner thoughts had slipped out. Kartina’s mention of a betrothed must have shocked me more than I realized. For such words to bypass my mental filter and come out directly…

It wasn’t hard to guess what misunderstanding Kartina might form. As things stood, I had come deep into this forest to clear my head despite having a betrothed.

She would undoubtedly connect these two facts in her imagination.

“Could it be that you’re having difficulties with your betrothed?”

Just as I thought.

I was about to reply, “It’s not like that,” but found myself at a loss for words. If that wasn’t the issue, I had no idea what reason for needing to clear my head would satisfy Kartina.

Any ordinary excuse clearly wouldn’t work. After all, the place where Kartina and I were now was deep in a forest, more than ten hours on foot from the nearest city.

To have come all the way to such a place, and then claim the reason was trivial? Anyone would see I was just evading the real reason.

‘Besides, it’s half true that it’s related to my betrothed. Strangely, I find myself reluctant to lie to Kartina.’

The fact that my need to clear my head was related to my betrothed was indeed true. The problem was that there wasn’t just one betrothed but four entangled in this mess.

Whatever she made of my silence, Kartina’s eyes began to sparkle again.

“So that’s how it is!”

Under that burdensome gaze, I missed my chance to respond and hesitated, while Kartina drifted into her own world.

I couldn’t understand what kind of rosy fantasy she was indulging in that made her blush so deeply. Kartina didn’t seem like this type of person before.

The arrow soon returned to me.

“If it’s not too presumptuous, may I help you, Adventurer?”

“Help me? Me?”

“I’ve always admired the idea of helping others with their love and romance! I’ve read many romance novels diligently! I’m quite confident in my theoretical knowledge!”

My situation was vastly different from the events in romance novels. I wondered if romance novels could really be of any reference.

More importantly, I had thought Kartina was a fragile and delicate lord who was just dragged around by her subordinates, but she had such a secret?

No wonder she was fixated on the idea that I was hiding my strength. It was a secret I hadn’t particularly wanted to know.

“May I help you, Adventurer? No, please let me help you! I’ll do everything in my power to ensure you have a lovey-dovey married life with your betrothed!”

“…”

Looking at those sparkling eyes, I felt it might be better to tell the truth now.

“My Lady.”

“Ah, yes! What is it?”

“There’s something you’ve misunderstood.”

“Something I’ve misunderstood?”

“The betrothed… there isn’t just one.”

“…?”

My explanation went on for quite some time. I explained that the other Kartina had misunderstood, that while they might not exactly qualify as betrothed, there were women I was responsible for, and there were four of them.

Naturally, I glossed over the details about each one.

If I were to reveal everything about what abilities Serena, Christine, Charlotte, and Olivia possessed, what positions they held, and what they were capable of doing, I wouldn’t be able to handle the aftermath.

After hearing my explanation, Kartina fell silent for a moment.

She must have been shocked. She had thought I was a romantic who wouldn’t approach other women because of my betrothed, but it turned out that wasn’t the case, and there were four women involved.

Especially since I used the term “responsible for,” she might interpret it as me having caused trouble. But that expression was closest to the truth, so what could I do?

“…So, to summarize what you’re saying.”

Kartina, who had been silent for a while, finally spoke.

“There are a total of four women who love you, and you’re in a situation where you have to take responsibility for all four of them simultaneously. Because these women fight over you every day, you found it too burdensome and came here to clear your head? And then you met me?”

Hearing it put that way, my actions suddenly seemed incredibly trashy.

While this was the best approach to prevent the world from being destroyed in the crossfire of jealousy-crazed women, even taking that into account…

“These women love you with all their might, but you’ve only promised to take responsibility for them without showing it through your actions?”

“…”

I couldn’t bring myself to confirm it.

After finishing her summary with words that thoroughly pricked my conscience, Kartina seemed to be deep in thought. Her expression was surprisingly serious.

“Adventurer, you’re… how should I put it… quite remarkable.”

Judging by her expression, she didn’t seem to be criticizing me, but I responded with an empty laugh instead of an answer. It might not be criticism, but it certainly wasn’t praise either.

“You’ve always remained a low-rank adventurer in the city. I thought it was strange, but you were hiding your strength after all? And now you no longer need to do so.”

Come to think of it, Kartina had that misunderstanding too.

Regardless of how it came about, the end result was indeed as Kartina said—it was as if I had been hiding my strength.

If one only looked at the result, that is.

“There were some complicated circumstances. It’s a personal matter, so I can’t explain the reason.”

“Is that so?”

Kartina simply smiled gently and didn’t press me further. Since I had firmly stated it was a personal matter, given her character, she wouldn’t dig deeper.

“May I ask a few more questions?”

“By all means.”

Those bright red eyes stared directly at me.

“These women truly love you, don’t they?”

“Yes, they do.”

“They’re very jealous and fight among themselves when you’re not around.”

“That’s correct.”

“But they generally follow what you say.”

“…Yes.”

It’s not just that they generally follow what I say; except for Charlotte and Olivia, they practically worship me blindly.

“Then it’s a very simple matter, Adventurer.”

“Simple?”

Kartina’s smile hadn’t changed, but somehow I felt a streak of unease.

“You just need to subjugate these women in bed.”

…For a moment, I thought I had misheard.

Truly.