Ch.6Somewhere Strange and Pitiful (3)

It had been three days since I began traveling with her. Serin, whom I had thought to be relatively quiet, was acting lively as if she had perfectly adapted to the situation.

“Hey, Rian. Can’t we stop and watch those jesters perform their tricks for a bit?”

“Don’t you want to return quickly?”

“I do want to go back… but since we’re already out, couldn’t we enjoy ourselves a little?”

My mind worked quickly at her request.

‘The answer is probably already decided.’

Normally, I should reject Serin’s request since it’s unclear when the Emperor’s patience might run out. But given the circumstances, Serin was suffering harsh abuse in the imperial palace. Therefore, the truly right path for her was far from the conventional one.

I simply couldn’t bring myself to refuse her pitiful request.

“Umm… I’ll go with you. But please be careful. Pickpockets are common in crowded places.”

“Just trust me. I’m keeping the silver token you gave me safe.”

“You must, absolutely must only use it when it becomes unbearable.”

“…? I will.”

Having secured her promise, my heart felt lighter. I hoped this little detour would also lighten Serin’s burden.

“Excuse me for a moment.”

“Ah, um, Rian…?!”

Without hesitation, I took Serin’s hand. It was a precaution to prevent her from getting lost.

As we pushed through the crowd, her face grew flushed. The venue must have been quite hot with all the people pressing against each other. Perhaps because of this, even after reaching the front row, Serin struggled to look straight ahead.

“Hey, Rian. Are you always like this? You know, just grabbing a woman’s hand and pulling her along?”

Serin commented while vigorously fanning her face.

“It’s not that I dislike it, I’m just curious how often you do this.”

“I believe this is the second time in my life.”

“That’s surprisingly few… Then what about the first time?”

A strange chill ran through her voice as she asked about the first time. Her slightly crooked gaze conveyed some kind of discomfort. I casually shared the memory while sifting through my recollections.

“She was a fallen noble lady. Serving military duty while enduring the cold wind.”

There was once a knight family known as the Emperor’s Sword. Naturally, a family loyal to the old powers was bound to fall.

Overnight, the lady, who was the only blood relative left, shouldered the family’s debt and was sentenced to military service until the debt was paid.

I reached out to that lady who was withering like an old tree. So if I had to count, she would be the first person whose hand I held.

“Did I… ask about something unpleasant?”

“Not at all. Rather, I should…”

A lump formed in my throat!

I’m sorry I can’t help Serin who’s experiencing a collection of unpleasant subjects. Words I couldn’t say rose to the tip of my tongue.

“Anyway, don’t worry about anything, Serin. How do you find the performance?”

“It’s unfamiliar but interesting.”

The jesters all wore masks and showcased extraordinary tricks. From seemingly possessed juggling to flexibility that defied common sense. They even put their heads into the wide-open mouth of an alligator. It was truly spectacular enough to make the audience cheer.

“Since they’re wearing masks too, you wouldn’t look out of place if you joined them, Rian.”

“I lack the skills and would be chased away immediately.”

“Your face is your talent… I mean, hey, Rian.”

“What is it?”

“I think we’ve gotten pretty close, don’t you agree?”

“Really?”

My heart skipped a beat at this unexpected truth. I see, so this is what it’s like to be close to others. I’ve honestly never had friends my age before, so I’m genuinely happy.

“If you have to ask that, what does that make me…!”

“Let’s be friends. Forever.”

I immediately responded out of joy, but Serin seemed dissatisfied with the condition.

“Forever doesn’t work… because you never know what might happen.”

“Is it not enough?”

“Huh? What isn’t?”

“Is the silver token not enough as a friendship fee?”

I heard that powerful people exchange wealth as tokens of friendship. I believe Serin, being an imperial princess, wouldn’t be much different in this regard. But what more could I prepare here…

As my concerns deepened, Serin firmly grasped my hand with both of hers.

“Where on earth did you hear such things?! Why would friendship fees come up here! We’re not neighborhood thugs!”

‘Are Serin’s father and mother neighborhood thugs?’

“Seriously, I never even thought about friendship fees. I’ve never received any either.”

‘Not receiving friendship fees means…’

It confirmed that she was indeed a loner in the imperial palace. I resolved to grant whatever requests Serin might have for the remainder of our journey.

“Forget about that thug stuff. Just one thing… just one! If you do this, I’d be so happy.”

“I’m listening.”

I should not have been so quick to agree.

Barely 10 seconds after making my manly resolution, Serin made a request that would make me a liar.

“When it’s just the two of us, couldn’t you take off your mask just once?”

“I cannot.”

Having been flatly rejected in such a smooth-flowing atmosphere, Serin’s eyes lost focus. Soon regaining her composure, she clung to me almost desperately.

“Five seconds would be enough. No, three seconds! If that’s too much, even one second would do!”

“I’m sorry. It’s something difficult to remove…”

Sometimes when Rodrick sees my face without the mask, he grumbles. He says I’d get stabbed to death if I showed my face carelessly on the streets. He even said the surroundings would be littered with torn hair.

While the exact reason for such a disaster remains unclear, I cannot involve Serin in it.

“Ugh, making people curious and then being irresponsible… Isn’t it uncomfortable to lift your mask slightly and push food into your mouth when eating?”

“I’ve gotten used to it.”

“Hmm…”

Serin looked up at the sky as if trying to suppress her frustration. From that point on, the daytime street performance was probably outside her interest. Meanwhile, I had to stay focused in case Serin suddenly tried to remove my mask.

◇

Today was a day when the expression “reaping what you sow” truly shined.

If only I hadn’t shown unnecessary interest in the street performance, we could have stayed at a proper inn.

I feel like complaining to ease my mind, but Rian doesn’t show any signs of discomfort.

It’s an absurd thought, but somehow I feel like I’m being pitied…

More importantly, Rian’s identity is incredibly close to being the male lead.

In fact, unless it’s a 0.0001% bad miracle, I’ve long since marked Rian as the male lead.

‘His polite speech pattern and somewhat eccentric personality are strong evidence.’

Now if only I could properly remove his mask, everything would be resolved, but that’s the most difficult part. I’m not doing this because I’m suspicious, but because I want to see the appearance that’s been praised so highly.

‘Today was full of things that bothered me…’

According to my male lead radar, Rian is definitely confirmed as the male lead. The way he embraces all sorts of whims like the blue sky is truly the typical mindset of a male lead. However, his experience of holding hands with a noble lady makes my heart twinge a bit.

‘That aside, what’s with the friendship fee? Damn, it’s so cute!’

The sight of him trembling and seriously discussing friendship fees. It makes me want to pinch him all over.

After sitting on the dirt floor lost in thought for about an hour, I got up and moved to Rian’s side.

“Hey, Rian.”

“Yes, Serin.”

“I think I was too forward with my familiarity this afternoon, and I’m reflecting on that.”

“Serin has done nothing wrong.”

Wow, so sweet. His voice is sweet, and his kind demeanor is sweet too. He’s definitely my favorite male lead. It seems my vocabulary significantly deteriorates when talking to him.

I put aside my inner fangirling and made a serious proposal to Rian.

“Ahem, so here’s the deal. Let’s make a trade. I’ll show you some amazing things if you show me your face just once. How about it?”

“I’m very curious, but it’s difficult.”

“I’ll even throw in some effective exercise methods. I’ll give you one-on-one personal training. So please reconsider. Please? Rian!”

It’s a great deal!

I’ll show you everything. From 900-degree back flips to modern strength training exercises!

“…”

Rian remains silent. This isn’t easy. He doesn’t even know that I’ve revolutionized the imperial palace with modern exercise methods.

“Ah, I forgot again. For things like this, I should let you experience a sample first, right?”

“That… seems reasonable.”

His voice sounded somewhat doubtful. But I had already broken such prejudices at the center of the system.

“Alright. Could you come closer and watch for a moment? Don’t worry, I’m not a glowing dinosaur.”

“…? I look forward to it.”

I pulled Rian’s sleeve and provided an opportunity to observe up close. Taekwondo was my secret weapon, but starting with a fitness demonstration seemed most appropriate.

“Now, spread your legs shoulder-width apart and turn your feet slightly outward. From here, we’re going to sit down and stand up…”

It was a squat, the alpha and omega of lower body exercises, but it probably wouldn’t be much to him.

In this world, the limits of physical ability are high. So there’s no difficulty with bodyweight exercises, and you need to use magical items to increase the weight to get any exercise effect.

‘But once he feels the stimulus, he’ll understand what a great exercise this is!’

I demonstrated the squat about four times. Now it was time to check Rian’s form, but first, I wanted to ask for his impression.

“Hehe, how was it? Looks simple, right? But surprisingly… Rian?”

I had focused on my form during the demonstration and briefly looked away from Rian. But to my surprise, when I looked back, Rian was covering the eye area of his mask with his palm and hanging his head low.

“Rian? Did you watch properly?”

“Vulgar…”

“Excuse me?”

“I think it’s… vulgar. How could a lady spread her legs like that… like, like she’s relieving herself… ugh.”

“What the hell.”

For a moment, my vision flickered and whited out. Simultaneously, a ringing in my ears comparable to being in a traffic accident echoed loudly. My mind became dizzy, and the world seemed to spin.

Vulgar. Spread. Relieving.

The key words my favorite male lead conveyed to me in one breath.

This doesn’t make sense. This must be a dream. Yes, we’re all dreaming of flying in the sky.

…… After a brief escape from reality.

I bit down hard on my teeth and let out a silent scream.

‘Aaaaaaaaahhh!!!’

To me, the squat was murder.

In a psychological sense.