Strategy Meeting – 5

“Did you really call me out to help buy someone a gift?”

“Of course not.”

Seol-ah jabbed my side with her elbow.

“Wow, so it was an excuse made up on the spot?”

“Yes. So don’t do anything to raise suspicion, and just stay quietly next to Hestia.”

She’s quite comfortable with lying. Seol-ah pushed my back. I naturally went and stood next to Hestia. Hestia, sticking close to my side, asked me:

“So, whose gift is it?”

“Huh?”

My mind went blank at Hestia’s question. There’s no such thing. It was just a made-up excuse. I kept my mouth shut.

I might cause some trouble if I answer arbitrarily. I stammered and quickly sent a distress signal to Seol-ah.

Seol-ah seemed to notice my gaze right away and answered the question.

“I didn’t tell Mikhail either. Neither of you know the person anyway.”

“Then why did you bring him along?”

That’s right. Why drag me along to buy a gift for someone I don’t know? Seol-ah replied nonchalantly.

“Because that person is a man. I thought a man would know better what gifts other men would like.”

Hestia tilted her head. Although Seol-ah is the most sociable among us, her male connections are virtually non-existent. Partly because she doesn’t need them herself, and partly as a remnant of Wilhelm’s influence. It’s natural to wonder who this man she’s giving a gift to might be.

However, Hestia didn’t dig deeper and just accepted it with a “Whatever.” It’s not a great idea to keep asking who this person is when both of them have said they don’t know him.

“Then Mikhail, is there any gift you’d like to receive?”

“A gift? Hmm…”

I thought about what I might want right now. After closing my eyes and thinking for a while, the answer came.

“Nothing.”

I’m originally a person with very little material desire. Unless it’s something I suddenly realize I want in the middle of daily life, I don’t typically wish for things to possess.

Besides, I’m currently living a life without much lack. Clothes? I already have little interest, and when I open the closet, it’s full of clothes I brought from home. Food? I can just go out and buy it with my own money. Cash? I’m not shameless enough to request money as a gift, and honestly, the problem is I don’t have places to spend it.

As Kang Bada living alone, I had a list of small items like electric razors, power banks, or diatomaceous earth mats—things that would be “too expensive to buy with my own money but appreciated as gifts.” But as Mikhail von Sirius, heir to the ducal house, I don’t have such a list. If I need something, it’s either already available or I can just buy it.

“Please give a more sincere answer.”

Seol-ah looked at me with a stern gaze. But it was just an excuse to avoid suspicion, so why do I need to give a sincere answer? Just go into any store and buy a tie or belt or something like that.

“Mikhail, do you really not want anything at all?”

But Hestia doesn’t seem to think so. She clasped her hands together and looked genuinely concerned.

“Why are you making such a big deal? I really don’t want anything in particular. Is that something to worry about?”

“If Cordelia said she didn’t want anything, I would have thought, ‘I see.’ But you’re different, Mikhail. Do you remember when we talked about hobbies last time?”

I nodded. Back then, when I said I didn’t have any hobbies, Hestia had volunteered to help me find some.

“No hobbies, nothing you want. Come to think of it, you don’t even have favorite foods or songs. Looking at you, Mikhail, you seem like an empty person.”

I couldn’t respond. An empty person? I recalled my life on Earth. Was I originally a person without hobbies, desires, or preferences?

I used to read web novels eagerly and even made lists of “things too expensive to buy with my own money but appreciated as gifts.” Preferences? Goes without saying.

I can’t argue that those things don’t exist in this world, but there is some dissonance, as Hestia pointed out. It feels like there’s a hole in my character.

“No, I don’t think we need to consider it that seriously…”

Seol-ah grumbled, but it didn’t register with me. There does seem to be something wrong with me. The mismatched timeline with Seol-ah, the personal issues that have vanished as if there’s a hole, and the inexplicable dislike of returning to Earth.

Have I really lost all the things I like? I tried to recall what I originally liked, specifically things that could be used as gifts and were commonly available in this world.

“As for a gift, how about perfume?”

Though I wasn’t particularly fond of perfume, I did have preferred scents.

“That sounds good. It seems perfect for a gift.”

Seol-ah agreed. On the way to the store, Seol-ah secretly spoke to me.

“Do you have a preferred scent?”

“I’m going to find out now.”

“What do you mean? Anyway, you do have one, right?”

“Why?”

“I’m planning to get that.”

Why, when it’s not even for me? Seol-ah, seemingly with no intention of answering my question, hummed a tune and walked ahead.

No matter how large and magnificent the shopping district in front of the Academy was, there wasn’t a specialized perfume shop. According to Hestia, such specialty shops could only be found in the capital.

We went to a cosmetics store. They also sell perfume there. I stopped dead in my tracks at the entrance.

“What’s wrong?”

“Do I really have to go in too?”

Seol-ah asked in an incredulous voice.

“If you don’t go in, who will? We’ve come all this way, why are you suddenly like this?”

But, this place… I feel like I might have an allergic reaction just by entering. More specifically, it feels like entering a women’s lingerie store. Not that there’s anything particularly wrong with it, but it’s not easy.

“Well, it seems like a store that men might feel awkward entering.”

“Stop talking nonsense and follow me.”

Hestia, who had been looking at me with concern, made a dismissive expression, then firmly grabbed my arm and dragged me into the store.

The inside of the store was a bit different from what I had imagined. If I had to specify, it was closer to an Olive Young store. At this level, I can at least breathe.

The three of us scurried to the area where perfumes were sold. Fortunately, testing the scents was possible.

“What scent do you like?”

Seol-ah asked. Ah, she’s referring to the scent I said I originally liked.

“Woody scents.”

At my answer, she made a surprised expression and asked the clerk for a scent strip.

I’m not particularly knowledgeable about perfumes either, but I had received a woody perfume as a gift before and liked it enough to keep using it.

“Here.”

Seol-ah handed me the scent strip she had received from the clerk. I carefully brought the strip to my nose. The deep, solid winter scent of wood entered my nose and…

“Keh! Cough! Hack!”

“Mikhail! Are you okay?”

What the hell. Why does it smell like this? It’s offensive? I coughed roughly at the sudden surge of repulsion. Is there something wrong with this perfume? But considering that the other two, who were sniffing the same scent strip next to me, were fine, that doesn’t seem to be the case.

“Yeah, yeah. I’m fine. Just got something caught in my throat.”

I couldn’t say I coughed because the smell was offensive right after claiming I liked it. I tried smelling a few other scents as a test. Unfortunately or fortunately, I was completely fine. My head ached a bit from the strong smells, but I didn’t experience the intense rejection and coughing like before. This means there’s nothing wrong with my nose.

If there’s nothing wrong with my nose or the perfume, it just means the scent doesn’t suit me. A scent I liked as Kang Bada doesn’t match Mikhail’s taste.

Do preferences follow the body? No, if that were the case, I would have chosen Seol-ah instead of Hestia from the beginning. Mikhail’s preference is Lily, but my preference is Hestia, which is why I haven’t broken off the engagement with Hestia. The body is the body, and my personal preferences are my preferences. They’re separate issues.

So what is it? Has my taste changed so drastically in just a few months without me even realizing it?

While I was lost in confusion, Seol-ah brought me another scent strip.

“How about this one?”

I brought the scent strip to my nose without thinking. It’s probably going to be similar anyway.

Huh? Why is it so…

“Nice, right?”

Seol-ah was grinning next to me. As she said, it was a scent that improved my mood and I really liked it.

“How did you miraculously find something I like?”

“It’s a scent that Mikhail liked in the original work.”

Seol-ah whispered secretly. With the faint citrus scent lingering in my nose, I fell into even deeper confusion. Am I really Kang Bada?

A college student who just returned from military service, a proud son to his parents, a regular customer at the kimbap restaurant in front of his house, a text addict who has been immersed in reading for over 10 years, an ordinary person who likes fried rice and zero cola, and was contemplating whether to buy an electric razor.

The heir to a ducal house, one of the empire’s outstanding swordsmen, Hestia von Gratia’s fiancé, a freshman at the Academy, someone who doesn’t even know the existence of fried rice and zero cola, and a rich young master who doesn’t need to contemplate whether to buy an electric razor.

Who is the real me? I think I’m Kang Bada, but if I gradually become assimilated without anyone knowing, and eventually, no elements of Kang Bada remain, is that person still me?

There’s a philosophical puzzle called the Ship of Theseus. There’s a large ship of Theseus. If you replace the planks one by one until all the planks have been replaced and none of the original remains, can that ship still be called the Ship of Theseus?

I don’t know the answer. Whether that ship is still the Ship of Theseus, or whether I am still Kang Bada. Even fantastic philosophers have pondered this without finding an answer, leaving it as an unsolved puzzle, so how would I know?

Seol-ah, whether she knew my concerns or not, hummed a tune. She seems to be in quite a good mood.

“Then I’ll just buy this one.”

“There’s no one to give it to, and in the end, you’ll use it, right?”

“That’s true.”

“Then you should buy what you like.”

She didn’t even pretend to listen to my words and called Hestia, who was dazed from the strong perfume scents in the corner.

“Miss Hestia. I’ve made my choice. Excuse me, I’ll take two of these.”

She called the clerk and pointed to the perfume she had shown me earlier.

“Two?”

“I like it. Two is better than one, right?”

What on earth is she saying? Hestia and I looked at Seol-ah with incredulous expressions, but she didn’t change her mind. Actually, it’s a bit ridiculous for us to try to stop her when she’s the one buying them.

Seol-ah left the store, smiling brightly for some reason.

After that, I couldn’t say what I needed to say, and we naturally parted ways. We had no choice since we had resolved the pretense of the gift.

“See you tomorrow.”

“Take care on your way back.”

Hestia’s initial scary expression was nowhere to be seen, and she returned with a happy face.

After seeing them off to the dormitory and on my way back to my own, someone tapped my shoulder from behind. I turned around.

“Huff… Why do you walk so fast?”

It was Seol-ah, who had apparently rushed after me and was now catching her breath.

“What’s this? Why are you here?”

“I watched you take Hestia back, then came out again to follow you. I have something to give you.”

She placed something in my hand.

“Perfume?”

“It’s yours. A gift.”

“Why a gift?”

“Is there a law that says gifts can only be given on birthdays or special occasions? I’m giving it because I want to.”

It was the perfume she had bought at the store earlier. Seol-ah was smiling playfully.

“But you said earlier that neither I nor Hestia knew the person.”

At my words, she shrugged.

“It’s a gift for you, Kang Bada, not Mikhail. A person neither Mikhail nor Hestia knows. That’s right, isn’t it?”

I felt all the complicated worries that had been tangling my mind wash away completely.

Yes. Who cares if it’s the Ship of Theseus or the Ship of Heracles? If I think of myself as Kang Bada, that’s the end of it.

“You…”

“What, are you touched?”

I was a bit moved, but when she asks so directly, the feeling dissipates.

“I was until you said that.”

“Don’t be embarrassed.”

That aside, I asked something I was curious about, though it might be a bit intrusive. Since it was a gift intended for me, it should be okay to ask this much.

“But if you bought it to give to me, why did you buy two?”

At my question, Seol-ah gave a mischievous smile.

“One is for me to use. We’ll share the same scent. Isn’t that nice?”

Wow, this, wow. What a bewitching woman.