Chapter 9

Today was Sunday. It was also the one day of the week when I could have some time entirely to myself, learning neither swordsmanship nor magic.

There are times when you realize just how fickle human nature can be, and this was probably one of those instances. Back when I was attending university, I had thought that if I learned something physical like swordsmanship or mystical like magic instead of regular studying, it would be fun and I could happily stick with it until the end. But once you actually try it in reality, things never go like they do in movies.

I wasn’t happy that my swordsmanship instructor wasn’t even a pretty lady, but a guy prettier than any lady. To top it off, as we were approaching a full month since I started learning the sword, all I was still doing was horizontal slashes, vertical slashes, and upward slashes. There was just no sense of reward for all the sweat I was pouring. None at all.

If you asked me whether magic was any more fun, that wasn’t the case either. Magic had already pushed past the 1st Circle and into the 2nd Circle, but this was elementary school math all over again. Every time I came to a fantasy world and saw arithmetic symbols, I felt like throwing up.

Anyway, today was a day with classes for neither swordsmanship nor magic.

Therefore, I had zero intention of leaving my bed. I planned to eat my meals right here on the bed, and even wash by asking Yul to bring things over so I could clean up in bed.

“You really need to get up now.”

With the sun already high in the middle of the sky, I looked at Yul, who was trying her hardest to wake me up, and opened my mouth in a chilly voice.

“Listen, Yul. Today is Sunday. I have no intention of moving from this spot today. Please, just for today, leave me be.”

I mean, I’m a lazy human being, you see.

“Sigh, my lady.”

Seeing Yul unable to say anything back and letting out deep, heavy sighs, a pang of guilt stirred within me, but my desire not to leave this cozy bed was far greater.

Like a hedgehog curling up to escape a predator’s threat, I rolled myself tightly inside the blanket with only my face exposed and growled toward Yul.

“No matter what, I am absolutely not moving from here. Even if a meteorite were to crash right here into the ducal household of Celion!”

“…….”

Outside, I could hear the faint, bustling sounds of maids moving about, but I had no intention of budging from this place whatsoever. Slipping even the slightly exposed face back under the blanket, I began reading a novel from beneath the covers using the light magic I had learned from Grandfather Capeldeor.

Since it was still summer, it got slightly warm and stuffy, but by continuously circulating the air using minor wind and air magic, even that problem was resolved. Surprisingly, 1st-circle magic had fantastic practical utility.

Man, it felt a little ridiculous thinking, Is this really what I learned magic for?, but magic was meant to make people’s lives comfortable, so whatever.

Having formed my own perfect, solitary sanctuary and having even stated my resolute will to Yul, I figured there was no longer anyone left who could possibly disturb me.

Clatter.

Right at that moment, the sound of the door opening reached my ears—apparently Yul had completely given up and left the room. I lightly clenched my fist and let out a triumphant cheer in my mind.

‘Heh-heh, I win.’

However, I soon realized that was a total miscalculation. A moment later, the voice of Yul echoed near my ear as I was enjoying a cozy rest inside the blanket.

“My lady, we have a guest.”

At her words, I let out a snort. Who on earth would come visit the villainess Armienne on a golden Sunday like this?

“What kind of guest could I possibly have? I haven’t invited a single soul! Heh-heh, such lies won’t work on me. Did you think that just because you said something like that, I’d jump out of bed in shock?”

At my words, Yul spoke to someone else.

“I see. It appears our Lady Armienne has merged into a single entity with that blanket. Therefore, Lady Harmiel, you might as well enjoy a pleasant conversation with the blanket.”

“Wow! Top-tier acting, Yul. Where did you pick up a skill like that? I almost fell for it for a second, but there’s no way Harmiel would ever come here.”

I spoke as though I was completely immune to trickery, but the person who answered my words wasn’t Yul.

“U-um, Armienne?”

“………….”

A charming voice that sounded just like rolling glass beads, and—whether it was my imagination or not—the sweet fragrance drifting through the voice made me feel as though I were suddenly experiencing vertigo.

At the same time, an enormous amount of cold sweat began to pour down my back. If showering in cold sweat was a thing, this was probably what it felt like.

“H-Harmiel?”

Fervently hoping it wasn’t true, I laboriously called out that name, and my expectations were shattered to pieces and cast right into the middle of the Pacific Ocean.

“Yes, Armienne.”

Fu-ck.

I had no choice but to slowly throw off the blanket and force myself up. The moment my face was exposed, Harmiel’s rabbit-like eyes came into view, looking utterly startled by my appearance, alongside the sight of a girl who was simultaneously cute and beautiful beyond description.

Gazing at an insurmountable wall of a woman who made you wonder why the saying ‘can a human being really be this pretty?’ even existed, I promptly turned my head away.

Honestly, if I kept staring like that, I felt like I was going to get sucked right into those eyes. More than anything, the biggest reason was that my current appearance was a bit too embarrassing to be standing here so proudly.

My current state was literally straight out of bed: my hair was sticking out wildly in all directions, and my clothes were the pink pajamas with white rabbits printed on them that I’d worn to sleep last night.

“………….”

“………….”

Trapped in an awkward atmosphere, neither side could say a single word. As for me, I hated this situation so much I wanted to say something, but my mind completely drew a blank on what on earth I should even utter.

‘Did she perhaps regress?’

Insane. That was one question I absolutely must never ask. Even if she had actually regressed, I needed to brazen it out and pretend I knew nothing.

Harmiel, for her part, just stared blankly at me without being able to say anything. For her, seeing Armienne like this was practically a first. In reality, I had been living for the past month as practically a different entity draped over Armienne’s body.

Fortunately, there was someone there to rescue us from that deadlock—none other than my eternal maid, Yul.

She wheeled over a small serving cart and promptly set down some delicious-looking cookies and warm herbal tea right in front of us.

“I have brought some light snacks. Will you be changing your clothes, Lady Armienne?”

At Yul’s question, I shook my head.

“Nah, it’s a pain.”

“……….”

Harmiel flinched at my words. Naturally—the Armienne she remembered was a woman with a strong sense of aristocratic pride who would never utter words that put herself down in front of others.

At the same time, I couldn’t exactly go around acting like the wicked villainess Armienne in front of Harmiel either. If I played the villainess and Harmiel had indeed regressed, my head would go flying off within a few years. Chopp.

Even just thinking about my neck getting sliced off easier than a scarecrow, I couldn’t possibly afford to be unkind to Harmiel. That said, business was business—being too lazy to change out of my clothes on a Sunday was a completely separate matter.

“Tsk.”

“Hm?”

“It is nothing.”

If my ears hadn’t deceived me just now, it sounded like Yul had clicked her tongue, but I must have misheard.

“Ahem, Harmiel. May I ask what brings you here?”

Truth be told, I roughly knew the kind of tone noble daughters used when gathering, even if not in exact detail. Under normal circumstances, the question I ought to ask would be:

[Lady Harmiel, young lady of the ducal household of Harun, might I inquire the reason that has brought you to such a humble place?]

That, in a way, was the standard textbook response.

That being said, if you expected me to memorize a long, pretentious string of dialogue overflowing with that kind of madness, unless a blade was held to my throat, I was never going to speak in such a tone.

“Ah, um….”

Seeing Harmiel hesitate and struggle over what to answer in response to my question, I suddenly understood why the male leads had all fallen for this female protagonist.

Harmiel was gorgeous, but she was like fragile glass that felt like it might shatter the moment you touched her wrong. She possessed a mesmerizing, glass-flower-like presence that forcefully awakened a man’s protective instincts to shield a woman. That was Harmiel.

“Ah, I wanted to see you, Armienne.”

“…Oh, i-is that so?”

Struck by a pang of awkward guilt at an excuse that sounded flimsy even to the person saying it, I swallowed a gulp of hot herbal tea down my throat. Despite the herbal tea being intensely hot and strongly aromatic, I felt nothing at all.

Through Harmiel’s words just now, I had stumbled upon a startling and terrifying fact.

‘The Harmiel standing right in front of me has regressed.’

Neither before nor after her regression had Harmiel ever had a good relationship with Armienne. Their relationship had been terrible even before she grabbed the prince’s hand, so for someone like that to come visit me—what kind of utter, absolute bullshit was this?

The moment I realized that, the division of cold sweat that had halted its advance went right back to work.

My hand holding the teacup trembled violently, entirely outside of my control.

From here on out, with every single wrong choice I made in dialogue, my head was bound to get lopped off by Harmiel’s hands, which burned with deep resentment toward me.

I became cautious. Just what on earth was Harmiel’s intention in seeking me out today? The most urgent task was figuring out the purpose of her visit today. All so I could continue enjoying my blissful Sunday life going forward.

I stood up from my seat.

“Say, Lady Harmiel.”

Pretending not to notice how she flinched openly every single time I called her name and tightened her grip around her teacup, I opened my mouth.

“Shall we go for a walk?”