Episode 122

“Th-that’s… i-it’s fine! I’ll go to greet Stepmother later. Right now I’m going to show Faik the room—see you later!”

Alicia gave her stepmother a little push in the back and walked off as if to steer her away.

Her stepmother chuckled softly and waved toward us.

“Oh, Alicia, you’re such a shy girl. Well then, I’ll be looking forward to it later.”

With a wink, my stepmother walked away of her own accord.

Alicia glanced over at me, scratching her flushed cheek, and fidgetingly opened her mouth.

“S-sorry… for causing a bit of trouble again.”

Maybe she meant what happened earlier with Sir Rigard as well.

I gave a wry smile and shook my head.

“No, it’s fine. How should I put it… everyone’s really lively.”

Sir Rigard was… well, energetic in his own way, and her stepmother needed no comment.

I had expected everyone to be on edge because of the dungeon’s appearance, and to be honest I thought nobles were mostly strict people like Lord Goral, so it was a relief to relax a bit.

“H-hey, normally she’s calm and a good person… okay? My stepmother is.”

By emphasizing ‘my stepmother’, she may have been implying that Sir Rigard is always like that.

“Is that so… Maybe she was just so happy that Alicia brought her fiancé?”

It felt a bit embarrassing to say it myself, but maybe my presence had something to do with her high spirits.

I couldn’t show any embarrassing sides if I wanted to live up to that expectation.

“P-probably… I think so. I wrote a lot about Faik in my letters.”

“…What did you write?”

It was a question born of curiosity, but Alicia reacted even more strongly than I expected.

“I-I didn’t write anything weird, you know?”

…I wondered why. There was a small pause.

“Really? …If there’s anything you don’t like, you can tell me anytime, you know?”

“N-no, that’s not it. …I-I wrote things like… he’s handsome, and kind… it’s fun being with him… th-those kinds of things, so…”

“I-I see. Well, if that’s the case, then that’s fine…”

Yes, being praised directly like that is embarrassing.

We both smiled awkwardly, and Alicia pointed down the corridor.

“L-let’s get going, then.”

“Yeah.”

I took a deep breath and began walking with Alicia.

“You’ve been with your stepmother… since you were born, right?”

“…Yeah. My mother gave birth to me but seemed to have passed away before I became aware of things… so I thought my stepmother was my real parent until I grew up.”

“…I see. She’s a good person, then.”

So that’s why they were so close.

Of course, their close bond was probably also due to her stepmother’s personality and such.

“Yeah… she’s a very good person.”

Alicia wore a calm expression, completely different from when Sir Rigard was around.

It was the opposite of her earlier cold look; she seemed almost like a different person.

As we walked briskly, Alicia murmured softly.

“They say that among nobles, as soon as a wife or husband dies, marriage proposals start coming in immediately.”

“That sounds rough…”

In noble marriages, love alone can’t always decide things, but having proposals come in right after a partner dies would surely stir up anger.

If someone you truly loved died and you were immediately pressured to marry, you might even come to resent those who urged it.

“Yeah, so my father didn’t like that either, and he married my stepmother—who was an acquaintance—just in formality, they say.”

“…Was your stepmother okay with that?”

“She apparently had a condition that made having children difficult… She’d been married before but divorced. So I think she probably accepted it.”

…That’s rough in its own way.

It’s the kind of problem that comes with being noble, but her stepmother seemed to have suffered a lot too.

“Maybe that’s why my stepmother treated me like her real daughter… and for that reason I wanted to properly introduce Faik.”

She still looked embarrassed, but I nodded at Alicia’s earnestness.

“Then I have to do my best not to embarrass Alicia.”

“You don’t have to be so worked up—Faik is most attractive when he’s just being himself.”

Alicia said that with a beaming smile, and I returned her smile.

I have to keep being someone she can say that about, so I’ll do my best.

After walking down the corridor for a while, Alicia stopped in front of a door.

“This is Faik’s room.”

I followed Alicia into the room prepared for me and checked the inside.