Episode 15

At my voice, Alicia touched her cheek.

“Th-that… about an hour ago… Refy told me that Faik was working at the forge… I wanted to see, so I came.”

She was probably in pajamas now, dressed relatively lightly.

Her neckline was a little exposed…

“D-don’t look too much. It’s embarrassing…”

Damn! My gaze became drawn there and I hastily looked away.

“S-sorry…”

I realized after apologizing. The very act of apologizing was an admission that I’d been staring at her chest.

Alicia, whose ears had gone red at my apology,

“N-no… but we’re engaged… so if it’s at the proper time, you can look…”

She squeezed the words out shyly.

At the proper time… n-no way.

This is just a fake engagement! Don’t get the wrong idea, you!

That’s something that only comes from mutual love!

“S-so, what is it? Did you have some errand?”

Anyway, I thought continuing this topic would make things awkward, so I blatantly changed the subject.

If she had an errand, I’d have made her come all the way to the forge unnecessarily. Feeling bad about that, I watched as she shook her head.

“I heard someone was smithing, so I wanted to see… Was I in the way?”

“Ah, that’s fine. He seemed so focused he didn’t notice. Rather, I’m sorry for ignoring you this much.”

“No… I was happy to see the way he was working so earnestly.”

I scratched my cheek at her bright smile.

…Alicia’s smile is unfair. Even though it’s been quite a while since I woke up, it shines on me with a brilliance that rivals the sun.

Alicia slowly came closer and peered into a nearby box.

“Can I see what you made earlier?”

“Yeah, go ahead.”

I took out the knife from the box and smoothly pointed the handle toward Alicia.

Alicia received it and removed the monster hide that had been wrapped around it.

“Amazing… it’s beautiful…”

“Thanks. Even if it’s pretty, it can still cut a person, so you have to be careful handling it.”

“Y-yeah… Did you work this from Irea Magic Ore?”

“Yeah.”

“…But it has a sharpness and a solid Enchantment that you wouldn’t expect from Irea Magic Ore.”

“Well, if you put in some effort, you can get it to that level.”

Of course, if you worked with Esrea Magic Ore, you could make an even sharper weapon.

Alicia stared at my knife and swung it a few times to show me.

Its handling was better than I had expected.

“Have you used knives quite a bit?”

“I’ve been taught the basics of swordsmanship.”

Alicia changed the grip on the knife in her hand and showed deft movements.

Alicia is a shy, or rather calm, girl. Perhaps because of that, seeing her handle a knife so well was unexpected given my impression of her.

…However, it was very beautiful. It was as if I were watching a dance performed with a knife.

After watching her movements for a while, Alicia stopped abruptly. Then she swayed her body shyly.

“Th-that… were my movements strange?”

“Huh?”

“B-because you’ve been watching me the whole time…”

I did it again. I had just been captivated. I hurriedly shook my head.

“No, it’s just that it was so beautiful…”

“I-it was… beautiful?”

“Eh…? Ah, um…”

She peered at me shyly, but intently.

Faced with the hopeful expression Alicia made, I felt embarrassed but looked away and spoke.

“Y-yeah… it was ridiculously beautiful.”

“…L-look at me when you say that.”

Alicia pushed herself into my line of sight. Her cheeks were bright red, but her eyes held a somewhat determined look.

I bit my lip hard and then nodded.

“Y-yeah, it was beautiful.”

“…Th-thank you.”

…A fake fiancée.

Alicia must be taking the sham engagement seriously. Her earnestness was enough to make me misinterpret it as genuine affection for me.

As I was at a loss for words, my stomach grumbled, claiming hunger on my behalf.

Alicia glanced at it and smiled.

“Shall we go get breakfast?”

“…Yeah, that sounds good. Before that, could I take a shower or something?”

“Yeah, I think that’s fine. I’ll inform Refy.”

I left the forge together with Alicia.