Chapter 31 (2/2)

He watched me, his expression stiff. I could read a medley of emotions in his eyes.

Then, before they could clearly resolve into one, Leon averted his gaze to the side.

“Young master…”

Perhaps sensing the s.h.i.+ft in the mood, Leopard addressed Leon with a worried look on his face.

Leon’s eyes were turned away, his body and face following suit. For a little while, he just stood there.

“Leopard.”

His voice was so calm that it inadvertently startled me. Leopard, his expression growing even more rigid, stood ramrod straight.

“Take them to their room. After that, station a soldier outside the door.”

The first half aside, I didn’t need to ask what he meant by the second.

Confinement.

I grit my teeth.

“Y…Yes!”

Slightly delayed, Leopard’s brief, firm acknowledgement rang out.

Then, keeping his face turned away from us, Leon left.

Leopard was efficient. After glancing at us with a complex expression, full of feelings he couldn’t completely disguise, he slightly inclined his head.

‘Come with me.’ That’s what it meant.

I looked at Leon. I couldn’t even begin to guess what he was thinking from the sight of his retreating back.

“…I am Chris! Not [Chris], you got that!?”

I hurled my final words at his back.

In the end, for just a moment, he turned to look at me.

It wasn’t anger that was on his face.

Not sadness, either.

It was fear.

–

–

“Ahhh, I’ve really done it now…”

I was already full of regret by the time Leopard escorted us back to our room.

Groaning, I flopped back on the bed.

Thinking back, I felt that I’d gone too far. I didn’t need to say those things.

Truth is, it shouldn’t matter how Leon saw me.

Even if he considered me [Chris’s] replacement, there was no real need to get worked up about it. I should have understood from all that marriage business that I was acting as a subst.i.tute in the first place.

That night, shouldn’t I have kept my mouth shut instead of saying those things? That I’d be willing to be a subst.i.tute and all.

Besides, if I looked at it rationally, wasn’t Leon’s anger only to be expected?

It wasn’t like we made a promise, but he did tell us not to go out. And we were the ones who didn’t listen.

…Still, I didn’t think it warranted getting p.i.s.sed to the point of slapping me.

But it wasn’t like I didn’t know how it felt to worry helplessly.1

The more I thought about it, the more I felt like I was the one to blame.

“…Our life here is over, isn’t it…”

Sitting at the end of the bed, Aira kept her dazed face facing the opposite direction as she mumbled those words.

Guh — …!

I froze right in the middle of rolling about.

“Chris, you were in the wrong earlier,”

said Palmira, reading a book she borrowed from the guild beside Aira.

To make things worse, she didn’t even look up.

Guh — x2…!

” — tch! I get it, okay! It’s my fault!”

Rather than bottle up my feelings, I sprang off the bed with a shout.

The two others turned to look at me.

“You need to say that to Lord Leon.”

“That’s right. Even if you say it to us, there is no meaning to it, is there?”

Sure, they had a point.

“Alright, I give, but I’ve got no idea what to say. Besides, how am I supposed to meet up with him anyway?”

Sneak out of the room and go see him?

No, there should be some poor soldier working hard in front of the door. Sorry, man.

“Hmm, let me think. For this, the sooner you do it, the better… We set out tomorrow. It seems that the opportunity to do so will disappear.”

“Sneak out.”

“If I could, this wouldn’t be such a pain…”

Having just been thinking the same thing as Palmira’s frank proposal, I ruled it out right away.

Though, to be honest, that was the only thing I’d thought of.

Like Aira said, it looked like I’d miss my chance once tomorrow rolled around, and it would just get harder and harder for me to talk to him. Time might smooth things over, but I hated the thought of waiting around with my mouth shut.

Besides, Leon’s expression at the end worried me.

That insecurity, possibly fear.

What was he thinking, what was he afraid of?

“Aaahhh, what do I do?”

I collapsed back onto the bed and suddenly looked over at the wall.

— Back then, Leon was always there when I woke up.

I saw him, against that bare wall.

He would always be smiling. Make fun of me like some kid. Get an awkward look on his face. Give me a wry smile. Look like he was having fun.

…He never wore an expression like that.

“…Going?”

Reason be d.a.m.ned, I decided, and jumped off the bed.

Leon shouldn’t wear an expression like that.

And without a doubt, I was the one who made him. That was why I had to see him, had to talk to him.

I didn’t know if it would be enough for him to forgive me.

“What do you intend to do?” asked Aira.

Putting my two dubious companions out of my mind, I went over to the window and opened it.

Night had already fallen outside. Here and there in the city, the lights were burning brightly. The night was still young.2

I leaned out the window, looking around in a circle.

We were in a corner room on the third, and top, floor. To my left, light spilled out of a window set not far away.

There was little distance from here to there, so I’d be better off a.s.suming that there was also someone inside.

I looked down.

I could see the window on the second floor. The lights were out.

“Alright.”

“Big Sister, what do you mean by ‘alright’…?”

They were worried about what I was planning to do, I guess. I looked over my shoulder at them and said,

“Won’t you give me a hand?”

Palmira earnestly nodded at me as I gave them a wide grin.

On the other hand, Aira didn’t look enthusiastic at all.

Footnotes

1. Not sure, can anyone verify? ただ、それも、心配してなどと思えばこそだとするならば、それもまた仕方ない気がしなくも無い ↵

2. Guessed? まだまだ夜も更けたばかり ↵

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