c1 (2/2)
Goodness gracious, what on earth is wrong with this man?
A girl is a girl.
Orélie’s appearance was good, his family pedigree was good, and moreover, he was a considerable gentleman. There probably wasn’t a woman and the like who would feel bad from being courted by him. It was no doubt that more or less, Maré’s heart was surely moved.
However, without showing the slightest bit of a façade, it’s said that she clearly repelled his feelings. That aspect of hers the witch found much more interesting than Orélie.
Was it the discrepancy in social status she cared about, or was it that she saw through Orélie’s somewhat – no, considerably strange perseverance?
In any event, she was a wise and clever girl. If she was tied together with Orélie, she could probably live her life in good fortune, but the witch supposed it seemed good for her to try and live as a self-reliant woman.
For how long Orélie had carried these excruciating emotions within him, and the degree of unpleasantness that must have caused, the witch already understood. She didn’t even think twice about prescribing a drug for him in secrecy to willfully serve to the girl. However, for Orélie, it was actually the opposite meaning. When he thought of the girl who demonstrated a powerful and obstinate will, he was fairly reluctant to. Then if that was the case, should the witch prescribe Orélie a drug to make him loathe the girl? When considering that, the witch had recalled his absolutely sincere expression – her hands came to a halt.
tanuki
Goodness gracious, what on earth is wrong with this man.
The witch finally prepared herself for the worst.
Now, in order to thoroughly have her become his companion, even if that love wasn’t realized, something had to be done. To allow his peculiar ways to comprehend this, an admonis.h.i.+ng was needed. There was a necessity for the witch to go out of her way to teach Orélie that in society, there was everything he should not do as he likes, even by whatever means, as well as the many things he should do. Orélie wasn’t a bad person, but as she thought, he was definitely a young lord with a sheltered upbringing.
“I invited her to go out for a meal tonight, but she simply turned me down. What should I do so that she’ll go out to eat with me?”
It was the same man as usual.
At any rate, even though he was rejected, the witch didn’t understand the reason why he came here to have a meal. With a simple “good evening” and obediently having his extravagant dinner in his own home, it would have been fine if he had even come here tomorrow to see her. Certainly, the witch had no reason to even think that he would appear to have a decent, upright dinner in this kind of melancholy cave, or something else of the sort. However, when faced with the suspicious light-purple soup and dried out bread, Orélie made no show of disagreeableness and consumed them without complaint.
tanuki
Yes, he wasn’t a bad person.
“Hey, you. I’ve been doing nothing but listening to you for a long time now, overlooking my own thoughts for the sake of your questions. But you haven’t tried the slightest bit to consider the feelings of your partner, huh. You seem to be under the impression that the world revolves around you 一 typical humans, the type that’s best at spewing out vomit.”
The witch ventured to declare those coldhearted words.
“’She’s not pleased with something about me?’ The world consists of only binary ‘yes’ or ‘no’ answers – hah, as if! If she doesn’t like you, that doesn’t mean she said that she hates you. Whatever she may think of you, doesn’t that mean she’s thought about you? ‘What kind of presents, then, would get her to accept me?’ Because you were of the impression that the necklace you gave didn’t suit your own preferences, did you seriously think she would do something like reciprocate? As for why she didn’t accept your presents? First of all, please try to think veeery well about this. ‘What should I do so that she enthusiastically faces me?’ This too, is an absurd question. Something like a guarantee so she ‘unconditionally’ turns around to face you, there’s nowhere you can always find that.
“First of all, it’s necessary for you to think very, veeery well about her feelings. And after you think you’ve understood that but you still want to obtain her, then you’ll be past hope if you personally don’t change yourself. But surely, if you keep spending everyday nonchalantly strolling along until the very ends of this kind of forest and talking about this and that, I think nothing will change.”
As if the scales had fallen from Orélie’s eyes, he made a befuddled face.
And after tightly pursing his lips, he kept silent and let his gaze fall towards the plate at hand. If his peculiar ways showed an understanding of the witch’s words, then he was probably chewing it over inside his mind.
After a short time, he quietly left his seat with a light clattering. Orélie always returned at this time. In order to do so, he conscientiously bowed.
tanuki
“I’ll be going home now. Thank you for the meal…”
To Orélie, the witch’s words that were like a blunt refusal probably came as a shock. However, it was good medicine. Tonight, in his soft, downy bed, he would surely be thinking about her more than anyone else. There’s no mistaking it. And like that, even if he changes little by little, he would probably become a more and more charming person, the witch thought.
The next day, Orélie visited the cave again.
The witch, who went out to greet him with a “Good grief!” was startled when she saw that face. Orélie had been crying.
“Wha, what is it. Is something the matter…?”
The witch inquired, feeling a slight tugging sensation.
“I tried thinking about various things – about Maré. Thoughts about you, and what you previously mentioned, also streamed into my mind. I s.n.a.t.c.hed away your precious time by offering only vain, useless conversations, spending every day like this visiting here. Certainly I was a bother, wasn’t I? I’m truly sorry.”
So he managed to come that far in his thoughts in one night, huh. The witch, who thought no more than this, was surprised at the results. She acknowledged that if it was a normal human being, they wouldn’t even think up until that point. But you might say that in order to reach there, there was no other way except to press him. Nonetheless, however, it didn’t appear likely that he would think about it to the extent of crying.
“But, no matter what I do, I can’t get my thoughts in order by myself. The more and more I think about it and think about it, it’s very painful, and if I don’t have someone to listen to me, it feels like I become unable to breathe. Please, I beg of you – could you please listen to what I have to say?”
Oof. The witch’s words were blocked.
With a pa.s.sionate appeal like this, even the witch couldn’t treat him coldly. Unexpectedly, with the art of “using tears to get one’s way” wouldn’t he be able to get Maré to fall into his hands? The witch thought, but she wasn’t able to gamble away her dignity by speaking of that.
“In any case, don’t loiter around, get in! If you really want to become a hindrance, don’t grumble about something trivial because I’ll throw you out. Well, the present situation is that I also have enough free time to a.s.sociate with you, y’know.”
Orélie repeatedly nodded his head in a.s.sent and sat down in a chair. It just so happened that the chair was in a position next to where he was originally. Using the cuffs of his coat tailored from high-cla.s.s fabrics to wipe away his tears, Orélie curled up his back like a scolded child.
“So? You were thinking various things about the girl. Was there anything you understood?”
When the witch asked in a slightly softer voice than her usual disposition, Orélie tinily shook his head sideways.
“… I didn’t understand. Maré was, up until now, certainly different from any other girl I’ve met. For the time being, she cheerfully receives me as a customer – but as an object of romantic interest, I get the sense as if she thinks nothing of me. Why it’s become like that, I don’t understand. I wonder, what in the world is Maré thinking? If an insistently confessing person is more likely to be seen as a partner, then apart from the feelings of like and dislike, I think that by all means I should be judged as nothing but a love interest from the other side’s point of view. And yet!”
Surprisingly frank words were returned. Because it was Orélie, the witch had her misgivings and questioned if he was immersing himself in misdirected thoughts again.
“The girl might have been trying her best to not see you as a love interest on purpose.”
“For whose sake? If it was unpleasant, and if she had clearly told me that it was unpleasant, then I might have accepted that and given up!”
“When I look at your appearance, you really don’t seem to look very willing to give up. Well, putting that aside, you’re the son of the governing lord, aren’t you? If she were to reject that son, for example, wouldn’t she not know what types of retribution would be lying in wait for her? The girl might have been thinking like that.”
“As if something like that would happen! I would never deceive her under the umbrella of political authority!”
“But you, from the outset you’ve used that same excuse of being the lord’s son to flicker about and draw near her?”
“That’s, I only wanted to say that in order to prevent any economic hards.h.i.+ps… But…… I guess you’re right…… it was cowardly.”
The crestfallen Orélie drooped his shoulders.
“I had no intention on using my social status to influence her att.i.tude, so I’ll go to explain that to her.”
When he bowed towards the witch, Orélie unsteadily opened the door to the cave and went to leave.
Several days later, seeing Orélie who came along as she expected, the witch understood what kind of harvest he procured.
“Maré said that it wasn’t a problem about social status. Moreover, she said she said she has no reason to dislike me. But, while it may be true that she doesn’t dislike me, it doesn’t mean that she likes me. Thanks to your conversations, I’ve already realized that.”
However, arriving up to this point, the witch thought that Maré was quite the harsh girl.
It wasn’t a problem about social status, it also wasn’t hatred – then what was no good? Wouldn’t Orélie’s straightforwardness that goes beyond physiological human nature be accepted? … If that was the case, then the witch had a hunch. No, no, before that, there was a pitiable, pathetic, way too serious young man who was stricken right before her eyes.
“How about trying to keep a little distance? Intruding in on her everyday in the same way, even if you hurl nothing but talk about love and the like or whatever at her, she probably won’t be happy. If the cla.s.sic way of doing things is useless, then try drawing back from that guy.”
“Keeping my distance… for how long?”
Think about that reason by yourself, the witch wanted to say. But, after seeing his haggard profile, the witch naturally drew back her words.
“Well then, around the area of two weeks. It’s not quite lengthy enough to completely forget, probably. Between then, please try to spend your life living indifferently about the issues of love and cease coming here. It might unexpectedly refresh your spirits as well. Even any occasion is essential for a change of pace, you know.”
“Two weeks!”
Orélie, as if he heard some repulsive word, felt his body tremble.
“Isn’t that what I just said? That in order to change your mood, you’d have to completely forget everything?”
“… I understand. I’ll try to keep my distance a little from both Maré and you.”
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