Andrew stared intently at my wrist, which was being held by Frederick, but couldn’t dare to say anything to stop him. He seemed to be thinking deeply about the ‘friendly interactions between brothers’ that Frederick had mentioned. I could see the chaotic whirlwind raging in his cold, sunken blue eyes.
Is it really just a simple brotherly prank? Is he accepting even harmless scenes strangely because he harbors dirty desires for his nominal youngest brother?
I didn’t know for sure, but it was obvious that similar worries were now violently shaking him up inside. I gestured to Nicole, who was looking at me with worried eyes, to stay still.
“Frederick, slow down a bit! It’s hard to keep up!”
“Huh? I can’t have my precious younger brother having a hard time. Here, come here.”
“Ugh…!”
Frederick, who had been walking quickly, didn’t think twice and picked me up when I said it was hard to keep up. Andrew was still standing there as if nailed to the spot, staring blankly at me and Frederick disappearing over the stairs.
Favorability: -30%
Favorability: -35%
Favorability: -38%
Favorability: -31%
I continued to check Andrew’s affection level until he was no longer visible. The affection level numbers drew a rollercoaster trajectory that was all over the place, as if he was so confused about what he was thinking.
Why hadn’t I anticipated that the young Count, who seemed like he wouldn’t bleed a drop of blood even if pricked with a needle and acted as if Allen Hamilton was the only important thing in his life, would be filled with such a jumbled mess inside?
Every time I confirmed Andrew’s continued agony over Noah Hamilton, a base pleasure painted my entire heart white. It was a peaceful joy, like bedding dried in the sun.
“Okay, you can put me down now.”
“Huh?”
As soon as we turned the corner and Andrew was no longer visible, I tapped Frederick’s shoulder and said. Frederick blinked his sharp eyes, not quite understanding.
“I said put me down. First brother isn’t here anymore.”
“Oh, Noah? Little brother?”
“Do you think I’m stupid? You deliberately exaggerated it to tease brother.”
“Oh my. When did our little snot-nose become so clever?”
“Funny. Who are you calling a snot-nose? I’ve never been a snot-nose, unlike Freddy.”
With a face that had completely concealed the resentful look from earlier, Frederick laughed playfully. But he showed no sign of putting me down. I glared at him and jumped out of his arms.
“Noah! What are you doing! That’s dangerous!”
“That’s why you should have put me down nicely when I asked you to. Am I a child? Please refrain from carrying me around like this now. I’ve already had my coming-of-age ceremony, what will others think if they see us?”
“If there were others, that is. There’s no one watching right now, so what’s the big deal?”
“Ha…”
I was speechless. Was it because he was a noble young master from birth, unlike me, who had memories of my previous life? There were at least three or four servants within my sight, but Frederick didn’t seem to consider them as people from the start, and even looked around as if asking where the eyes were, with a look and expression that was quite purely wronged. That was the biggest problem.
I was too tired to have a pointless argument with 21st-century values, such as commoners are also people like us. In fact, I had quite a long argument around a certain episode in the early stages, but it didn’t work at all for the nobles in this world. Rather, I had to listen to rumors that I was actually an adopted child from a commoner family because I was from a collateral line.
“I don’t know. Anyway, that’s it. If I tell you not to carry me around, then don’t carry me around. Got it?”
“Tch, got it.”
“That includes hugging and piggybacking.”
“…”
“Frederick.”
“Ugh…, okay for now.”
I would have understood if I had asked this much. Frederick made an exaggeratedly dejected gesture and walked with a limp, as if he had lost his strength. Seeing that, I couldn’t help but laugh. I believed that I had been betrayed enough by his already scheduled betrayal that my heart would no longer melt, but somehow, Frederick in this timeline, before meeting Allen, was still good.
If I could, I wanted to split Frederick at this time and Frederick after meeting Allen into two, keep only the former as mine, and send the latter to the dungeon with Allen. I could never do that, but that’s how I felt.
“Frederick.”
“Why.”
My oldest friend. My most cherished brother. My most…, trusted ally.
“Are you making it so obvious that you’re sulking?”
“Get your words right, little brother. I’m not sulking, I’m disappointed? Ha…, I miss the old days. Where did our pretty Noah go, who used to reach out his hand and ask for a piggyback ride whenever his legs hurt after walking a little?”
“Oh my god. How old are you talking about?”
“But it’s still so vivid to me. Why, you were too scared to learn how to ride a horse, so I became your horse. It was really fun when I crawled on all fours in front of the adults with you on my back. Do you remember Father’s expression?”
“…I want to forget it, please. Please.”
I would never be able to trust the current Frederick.
The fact that his large hands, which used to stroke my cheeks gently, slapped my face, and that his strong arms, which had claimed to be my eternal sword and shield, dragged me like a dog and threw me into prison.
If I didn’t do anything different this time and followed the past, then that’s probably what would happen this time as well.
“Oh, Noah. Did you hear? There’s a night market today. I came to tell you that. Let’s go out together.”
“Today?”
“Yeah. I’ve also found a special seat where you can see the fireworks the best.”
“Am I allowed to go out? I haven’t had my Heat cycle yet.”
Of course, I remembered the exact date when my first Cycle would start due to repeated regressions, so there was nothing to worry about, but going around openly like that would just be crazy in the eyes of people who didn’t know the situation.
“Of course not.”
“Yeah. But how…”
“That’s why we have to sneak out!”
“…”
“Let’s go, you’re going to go, right? Huh? Noah.”
Frederick’s green eyes, which were truly helpless and only knew how to shine brightly, always made me weak.
He had already betrayed me, and he was definitely going to betray me this time as well.
“…I don’t know. You take care of all the preparations. It’s not my fault if Father finds out.”
“Of course not! Just leave it to me!”
I wanted to trust Frederick.
“How is it! Wasn’t it good to come out!”
“What!?”
“How is it! Do you think it was good to come out!”
“I can’t hear you, Freddy!”
“Ugh. I don’t know. Just have fun!”
Wow, the crowds were no joke. With the founding festival a month away, the capital, which was full of a festive atmosphere, was literally packed with people from the capital as well as various tourists from other regions of the empire and other countries. It was like the subway during rush hour.
Temporary shops lined both sides of the street, and the noisy percussion music from the open-air stage, which was difficult to grasp the melody of, constantly asserted its presence. The atmosphere was overheated, and the voices of the people were also getting louder and louder, following the excitement of the instruments.
The surroundings were so noisy that no matter how much Frederick and I screamed, our throats were sore, we couldn’t even properly distinguish each other’s voices.
It seemed like the fireworks were about to start soon. A flurry of excitement was being conveyed from the front of the crowd to the back.
Frederick eventually picked me up and pushed through the crowd with brute force.
“Damn it, I should have done this sooner.”
Since I was completely hugged like a teddy bear, I could hear Frederick’s voice well. It was a high view where I could see the heads of other people. Damn it, even people who were taller than me looked small from this height. I was struck with the realization that knocking me down would really be a piece of cake for Frederick.
For some reason, I felt resentful and bit Frederick’s head.
“That’s what you get. Why didn’t you pick me up sooner?”
“Ah, you told me not to pick you up!”
“Shut up. Just hurry up and go. It looks like it’s about to start.”
“Okay. Hold on tight.”
After confirming that there were a few less people around, Frederick started running quickly.
The place we arrived at was a three-story commercial building right near the clock tower in the plaza. Sigh, shouldn’t the festival fireworks in a fantasy world be a cliché of a low hill near the capital or a mountain that is actually connected to the imperial family? To arrive at a commercial building that is always in sight after running so far. I felt let down for some reason.
It seemed like an empty building because all the lights were off even though everyone was staying up all night to do business, which made me feel even more that way.
“Freddy. Is this really the place?”
“That’s right. We’re here. Let’s go up quickly.”
“Looks like it’s closed? How do we get up?”
“Huh?”
Frederick looked at me as if wondering why I was asking such a question, then suddenly exclaimed, “Ah!”
“Ah, right. I didn’t tell you. I heard the rooftop here has the best view of the fireworks, so I bought it in advance.”
“Bought what?”