By Zephyria 
“What on earth are you up to these days?”
“Neheu mai eu seuseu geheu…”
“You’re doing that because you’re laughing too much?”
I’m so tired from running around all day. I nodded to Nicole to mean yes and yawned greatly. As my mouth opened wide, the muscles in my face tensed up again. So, playing the role of a ‘sunshine healing attribute airhead’ who is recklessly cheerful and bright is by no means easy.
It’s already been a week since I first met Carlisle. I, still acting as Nicole, have run into him by chance about three or four more times in the meantime.
Every time we met, I was just smiling so brightly that the corners of my mouth trembled, so on days when I spent a long time with Carlisle, my cheeks were always sore like this.
I checked earlier and it seems like his favorability is slowly rising properly, good. Should I take a leisurely rest tomorrow for once…? I was just thinking lazy thoughts when I suddenly heard a sobbing sound from above my head.
“Heuu-eup…”
“…?”
Nicole, who had gone to the storage to get new ice to replace the melted ice, burst into tears.
I was so surprised that I jumped up. Ice packs and everything else weren’t important.
“Wh-What’s wrong? Why are you crying? What’s wrong? Nicole, huh? Tell me.”
Why is he being like this? As far as I know, Nicole is too scared to even go anywhere instead of me and is just resting in the room. He was just playfully laughing, saying that this is what it’s like to live as a noble.
I wondered if he had some other mental anguish that I hadn’t noticed, and my heart suddenly dropped all the way down and came back up again.
“Nooo, our Young Master…, heuk, is so pitiful…, I should have noticed when he asked me to do such an absurd thing…, euheoeong, how little he had to laugh…, euheoeong, now his face hurts so much from laughing…I’m really a bad servant. I can’t even understand Young Master’s heart, euheoeong, euheoeong…”
“Aww, it’s not like that. Stop! Huh? Stooop. Stop!”
Whether it was because someone was comforting him or because he thought I was pretending to be okay, Nicole started crying even louder, saying ‘euheoeong, Young Master’ at my words to stop.
What am I going to do with this pure soul who is just recklessly kind? I hugged Nicole, who was about half a hand smaller than me, and soothed him like a child. In the end, that night. Nicole barely managed to calm down after hearing at least a hundred times that he was really happy enough even in normal times, and that there was absolutely nothing I didn’t know about him.
“Really, even later…, hiccup, if there’s ever a time when you’re sad or your heart is really hurting, Young Master.”
“Yeah, yeah.”
“You have to tell me everything. Without hiding anything. Okay? Promise.”
“Okay. I promise.”
“You really have to do that. No matter what others say, I’ll be on Young Master’s side until the end. Other people don’t matter, but to me, only to me…Got it?”
“…I said I got it.”
I was grateful for Nicole’s words, but at the same time, I felt sorry for him. It would be better if those words he was saying now were just empty words to exaggerate his loyalty, hoping for the favor of a wealthy master and trying to scrape up some crumbs. He may not remember it, but Nicole had already proven the words he had uttered several times through his past lives.
Sorrowful crying was contagious. I also felt a little choked up while patting his back.
“Heueong. I’m crying again. It’s strange, why is this happening?”
“You’ll have to use the ice pack now. At this rate, you won’t even be able to open your eyes tomorrow, will you? The goldfish might want to be friends.”
“Don’t tease me….”
“I’m not teasing, it’s the truth, I’m telling you? Do you want to go look in the mirror?”
“Sniff, sniffling, waaaah, Young Duke is annoying….”
The sobs that had barely subsided burst out again. Nicole buried his forehead in the bed and cried. We just patted Nicole’s back, and before we knew it, we slowly fell asleep. It was a peaceful night, considering the floodgates had opened.
‘Really, even later… hiccup, if you ever get sad or have a hard time, Young Duke.’
‘Yes, yes.’
‘You have to tell me everything. Without hiding anything. Okay? Promise.’
‘Okay. I promise.’
The absolute being, shining alone in the dark space, was watching over his one and only lover as always.
“I guess I’m reaching my limit. But even so, there’s nothing I can do.”
Just like the world that was creaking and groaning, the beautiful soul he loved with all his heart was also on the verge of shattering into pieces.
The complete memories of the past would not be opened to anyone in this world unless he allowed it, but fragments of the past that had slipped out through the creaking cracks soaked someone’s chest tonight with unfamiliar heart palpitations and a painful premonition.
In fact, the fact that he had endured this much was thanks to him pouring all the power he was allowed into it. Whether the world and soul that were unilaterally receiving the anointing would also consider him a ‘thanks’ was another matter.
‘You really have to. No matter what others say, I’ll be on your side until the end. Other people don’t matter, but to me, only to me… sniff, you got it?’
‘……I said I got it.’
The eyes of his lover, who was very sad, were simply dazzlingly beautiful.
“Now it’s really the end, Noah. In a little while… it will end in some way.”
You said you loved me.
Yes. I love you. Only you, and no one else.
If those words are true….
If the first you saw this terrible situation, what kind of expression would you make?
“I’m sorry, my dear. You’ll have to cry a little more in the future. I have no intention of losing. Especially not against you.”
The intelligent eyes that read the truth curved slightly. He was so excited that he could hardly bear it. The promised victory was soon at hand.
Whining, a sharp wind scratched his ears, making him shudder. In terms of scariness, it was as good as any haunted house. It was the observatory on the outskirts of the Ducal Palace, which looked just cool to the eye in the bright daylight.
“Ugh… I really hate it. Why this place… and at this time….”
I shuddered and stopped walking for a moment, but then I braced myself again and moved my legs diligently. In a world where you couldn’t find escalators or elevators, the only way to get to the top of the towering tower was to move your own two feet.
Combining what Carlisle had told Allen in detail in repeated iterations, or the detailed settings I had organized in my diary before I forgot them, there were three places in this vast Ducal Palace where Carlisle appeared frequently that I could access.
The rose garden in the inner palace, which I luckily ran into as soon as I went. The abandoned piano room on the 4th floor of the main castle. And this place, the observatory at the top of the outer tower.
Until now, I had mostly encountered Carlisle in the garden or the piano room. I treated him as if he were a young nobleman from a vassal family in the north who was visiting the Grand Duke’s family for a while, and Carlisle didn’t bother to correct my misunderstanding.
Over the past half-month, there had been some progress. Even if I showed up with a “Oh! What a coincidence, Young Duke!” Carlisle was no longer surprised. He just took my side, saying that his master must have some problem to be using his servants like that. Once, in a very serious tone, he even offered to find me a place in the Grand Duke’s family if I wanted. Carlisle’s favorability rating when he made such a proposal was exactly 20 percent.
Hmm… 20 percent in half a month. It wasn’t a slow pace at all, but I felt impatient for no reason. I’ll have to leave the Grand Duke’s territory in about two weeks, so will I be able to drive a wedge in before then?
Anyway, the tower I’ve built with effort won’t collapse, so I shouldn’t be too impatient.
Although I’m out of breath, the strength to smile brightly springs up as if by magic. Today is the day, the day.
“So, you’ve come.”
“Hah, hah, haaah. It’s so hard to get here, Young Duke… Is there a reason why we have to meet here?”
“……”
“Ugh, I’m going to die. You always don’t answer when it’s inconvenient.”
“If you’ve caught your breath, come and sit down.”
Because today was the first day that Carlisle Graham himself would guide me through the geography of the Ducal Palace!
“But why did you call me to a place like this? And at such a late hour!”