When Naro tilted his head as if puzzled, Mellian swallowed her fluster.
“Didn’t you hear what I said earlier? I don’t think I spoke in a difficult way.”
“I understood. You’re saying the Young Lady doesn’t hold any particular hope and wishes the Duke wouldn’t try any harder.”
“If you understood well, then why…”
“Well, that doesn’t become a reason for me to give up on this work. As you said, Young Lady, if I say I can’t do it, the Duke will understand. But just because I quit, will the Duke completely give up on trying to fix your constitution?”
Mellian hesitated, unable to answer easily.
“He’ll probably inquire here and there and somehow bring someone else. The option of giving up on you probably wasn’t in his mind from the start.”
“You can say that because you don’t know well. Do you know that feeling when expectations gradually crumble and nothing but disappointment remains?”
“I know too. I’ve clung to something with absolutely no possibility and failed before. That’s why I want to help you even more, Young Lady.”
In his previous life, he ultimately couldn’t cure his illness no matter what he did and ended his life. But Naro miraculously crossed over to this world and was granted a healthy body.
He knew bone-deep the sensation Mellian mentioned, where that hopeful expectation disappears and only disappointment remains in its place. Because he’d experienced it. But even having had such an experience, he was now living a second life healthily. So he wanted to somehow help Mellian, who was going through a similar situation to his own, so she could be like that too.
“You really don’t get it. Sorry, but I don’t even have the energy to hold hope or expectations anymore.”
“Is that because you’re scared?”
“…”
“Scared that if you carelessly hold expectations, you’ll be disappointed again, that your heart will break completely. Young Lady, I… think there are things you must not avoid no matter how scary they are.”
While saying that, Naro thought of Ray. To be honest, a faint fear still arose about restoring Ray’s memories and investigating the Dragon Tribe. The egg was wanted, and he didn’t know what might be in the depths of the incident from 25 years ago.
He could have just lived quietly as a mouse in Rodelus Village like this, but Naro didn’t want to do that. If he did that, he might be comfortable and happy for now, but the future ahead would be uncertain.
That’s why Naro chose to move forward even if it was scary, in order to stay with Ray forever. Perhaps thanks to that resolution, there was no hesitation in the voice giving advice to Mellian.
“Haah, really, I’ve never met such a stubborn mule before.”
“Ah, I’m sorry if that sounded rude.”
“You’re the stubborn mule.”
Naro lightly poked Ray’s side. Sure enough, Mellian, who had been looking drained until now, opened her eyes into triangles and glared at Ray.
“By the way, who is he? Something like your assistant?”
“He’s my cousin. He’s helping me with my work.”
Then Mellian clicked her tongue. It was behavior quite removed from the cold Young Lady dripping with chilliness that he’d felt when first meeting her.
As expected, it seemed Mellian didn’t like Ray. If Naro hadn’t explained him as someone who helps with work, she would have more than driven him out.
“So what’s your plan?”
“Pardon?”
“You said you want to fix this shitty constitution of mine.”
When slightly aggressive language came from the Young Lady’s mouth, Naro malfunctioned for a moment. But he quickly came to his senses and opened his mouth.
“If you explain in detail about your physical condition as you feel it yourself, I’m thinking of mixing medicinal herbs accordingly. I’ll test it several times like that until I find a combination that suits your constitution well, Young Lady.”
Mellian became quiet for a moment. Naro fidgeted with his hands from unnecessarily nervous feelings.
“Fine, go ahead and try.”
“R-really?”
“Even if I refuse here and now, you were going to come to the mansion several times and hold out anyway, weren’t you?”
Since he really had been planning to do that, Naro couldn’t answer and just let out a laugh. Mellian nodded as if she’d thought so.
Luckily, Naro succeeded in breaking down the Young Lady’s heart. But since Mellian looked very tired from searching for the lost cat earlier, he decided to postpone hearing the full story until the next meeting for now.
“And next time you come, I’d appreciate it if you didn’t bring that black mass.”
“Ah…”
Just before leaving the room, at the words Mellian threw while pointing at Ray, Naro rolled his eyes around.
“That won’t do. Wherever Naro is, I always have to be there too. So you’d better give up on that, stubborn mule.”
To call the Young Lady of the Hernia Ducal House a stubborn mule. Mellian opened both eyes wide and crumpled her face.
“You…”
“W-well then, I’ll see you next time! Young Lady!”
When sparks were about to fly between the two again, Naro moved quickly first. After bowing his head to the Young Lady in greeting, he hurriedly rushed out to the corridor with Ray.
“You can stop studying Imperial language now…”
To even learn the word stubborn mule and use it appropriately. Thanks to that, Naro’s heart had just dropped all the way down once.
After meeting Mellian and coming out, Naro first conveyed this fact to Hayla. She wavered for a moment, perhaps surprised that he’d broken down Mellian’s guard, but she quickly gave thanks and said she would convey this news to the Duke.
Getting on the carriage and leaving the mansion, Naro’s heart felt much lighter than before. He hadn’t achieved any results yet and it was merely that Mellian had accepted him. Still, for some reason he had a premonition that both improving her constitution and the investigation into Ray’s past and memories would all work out well.
“Ray, shall we take a look around the plaza today?”
Naro, who had been about to enter the inn after getting off the carriage, paused. The capital Lupel was very wide and divided into several districts alone. Among them, the central area where the Imperial Palace was located was naturally counted as the most prosperous place even within the capital.
Coincidentally, the inn where Naro and Ray were staying was located right next to the central plaza.
“Still, we came to the capital but it’s boring to just stay at the inn.”
Since they’d come to the capital with a purpose, he hadn’t thought of things like sightseeing at first. Moreover, he’d been reluctant to go to places with many people, anxious that Ray’s identity might be discovered.
But if he was bothered by encountering people, he shouldn’t have brought Ray to the capital in the first place. Ray could humanize and also had no problems with control for now, so it might be okay to spend leisure time to that degree.
More than anything, perhaps because there were signs that things with Mellian would work out well, he wanted to savor this good feeling a bit more.
“Yeah, good. Time alone with Naro is the most important thing to me anyway.”
“Ah, yeah. Then let’s go.”
At the voice that struck in, Naro almost ended up stuttering. Before, even hearing such words, he could just laugh it off with a “heh heh,” but strangely now it was hard to do that.
Naro tried hard to calm his heart that had become agitated by Ray’s one remark and turned his steps toward the plaza with him.
Having entered the plaza in earnest, Naro’s head turned busily here and there. An incredibly huge grand plaza unfolded before his eyes. Before settling in Rodelus Village, when he’d come to the capital, he’d been intimidated and didn’t have time to look around carefully.
Because of that, this was the first time coming to the most prosperous plaza in the capital like this. This place was so large and wide it couldn’t even be compared to Rodelus Village’s small plaza. The shops lined up on the streets, the endlessly stretched street vendors, the countless people strutting about on the streets.
“Naro, if you keep your mouth open like that, a bug will fly in.”
“Ray, the plaza is incredibly wide. It’s incomparable to Rodelus Village!”
When Naro shouted with a bright smile, people passing by glanced at Naro knowingly or unknowingly and suppressed pleased smiles. It was because this was a reaction commonly shown by people coming to the capital for the first time after being in other regions besides Central.
Moreover, since a handsome, gentle and clear-looking young man was shouting while looking around the plaza with eyes sparkling with anticipation, everyone finding him cute was a bonus.
“What kind of shop is that? Shall we go take a look? Oh! Look over there. There’s incredibly interesting fruit. I guess they imported it from another country.”
Naro bustled about here and there, unable to get his bearings, scattering expectations all over the streets. Ray stood still for a moment and looked at Naro’s back. His shoulders raised high with excitement were cute.
Ray’s lips slowly relaxed. When a warm smile formed on his lips, people now began glancing at him.
From the tall man with a good physique, an inexplicable sense of intimidation and coldness could be felt. Even that suited his atmosphere well and elevated the class of his appearance. However, with the smile just now, the coolness disappeared without a trace and made one recall the warm sun floating in the sky, so it was natural that people’s gazes gathered.
Just then, the sight of Naro bumping into someone entered Ray’s eyes. Guys who looked rough and burly like potatoes began glaring at Naro who had bumped into them and acting threateningly.
